simbawicz

I've completed the BSN courses and am starting the MSN portion today. It is self paced, and that can be both good and bad. I've rocked through some courses very quickly, and have dragged my feet through others. Use your course mentors early and often. (or do it the hard way.) The tuition is a flat rate, so if you find you have the time and energy to finish your required assigned courses quickly, you and your student mentor can add another course...and another...as long as you complete the added course by the due dates in that term. Talk to your student mentor about your goals, and to your course mentor about your courses and including any issues in completing either the paper or task, or the exam. The flat rate tuition per 6 month term allows you to add in extra classes at no cost, again, as long as you complete the extra course on time. If you don't it doesn't cost you financially, but it will result in a not pass on your transcript. According to the program info, it will show as both pass and not pass once you do complete it, but the not pass remains. Fortunately, your student mentor will guide you in the process and can help keep you on track. WGU builds in a small time buffer at the end of the term with paper (task) submission so you have time to revise if you need to, and stay within the required submission and completion times. A couple of things I really value about WGU vs other programs is, there are no bulletin board submission requirements, and NO group projects. Some schools require you to interact a specific number of days per week. That's not the case at WGU. There is a format, called course chatter, that you can post to or not. I read course chatter because students and course mentors discuss things that might benefit my understanding but I've never felt the need or desire to post there, and it is not a course requirement. You submit your own work, and do not have to ever do a group project or paper. If you have ever had to do that online, it can be stressful and frustrating if someone won't or can't do the work. Hope that helps. I've loved WGU, and found that any problems I have encountered have been related to my own life challenges (work, health, procrastination, etc.) and that the student and course mentors have been competent, generous, and compassionate in getting it keeping me on track, or celebrating my successes.

Use your course mentors. I started the course thinking I didn't need to engage them, but once I reached out to them, I got through much faster, with far less frustration, and find myself thinking that is one of my favorite courses. Engage in a cohort, and set up phone appointments with your course mentor. Book an appointment at the beginning of your course engagement, tell them your concerns, and interact with them any time you get stuck. In addition to the appointments, they have general office hours and you can call in and talk to any of the course mentors, and they are all kind, helpful, and fun to talk to. When you reach out to a course mentor, they typically give you bonus material that is not in the course of study.

I'm in the RN-MSN program. No requirements for i-anything. You need a tablet or laptop or desktop or something to access your courses and write and submit papers (tasks). I have an old Sony Vaio desktop, a small Asus tablet, a BlackBerry phone, and a Samsung Galaxy work phone, all of which have accessed WGU. I submit my written work on the Vaio (my preference) and the student mentor calls me on the BlackBerry. IT is exceptional about efficiently and congenially addressing any tech issues you have. I have Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and FireFox loaded as browsers. Some applications such as external test sites work better with one browser, and this term I think I used all three. There have been a few issues with Mac products, but they are always resolved...as are the Explorer, FireFox, Chrome issues. I hope you love it as much as I do. The staff including both student mentor (coach) and course mentors (professors) have been kind and helpful and encouraging. Let me know if you have any questions I can help with. I'm very happy with my selection.

I genuinely feel your pain. My personal solution is going back to school, in spare time I don't really have, to get a MSN in education. So maybe I can transition to working from home in my comfortable clothes, teaching online, or mentoring online. You are right, the hospice industry of pretty much what you describe. To me, it's a better fit than the hospital, and it's the patient relationships that make it worthwhile, but it's not a lucrative profession, and it can tear you down physically, emotionally, and spiritually unless you can find a "why" that keeps you mostly grounded and mostly contented. I'm sorry for what you are laboring under.

