BNice74

It’s very frustrating that people who are not nurses nor understand the workflow are the ones deciding how many nurses should be working a unit. ? Isn’t that why we have a nurse manager?!??

No I'm in Northern California. We have an amazing manager who tried to let us staff by AWHONN guidelines but the finance people make sure to not let that happen.

Any chance you would like to become our director??? ?

Thanks for your reply. I have all this information but I am researching to find out what local hospitals are actually doing b/c the hospital I work for most definitely does not follow any of those guidelines. They are staffing based on California State ratio not by acuity and they most definitely are not using AWHONN Guidelines, that is what we are trying to get them to follow. They max us out with 4:1 assignments that include C/S less than 12 hours, 2 late preterm babies on blood sugar protocol with breastfeeding issues, and a pt on triple ABX for chorio or unstable BPs. We get pts on mag (q1hour assessments) with 2 other couplets who are far from stable. It's ridiculous. I was hoping to find out if other hospitals use AWHONN or do they all staff to the max ratio to save money.

Hi. I am doing some research and hoping my fellow Nor Cal Postpartum RNs can help me by answering some questions. What is the ratio on Mom Baby (3:1 or 4:1)? Does your unit take Bakri, high risk pts who require more monitoring, and/or Mag pts? If so what is that ratio? Do you take care of 35 -37 weekers? What is that ratio? Do you care for NASS babies, babies on phototherapy, or babies with sugar/temp issues in MB? What is your blood sugar protocol: SGA and late preterms for 12 hours and LGA, GDM for 24 hours or is it more involved? Do you use glucose gel? How often do you take vital signs on well babies - q8 or q4? When your unit makes assignments do they staff based on acuity or ratio? Do they take into account any social issues, if mom requires lots of breast feeding help, or if it's a first time mom or high risk of PPH? Also if you work for a Kaiser hospital or non-KP facility and the location. Thank you!!!

I changed jobs bc I moved but luckily work the same position (postpartum RN/Nursery Float) at the same organization (KP). I earn 46% more and the culture is night and day compared to my last facility. In So Cal there was a huge issue with bullying and favoritism, lack of leadership, and high turnover. I knew it was a stressful environment but didn't realize how overworked we were until I transferred to Nor Cal. Now I work with a great team so everyone helps - lab does newborn screens, a tech does hearing and CCHS, each shift does different tasks so it's not all left to the discharge nurse. And L&D nurses help too - they stay with pts if you're finishing a break or if it's close to shift change. And they respect postpartum nurses which is usually unheard of. We all work together and break together. We are all nurses. It's truly team nursing. And we have a strong union that actually helps us - we have a break nurse therefore we are forced to take all of our breaks whereas in So Cal we took our phones with us and hoped pts didn't call. When I started working in nor cal I felt as though I left an extremely abusive relationship and finally realize it didn't have to be that bad. And I get paid more now too.

@ teelovely: Even with your 2.75 GPA you should still apply. You have nothing to lose but the $20 application fee. Also, I completely agree with Sugarlips about ADN. Its not worth the extra time it takes for an ADN b/c it's even more difficult to find a job after you graduate. Go directly for the BSN. Apply in Feb for the Aug cohort. Take your missing Science class and apply again for the May cohort. I had to apply 2x even with a 4.0 in my science classes. But other classmates got in on their first try with lower GPAs than me. There really is no method. Just apply and write a kick ass essay.

@ GypseyGirl: I feel your pain. I started my first job at a hospital job this past summer. I worked 11 weeks on a very high acuity telemetry/cardiac floor then switched to postpartum. And haven't loved either one. Don't get me wrong, I love patient care, it's why I chose nursing but I do not like all the other stuff that is part of nursing: like the over-the-top charting, all the hospital policies and procedures, and most especially all those unrealistic goals. For example, they expect us to give excellent patient care, spend as much time as possible with the patients doing teaching, etc but make sure to chart meticulously, make pt satisfaction calls, and update the charting when the nurses prior to you didn't do something they were supposed to do. I often wonder if bedside nursing is for me but it's hard to talk about with others b/c like you said, we need to "stick it out" and "be grateful to have a job in this bad economy." I had to sign a 2 year contract for this new grad program. If I break it I have to pay thousands of dollars. At least in my situation, I am not bored but my schedule is horrible. I have to work night shift and almost every weekend b/c I am new. Even though my contract says every other weekend, that is not the case. I have no work/life balance and I'm exhausted all the time. I don't mean to sound like a baby but it's so stressful and I feel trapped b/c management doesn't really care. The first floor I worked on was tough (medically) but it was a very supportive environment (d/t the staff and managers). I moved floors b/c I couldn't wait to work with the babies thinking I would like to eventually get into NICU but now I am working a crappy schedule with nurses that talk about everybody and managers that really don't seem to care about how bad your schedule is. They spend most of their shift auditing your charting to see what you missed and what you need to work on more. The reason I found your post was b/c I was wondering if medical spas might be a good fit. I wondered about what a day in the life was like. I didn't even think it was mostly sales based, so I would love to hear more input. What spa do you work for? I know you can't say on this board but maybe we can private message each other.

