Tree5981

Hello, Are there any schools that hire for teaching online courses if you have an MSN and not a DNP? I've been looking, but don't see many. It looks like I may have to obtain my DNP if I want to pursue this avenue. Thanks :)

What a beautiful story. I love hearing these stories. I picked oncology mostly because my mother in law had lung cancer and passed away from that as well. I was so angry at the way she was treated in the ER by the nurses. I promised I would never treat anyone with so little compassion. Oncology patients are very special to me. I treat them all as if they were my family. I enjoy the journey I take with them through their disease. The emotional aspect can be a lot to handle when you get attached. But there are some patients that touch your life in such a beautiful way and stay in your heart forever. Also, oncology nurses are the most compassionate, patient, kind, and understanding nurses I have ever worked with.

Chemo gown, chemo gloves, mask. I work on an inpatient unit.

I am a night owl and I do find that the first night is the hardest as well. I find it easier to work 3 nights in a row, and it allows me to switch to a day schedule on my 4 days off so I don't feel like a total hermit. Otherwise, you feel like you are doing nothing but sleeping all the time. I have black covers to black out the windows so I can sleep better. I also take zzzquil if I have a hard time falling asleep after work and I can't wind down. Tree

Our ratio max is 1:5, but when I was on a regular med/surg floor it was 7 patients max. I agree it is unsafe. I believe you are allowed to decline as another poster mentioned.

Hello Everyone! I am currently enrolled in the RN to BSN/MSN track. I have one more semester and I will have my BSN. Hopefully I can shed some light on this school for you and answer some of your questions. There are no tests at all. This was the main reason I went to this school. It is all discussion questions and writing papers. Some of the classes are structured where you write papers throughout the 10 week course that are completely separate papers. Then other classes have it where each paper builds up to one final paper. It is a lot of researching and writing, but I work full time and take 2 classes at a time and it is doable. Someone mentioned "fluff" classes and I can sort of relate to what they are saying. There are a couple of classes that seem redundant to other classes I had previously taken at Capella. Mainly the subject of cultural sensitivity and competence. I had 3 classes already where I had to talk about a specific cultural group and what diagnosis they are most prone to, the barriers they face in healthcare, and write about how a nurse would deal with this situation (ex. patient teaching, sensitivity, communication, etc.). Besides papers, there is the occasional project. I had one class where I had to do a physical assessment on a person and have someone watch me do it, and sign off on the papers. Another project was called a "windshield survey" where you drive around and look at a specific community and write about what you see. The great thing about this school is they give you templates to help you with your papers and projects. They ease you into writing the papers and give you links to help with proper formatting. One of the things I dislike about the school is the tech support. I felt that they weren't very helpful at times. I had a couple of instructors who I felt were never "present", but for the most part I have had great instructors throughout the program. The biggest appeal to me for going to Capella was the fact that they transferred all my credits, and I didn't have to take extra pointless classes at the local colleges and drive there. I really didn't want to take chemistry, statistics, and other required classes. In doing so I would have had to take a bunch of extra classes to take those classes, costing me the same amount of money to go to an online school and finish within a 1 1/2 years. Hope this info helps. Tree

I felt this exact same way when I started oncology. The drugs are overwhelming and it is a lot of information to take in. Just give yourself time to get used to it and slowly over time you will be surprised how much you learn. For me, the best thing that helped me was just taking it one patient at a time. I was able to better remember the regimens, side effects, and diagnosis when I related it to a specific person. When I remembered that specific patient it helped me to remember information about their treatment plan and the side effects they had with it. Hang it there, it gets better I promise! Tree

Hello, We had a patient that got pregnant while she was receiving chemotherapy. She received adriamycin, which is highly toxic to the fetus and causes deformities. She was informed of this fact and was torn about terminating the pregnancy. Eventually she decided to terminate. This is a different scenario than you may be looking for since she was already in the middle of chemotherapy while she got pregnant. Adriamycin has been shown to cause birth defects, but if a patient is a earlier stage, they have other options such as surgery and other chemos.

Will you be applying for the full time or part time track? I did the part time track and worked full time. It was doable with my work schedule.

I am starting in September and I have heard good things from friends that are currently enrolled too. It seems very convenient and my enrollment process so far has been very smooth. I'm excited to hear how you like it once you start! I'm anxious to hear more about this school and wanted to find more people who are interested in the master's program too. Keep me posted on our progress. :)

You have to call 217-782-8556 to request a fingerprint card. The line is busy a lot but keep calling until you get someone. I got the fingerprint card by mail and then went to Fingerprint Pros. If u want lives scan u can only use the ones on the list that Illinois provides you with but they are all in Illinois which does you know good unless you are there. The longest part of the process is getting the fingerprint card and getting your school to fill out the education form. Hope this helps :)

I have a nevada license too and applied for Illinois. It took me a few months but I had no issues getting an Illinois license. The hardest part was getting them to send me a fingerprint card. They mail you information on what forms you may be missing. Once I sent the incomplete forms in I got approved pretty quickly. Mine took a while because of I procrastinated on the fingerprinting.

When I graduated from nursing school I got an internship in oncology that was funded through a government grant. I think there should be more programs like this out there for nurses. It is a great learning environment,, and got certified in chemo. It gave me the tools I needed to be a better nurse. Obviously, our government has an enormous amount of debt, but hopefully in the future there can more internships for new nurses.

I had that problem too. I just had to keep calling over and over again until I finally got through They sent my fingerprint card shortly after (about 2 weeks). So just keep calling until you get someone.

I work in an outpatient facility and it will be closing in 2 months. I only have 8 months experience. I can tell you that the job hunting situation is looking pretty sad for me as well. In response to the previous poster stating that there are more than hospital jobs, this is true. But I can tell you there are far more job postings for hospitals than there are for outpatient facilities...trust me I have looked EVERYWHERE. I have applied at both outpatient and inpatient...even out of state. It seems to me that its who you know. As someone previously stated, if you can give your resume to a friend that can give your resume to a manager that can help. I've known people who have at least gotten interviews this way. That's what I'm doing now since the 100 places I have applied have not responded. I agree that this is very frustrating. I feel that there should be some more programs (ex: internships) that help mold and train new grads. The only reason I have a job now is because I landed an internship. It has taught me a great deal and gave me the opportunity as a new nurse to learn in a good learning environment. Unfortunately, it will be ending sooner than I hoped. But the point is, you gain so much experience this way! There needs to be more internships!! I understand it costs hospitals thousands to train people, but in the long run it benefits them. Hang in there, don't give up, and don't listen to any negativity from people on here!