ModelMom

Hi, Pay per visit has always worked really well for me, and at times you can negotiate to have extras thrown in when you discuss pay with your DON. Even if you start at a low rate per visit, as long as you present yourself well, make yourself the expert on your patients and their health situation, and remain prepared and consistent...your patients will praise you and request you. At that point, your DON will be hard pressed to retain you and that will be your time to place your request. Most ppv agencies also pay you for your mileage as well paying the approximate amounts as below: SOC - $100FU/Revisits - $60Recerts - $80Resumption of Care - $80D/C - $100, andusually the state going rate for gas/mileage reimbursement.When you are making your offer, you can ask for things such as an hour of paid documentation time for each SOC, and30 min of paid doc time for each F/U, and ppv increases where the going rates in Cali are close to the above.I hope this helps. Goodluck ? Remember, We RN this together Trischana

JKL33 is ABSOLUTELY right! I'm sorry you were a victim of such inappropriate behavior, but grateful that you know how to handle such a situation in the future. None of us are perfect, which is why we have insurance. So, keep that in mind and move forward in your growth, as to not enable this situation to be a positivity sponge. Good luck with everything :)! Remember, We RN this together Trischana

I agree, there are def pieces missing, but in my experience there could be a number of things going on where the doctor is making an attempt to right a wrong(s) with Medicare/Medicaid for previous abuse/misuse issues,there maybe something weird going on with the relationship between your agency and the doctor, like caliotter3 mentioned there is something weird going on between the doctor and the patient and the doctor. orthe doctor doesn't think that the patient will benefit from a recert and will only get discharged before the HH services are advantageous for the patient anyway.I hope this helps a little. Feel free to message me with any questions or clarification. Goodluck ? Remember, We RN this together Trischana

Hi! Congratulations on graduation, and I wish you ALL the success and prosperity in home health...I'm sure you are going to slay it ?! I've been in the HH arena for almost 8 years now, and I've had the pleasure of working in two states that were drastically different as it pertains to HH nursing. I began in Maryland which hadn't really taken to the 30 minute skilled nurse visits as California had. I thoroughly enjoyed HH nursing in California, but it was hugely unregulated and very autonomous for the nurse. However, with that autonomy came huge repercussions on your nursing license if things were to go horribly wrong! I'm sure your experience will depend on if you accept an 8-12 hour agency position or a start of care/30 minute follow up position. Either way, I found it very useful to know and understand the nursing scope in your state,the documentation tools and procedures of your agency, andyour nursing strengths and witnesses.Be prepared to learn a lot on your own as it pertains to documentation, because your documentation is the primary source for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements for home health services that you provide. As long as you present yourself well, make yourself the expert on your patients and their health situations, and arrive prepared...you will be wonderful! If you ever have any questions feel free to message me ?! Remember, We RN this together Trischana

Hi Monster620! Your response was very relieving. I thought I was CRAZY for wanting to go back to school for another degree, but nursing is my calling. It was just really weird deciding to go back after already being so old, and making so much money in my initial career. However, first semester was AWESOME, a bit stressful, but the key was to stay ahead in my readings, and to take the time to practice the lab skills prior to check-off day! I'm so glad the semester is over so I can rest a bit, before entering the med/surg floor of calvert memorial hospital. All in all CSM is pretty great! You will run into organization and collaboration problems everywhere, so it fits the bill! Good luck with everything. Feel free to contact me with any questions. Talk to you soon :)

Hi Michelle...CONGRATULATIONS ! For registration, I was there at 9am and it was set to start at 9:30am...I was between the numbers 60-70, and I was the next to the last student to get the PF campus day clinical! I was sooo relieved when it was over. It is a great idea to get there as early as you can, the first people in line were there at 6:30am...I know crazy right...but they got their campus of choice without the worrying headache. Registering online for second semester was just as worrisome. You know most people were so worried about Webct not working properly, however mine always works fine, and it was first come first serve again. It was so bad that Jackie had to set a time for us to start registering, and if you registered before that time, you were dropped and had to wait for everyone else to register before registering again! Which campus are you wanting to attend?

Thank you very much :) Your reply was very helpful!

Hi Everyone, I just finished my first nursing quiz, and got an 85%, due to the fact that I can not "for the love of me" understand the portion of the nursing diagnosis labeled etiology. My book's definition is unclear, and if I think of it as a "risk factor", I feel like I confuse it with the problem. I need a better understanding of the etiology, and telling it apart from the problem in some cases, in order to ace my first nursing exam. Any help is greatly appreciated :) Also, how is an 85% on my first nursing quiz viewed in the grand scheme of things? Thanks Again, ModelMom

Thanks, everyone! I got my acceptance letter on last Friday:) I'm so siked...I start my hospital clinicals in January. I have completed all of the classes that are not nursing program clinicals, so I only have clinicals to complete! Thanks again :)

Hi Everyone, I am proud to say that I received my acceptance letter from the College of Southern Maryland of Friday:yeah: I am too siked to be actually starting my clinicals in January! Has anyone else been accepted to the College of Southern Maryland Nursing program?

