Marie32

Hi All, I’ve been an inpatient case manager at a hospital for a few years now and am thinking of applying for insurance companies. I would love to work from home eventually, but am concerned about the home office requirements. I know you need a door that locks... my only options would really be the basement, and set up an office down there, or my bedroom, and dedicate a corner to office space. I would prefer the basement option, but am not sure that would be satisfactory because other people could go down there. What have been your experiences with the requirements needed to work from home? Are there other requirements besides a door that locks? Thanks!

Thanks for the response! How are you liking case management so far? What book did you buy to read beforehand?

Hi All, I was recently hired as an in-patient case manager at a large, local hospital. I am brand new to case management and have been a nurse for about five years, mostly on med/surg and telemetry. Anyway, I will be starting my new position in a couple weeks and will have a 6-8 week orientation. Does anyone have any advice as to how to be successful in this new role? Anything I can do, read, or study, before I begin that will help? I am nervous, since it is so different from bedside nursing, but excited about a new chapter! Thanks!!!

Hello All, I have a panel interview for a clinical nurse educator position at a local hospital coming up. The panel will consist of nurse educators and nurse leaders. During the interview, I will be asked to do a short (around 5-minutes) training/presentation on a topic of my choosing. I am kind of at a loss as to what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions? The position is for a Med/Surg educator position. Any help and pointers are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Oh...also if you search for UMSL Accelerated Program, there have been some past posts about it that could be helpful. Especially one from 2010, if I remember correctly.

Hi! Congratulations on being accepted! I went to UMSL and graduated from their Accelerated Program a few years ago. It was great because I was done in 15 months, but it is extremely, extremely stressful. A few days before classes start, you will have orientation in which they go over some things for classes, you can meet your classmates, tour the school again, and order your uniforms. The first semester you have classes like Health Assessment and Pathophysiology (If I remember correctly). You have lab hours in which you learn how to assess patients and practice on a lab partner. You learn how to take manual blood pressures, auscultate lung and heart sounds, etc. You test out on a full body assessment on your lab partner at the end of July. During these first few weeks, in addition to classes and Health Assessment Lab, you have another lab as well (I don't remember which particular course this is for). During this lab, you learn nursing skills and practice on lab dummies, such as IV insertion, Foley catheter insertion, wound care, NG/G-Tube care, checking blood sugars, and even making a bed with a patient in it. In this lab you have quizzes each week, in which you have three chances to pass. If not you can fail out...but do not let this scare you...I only know one person who did and she did not try or study at all. And the students really help each other out. In the first semester, you start clinicals the last four weeks, which is different from the traditional course because they do not start clinicals until well into their second semester. But because it is accelerated, they kind of have to throw you in there. In this clinical, you honestly do not do much. You are assigned a patient and assess them and give them a bath really. The first day, we were even assigned a partner because everyone was so nervous. You also start with care plans when you start clinicals and have to go up to the hospital the day before to look up patient info so you can work on your care plan, which involves the nursing diagnosis, the medications, medical diagnosis, etc. And then you get a couple weeks off at the end of August and it starts again... Second semester has classes like Pharmacology, Med/Surg I, and Psych. In this semester you have clinicals at a hospital for Med/Surg, as well as a Psych center. You get to sign up for hospitals by picking numbers; this way people can pick where they want to go if it is still available. You are assigned a Psych place. You have lab where you continue to work on skills, such as central line dressings and blood draws. Med/Surg clinicals work the same way as before, except now you can do a little more. You go up the afternoon before and look up your assigned patient and work on the care plan. The next day you work with the nurse and assess patients and give medications when it is your day. Psych clinicals are different because you do not go up the day before. You are assigned a patient and work on the care plan while there because it is all on lockdown and unsafe to go up alone the day before. During second semester, you also have a day on "Simulation Sam," in which the teacher manipulates the simulation dummy as if he were a real patient and you must work with your fellow nurses to delegate, assess, and find out what is wrong with him. Then wonderful Christmas break...There are internships/externships available, but only a handful of people in my class took advantage of them because we relished our break so much. The traditional course people were the ones who took advantage of them mostly. Third semester has classes like Med/Surg II, OB, and Pediatrics. Again they use a number system to pick hospitals. You have a day with "Simulation Sam," but you also have a day with a simulation pediatric child. Clinicals get more intense and you are expected to do more. It was not until this semester that a lot of us nursing students did our first real IVs, Foley caths, etc. You have clinicals for Med/Surg II throughout and then OB and Pediatrics is split. So you have six weeks of OB and then six weeks of Pediatrics. Then you have a few days off and will have a meeting about placement for your senior hours. They place you for this according to preference and class placement. I was somewhere in the middle of my class, but still ended up getting my preference hospital and floor for my preceptorship. Last semester has Senior Synthesis, Leadership and Management, and Community. During Senior Synthesis class, you review material and prepare for the N-CLEX. Clinicals for this include your preceptorship in which you will be placed with a nurse and need 180 clinical hours. During this, you really learn to take on the role of the nurse. You also have clinicals for Community, in which you are assigned a particular community (such as Delmar, Imperial, Central West End, ect.), again picked by numbers and preference. You have a project or presentation to work on for the community like a free health promotion day at a community center or a drug free program at a school. You also have a big paper and health packet to complete that includes the health statistics of that particular community. For every class, passing is a 76% (although they were talking about raising it when I went there). The accelerated class is very competitive because everyone is used to being the best and having a 4.0. As was I. But by the second semester, I was kind of like...Oh, screw it... B's are fine. Haha. So it is tough. They cram a lot in, in a short time. That being said, I also made some great friends because it is such a good bonding experience as well. I actually find myself missing nursing school! As far as your question about graduations...I went out of town the first weekend after nursing school started for a graduation. I had homework and a test to come home to already, but I just took it all on the plane with me and studied whenever I had time. Oh, also...it's possible that you could have homework due the very first day, so be sure to check online. They do not just give you the syllabus and let you go the first day...they dive right in. This was also a few years ago, so some of this could have changed. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions. I'm sure you'll do fine!