You are misinformed. We treat much more than anxiety, restlessness, dyspnea, nausea, and constipation. We still treat medically, just not toward a cure of their admitting diagnosis. We treat infections, wounds, and have to perform differential diagnoses when symptoms erupt, or are intractable, etc, and we educate patients and families in creative ways. Your post reminds me of something I heard from a L&D nurse who said hospice nurses don't even have to document like real nurses, "What's to say? 'Not dead yet.'" To OP, yes, it is very hard. I am a hospice RN Case Manager, and I usually start reading after hours notes around 7:15 am while the coffee is brewing, then decide who gets seen when. It's a rare day that I'm completely done with visits, phone calls, documentation, team collaboration, etc by 8 pm. Five days a week. And yes, I am salaried. I'm in a rare company with no call, no weekends, few holidays. It is hard when you start. Patricia Benner reminds us that it takes a year to stop being a novice, around 5 to become an expert. Moving from one nursing specialty to another puts you back in the novice category. I'm sorry you are not getting what you need from management, but honestly, I can't immediately recall when that ever happened in my nursing career. But for me, this is the best kind of nursing there is. I hope you can find a mentor or two among your colleagues. In hospice, my coworkers provided the most education and support. Not management. But I have also realized that my managers were over their heads in work and were often suffering the same learning angst in their positions that I was. I hope you find the support you need.

While I can't tell you the starting wages, what I can tell you is that when I moved from Ohio, I took a $2 per hour pay cut, I thought. Turned out it was an equivalent, as I had been paying state and city taxes, but no state of city taxes here. I suggest you look at what you pay in city/state taxes where you live, then add to your offer. Have you considered seasonal positions?

One more caveat: if you see standing water deeper than a rain puddle assume there is an alligator in it. Down here there is an alligator that can climb chain link fences. They are much faster than you might think.

I think it depends on the student. : )

Oooohhhh, TARDIS. If I were on the TARDIS, I'm afraid I wouldn't be here. Or now. Sigh.

What she said, plus, how do you document? Salaried or hourly? How often are you expected to be in the office? How frequent is IDG/ITM (if you are case managing)? Are you given a mentor?

I work for a competitor of Vitas in another city. I did interview at Vitas, and partway through the interview, I thanked them for their time but told them based on what they had told me of their job expectations (never mind wages) I was not interested in the position. That said, I have a friend who adored her time with Vitas. My response to your questions, though, will be the same that I give whenever someone asks my opinion of a facility or organization: whether or not the company is good or bad, the reality is it is fully dependent on the integrity, experience, and professionalism of the individual who is providing the service. A bad organization can have remarkable individuals who consistently do what is right and good. A good organization can have individuals who do not. Employees who are bad, in a good company, will likely be discovered and rehabbed or asked to leave. Good employees in a bad company usually are either asked to leave because it disrupts the company's culture, or they leave after realizing their own reputation can be impacted by the bad reputation of the company. You had a bad experience. Not all hospices are what you witnessed. I would suggest, if you have that option, look at not for profit hospices. Trust your instincts. My own cynicism tells me that if the hiring individuals treat me badly when they are trying to court me prior to hiring, I'm likely in for much more abuse once they "have" me. I keep looking.

Exactly what she said. I use Home Care Home Base.

We have comprehensive visit documentation with supervision questions that are expected with each weekly visit, and are done by an RN minimally every 14 days. We have nursing visits minus supervision that can be done by an RN or LPN. We have PRN visits that are "focus" visits. So, if I typically see a patient weekly, and for example I fully assess a patient on Monday, see something new, or make a med change, and want to check back in in 24-48 hours, I will choose the PRN visit. I will focus on that thing I am rechecking, still assess the patient as usual, but only need to document the area of concern, and of course any further decline, new symptom, etc. In all visits we also document a narrative even though the visit notes are pretty thorough. The PRN visits are acceptable as long as we do the comprehensive visits within the 14 days. I believe it is actually 15 days, but our company policy is 14, and a little easier to track, I think. I am an RN Case Manager, and this has been the documentation expectation in 2 companies in 2 different states. Does that help?

I believe you may have missed that it is $600 per HOUR.

I think I watched too many episodes of Dark Shadows and X Files and the like. All I could imagine is the offender is an incubus or succubus. I do not know the gender of the OP offender.