Hi MissLadieTee Congratulations on completing your nursing application early! I too completed mine early for the Spring 2010 session, and I am awaiting my acceptance letter, which should be out to me sometime around October 15th I feel like this waiting game is a bit much, but what else can we do? I was also worried about my undergraduate GPA hurting my chances of getting into a nursing program, and since my BS was in mathematics and physics, I had a few prereqs to complete before hand, so I used the prereq time to strengthen my cumulative. Your story is very interesting as, I had a very hard time in college during my sophomore and junior years, when I found out that my grandmother had breast cancer and she passed 2 weeks before my return to my sophomore year of college :zzzzz She was my only support during college, soooooo I had to get a job and ignore my feelings in order to maintain...needless to say...it took me until my junior year to get things right and by then the damage was already done to my cumulative Good luch with your acceptance, and I hope you share your great news with us What school did you apply to?

Hi I think your plan seems pretty reasonable, considering you would still need to maintain a full time job. I think the most cost effective, and family/work friendly approach to nursing, would be to get your associates degree in nursing, and then roll that RN (after passing the NCLEX) into an RN-BSN or RN-MS/MSN program (if you already hold a bachelors degree), as most RN-MS/MSN programs have BSN classes along with MS/MSN classes incorporated into the final degree curriculum. I think that getting a second BS degree would be great if you could stop working to go to school full time, but if not don't risk your cumulative and understanding of nursing to attend a BSN program while working...it's just a bit much! Just be sure to remember that the average associates degree in nursing takes about 2 years to complete, and if you decide to attend this program part-time it will most likely take longer than 2 years. However, most RN-MS/MSN programs are about 16-24 months, so you could make up time there. Also, instead of actually entering the nursing program part time, would it be possible for you to take as many of the classes that are incorporated in the program, such as A&P I and II, Micro, Nutrition, etc. before you petition for the actual nursing program, so when you start the nursing program you would only have nursing classes to take, for example each semester you would have a nursing class along with that class' clinical, so you would only be carrying 6-10 credits per semester and it woul donly be one class really with a clinical. This is the approach I took, as I did not want to be overwhelmed with too many classes at one time, so by the time my actual program starts in January 2010, I will only be taking clinicals. This satisfies your want to go to school part time by completing your non-nursing classes first, and comleting only clinicals while you are in the actual nursing program. Also, with most of the RN-MS/MSN programs I have looked at have demanded that applicants have atleast 1 year of experience prior to starting the MS specialty portion of their MS degree. So, say you want to be a nurse anesthetist, you would need to complete atleast 1 year of acute care experience prior to starting your curriculum for nurse anesthetia. As far as having a BSN, my mentor is the CNO of Calvert Memorial Hospital in Maryland, and he consistently says that rolling from an RN-MS/MSN program is the best path for those already equipped with one BS/BA is another field other than nursing, as the RN-MS/MSN programs cover the BSN course and curriculum. So you should be fine :) Good Luck, I hope this help :)

Hi Everyone, I am a 27 year old mom and wife of a 21 month old son. I received my bachelors degree from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland in 2004, and I am now awaiting my acceptance into the CSM nursing program. I was wondering of their are any other graduates from the CSM nursing program, or current students in the CSM nursing program, or other pre-nursing students awaiting their acceptance letters into the CSM Spring 2010 nursing program. I'm really excited about this program, as they have a 97% NCLEX passing rate, which means they are really effective at preparing their students for the NCLEX. I am also a little nervous as, my cumulative including my pre-req work is a 3.5. I managed to get all A's in my pre-req, except for A&P I and II, which I received a B's in. I still have to take Microbiology this fall, so when I start the actaul program I will only have to take my clinical classes, as my pre-req's will be completed. I would love to hear what more experienced nursing students have to say about my cumulative, and grades in A&P I and II. Also, I would love to hear from others interested in CSM or currently attending :) P.S., I plan on applying to the UMD RN to MS program upon passing the NCLEX, but I'm still really cloudy on the year of experience I need to fulfill. Should I fulfill this experience prior to applying to the program or fulfill it while I'm in the program. Fulfilling prior to the program seems better, as I would not want my grades or family to suffer due to my work schedule. Can't wait to hear from you :)