ShantheRN

MIDAS students get mixed with the other MSN students, which I find rather odd and usually frustrating. I am a traditional MSN student so I can't comment on your curriculum. I will say that all of the MIDAS students know each other. It's like a big gang lol Despite the annoying parts, I think it's a great school.

An entry level nurse is an entry level nurse, regardless of degree. You won't get preferential treatment over BSN new grads, and you'll get the same amount of orientation. I'm in an MSN program with direct entry folks and I'm annoyed because I feel like the class pacing is slowed down to accommodate them. But that's a whole other thread lol You will soon find out the NCLEX nursing isn't close to real world nursing. I work at a pretty big hospital and there is no incentive pay for degree. Once you get over that, the reality of the job market will set in. I'm kinda surprised the pay difference is so much! I have friends in Dallas that are making quite a lot. Good luck with your search!

I'm currently in a CNL program, and I will tell you.....there is definitely some conflict. Personally, I do not think a brand new nurse is qualified to be a nurse leader. I say this from the perspective of someone that has been bedside for 5 years. The faculty gets all in a tizzy if you suggest that a new grad cannot be a leader. How can you lead when you don't even understand the basics of the position? It baffles me. It's also annoying because a lot of class time is spent explaining concepts that bedside nurses understand, but are totally new to the direct entry students. I get blackmailed into coming to class because everything is a group project lol That being said, there are CNL positions across the country, although the market isn't great right now. Despite the evidence that shows CNLs improve so much in health care, it's been slow to catch on.

I'll start from the bottom. If you want to be a CRNA(I'm a little confused about the FNP angle?), you need critical care experience. The programs I've seen require at least 2 years. Get your BSN and some experience before you jump into the grad school pool. For all you know, you'll hate the profession. Those three school schools you mentioned are highly competitive and respected, but they come with a super steep price tag. If you are planning a direct entry program, disregard that part about BSNs. You can get a critical care position as a new grad with a diploma, ADN, BSN, MSN....or not at all. It all depends on your job market, your connections, your marketability, and about 10 other factors. OP, it really depends on the program. My undergrad GPA was 3.8 and I still didn't get accepted into every clinical track for my MSN. My guess is the FNP program filled fast because I am a prime candidate on paper. At least that's what I'm telling myself lol my ego can handle that.

Busy....intense.....heart breaking at times....and totally worth it when you get to send someone home after their last cycle. It's so unpredictable, but I love the intensity of it. I find it very rewarding. I also have very firm boundaries that prevent burn out. I don't go to funerals. I don't get too involved with patients. You get to know families because they are inpatient so long, but I have to keep them at a certain distance. Generally speaking, I leave work at work. Regularly scheduled PTO is my friend as well. I've worked it 7 years and have no intention of switching specialties. I love it. Like Kel said, all of those kids are acute and chronic at the same time.

Thank you so much for the replies! I've read nothing but good things, but it's nice to get some feedback from natives. I love my hospital, but my health issues need a warm environment. I keep looking at your temps and sighing. Being cold hurts too much now! I'm a little concerned about the humidity factor because weather fronts can make my fibro flare up....but the mild winters would make up for it. I don't like the urban sprawl, but again...these are things I can deal with if I have an awesome employer. I've lived in Ohio my whole life and I am super done. I want a big change, and my body forced me to get moving on that! I am going to start visiting places in the next year. Even if I hate your town, at least I'll get some awesome food [emoji4] again, thanks! I appreciate it.

Howdy, folks! I'm planning to relocate once I complete my MSN so I'm doing recon on potential employers. Can anyone give me the good, bad, and ugly on this facility? Bonus points if you have any experience in peds there. I will be looking for CNL positions. I will have close to 10 years of peds hem/onc experience by that point, so no "peds is a hard choice..." advice is necessary. I love my pale baldies =) I'm looking more for info on the work environment, and Houston in general. Thanks for the help!

You're going to have to work weekends. It sucks, but it's temporary. It's pretty difficult to arrange a work and school schedule to include a full off day from each. I used to always look forward to the holidays because there was a 50% chance I'd be off at work, too. I work nights, and doing school during the day is totally doable. You have to commit to a sleep schedule, and make sure you don't work the night before clinical!

