mbuchanan2107

University of Miami in Coral Gables sets it all up for you. They have an accelerated MSN program. Was a tough one year....but so worth it.

I can answer part of your question.....Most hospitals are not hiring LPNs anymore as they need the supervision of an RN so they just now are hiring RNs. From what I understand, they are really pushing LPNs to be employed in SNF or clinics. I do not know about the VA as I don't know anyone who has worked there or have worked there myself. Hope this helps.

I am a newer nurse practitioner and was a RN for 5 years. I have to say that I am torn with some of the posts. I think you can find good and bad in any profession. There are RNs I've worked with that have been nurses for 20+ years and were awful, and many were great. I've met doctors that scare the crap out of me with unethical practices. I was skeptical with NPs with no RN experience and have met a good amount that went on to become wonderful NPs. The problem I think that is happening is that NPs are being pushed more and more to take on more, have a huge patient load, with little time to really look at things. I know that is a problem that I currently am experiencing. I'm double booked and overloaded and don't have the time to do a good job because the doctor I work for is money hungry and just wants to get in as many patients as possible. That is really sad. I do see your point on the amiodarone. That is pretty bad. Everyone has limits and everyone needs to know what they are. If I don't know something, I sure will ask someone, even if it's a RN/LPN who is experienced.

Lots of great information. Thanks so much. Being a new NP, I want to protect myself. This doc has already done many shady things that make me very apprehensive. I appreciate you all for taking the time to answer my question and give me a resource so that I can present this to her.

I have a coding question for anyone out there. I recently graduated and was taught that for us to bill incident to and get the 100%, the doctor must be physically be in the building. I ask this because I'm finding out I work for a shady doctor right now. She is out of the office in the OR at the hospital across the street while I'm seeing patients. She said that I can still bill because she is available by phone. But I thought there was a new change that they had to be physically available. Or maybe it is just Florida. Also, when our notes are dictated they said.....patient was seen by doc and myself. I brought this up to the doc that she obviously is not there to see them with me if she is in the OR, but she said once again that she is available by phone. I don't want to be committing any fraud, but having a hard time knowing if billing 99213 and 99214 while she is not there is legit. Can anyone clarify for me? Thanks

It is hard to keep up, so finding ways to do that are always helpful. I am with you on liking to do my assessment first, but then you get behind with giving meds, patients are then needy, procedures come around, or it's bedtime and they don't want to be messed with....then you are behind. I would quickly walk by all of them to make sure they are alive and well first, without saying hi. I would gather my meds for the person I need to see first based upon report, and do my assessment AND give my meds at the same time. It always seemed to work well for me. Good luck with finding a routine that works best for you, because what may work for some, might not work for you.

I am a FNP and I don't like pediatrics at all. I thought it would give me options though in the event I would like to in the future. In regards to the phasing out the ANP, from what my professors said, was that it wasn't necessary. You can be an ANP and care for adults and gero or you can be a FNP and care for the entire spectrum. So it isn't necessary to have it.

I am a FNP so I can't answer specifics, but my program I just graduated from has them getting dual certified. So you will be certified as a ANP and ACNP. From what they said, the ANP's may get phased out. I don't know the truth of that, but is what my professors said. ACNP's will work in more specialty practices, the hospitals, and ICU's. Many magnet facilities will only hire ACNP's. Hope this helps.

I just graduated from the University of Miami with my MSN and know a little about their DNP program. They do meet face-to-face once a month on a friday, saturday, sunday for one year. From a few that I know that are in the program, they really like it. A lot of it is like an open discussion format and not just sitting in front of someone while they lecture. It is UM, so tuition is a little more, but you can get it done in one year.

I guess you can only see the preceptors. I thought you could post that you needed one.

I just graduated from down there and wish I had names for you. Since many of the bigger schools are in Miami, most students have preceptors in Miami area. So you should be able to find more preceptors willing to take you on in Broward County. I wish I could give you names, but my school would be very mad at me for giving out any names they have on their list. I would just try to call any and everyone. Maybe call Broward General or Plantation General (or other hospitals in that area) and ask their HR if they can be of any assistance. Or look on the hospitals website to get a list of doctors names and numbers and call them that way. Ask to speak to the office manager of the clinic and see if they can help you out. I wish you luck and you are coming down during the nice time of the year :)

I cannot give you any info about the BMT unit, but can tell you that I did see a posting a few weeks back about a teaching position at UCF (University of Central Florida). Since I just graduated with my MSN and moved to Orlando, I have been looking at tons of sites, so I couldn't tell you exactly where I saw it. I guess you can try googling it. I have lived all over the state of Florida and love Orlando. My husband and I found a place right downtown and are so happy with our decision. We are close to Lake Eola that you can go walking, take your kids to the park if you have them, be there for festivities, and walk to many restaurants. It doesn't feel like a normal downtown, but more of a quaint downtown. Orlando is more than just Disney :) You can always just submit your resume and cover letter to random oncologist offices too. I did that and actually did get a few interviews out of it, even though they did not have any jobs posted. Florida Hospital is HUGE downtown and Orlando Regional (ORMC) or whatever they call themselves now is also a large facility. ORMC is the level I trauma center for our area. I think they are pretty comparable, but Florida Hospital may be a little bigger, and they have the newer facility. I have never been to Winnie Palmer, but my sister-in-law just delivered her kid there and she really liked it. I've only here good things about MD Anderson, but the one in Texas; so I don't know anything about the one here. I wish you luck and welcome you to Orlando when you come. You will LOVE it:lol2:

Do you mean Acute Care NP? I don't think there is a certification like an RN can get certified as an CCRN. I could be wrong, but I think you need the ACNP master degree to sit for the acute care boards to be certified in critical care. I hope someone else responds as I am not 100%.

