echo2112

2% seems to be the average. Which is complete BS. Not even close to a cost of living allowance in my area. Housing here has increased on average 13-17% annually since 2007. It's is so incredibly expensive, and yet we can only seem to get a pathetic raise. I got a much larger raise by moving into a specialty field - my bosses had to give me more because of how hard it is to find trained staff.

I believe I will be at the jump start program, but I'll be there to talk to the new students that are coming into the program.

Yeah, that is pretty much what I had last semester. I want to say ours was Lecture Mon/Tues, lab on Wed. Then My clinicals were Fri evening, Sat morning.

I have a pt that has been in facility since 9/12 for a wound infection sp CABG on 08/16. Discharged 09/07 after treatment for wound infx. Came back on 09/12 for SOB, chest pain, and S/S of infx at wound site. Was also diagnosed with bacteremia and osteomyelitis of the sternum at that time. Due to his financial situation with the VA he can't get home health care, so he is stuck in our facility until at least 10/17. Hx includes CAD, DM(type 2 non insulin dependent), HTN, Anemia (chronic, unspecified), hypercholesterolemia. So I am looking at 3 nursing dx based on Maslow. Infection (Risk for) comes to mind, even though it strikes me odd that there is not a risk, since he most certainly has an infection. But infection is a medical diagnosis, so my understanding is that risk for is what would be used for the nursing dx. His labs are normal, except for WBC, HgB and HcT, all lower values. With the lowered HgB value and anemia, I was thinking that impaired tissue perfusion due to reduced O2 carrying capacity would be a good choice, but his SPO2 sats were above 90 on room air. Unsure of the third. I figured that the DM would be important, as it ties to wound healing and immune system, so there is impaired tissue perfusion (renal) but I am not sure if that is really accurate, as his BUN and creatinine labs are normal. There could be something there for inadequate nutrition, both from the DM and the fact that he has been on antibiotics for a month, which is impacting his normal flora in the gut. Or should I look at the CAD and HTN? I am trying to focus on what I did to treat the patient in the clinical setting - IV antibiotics, wound care, assessment. Impaired gas exchange ties in with tissue perfusion due to the CAD and DM, would that be a good choice? Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated!

Level one course load is manageable. I too work in the service industry and had no problems working 4 to 5 days a week and maintain a 3.0 GPA. Level 2 is a whole other matter. I would recommend working as much as you can in level one, take loans or whatever financial aid you can and save it. Come level 2 you are going to be blow away in the difference in work load and difficulty. I can only work 2 days a week right now, and some weeks only one. Having a financial cushion will make your life much easier, school is stressful enough without the added stress of money problems.

Sure, that option is out there. There were both mental health and med/surg offered last summer. It makes things a bit easier, as you are only taking one class at a time each semester, but it doesn't move you through the program any faster.

I know how badly everybody wants to get in and get started, especially if you had been passed over once before. Take it from a level 2 student on this. If you don't get in now, don't despair. Reapply and get in for the fall semester. I honestly feel that you are better off starting in fall over spring. I started in spring, and having that summer off really seemed to suck the wind out of all our sails. Level 2 came as a shock. If you get in, congrats, and hope to see you at the CEC, if not, give it time, you will get there.

I am working on all the online orientation tonight, picked up my scrubs yesterday and my stethoscope showed up on the doorstep on Monday. I also got my email on Monday to register for classes, so I have gotten that out of the way. I am doing the CEC classes, found it interesting that they have them broken down in to mini-mesters. All I need to do now is get my flu shot and physical out of the way and I can go turn in my packet.

A great deal of that has to do with the number of faculty available to teach. If there are not enough staff to act as preceptors in the clinicals, then there will be less spots available each semester.

OP means "Original Poster", or the person who started the thread.

I requested the CEC program, and my understanding is that we will be told when and where to start buying the uniforms and equipment after the background checks.

For the OP, unless things change drastically next semester, a 50.8 should get you in. That is basically what my score was this semester, and I got in. Well, I can't find my ranking email, but I was either 51.7, or 50.7. And if there were 121 spots, while I wasn't last on that list, I was close to it. As for how many defer, there will be more than you may expect, and there will be those people that do not pass the background check and are declined a spot as well. So for those that just missed the cutoff, if you are just behind those that got in, you have a good chance of getting a letter after the end of November. Also, for the OP, in a previous post you said you have a BA already. Have you looked into the alternate entry MSN program at UT? They take people with BA/BS degrees that are not BSN and put you through a program that has you finishing with a MSN. If you didn't make the cut into the ADN program at ACC, I would encourage you to pursue as many options as possible to get yourself into school.