jtk57

I do feel valued. My manager makes a point of saying so regularly. The leadership of the hospital do the same; it's a great atmosphere in my hospital (I work in an outpatient clinic). As far as CEO compensation, I usually make it a policy to not dwell on what other people make salary-wise. I love my job, I will never be a millionare working as a nurse but I never thought I would be anyway. As a career changer I just feel absolutely blessed to have found a career I love and that has so many opportunities to learn and grow as a professional. There are a lot of people who never achieve that.

I enjoy my guns (including my handgun), and I am an RN. After active shooter training in my clinic, both myself and a colleague (ex military) were in agreement; we wish we could have at least one armed staff member each shift. It's too bad owning firearms, which as mentioned is ABSOLUTELY a constitutional right, has to be so politicized. Good guys (and women, like my colleague) with firearms can and have protected liberals and conservatives alike.

I hardly notice when I am told a pt is a nurse or has a nurse in the family. So often that "nurse" turns out to be a CNA or similar caregiver. People group all kinds of different jobs and professions under being a "nurse" but that is another thing entirely. I just treat each as an individual and that usually works out OK.

Good for you man you will do wonderful things for your patients! Congratulations!

I did my OB/GYN rotation in a hospital that serves a big orthodox Jewish population. Our clinical instructor arranged things so that no one was uncomfortable or excluded and I had a great experience working with patients doing exactly what the female students were doing. As a male nurse, I would estimate at 10% or less the times patients (male or female) have declined my services because I am a guy. That includes straight to my face (my preferred route) or through requests to managers or other nurses. No matter how caring and awesome you are as a nurse, as a guy you will have to deal with discrimination from patients. I just want the best care for them no matter who delivers it so I don't take it personally. In a OB unit that 10% refusal rate will jump just because you are a guy. If you can deal with it then of course go for it. Hopefully the manager knows their patients well enough to be sure that your talents won't be wasted just because of your sex. I will say that if you wear a wedding ring and/or have kids of your own that can tend to make families and patients more comfortable with you. Good luck getting your dream job!

Your mental health is your business. You may be surprised how many of your colleagues and instructors are on psych meds themselves. If you think others will judge you because you take medication then don't feel compelled to give out that information. It's nothing to be ashamed of though. I know there are always other factors in play but I don't think you should worry that your meds will mess up your nursing school experience; like others have said, they will likely help! Good luck and remember to put your own health and well being first. Without those you can't help others the way you will want to.

There are so many different discussions here about online FNP programs! homehealthWCN, RN, BSN; I am also in home health at this time working as an RN/Case Manager and I also am very passionate about wound care. I totally get what you are saying about independence in working with patients but still needing to communicate with PCPs all day long. Sometimes I really enjoy the exchanges with MDs and NPs and sometimes it is not as rewarding and fruitful. Anyway, I also am starting to gear up for Fall 2017 in hopes of starting an online FNP program but I am still trying to decide where to apply. My alma mater for nursing school is University of Maryland Baltimore but they offer only DNP now. After a 5 years of practicing as an RN and really finding my footing in a clinical sense I just want to move on with my career in an efficient and cost effective way and so I still am looking at MSN programs instead.

I graduated last year from a school of nursing ranked in the top 10 in the country in US News and World Report. It's located in a large metropolitan area known for fine schools and hospitals, and I am currently working in the hospital "across the street" from said School of Nursing. My nursing school graduating class was about 600 strong with half getting Graduate degrees and half Bachelors. In fact, we graduated the largest class of nurses in the state and the graduation ceremony was massive. As nursing graduates we had our own pinning ceremony and rah-rah session in the same building, but it took place before the actual convocation so we got to celebrate twice. The only reason I am saying all this is that I graduated from a huge, well respected school of nursing and the majority of my classmates were thrilled to be pinned. We chose people who meant a lot to us and who helped us get here, and they pinned us. Some chose a special faculty member or mentor, some chose a spouse or one of their kids. One of my classmates chose to be pinned by the first black graduate of the school of nursing, a wonderful elderly lady who is an inspiration to all of us. Anyone who says this ceremony didn't mean anything or that larger programs are abandoning pinning ceremonies is being disingenuous. If administration thinks it is a hassle, or if they want to save money, or if they have some other motive, they should just come out and say it. The notion that pinning ceremonies somehow diminish the standing of the school is ludicrous. Congratulations on your achievement and keep fighting to keep the special traditions of nursing alive; nursing is a breed apart, unlike other undergraduate programs, and every time a hallowed tradition is discarded like it doesn't mean anything, part of that unique bond among nurses also is lost. Just my 2 cents!

