Decemberblues

Hello All Nurses ARNPs, I am conducting a 10 question survey/poll to determine the working conditions of ARNPs in the state of WA. For what purpose: personal, potentially doctoral program and eventually help form a union within my organization. Please post any questions. I set the poll to not publish the names of the respondents. Survey will stay up for 2-3 months to allow those of us that don't frequent all nurses to respond. Your time and input is greatly appreciated.

When I entered the BSN-DNP program I wish I would have asked for the DNP Project Guidelines from the school. Perhaps I should have asked for this prior to applying. Because while all DNP programs are accredited and must comply with the accrediting body requirements, they can vary in the type of projects they allow students to complete for their DNP Capstone. So, for instance, a few of my friend who attends the local school are allowed to do a retrospective study or education only study for their project, while my school, University of South Alabama will not. Finding out as you enter the DNP program especially when the program is an integrated program can result in a waste of time and money because you have already completed a handful of courses towards your DNP. Also, it's important to find out how the DNP part of the program is structured. At one of the local schools, you don't progress until your project has been approved which is nice because your not restricted to a semester timeline which can create a vicious cycle of repeating courses. It seems to have caused many students in the BSN-DNP track to drop the DNP part after receiving their MSN. I just find it odd that prestigious schools are approving projects that my school is rejecting. I am interested in hearing what others have experienced with DNP programs.

Dear Tricia and Dixie Redhead, in case you didn't read the part where I clearly noted that this would be the individuals' personal choice in order to gain entrance and start their career. What difference does it make if you are unemployed versus if you are completing unpaid internship that may most likely land you into a paid position.

is it legal for a fairly new graduate nurse with personal professional insurance request to complete an unpaid internship from hospitals/health care facilities? I know this sound ridiculous, but if new graduate nurses are willing to go through a 3-6 months internship unpaid, chances are the facility will hire them on after and if they don't they have 3-6 months or so of training that will make then better candidates when applying elsewhere. Clearly all the proper documents must be signed to protect the hospital from any liability related to unpaid employees. It just seems like This option will save the hospital some money (as most hospital say that the reason they don't hire new graduates is because it cost too much money to train them)...if part of that cost (paying the interns) is cut, shouldn't it be more likely that they can hire new grads? There must be some legal clause? otherwise many hospital will offer the option? Anyway have experience or know of an explanation to this?

I have been thinking about the new nurses coming out of school and how much more difficult it has become to find nursing work let alone go into the area you are interested in working. I graduated in December 2010, and have worked odd jobs and landed in a school nurse position, which is not the area I even dreamed of going into...the pay is crap ( i make the same as I did before I went to nursing school) and you spend most of your days doing paper work..it's like the ideal job for when i retire and want to do something low key. But then again some people enjoy that; it's a preference thing. Anyways getting to my point. Is it fair that schools continue to offer nursing programs, making it sound like there's such a nursing shortage and plenty of job out there and students will find job immediately after graduation or is it the personal choice of the individual? I think it's completely misleading. What I think should happen is that schools should be required to hold off on offering programs, whatever new graduate positions are left out there should be used to recruit the currently un-employed new nurses and continue to recruit the experienced nurses. Because really what's the point of a future shortage (as they say) if comes the time when we are in a disaster and REALLY need nurses you have a bunch of inexperience nurses running around because they were unable to find a job after graduating? I know some may say well like everything else it's competition, however this to me is beyond competition...having 900 some odd new graduate nurses apply to an internship program where only 20 are hired is a bit ridiculous and I just feel bad for the new graduates coming out...

for those that are finding jobs right out of school...where do you live? share some of your strategies perhaps on how you landed your position right out school. i guess I refuse to think I am not a blessed child or unlucky because i can't find an ideal job if even a nursing job! ;~)

with nso i noticed they cover off duty emergencies, i didn't see that on proliability...is this correct for those that have the latter? also would it be okay to post the annual cost for the ones people have or would that be too personal of a question...i am assuming this may not be helpful to me as the rates differ base on how long you've been a nurse? and just to sum we have proliability, NSO, and CM&F. thanks.