I've heard rumors that they want to make this a federal thing and some states are doing this. BUT, they are having a hard time coming up with how to regulate or enforce it. Some hospitals/doctors offices will state they want....Ex. ER wants an ACNP, but offices are ok with FNPs. I did hear that specialty offices "should" be manned by ACNPs and not FNPs since FNPs don't have the "advanced" knowledge. I think it depends on your background and your willingness to learn personally..... so I have not heard anything formal on any of this, just rumors.

When I worked night shift I would talk with my patients that I thought would have more pain before they went to sleep. I would give them their nightly meds and ask if they would like to just be left alone throughout the night, or would they like me to come and wake them to take them and they can decide if they want to be medicated. Only a few times did I medicate with IV narcotics when someone was asleep, and that would be the med seeker that no matter what would request the meds exactly on time and I can verify they get it say Q4hr on the dot for the past few days. Being a newer nurse you have to learn judgement calls, but you need to always make sure you are looking out for the patient. They do not know how some of the meds work like you do, and what they "think" could harm them. Don't worry, it is one survey and one patient. You will get more that just don't like you for whatever reason or give you a bad review.

I have to politely disagree with you. I didn't spend the $400 some-odd dollars as I did get mine off Amazon for a lot cheaper and split the cost with a friend. But I think they have been worth every penny. I am one of those people who needs to learn from different media types, I cannot just sit and read something, but need another form to absorb things. So it has been helpful for me in that sense. I don't mind her voice, I think she isn't boring or overly dramatic. Maybe you can sell them on Ebay to reclaim some of your money since you are not satisfied. I know plenty of people would be willing to purchase the CDs. Sorry to hear your bad experience

WOW I did not know that. I think it goes with any person who holds any office/title. You should have some recent experience or you loose touch with reality. It is easy for them to hear things to make decisions, but when you are living with it and having to deal with it is something totally different. Thanks for brining this to my attention. I just wonder what can be done about it?

I am finishing graduate school in about a month and was assigned to a retail clinic a few semesters ago. The one I was at totally did not follow that practice. If it was a URI you were told that you need symptom relief that did NOT require antibiotics. We educated them on the entire virus/bacterial thing and drug resistance. I had every patient ok with my explanation except for one who was furious, and we still denied her antibiotics. We told her she could go to her PCP or another clinic, but they would say the same thing we just did. It is worrisome to hear you say that they are giving out antibiotics like candy. I know every clinic wants to make money, but there are much bigger problems down the road if you prescribe anyone antibiotics who do not need them. I would bring this up to your professor who makes out the clinical assignments to inform her of this. This is NOT what they are teaching us in school and what all of the data and research is saying about practicing. Good luck with everything.

You will still have to deal with this a nurse, but like other people said, it depends on where you work. I LOVE having a tech to help out, but I am not one of those nurses who sends you off to do the dirty work and not offer to help. I find it faster to bathe a person or clean someone up if you have another set of hands. I was a tech in nursing school too, and it really opened my eyes. I see how techs are treated, used and abused, and I knew I would never do that to one of my techs. I think you should try to find another hospital to work at. You need a good environment with a good support staff, whether you are a tech or nurse. This is a good opportunity for you to learn from the nurses and not be tossed around. There are so many different avenues you can go with nursing to limit you time cleaning poo and vomit, but you will still have to do that in almost any area of nursing. It is just limited amount in some areas versus others. Keep your chin up and I hope things get better.

Just to clarify, when you say Cardiac Observation Unit, are you referring to a chest pain center? I know many places call units different things. I did work in a chest pain unit and it was HELL. They had it attached to the cath lab, which did not make any sense. They had you take 6 patients and you could have simple patients who were going to undergo stress testing in the morning and likely be discharged after or you could have someone with a few more risk factors undergoing a cath in the morning. Since we weren't really a typical floor, we could not take high risk patients since the cath lab closes at night and they only had 2 nurses for nights. We did get some drips, but not many. Only when we called a doctor past 10pm with a patient complaining of more chest pain, then we got the "list" of stuff to keep us busy so we wouldn't bother him anymore. Not sure if this answers your question, but hope it helps.

It's been about 5 years since I worked there, but I really like working at Tampa General. They for one have such beautiful surroundings, on an island overlooking the ocean is so nice and relaxing to both the staff and patients. They have been doing a lot with building new towers and renovating when I left. I did not work in any of the ICU's, but did take patients there and they looked really nice. I never saw anyone running around crazy and hysterical. It is a VERY big hospital, so you don't get to meet everyone on all of the floors since it is so big, but I never heard anything bad about any floor. Wish I had more information for you. Good luck

I am a graduate student at UM currently and I have heard all of the teachers talk about how many applicants they have been getting in all of their programs. They have been taking awhile to grade our stuff because they are going through all of the applications and conducting interviews. Not sure if this helps, but just to let you know. Good luck to all of you. UM has a great nursing program for graduate and really good from what I hear from the undergraduates.

Thank you so much for your reply. It was helpful

I am about to graduate soon and am a little confused about both of the examinations. I know the ANCC is suppose to be hard as it has theory and all that jazz in it, but I have heard some rumors that I wanted to try and clarify. Has anyone heard that some magnet facilities require an NP to be certified through ANCC? I would hate to be applying for a job now or in the future and do not want to hear, "sucks you received your certification through XYZ and not QRS." Can anyone give me some insight? Thanks in advance...

I have not heard of them before. I have one semester left before I graduate in August and I love all of the Fitzgerald reviews. I have her review book and I have the audio CDs and they have been invaluable. I hear that her lecture is a must before you graduate to prepare for the boards. My school is giving us the Barkley lecture sometime this summer for us to review for our boards. I have heard more about Fitzgerald, and all of it is positive. I hope someone has a better answer for you.