@ willowlove: They didn't post it last time either and I heard they have 1200 applicants. Of those 1200 they only invited 300 to open house for an interview and of those they hired 80 people!!

I heard they will be accepting applications in Nov/Dec for Feb/March start dates. Best thing to do is contact HR to ask b/c they don't post it anywhere.

@ NatBoehm: you are not barging in on the conversation. It seems this forum was originally set up for people applying to the program to help answer such questions to begin with. I am a graduate of the May 2011 cohort and will tell you this program is very challenging to get through but it is possible and you can do it. The program requires 150% commitment. I am not joking when I say you have absolutely NO life. That is a true story but you will find it gets easier. The first couple of months are the most difficult in terms of getting used to your crazy schedule but you end up finding a rhythm. It sounds like you have plenty of support from your family (which you need) and you definitely can NOT work so that is good you don't have to. In the first and second semester, I spent approx 16 hours in the classroom, 27 hours in clinicals, and 55 hours a week with homework and studying. This does not count commuting time which can add another few or several hours to your schedule depending on where your clinicals are. Second semester: first 7 weeks is the most challenging in terms of classes. You will find you spend approximately 16 hours in the classroom and 18 hours in clinicals but more time studying. The next 7 weeks it starts to get more manageable and for me was like that until graduation. I think its because I got used to my life being only about school. You seriously live and breath nursing school. I highly recommend taking the bioethics course prior at Taylor as you are planning to do. I did the same thing and thanked myself every week for getting that done prior to beginning at MSMC. I seriously do not know how I would have made it through the first 7 weeks of second semester if I hadn't taken bioethics before hand. As for GPA: prior to admission my Science pre-reqs were 4.0. My overall GPA was 3.5. No previous health care experience but 17 years of customer service jobs including work in the banks, the legal field, and travel/hospitality jobs. Volunteer experience included working with kindergarteners in the classroom, working with children with disabilities, and 40 hours at a children's hospital helping the kids with homework while they were in the hospital for long periods of time. Your GPA and volunteer experience sounds perfect. As for making your application stand out: make sure to write a good essay. Make it personal. Tell a story about why you wanted to become a nurse. Many of my classmates had a sad story as to why they wanted to become a nurse. Most experienced a big loss and talked about it. Show your emotional side. As for myself, I talked about my grandfather's hospice nurses and how they inspired me to finally go back to school to become a nurse. If you can read your essay and cry every time you read it - thats a good essay especially if you can make others feel what you were feeling. Show your compassionate side and talk about how much you care about taking care of others. :redbeathe Another tip: don't be afraid to apply for the semester prior to the one you want to be in, just in case you don't get in. For example, I applied for the Aug 2010 cohort knowing I prob wouldn't get in b/c my prerequs were still in progress. I believe this helped me when I reapplied for May 2011 cohort b/c I was one of the first to be interviewed. I heard they have a "separate pile" for applicants that were previously denied and gave them priority consideration the next time around. So don't give up if you get denied once. Also practice for your interview. Don't be afraid to show them how dedicated you are and who you are as a person. Again show emotion, talk about team work, and what will make you a good nurse. They are looking for people that will fit into the cohort. Your cohort will become your family for one year so they try to choose people that will get along. Your classmates will be a huge part of your support system. You go through everything together in this crazy program - these are the people that get you through your breakdowns, pick you up when you are feeling like you cant get through another day, and cheer you on when you finally complete the program, pass NCLEX, and become an RN!!! In the end I graduated with a 3.6, passed NCLEX on my first try, and started work less than 3 weeks after getting my license.

