paradiseboundRN

Congrats! But you have to agree that many posts are from students that already have a bachelors degree or took the program over a year ago.

I started the RN-BSN program 4/1/13. One of the reasons that I chose WGU was reading the posts about how fast the program could be completed. Well, I want to clarify that for those of you that are considering WGU for the same reason. What the posts fail to tell you is: 1. The students that have completed the program in record time ALREADY have a bachelors degree in another subject. So most of their prerequists are already done. 2. They completed the program before WGU added additional mandatory classes. They seem to add more each semester but after you start you are grandfathered in. Don't get me wrong, you can still accelerate. I've finished 8 classes this semester but I still have 9 to go due to pre-requisites. Be careful what you are reading. I've noticed that posters leave out the "I already have a degree part"

That sucks, I have also worked most of my career per diem for the same reasons. I'm a current RN/BSN student. I wasn't asked much about my employment except that I needed to send a resume. Don't ask/Don't tell :)

First of all, the pre-assessment is much worse than the objective assessment, so don't get discouraged by that. The preassement was written by the school? and the objective test was written by the NLN so there are no multiple choice answers. The questions are refreshingly concise, and not misleading. Many of the questions were easy and about 15 I had to guess at. I had no anatomy questions. Most of the questions require you to know the abnormals and normals but not what the abnormals mean. Don't waste time memorizing all the diseases. I did have at least 20 infant questions. I would spend time reading each chapters examination techniques, as there are a lot of questions about positioning. Also, concentrate on the infant and I had a number of questions about heart sounds which I thought were hard. Hope this helps.

Here is some info if you are currently in the RN-BSN program and may want to switch. I'm currently in the RN-BSN program and was considering the MSN education track before these changes. I called my mentor about the changes and she said that students can change tracks in between semesters. My semester ends in September 30th and the new MSN programs may or may not launch in September. If I finish the semester before they launch than I can change to RN-MSN and be grandfathered into the old RN-MSN program. I'm not going to be heartbroken if I'm not able to do the old program, but if I can, I'll take advantageous of it. The person to call at WGU regarding changing your bridge program is Mary Pugmire.

I think what you are really asking is why are there no HOSPITAL jobs available? When I started nursing school in 1997, they best information they gave us was "when you graduate, there will not be jobs in the hospital, the jobs will be in the community" and for the most part this has been true. The problem is the nursing profession still wants all the new grads to work and learn for the first 2 years in the hospital. Great idea, but how is that supposed to happen with no jobs? Even if the older nurses retire, the new model of care is away from the hospital. We need to be thinking how these new nurses can get experience outside the hospital. For example. home care agencies have many job openings and the patient acuity is growing rapidly. The nurses in home care do everything a med-surg hospital nurse does except give blood. We need to provide new grads preceptors and educational experiences outside the hospital so they can get their experience and a job. The jobs are out there, but you're not looking in the right places!

Here is some of the stuff I used, if your agency does not supply them: 1. pill boxes at the dollar store to use in a pinch 2. a fast electronic thermometer at the drug store or a tympanic one if your agency allows 3. a hand mirror for looking at back of legs/feet easier 4. a couple of pencil case size bags (Walmart used to carry sturdy ones), Ziploc bags, or small plastic containers to use to separate supplies in your bag 5. a notebook for your car for mileage, notes, etc. 6. a GPS 7. Either carry a drug book or if you have a smart phone download "Epocrates". Its free and its the best drug resource book around. 8. a flashlight. That's all I can think of for now. Good luck!

I really don't like reading extensively on a computer. Therefore, before I start the class, I go online to Amazon.com and look for a used version of the textbook for the class. So far, I have been able to get them very cheaply. This way I can highlight, etc and I don't have to be on the computer all the time. And as a bonus, students get Amazon Prime free shipping!

If you are working a weekend, call on Monday morning to get orders. Call the doctor that is going to sign the 485, which is either the doctor that signed the original order from the hospital or the patients family doctor. Ask him if you can add PT/OT and give the reason. You should be calling him/her anyway to let him know that the patient has been opened and what the plan of care is (this is a Medicare regulation). If you can't speak to the doctor directly, leave a message with his staff, but be sure to get the staff's name so you can put it in your charting. Request a call back from the staff member that he said the additional services were ok to add. Regarding the lab work, the home care office should get a copy of all the labs. You're going to ask about that. The other option is the call the lab yourself, they might give you a verbal or will fax a copy to the office. A lot of questions are going to come up as you move along in this new position. You will need to find someone at the agency to ask these questions to. If you don't feel comfortable with your manager, maybe one of the other nurses will help you. These questions are normal for a new home care nurse, you shouldn't be embarrassed to ask them. Hope this helps.