I am sitting on my couch unemployed and exhausted from applying to over 500 jobs since I graduated in December 2010. I then got to thinking there's such a large number of RNs out there especially unemployed ones that we should be able to get some attention. I would think something as simple as a bunch of nurses contacting their senator/governor with some data could put pressure on them and bump the priority up a notch. I'm sure they are aware of what's happening but in the meanwhile people have no way of paying of their loans... Anyways i wanted to start a poll an actual poll with this focus, but I don't have premium member services. if anyone with premium member service is interested in taking on this project please do. The defining categories 1) current unemployed RNs 2)RN employed 0-6 months s/p graudation 3)RN employed 6-1 yr s/p graduation. then for those interested you can use this resource along with the endless research out there on this matter to write a letter to you governor. just a thought.

@ hiddencatRN: this may be a good question to put on a poll, then you would have a better idea of the amount of BSN vs ADN; even then it'll take come time as not everyone will respond to the poll right away but it'll give you a better idea...

it's really about using your training to your advantage. so if a patient is attacks you do you have the skills to get away quickly or access other staff to intervene...those are the things you want to think about. While taller and heavier might make a patient more hesitant in physical attacking you I don't think it stops them, I think you would have to be really tall for patients to be intimidated..I say this because the security guys we had were pretty tall. That being said the key to success in this field is to not be afraid...i.e. don't think about your size and make sure your defense tactics are polished and use them confidently.

the other replies are interesting and completely different from what I carried as a Psych RN at the State Psych Hosp. I had the pens but that's all really, occasionally i would carry a brain, but other than that...not much else. if I needed to get vitals on a patient we had a pile of steths, and we had CNA that did that for the routine...and nurses did it or the urgent cases along with their assessment. Granted this was one special place and I resigned before I got my feet wet so that should tell ya something huh.

I had my first interview face to face,got tons of compliments from the interviewing panel, then did my second interview over the phone and bummed it! let's just say I never got the job :) oh well.

http://www.box.net/ we used this quite a bit during nursing and it worked well...someone will need to set up an account and share the login and password info with the rest of your class.

i think there's just a lot of power issues...because there's a lot of political garbage in nursing schools. or at least a few of the one in my state. I have enough friends in programs that I hear about different issues. i.e. if you're not dealing with HESI, you're dealing with the absence of equality. some schools will not let you sit for your boards until you get a score that they have set before graduating....after like the 5th time of taking the HESI exit, if you can't achieve that number, you don't ever get to take the exam...they drop you from the program...after all that money invested into the program. at the same time they insert many opportunities for students to be dropped from the program; i.e. most schools have HESI as a part of a course grade; thus if the avg to pass the course is 75% and HESI is 20% of the course grade and you are border line HESI score can drop your score drastically....this is an issue for many students as HESI content is at times not something the students have been tested on....and the instructors don't write the questions so students don't do well....it seem reasonable that this percentage should be a lot less. Because I really believe that HESI is there to improve the NCLEX outcomes, but it counts for too high of a percentage. Another issue is that I have seen students dropped out the program while others, say the people that threaten legal action are allowed to stay. It seems that those who have the evidence that would increase their probability of winning the case are the once the present a threat and are allowed to stay...or even in one case the wealthy parents of one students verbal threats to sue were heard only once before a revision was made to the petition and the student was allowed to stay; while many others have been let go regardless whether they raise a good point or not....the sad thing is that when you look at the students that were dropped and the one student with wealthy parents, I would rather have the students let go caring for me if I was not well. One school in our area actually had a group of male sue for gender discrimination and the school settled! that's how threatened they felt....granted I don't think the students finished the program; but I don't know if that was a personal choice.

I AGREE completely with previous posters....I graduated from a school that did a lot of horrible.things. some student wrote letters to the president of the college...others spoke with the dean...no results. They can can make your life horrible if.you take action while in the program. The first response that addressed waiting until you get a job is right on...because with your first job you wil most likely be asked for clinical instructor references...I'm assuming most clinical instructors stand with the school and may not be interested in giving you one. This is personal experience based....it's like high school where people can't make their own judgements but if one faculty says you're bad everyone jumps on the boat. once you're employed....you can still report this. Iknow I have under my sleeve that I would love.to shake out.the people you report it to....if you have not already gone to the president of the college then try that...then after all of the aboveis in place report to BON, accrediting companies of the school and board of trustees members that financialy support the school...this I GUARANTEE you will ruffle.some feathers and the matter will be taken seriously.when I first read your question I thought it was one.I had posted...the wordin was almost verbatim...then I. Saw the author name and it wasn't mine...guess it's. More common then I thought.