Buckeyefan47

Hi there, I am also starting the second degree program next month at PSU-Altoona. I am a little nervous, but mostly excited to begin the adventure! Were you at orientation this month?

Whew, we got our tests back from last week today in class and I got....an A! (99% to be exact) I guess all those sleepless nights I put in after I got my kids to bed last week paid off. You know, it's funny- the first time I went to college, I did study, but never really put much effort into it. I got mostly A's and B's, but never really had any responsibility to speak of. To be able to put up an A after 10 years of being out of school....and balancing work, 2 kids, a husband, a dog and a house to take care of, I am pretty darn proud of myself!! Keep working hard everybody- it will make things that much sweeter in the end!!

Another second career here- I have a Bachelor's in Sports Medicine, and worked as an ATC for the last 10 years, in different settings; high schools, PT clinics, hockey rinks, X-Games, gait analysis for runners/triathletes, etc. As much as I love being an ATC, it doesn't afford me much time or flexibility to see my family, and I found myself getting burned out rather quickly. I took a little time off when I had my second child, and came to realize that I really do love working in health care, and thought that nursing may be that natural extension to something that I love to do. I took a cna class locally to "try it out" a bit, and have been working on an Alzheimers/dementia unit in a ltc facility ever since.....and love it! I haven't heard back from the second degree accelerated program I applied for yet....I am trying to learn patience. Good luck to everyone!!

Yep, definitely some issues with the battery pack being cumbersome, and the cords being in the way- I have gotten myself tangled in the lift more than once, and some of my residents have torn my headset off by grabbing the cord and pulling it. Another big issue that I have is where to chart; we obviously can't chart while walking down a hall because of HIPAA, but we also cannot chart in the presence of the resident that we are charting on. So, what I have been doing is after performing care on a resident, I have to go to another room (generally one of the bathrooms), close the door and do my charting....not exactly the most convenient thing to do, especially when you are running after alerts. Definitely a good concept, but there are some down sides as well.

Sure- basically it is a system where we all wear a headset with a microphone (think fast food drive-thru headset), and we have it attached to a battery pack that we wear. We keep them on our entire shift, and do all of our charting through the headsets, which eliminates the need for paper charting. One of the main reasons we got the system was to discourage "parrot charting", or just copying the same adl codes as the previous shift. The system has definitely taken some getting used to, but now that I am feeling more comfortable with it, I am sort of liking it. Since we can do charting pretty much right after performing the care, it saves trying to cram in all the charting at the end of the shift. I do have some problems with my headset picking up certain words, and if the noise level in the area I am in changes, I have a hard time charting. There are some other uses for the headsets besides charting too- for example, we can page each other (or even page a whole unit), and we can set up reminders for different things, such as a doctor's appointment for each resident. Also, as a resident's care plan is updated, it alerts us to the changes in our headsets. I had never heard of Accunurse before we got the system, so that is why I was interested to see if anyone else had ever used it.

Our ltc facility started using Accunurse headsets a couple months ago- I was just curious to see if anyone else has been using them, and what your opinions are of the system?

At the ltc facility I am at, a float is someone who knows all halls, and will help to cover halls that are having a "bad" night, or cover a call-off if that happens. I think it is probably more difficult in the beginning, because you will have a lot of different things to learn, but I do think that it will help break up the monotony once you get settled in. Good luck!

I am at a ltc facility in PA, and make $10.60 per hour; we also have a shift differential of $1 for evening, and $0.50 for night, and $1 for weekends. Not bad, but not great either.

I am glad I found this thread! I am currently taking a break from studying micro...I have my first test tomorrow! I am so nervous- I hate the first test in a class, because you just don't know the "style" of that prof until you take it. At least after that, you have an idea of what they feel is important, kwim? I actually really like my prof, which helps, but like I saw mentioned here, he just goes over things so quickly I feel like my head is spinning! I took chem and bio 10 years ago when I was in college the first time so all this "review" material early on feels like I am learning it all from the beginning again. I really just want tomorrow to be over and done with- we are supposed to get a big snowstorm tomorrow beginning in early afternoon, and my test is at 3, but it takes me an hour to get to campus, so I am hoping for safe travels too. :) Good luck to everyone!

:eek:Count me in for the wait too- I applied the first week of September, when the application became available. The deadline was Nov 30th, and the first round of reviews was last week, but it seems they don't send out all the letters together? Argggggh, this is enough to drive a person crazy!

Well, if it is any consolation, I am in the same situation. I applied for a second degree BSN program for Fall 2010, but I haven't heard anything back yet. Last semester I took a class, and this semester I am taking micro, and that should finish my pre-reqs. I also am working part-time, and have a 6 year old and a 1 year old to take care of at home. I am getting nervous that I haven't heard anything yet, but at the same time, I think I will be more nervous if I find out I got in, lol! I am not sure of what to say for words of encouragement for you, but just that you are not alone in your worries and concerns- we are all there with you!! Good luck!

I applied for the Fall 2010 class for the second degree program! I am getting really nervous though, because I haven't heard anything to see if I have been accepted. When did you get your letters last year? I couldn't really find out any info on when they are expected to be sent out. Thanks!!!

Thanks everyone for the replies....in some strange way, I find comfort in knowing I am not the only one who is waiting on a decision as big as this! (Although I am sorry that you are all waiting too.) The deadline for the application was back on November 30th- I think that is why I am so frustrated; I just want to know. I applied to PSU; that is the only one I applied to; I have a family, so I couldn't really go anywhere too far away from where we live now. Good luck to all those still waiting....I hope we all hear good news very soon!

I applied for an accelerated second-degree BSN program for next fall; I applied the first week of September, so next week will mark 5 months since I applied. I have heard nothing yet, and I am getting so nervous about it. The program only accepts 20 people, so I am really not feeling very confident right now. Anyone else waiting to hear, and want to keep me company??

Hello everyone! I just started a 6 week CNA class this past Monday at a LTC facility. I have already filled out the application for the LTC facility since they gave them to us on the second day of class, lol. The problem is, I am still unsure if a LTC facility is where I want to be. I am an athletic trainer, and have worked in PT clinics and at high schools for 10 years now, and I am nervous about switching to such a completely different patient population in geriatrics. I was in the hospital with my son on Thurs/Fri while he had his tonsils out, and got to talking to one of his recovery nurses. She mentioned that a few floors in that hospital hired CNAs, and one of those floors was orthopedics- right up my alley, so to speak! I didn't think to ask any more questions at the time, but now I am curious- what sort of differences would I expect from working on an ortho floor in a hospital?? I would assume it is very different from ltc, but in what ways? If anyone has any experience with this, I would love to hear about- the good, the bad, or the ugly, lol! Thanks a bunch!!