This is in response to whoever called me ShuntRN lol now I can't find the original post. Not that it matters, because no one's mind is going to changed by this yearly debate. Ugh. Just to clarify, there were two flu vaccines that year because the swine flu strain wasn't in the original vaccine. It was too late into production to make it in the original batches. Secondly, you missed the entire point of that story. Without the vaccines, I probably would've ended up hospitalized with pneumonia. Instead of pneumonia, I got secondary bronchitis. Hence the extra long recovery time. If I had to live it over again, I would get both without hesitation. Please read the entire post before latching onto a single passage. I do make sense occasionally :)

I hope I live to see the day that this won't be considered controversial, and instead will just be plain common sense! Yes, I get it every year. Yes, my very large nationally ranked pediatric hospital employer requires it. I work in peds hem/onc and it would absolutely be the most selfish, irresponsible thing ever for me to work with that population and not acknowledge how my personal beliefs will kill a patient. I'm diabetic so I've gotten it every year since I was a kid. I don't understand how people can consider themselves health care professionals and not acknowledge the massive amount of data that supports vaccination campaigns. As a nurse, I find that extremely concerning. As part of a vulnerable population, I find it infuriating. I've had the legit flu once in my 38 years, the year the swine flu exploded. We took care of tons of kids with that particular strain during that time. I made it all the way to January before it got me, despite all the precautions I took. It took me 8 weeks to recover. I have never been that sick in my life! I received both flu shots that year. Had I not, I probably would've ended up hospitalized with a more serious complication than bronchitis. Vaccine programs work. Period. I forgot an answer! Yes, I know people that have been terminated due to their refusal. They sued for wrongful termination. They lost.

I have fibro, along with a weird degenerative form of arthritis in my back (DISH or Forestier's disease if anyone is bored and wants to google). Fibro flares exacerbate the back symptoms. I was diagnosed with DISH last March, and the fibro was the past winter. I'm on gabapentin, which thankfully was the first med we tried and it worked. It took about 6 months to get my dose correct. The biggest thing with any chronic illness is making your health a priority. I used to push through pain because it seemed ridiculous that I was so relatively young and felt so bad. I say no when I need to. I don't work overtime. I have a sleep routine that I follow pretty strictly, and my diet is mostly whole foods. Giving up artificial sweeteners made a huge difference pain wise! I use melatonin nightly. I work nights, but my sleep disturbances occur whether I'm on a work schedule or living a regular one. I take tramadol at bedtime as needed. Sometimes, my best friend is my electric blanket. I've learned to listen to my body and take care of it. I'm 38 and sometimes I feel like an old woman with my electric blanket and ceramic mug of tea....but my quality of life is SO much better when I do what I need to do. I started grad school this month, and I am careful about planning out my time. I use a planner and schedule in rest times and exercise throughout the week. The key is consistency and adaptability! Nursing school and a nursing career are possible. I actually intended to spend about 10 years at the bedside before starting my MSN. Instead, I started it after 4 because I can't physically do my job for as long as I intended. My rheumatologist has been pretty amazing. Rather than telling me I can't be a nurse (which I've read about online....grrr) she worked with me to develop a plan that will work for my life. Follow up with your care team - no matter how busy life gets...I remember the craziness of nursing school - is critical. If I work three nights in a row, I know my first off day is likely going to be spent lounging in bed watching TV and trying to distract myself from the pain. I accept that, but it took a long time for me to do that. Get yourself a solid support system and you'll be fine!

Psych nursing is vastly different from the hospital setting, regardless of the patient population. Peds psych is a foreign world that has nothing to do with my acute care peds experience. Listen to your mother - there are just as many nutty family situations in the adult world as there are in peds. At least in peds kids can be forcibly removed from a bad situation.

I didn't bother with the class. Do you still have your peds book? You can brush up on weirdly specific stuff with that. My hospital offers the classes and materials to all employees. I brushed up on GI because I felt like that was my weakest area...other than that I really didn't study. I work hem/onc so I rarely see those conditions. I passed it easily, and I didn't think the test was bad at all. Make sure you're solid on growth and development stuff!

Most internal transfers only require 6 months. Just remember there's a big difference between being a student intern and an actual nurse on a unit. Make sure you really love it before you transfer. If you truly love ED and can transfer now, I say go for it! Typically ED is a competitive floor so it might help your chances if you stay where you are a bit longer. If you can get in now, why not? For what it's worth, I have never worked a single day in adult med/surg. It's not the prerequisite that everybody thinks it is.

I second the Brooks! I recycle my running shoes into work shoes. I love them. I have flat feet and fibromyalgia - no complaints as long as I wear those suckers.