Epocrates is the best drug app around. Its so good I can't believe its free!

There are many HH agencies out there. You need to decide if this is the one you want to work for. Here are some questions that you should ask. Try to remember, you are interviewing them too! Is this agency non-profit or profit? Affiliated with any hospital? How long has the company been in business? Where do you get your referrals? How many referrals per week? What is your usual census? What territories does your agency cover? Which territory has the greatest need? Which territory do you want me to cover? Do you pay mileage? What is the current rate? How will I get paid? Hourly? Salary? Per visit? If per visit, how much for a SOC?, ROC? D/C? If salary, is their a minimum amount of patients I need to see per week? Point structure? Will there be extra pay if I exceed my quota? How does your on-call work? extra pay? Will I be working weekends? How often? extra pay? What is your turnover rate? How much seniority does your employees have? How long will my orientation last? Will I have a preceptor?

oh yes, many HHA's are a mess! But thank goodness there are so many agencies out there to choice from. There is no reason to stay with a bad one. I do know changing jobs frequently takes a toll on the nurses' psyche, but its better than being used and abused. The caseload number can be deceiving, as some of those patients may be 1/month catheter changes, so the important number is visits per week. A full time nurse in home care is expected to see 5-6 patients a day. Many agencies use a point system and a FT nurse must have between 28-30 points a week. RV=1 point, SOC= 2, Re-cert=1.5, Resume=1.5, D/c=1. It is very common to have a scheduler. Their job is to assign new patients to the nurses and other disciplines. I do know of some agencies that try to actually schedule what day and time the nurse will see the patient, but it never works!

You can measure calves/ankles/feet as long as the nurses all agree on how to measure. For example, if you are going to measure calves, how many centimeters from the knee or the foot? If you can agree on it, then all the nurses can compare measurements and monitor the edema correctly. CMS (Medicare) likes to see measurements for edema.

What is a Baylor position? I've been 11 yrs in home care and have not heard of it.

This topic has been talked about a lot. Check the searches.

If they absolutely refused to go now, then I would call the doctor to let him know about the refusal and the possibility of the patient going later. ALWAYS call the doctor in these situations! Then, I would chart my butt off about it. In my note, I would use the exact wording that the patient and/or family said in quotes. I would chart that I notified the dr and my manager (if appropriate). I would chart that I explained to the patient and family the possible outcome if he does not go to the hospital and they verbalized that they understood.

Both my husband and I tried to appeal, no luck!

I don't know anything about that. I think you messaged the wrong person.

First of all, if your interested in a flexible RN-BSN program with affordable tuition, check out Western Governors University. I have been in home care for 11+ years. There was only a handful of times that I felt unsafe and it was because of the neighborhood, not the patient. I wouldn't let safety get in the way if you want to do home care. As far as the paperwork, home care requires a lot more than other specialties. Thankfully, most nurses have laptops now and that makes it easier. You get faster with the paperwork, the more you do it. You're right that you won't have "time off" like the school job, but if you want to be challenged and really use your nursing skills, do home care. Hopefully, most employers realize that home care nurses are doing almost all the skills that hospital nurses do. I don't think an employer really understands what school nurses do. So I'd have to say home care looks better on a resume. Nursing in the community, such as home care, is where the jobs are going to be in the future. The specialty of home care is growing rapidly and will continue to do so. It is getting harder and harder for nurses to break into the specialty without having experience. If you have a job offer, that's great. Since school nursing is your only experience, if you continue with it, you may find it hard to move into another kind of nursing.

Personally, if I had to take all that stuff again, I wouldn't do it! I would go into another less stressful, field! It wouldn't be worth it for me.

I have an ASN and an additional year toward my BSN and I still have to take 6 prerequisites. I happened to have some other classes that fit because I started to major in another field before nursing. Both my husband (BS in marketing) and I tried to appeal our credit evaluations with no luck. However, my husband took his 6 credit course "Law and Ethics" (that they wouldn't transfer) and completed it in a week and a 1/2. When his mentor questioned how he was able to finish a 6 credit course so quickly, he said "I told you that I took it before"!.

I think you should have experience in the hospital with peds before you take a home care job with a pediatric company. Nursing school is not enough training when it comes to pediatrics.

Where I work, they don't use per diem, but will use agency staffing. That makes no sense to me. Either way, they don't pay benefits but I know agencies charge them a lot. Am I missing some part of this equation?

I'm a home care nurse. When I admit a patient to home care, I have to try to reconcile their medications. Sometimes it can take hours just trying to FIND all the med bottles in their house! After that, I make a complete med list for them. I always tell the patient to bring that list to their doctors and the hospital. I'm trying to help you guys out.

I think this is more complicated than you think. I would hire a consultant.