@ Hexum944: I am sorry I didn't see this post in my last response and had a couple more thoughts to share: "I applied thinking they had a high pass rate, like around 96-100%. When I got denied I was frustrated and a little bitter because I only applied to a few schools and this was my first choice. At the same time I was relieved I didnt get in because I didnt want to commute there everyday (1.25 hours each way) and have enormous student debt. I recently started nursing school and looking back, I wouldnt have it any other way." Good for you for taking ownership of your bitterness. You will find this quality is not helpful once you are a working nurse b/c as with any job that requires teamwork, there is no room for someone with a negative attitude that puts down other people for their decision. And one thing I learned in nursing school, leave your judgment at the door. No one on this board was putting you down for not getting into the Mount so you should think about your bitter words before posting b/c like I wrote earlier, we all worked super hard for our nursing degrees and to pass NCLEX - no matter which school we attend. "My tuition for the whole program is $18k, which I had already saved for. Had I not saved for school, I could have paid that off in a year or two. Those attending the Mt will be paying that debt off for 8-20 years, especially if they take more out for cost of living." Again, congrats on only paying $18k - good for you. As for those that took out $50k in loans and are paying $32k for more school, if you end up getting a job 6 months earlier than someone that paid $18k for school, you already paid the difference. And as I mentioned I am already working as our many of my fellow Mount Grads. The new grad program I am in hired many mount grads but not 1 from the other school that was mentioned on this board. I am not putting that school down I am just pointing out what I know to be true based on my experiences. "I will be doing my rotations at Cedars Sinai and am very excited to be able to learn there, there probably isnt a better hospital to do rotations at. So those going to the Mt, I genuinely wish you luck, because your going to need it. Low NCLEX pass rates and constant debt is going to haunt you later." While I know many Mount Grads that are paid RNs of this hospital, including myself, it would be wise for you to take into consideration that HR in fact, does read the boards of this very website. Therefore it would be in your best interest to be careful about your tone towards others. Because in the end hospitals don't care if you passed NCLEX on the first try, they only care that you are a licensed professional. And they look for quality people with positive attitudes that will treat patients and fellow team members with kindess and respect. As for the low NCLEX pass rates that hasn't haunted me b/c I am not one of those that didn't pass on the first try. And it doesn't haunt anyone that didn't pass the first time but passed 45 days later either - b/c guess what??? They are also still an RN. I agree the debt sucks but if I waited to get into a cheaper program I would have waited 6-12 months more to begin school, which means I would have started working 6-12 months later and wouldn't have earned money in that time period, like I am doing now.