Not trying to sound too high and mighty, but we should all consider the long term consequences of a short term indulgence in "giving the boss a piece of my mind about the way she runs this unit" or "burning bridges", etc. Nursing and healthcare are a small community, especially when you are looking for jobs in the same metro area. Finding a job is hard enough without having people think you are a bad apple, even if it is not true or you just had a moment of weakness. That being said, at least in the state where I work, the policy for management is, if they are called and asked if RN A worked on their unit, they say "yes" or "no" and really don't offer that much more. Managers are not able to provide recommendations and they are not expected to provide any information other than whether or not the RN worked for the time indicated on their resume. If that is the case in your area as well then it seems to me it wouldn't matter if you burned bridges, at least as far as the formal application process goes. Like I said though, informal communication between managers and other nurses could be a problem.

This happens all the time. Even if I get report on a patient at 16:30, I could bet the mortgage payment that patient will not be on the floor until 18:45. My patients who have been off unit getting CT scans, MRI, etc. also seem to magically re-appear on the unit at the "witching hour" of 18:00 to 19:00. I have had charge nurses who refuse to accept transfers between 18:30 and 19:30 and I personally appreciate the heck out of that. On some level I think that having one RN take report and rush to evaluate a new admission and then hand off to night shift during shift change and all that is going on, it's not the safest way to provide care to the patient.

This thread hits home for me. I work 12 hour day shift on a MS floor with a lengthy commute to and from work. I get up at 5:15 and out the door by 5:50 with my bagel or toast in hand to be eaten while I drive to work. We are supposed to get a couple 15 min breaks and 30 for lunch; no way do I take a breakfast ever. I choose to spread my "breaktime" around during the day so I can pee when I need to and I generally take 15 mins or so to scarf a bagged lunch around 15:00 while on the unit. I know plenty of RNs and Techs whose entire day seems to revolve around taking lengthy breaks to obtain food, snack in the break room, and kick back for a relaxing meal in the middle of the day. I have no idea how they do it, although I suspect it may have something to do with delivering a lower level of patient care than that to which I hold myself; not unsafe care, just less responsive to patient needs. Just my opinion.

Hi Guys, I took the NCLEX (75 questions) on June 21st and tried the "trick" when I got home about 3 hours later. At first I got the pop-up saying that I had an open registration, etc. I checked back a couple hours later and I got the "good" pop-up. 48 hours later my RN license showed up on the SBON for my state. So... just one more instance where the "trick" turned out to work. Congratulations to everyone else who passed! Good luck with your careers. Jtk57

I also had Dr. ***** at CCBC Essex. His class was extremely rich, especially in Neuroscience, which is his specialty. His tests were designed to see if you actually understood the material he presented; if you want to learn by reading a book and memorizing things, that is not the way he teaches. BUT, if you want to learn a wealth of information that will be VERY useful to you when you are in Nursing school (as I am now at UMB), I would highly recommend Dr. *****'s class. He came highly recommended to me by others and I am happy to pass it on because I thought he was brilliant. Cheers!

Thank you for your input, *ac*. I could cut Lexington Market garage in a pinch but it wouldn't be my first choice. Maybe if I am rolling in my 98 Civic with 170K I could park off MLK with no worries. Thank you for the info about the cafeteria; I know there must be somewhere I could go and do some reading in or around the hospital at an early hour. Just wanted to say this website is great! Where else could I go and get so much great information about almost any topic. It makes going back to school a little less intimidating. Thanks, Jesse

Wow so I can get a quick workout in and then read up on Pharmo! Thanks for the information.

