Blue Cat

We see student athletes who come in for sick visits or immunizations. They have access to the athletic trainers and sports MD for the teams. It's interesting that it sounds like it's a dual role in family practice and the campus. Is it for a hospital within a university system?

Yes, we do, as well as outreach on campus and partnering with the college of nursing to provide flu vaccinations. We are involved in student orientation days as well. The health side of our department is only myself and the director, however we share office space with the counseling department and the prevention education department. Did they say who manages all of the immunization records? That is not a small task, so you will want to be sure they are allowing enough time for that as it is an ongoing process to manage compliance and requires a great deal of follow-up and monitoring. We are able to devote more time to that during university breaks. Some schools manage that through their registrars office, but it is not always straightforward and requires the nurse's expertise to review the immunization records to be sure they meet the state health department requirements. I like my role because it is a nice balance between clinical and administrative duties with a lot of contact with students. If you haven't already, I would recommend going onto the websites of health services departments of the colleges in your area to see how they are staffed, how they accept records and run their clinics. Have you interviewed for the position yet?

I am a campus nurse for a private university. I started almost a year ago and love it! I came from an urgent care and med-surg background, still work PRN urgent care. My department consists of my director (an RN) and myself, we have standing orders that we work under and have physician hours two afternoons a week. We see students, faculty, and staff on a walk-in basis. I've learned that some college clinics are by appointment and learned there is a lot of variance among college campus clinics, depending on the school. We collect and manage all immunization records for students as per the state dept of public health mandates, which includes monitoring that students are compliant and enforcing the mandate. We administer vaccinations, draw blood for titers and TB QFT gold, do TB skin testing, collect and process STI urine samples, and run rapid strep and urine dip CLIA-waived tests. With our standing orders, we can dispense prescription and OTC medications based on the standing orders, test results, and specific criteria. I really love working with the students and can provide a great deal of teaching since they are in a learning environment and are just learning how to become independent when it comes to managing their health and wellness. It sounds like perhaps the hospital collaborates with the school to provide services for the position you applied for. I am employed by the university, and have great benefits that include a salaried position full-time 10 months per year, 2 days a week for June and July, and school breaks off. My insurance benefits are great, and I get free tuition for myself and my children through their masters degrees. I would imagine that you have already interviewed by now, so I'll check back for an update. I've learned this is a very unique nursing role that I did not even know existed until I saw the posting for my position. If you are still interested in the role, check out the American College Health Association site; they have a document available that outlines the role of the college health RN.

We use Meditech at my facility and there is next to no space to free-text very much at all. I think the free-text space for a pain assessment allows for 50 -100 characters max. We can link a note where we can free-text, which involves going to a completely separate section of the EMR. Then other staff need to specifically go to the notes section to read any notes. As a new nurse myself, I struggle with knowing how much or how little I should chart. It seems like with clicking boxes to chart by exception I don't have anywhere to document my observations and assessments in my own words. Blue

This is in the OR! I hope patients refuse to have surgery there until this policy is changed. I would not want a nurse in the room with my open surgical wound wearing the same clothing that she was wearing while cleaning up who-knows-what from a previous case. I worked in the OR for many years as a surgical tech before becoming a nurse. Taking the linen bag out is one thing, mopping and wiping down the equipment is another. Not to mention that it increases the workload of the nursing and tech patient care providers. I hope the backlash from this forces Vanderbilt to change this policy. Find other ways to cut costs......like trimming management - or have the CEO come in and clean the rooms between cases. That way "everyone" truly can "pitch in". Blue

I am a single mom and graduated from nursing school in Dec '12. You can do this! I was terrified about how I would make it work, but somehow it did. Do you have any neighbors you trust? I became good friends with one of mine and she would get my kids off the bus and even have their homework done and have them fed by the time I got home some days. My kids would spend the night before my clinical day at their dad's so that was some help, but he wouldn't do more than he was "court ordered" to do, so any extra days were out of the question. There were some days that my neighbor took my kids at 6:00 am so that I wouldn't miss a clinical day. I hope your class schedule works out that you can work around your children's schedules. I always waited to do my homework until my kids went to bed around 8:00-8:30. It's not ideal, but you CAN do it. Good luck to you!! I know it is overwhelming, but you will get through it! Blue

I am so sorry you have to deal with all of that from your ex while trying to manage working after all the hard work you put into becoming a nurse. I can relate to the anxiety it causes you because when there is an ex like that involved, "normal" solutions to child care are not feasible. I hope you find something that works for you.

Thank you for the thoughtful responses! Blue

Thanks for the advice. I can't find the "edit" tab, so can't correct the misspelling. Blue

I wear Merrells and have never had tired feet at the end of my clinical days. I'm starting my first job so we'll see how they do with being on my feet full-time. UniformDiscount.com | Nursing Scrubs, Medical Uniforms & Shoeslue

I am excited and nervous and anxious to finally start my career as a nurse. I expect to be overwhelmed and feel like a fish out of water. I don't want to feel that way though. I am nervous about what the expectations will be of me.....how much the staff will expect me to know. I know skills will come with practice, but is there anything you would want a new grad to know? I plan to take lots of notes and find a brain sheet that I am comfortable with and will help me to organize my day as I try to be more independent. The hospital I will be working for has a good orientation program so they are committed to helping new grads/new hires succeed. Blue

Try Northshore University Health System Leading Medical Offices and Hospitals in Chicago | NorthShore If it's a matter of needing your transcripts from your school I would suggest requesting those asap so that you will have them when needed. It sounds like you are facing the same challenges as those of us who graduated from nursing schools in the U.S., and do have prior work experience. I live in Illinois and know how difficult it is to get an interview. I've applied to what feels like hundreds of positions and have yet to get an interview. Experience is what they want and without that I believe my application/resume gets tossed in the trash. There are several hospitals close to Skokie within the northshore network, so hopefully you will find something. Blue

Unfortunately, it's one of those postings that doesn't give the practice name or specific location. No way to bypass the online application process. Blue

That's what I thought. If there were a place to enter free text, I would clarify that while I do not have the experience, I am a self- starter, very driven, etc. I'm running out of options and need a job. It is very disappointing to have worked so hard to get through nursing school only to be excluded from every position due to not having 1 year minimum of experience. Blue

If an online application asks directly "do you meet the requirement of __ years of experience?" before you can even complete the application should a new grad answer yes in order to apply anyway? I don't feel right doing that, but with every post stating preferred or required experience, and some new grads saying they applied for those positions requiring experience and still landed the job, I am not sure what to do. They might throw out the application just because it's obviously a lie if I answered yes just to be able to complete the application. Blue