Thanks for responding! I am not too concerned about the research project because I don't want to go on to get my doctorate. Do you like the program...is it doable while working full-time? Why did you choose this program...do you want to do something in rural nursing? I'm just afraid if that's where I go, the rural focus will hold me back. I am looking at Benedictine, which is much more expensive, but I really like their program from the looks of it.

Just saw this post... I am thinking of applying to Benedictine for MSN in education. What do you guys think of the program? Is it doable with full time work? The only thing I am debating about is the money...it's more expensive than some state schools I was looking at, but from everything I hear, my gut tells me that I should pick Benedictine.

I was looking into the University of Central Missouri's online MSN program. Has anyone attended the program or is familiar with it? The only thing that worries me is that it is a focus in rural health nursing and I wonder if that really matters...

Hi everyone! I am thinking about going back to school to get my MSN in education. I would like to do an online program and right now my top two picks are McKendree University or Benedictine University. I was wondering if anyone has gone to either one of them and what you thought of the programs? I seem to like Benedictine's program a little more in that each class is 8 weeks at a time, but it is also around $5000 more than McKendree. Just wondering if anyone had any input...Thanks!

Hi everyone! I am debating getting my MSN because I do not particularly like bedside nursing and can see how having a MSN can help advance my career. However, I do not know what exactly I want to do with it. I do not really want to teach, but I do not want to "lead" as well...so having said that, does it matter what track you pick? If I picked leadership and then wanted to teach, does it matter, and vice versa?

Hello! I graduated last year from the accelerated BSN at UMSL and can tell you a little about it. It is very competitive to get in to. They say the minimum GPA is 3.0, but really to even have a chance to get in, you need at least a 3.5 or 3.6. You do not need a bachelor's already, as long as you have enough credits...I think it is like 76 hours or something. I did not have a bachelors already and my GPA was 3.9. Definitely apply for the early admit by September because they fill the spots quickly. The program is very, very intense and is the most stressful thing I have ever done. That being said, it was also awesome, because I was done in 15 months as opposed to 2 years. They cram a TON in so be prepared to have no life for 15 months! There are pros and cons to every program though and you just have to try to make the right decision for you. Let me know if you have any other questions!

I am and have never been sooo stressed in my life! I will be done in August and it can't come soon enough. I am so burnt out and just feel so unmotivated right now...6 more months!

I am still in nursing school and have done clinicals at both BJC and SSM facilities. I definitely have a preference for SSM...I can't put my finger on why...I just like the feeling I get from them better. But then again I didn't like clinicals at Big Barnes b/c I felt like just another fish in a huge pond...I tend to like smaller facilities. As far as St. Anthony's...they do not have the best reputation and I think a lot of that has to do with their ER. On a side note: mhmo9804...I saw that you said you went through the SSM Futures program...can you tell me about it b/c I am interested in possibly applying? (I have another post for that, if you want to answer on that) Thanks!

I will be graduating from a BSN Accelerated program in August and was thinking about applying for SSM Futures. There is not a lot of information out there about it and I was wondering if anyone on here has been in it and can tell me about it? What were your experiences with it, did you enjoy it, when did you have to apply by, is it competitive to get into, how long is it for, are you paid...? Anything anyone can tell me would be great! Thanks!!!

Hey everyone! I am new here (i've been lurking for months lol) and had kind of a wierd question. I was scratched by a stray cat on Sunday when I was in the country. I was feeding him and he got a little playful and grabbed my leg leading to about 5 small puncture wounds that bled a little. They seem to be healing fine...a littlle red still, but I have been putting anit-biotic ointment on for the past few days. In my micro class today, however, we were talking about viruses and rabies came up and kind of freaked me out. I know rabies is transmitted by salivia and I wasn't bit...only scratched. But if the cat licked its paw is it possible for me to get rabies? He did walk across a big field right before he scratched me, so I doubt the salivia would still be on his paws. And anyway i can't really remember him licking his paws...I know that's a weird question but now I am paranoid. Is there anything I need to do? Does this warrant a call to the doctor? Thanks! BTW...I start nursing school in January so hopefully I won't ever have to ask anything this stupid again! lol ;-)