Dear Huxum944: In regards to one your posts, I have a few things I would like to say. "Thats the State of California's information....it cant get more accurate than that. Those numbers are straight from NCLEX to the BRN. And it doesn't matter if the BSN and ABSN programs are combined to make 76%. That shows that at least one of those programs are really bad, possibly both. One of the programs could be at 71% and the other program at 82%. Either way, both are terrible. That is not a quality education. When you are investing around $70,000 into a school with one of the lowest pass rates, you should expect 100% pass rates." First off, get your facts straight before you try saying "it can't get more accurate than that" if you bothered to check the dates, you would see the page CLEARLY says, "The table below is categorized by academic year (e.g., July 1st - June 30th)" which means the results are based on July 1st, 2010 to June 30, 2011. So like Sugarlips pointed out, those numbers do NOT reflect the past 2 ABSN cohorts that just graduated. I graduated from the May cohort. The first person to take NCLEX from my class sat on June 30th. Which means her passing result wouldn't be in that report. So far everyone from my class that sat for NCLEX (almost all 36 of us, Passed on the very first try) And also like Sugarlips pointed out, these reports do not exclusively include only the ABSN program. So it DOES matter to us ABSNers when you group us together with the traditional program grads that do not always pass on the first time - b/c us ABSNers do. Probably because it is so competitive to get in to the Accelerated program and its even more challenging to get through this program. Nearly everyone in the August 2010 cohort also passed on the first try. I believe out of 38 people, 3 did not. It's funny how you are talking so much smack about MSM's program, yet you applied to go there????? Don't mock our program b/c you are bitter that you didn't get in. "Mary's is always focusing on GPA, and how the TEAS and GPA are "likely indicators of success in a nursing program and all that. They think that you have to be incredibly book smart to become a nurse. Schools like the Mt focus on GPAs and TEAS scores way too much and it shows in their NCLEX scores. More well-rounded individuals should be admitted. This will yield better pass rates. Countless other school have much lower average GPA and TEAS scores and produce much higher NCLEX pass rates. " GPA is important to get in to the ABSN program, but it's not a make or break indicator. MSM's also interviews potential students, unlike many nursing programs that only base people on a point system and not on a personal level. Nursing is very much about personality not just book smarts and MSM's does know this. That is why our class was so well-rounded. And we didn't have to take TEAS to apply for the ABSN program. How could you even say "more well-rounded individuals should be admitted"? Do you even know anyone in the past few cohorts????? You are looking at numbers that include the traditional program, which has 2-3 times more students than 2 ABSN cohorts combined! "People are way too consumed with the name of the school, rather than the education they are receiving. This shows what happens when school perform really well for a time, as Mt St Marys used to. They used to be one of the best. Schools like this eventually veer off track and focus on things that arent even related to nursing. They get prideful, like many of their students, and get off track." The name of your school is actually pretty important when it comes time to get a job especially in this economy and in this area of California. At the place I work at, 6 out of 22 new grad nurses came from my school - the most from any other school in the area. And on my floor alone, I know 5 experienced nurses that graduated from MSM's in the past couple of years. Say all that you want about the school, but in reality they do have a good reputation in the community. And I don't think some of the best hospitals in the area would hire new grads that went to a school where "students focus on things that aren't even related to nursing." We obviously gained the education we need to get jobs. Thank you very much. I invested $50k in my nursing education, it took me 1 year to complete, and I am already working at one of the best hospitals in LA. If I applied to state school (for less money), I would have prob still been waiting to get in. I'm not saying either school has a better education but the less expensive schools get more applicants which means longer wait times. Mount St. Mary's offers more start dates a year and you get done faster. In the end your nursing school is kind of like a formality. It allows you the opportunity to sit for the NCLEX. Your education is always YOUR responsibility - not the "program's" So if you fail on your first try, maybe you didn't put the time in necessary to studying. "Its funny how Mt St Marys only admits the very best applicants, students with extremely high GPA's, and then produces some of the worst NCLEX pass rates in California." Mount St. Mary's gave me the resources to learn - the rest was up to me. I can honestly speak for everyone in my class to say we worked our butts off to get through this challenging program and we were all very disciplined to study for the boards. It wasn't easy but we made it through and we all passed on the first try. If you only looked at the ABSN pass rate, I bet the numbers would be 98% pass on the first try. Congrats to all the ABSNers who worked so hard to get where they are today. Kudos to the May 2011 cohort for 100% pass rate and I have complete faith that the Aug 2011 cohort will also pass on the first try. Because we have something special to make it through this program. And each and everyone of us is a great nurse!!!! Sincerely, A working RN who graduated from MSM's ABSN program this past May, passed NCLEX on the first try, and started working 10 days later.

I have 2 good friends that were hired into the new grad program and both took their NCLEX the first week of July, which was fine considering the last 2 cohorts didn't start until after July 25. Yes the original letter said they wanted NCLEX by June 30 but it seems CSMC decided to give new grads that graduated in May/June a chance to get jobs too. My friends both graduated in May and weren't even eligible to sit for NCLEX until the end of June. The first dates available were after July 4. So it's not that they "can't follow directions" its just how it worked out. @Ms.Informed: I'm sorry you didn't get the job but you sound very bitter. I am sure everyone that was chosen for the new grad program worked very hard in school - otherwise they wouldn't have made it as far as they did in the interview process. As for the ones that were much older, perhaps they bring something to the table that CSMC wanted - like past job experience and/or customer service experience. GPAs are important but they are not everything. I am sure CSMC puts a lot of effort into who they choose to hire, from GPA to clinical experience, to what school you graduated from, to how you interviewed and even past life experience. Lets not forget the essay either and the person you interviewed with - I am sure that played a huge role in who was hired. If the person that you interviewed with really loved you but also loved 10 other new grads, they still had to pick only 1 or 2 b/c everyone else interviewing prob had a handful of people they wanted to hire too. So after you factor in all the variables you still have to account for luck. If you don't mind me asking what school did you go to? In the cohort my friends are in, they said there were people from Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State Los Angeles, MSMC, the Bay Area, a few from University of Arizona, and some from other schools in or around LA . Of those in the cohort, a third were not from Los Angeles (some form SF, some from AZ), half the new hires had BSNs and the others have MSNs. Some people were brand new grads and others had been out of school for a year, looking for a job. I agree it sucks that out of state people were hired over local people, but unfortunately it's out of our control. Everyone that went to open house was qualified otherwise they wouldn't have been invited. Keep in mind CSMC received over 1300 applications. They only invited 300 to the open house and out of the 300 they only hired approx 80 people. I understand some people are upset they didn't get jobs but it's not very nice to judge the ones that were chosen. I'm not saying this to be rude, but having a bad attitude will not help anyone when interviewing anywhere. I would like to send a big congratulations to the people that were hired and best of luck to the people that are still looking.