Thank you so much for the good info. By "early" I meant at least 6AM, but it sounds as if I will have a tough time finding somewhere to sit and read if I get in that early? Guess I could always hang out in my car but that doesn't sound too appealing either... From what you say and what I have read, BioPark may be the best way to go. My main concern is getting ahead of traffic going downtown during rush hour; I am commuting from the suburbs and when 83 becomes a parking lot, I don't want to be anywhere near there. Thanks again, Jesse

Hey all UMB Nursing Commuters out there! In my quest to continue trying to learn as much as possible prior to orientation, I just wanted to know how you all get to school and, if you drive yourselves, where do you park your cars? I read about parking available in the BioTech park, and apparently you catch a shuttle to the area where school is? Anybody park at Lexington Market? That's where a friend of mine parked daily when he was in Graduate school at UMB, but he told me he believes there are better places to park (not hard to believe). I'm planning on getting to school early each day to get ahead of traffic; is that pretty common for most folks? Does that allow for any more flexibility in parking options? Oh how I wish Baltimore had more reliable and user-friendly public transportation, but for now I am stuck on my 4 wheels. Any suggestions or opinions are most appreciated. Thanks! Jesse

Thank You Blue Orchid, Sounds similar to what I was thinking RE the new textbooks, CDs, etc.. One thing that is not lacking these days is access to information, especially at a school with the resources UMB has. As far as the scrubs go, I am going to visit the bookstore for some other things, but will probably go with Uniform City for my actual scrubs (my wife swears by them). I'm 6'2" myself, but luckily my "soon to be old" job had me wearing khakis every day so I have quite a collection. On another topic you brought up; what is "open lab" exactly? Just kind of an open atmosphere for students to practice skills on each other in a lab setting? Orientation for me isn't until August 18th, so no, I still don't know all there is to know about all this stuff! Thanks, Jesse

Thank you Jules, that has also been my experience; older books can be just as good as long as there isn't something specific to the new editions that is needed. I bought most of mine used on Barnes and Noble .com this year. We'll see what the semester brings and maybe I'll adjust my buying in the future. Thanks again! Jesse

So I have been trying to assemble my books and supplies needed for the first semester of CNL classes at UMB. Of course if I was to buy everything required and / or recommended by the Instructor and the Bookstore, I would be spending more than our mortgage payment for one semester's worth of books. Anyone with experience out there care to let us know if pre-packaged DVDs, CDs and online access codes bundled with the new books are really needed or required? Most used books don't have these things, and in the past I have been burned when the syllabus says they are required and the professor doesn't even mention using them once during the course of the semester. Also; how many pairs of scrubs do we need? Did everyone sew patches on theirs? So many questions.. Thanks! Jesse

It was a tough choice because my first instinct was to get it over with as soon as possible, but I went with the 23 month for one main reason; my wife is expecting and the winter break will (hopefully) coincide nicely with our lovely new arrival. Otherwise, I see the 16 month as the "tear the band aid off quick" option and probably would have pursued that.

My wife and I have talked about my working as a Tech in the last year of school. I think it will be a feeling out process as to how comfortable I will be with work and school at the same time. It is my understanding the first year is challenging, in particular the second semester, and I have been informed that nursing school is not like, say, being a history major. The way I see it, I get one chance to really apply myself and get the most out of this great opportunity. I literally have the rest of my life to work (with the way the economy is I will probably die at work before I can retire ). So if it seems like work is do-able, I will pursue it, but not until the 2nd year if at all.

Hi Sienna, I applied for this grant a couple weeks ago. I have yet to hear back with anything, but I have heard that it is one of the more popular grant programs with nursing students, especially ones with no chance to get need-based aid. It says right in the form that money may not be available for all qualified students, so I figured I would get mine in ASAP because it seems like once the funding is spent for the year, that's it. There is an option to pay the money back if you for some reason cannot complete the required work committment, but I am not sure what penalties there may be. If and when I hear anything back I will post to the group. It would be awesome if everybody else could do the same! Jesse

I definitely have hope, as does my wallet ! Thanks for the support.

It would be awesome if they would contact me in June and let me know, even though I am anticipating the worst case, which would be they call me on August 15th after I have already lined up my loans, bought my UMAB parking permit and ordered my books! With the cost and major planning that goes into applying to and getting started in a program, it just seems nuts that they would view accepting people days prior to the semester as an acceptable way of welcoming incoming students. But I guess it has everything to do with folks dropping out at the last minute and the need to fill every open position no matter what. I guess I should be praying that somebody who was accepted into the program gets cold feet and backs out so I can get in!