AutoRotate

It seems to me that most of the NP students I meet are going to "Walden" or "South University" which I've never heard of before now. Are these the new University of Phoenix or Southern New Hampshire schools?

Yes, the course of study should be more difficult for NPs. A minimum number of years as a RN should be required to apply to schools. Residencies should be completed as well as a higher minimum number of clinical hours. But who is going to pay for residencies? Who is going to tell the schools that they can't allow prospective students to apply and pay for graduate education ($$$) "just" because they don't know how to be nurses yet, let alone APPs?

I did one of my clinical rotations at CVS - you are entirely on your own to not miss any red flags. I believe the orientation is something like 6-8 shifts with a bit of online training for charting. If you aren't certain of your skills yet, it may not be the best position for you.

I used PDB Education - Pam Bartley has a great prep for the TCRN. Passed it in 2016 and re-cert this year.

The Youtube vids are OK for learning the basics behind what the machine does for you and what you're seeing. What you really need is someone who has a lot of experience with the US to show you their process and lots of practice - not with actually starting them but with using your off hand to manipulate the transducer to see what you need to see.

1. Stethoscope (cheap one from an open crash cart) 2. Shears (free from vendor) 3. One black ballpoint pen Everything else is just flair.

I'm pretty sure that you need something like 1000 hours of ED time before you can sit for CEN. Maybe go TNCC, then CEN, then CCRN?

In Southern California, the flight nurses have over 20 years of experience at a minimum. There are so few of them, and they never retire, that openings are extremely rare.

I thought this was a joke. Do people in this century wear tunics outside of Renaissance festivals?

"If I wanted to spend 8 years in college, plus spend at least a couple years getting experience I would expect to make a LOT, LOT more than $100K." This is the statement to which I was referring, not the MSN NP vs. DNP. As far as salary is concerned, I am just interested as to how you arrived at that number for new grads. A quick search online reveals that the average staff nurse (not new grad) in Milwaukee WI makes $63k. See here: Salary.com Salary Wizard- Do you know what you're worth? This site seems fairly accurate based upon what it says for my area. I'm not saying that you are misleading anyone; I'm saying that it's counterintuitive that at a rural hospital (fewer beds, lower acuity patients from lower level trauma certification, fewer surgeries, less revenue) they could afford to pay new grads more than the average staff nurse at a hospital in the largest city in the state.

Perhaps the people who are going for the NP want to do so for the increased responsibility and independence that comes with the title, or the future earning potential of the degree. I'll also go ahead and "respectfully" throw the BS flag on your hospital in rural WI offering new grads $64k.

It is implied in many threads in this section of Allnurses. People make statements like: "well the charge nurse is an ADN" "there are lots of supervisors who don't have even a BSN" "you'll have lots of student loans to pay off and not as much experience" "why would taking all of those other classes make you any better at being a nurse?" One can draw the conclusion that those people do not value the education involved in getting a BSN or higher.

You can check to see if the state in which you'd like to work is a "compact" state (Compact meaning agreement, not stature). Compact states have an agreement to allow a nurse with a license from other compact states to work in any of the others without changing over or charging fees.

There are plenty of jobs out there for new grads, but they may not be in your area (as others have said). You have to go to where the jobs are!

1) If you want to be a nurse in any branch of the armed forces, you MUST have at least a BSN. Period. 2) Until the ANA has membership from anywhere close to a majority of nurses, it will never have any real influence over policy. You only have to look at the infighting on this forum to see why we as a profession can't get our act together and make real changes in healthcare. 3) I still don't understand how anyone could think that more education, of any kind, could hinder your abilities as a nurse. If you want to take the shortest route to becoming a floor nurse, and the hospitals in your area hire ADN's, then go for it. If you want the experiences and well-roundedness of a 4 year BSN, go for it. Speaking only for the nurse job-market in San Diego, good luck getting hired if you don't have a BSN or commensurate life experience.

Semper Fi. CH-46 pilot here turned ANGLICO reservist...

The biggest problem I've seen with the cheaper state schools is that there may be waiting lists. That's one of the reasons I stopped looking at the state schools.

Another good resource is the ROTC program at your college...

You cannot enter the military as a nurse unless you have a bachelor's degree, as all military nurses are officers. But you can find out more about the basic training by talking to an Officer selection office, not a recruiter.

I don't really have "a dog in this fight," so to say, but I can back up what phlegm was saying about the 206. I am commercial and instrument rated (did all of my hours in that aircraft) and can say that I am rather surprised that anyone would use the 206 as a medical transport platform. It really had a difficult time with more than one passenger (three people total) in taking off and landing. The 206 has the best safety record of any turbine powered helicopter around (our squadron amassed more than 1 million Class-A mishap-free flight hours), but that doesn't make it an ideal transport helicopter. Again, I don't know about the companies that are hiring, just wanted to add my two cents on the aircraft.

I'm starting University of San Diego's Master's Entry Program in Nursing in August. I can't wait to get started!

While the experiences given here are applicable to the military in general, they are not accurate accounts of life as an officer, let alone a medical specialty officer. I would never put down anyone's service for our country, I am simply trying to give another perspective. I spent nearly seven years as an officer in the Marines, I've done research into military nursing, and I worked closely with officers in the medical community (flight doctors and nurses). 1. Life as a nurse in the military (any branch) will be very similar to being a nurse in the civilian world, except that you will have a bit more autonomy. They are very relaxed when it comes to military customs and courtesies, and you'll work similar hours to your civilian counterpart. You won't live on base unless you want to. 2. The easiest way to get the specialty you want is to be the best in your class or go for a specialty that no one else wants. 3. There are lots of military marriages that work just fine. You would be signing up for a minimum of about 4 years: do you think you will find someone, get to know them, get married, and have children in that span? Eh, perhaps. But you don't get in trouble for having a social life, getting married, or getting pregnant. 4. Forget about the quality of food on base. You don't have to eat there, you just show up for work. What you should be concerned about is the location of the bases. The Army and Air Force put their bases where no one else wants to live. The Navy puts their bases on the water (score). 5. A recruiter can't tell you the first thing about being an officer. They don't recruit officers. You need to look up your local Officer Selection office for each of the services. Your school's ROTC instructors can help guide you there. Also, you can google Army/Air Force/Navy nursing. Good luck!

I also got accepted. It's a huge weight off of my shoulders because I wasn't sure how competitive I was for admission. There were so many impressive people at the interview...

I felt like I was in a similar situation. I graduated with a 2.9, but nearly all of the schools said that they required a 3.0 or 3.5. When I actually talked to them, they said that those were not strictly enforced and they would also take into account the pre-requisite grades. Since I assume you didn't have to take A&P or microbiology for your degree, you're probably going to have to take classes before you can apply anyway. Just study your ass off for the pre-req's and use that to show them that you're serious about the career change.

31 now, expect to be in an accelerated program before I'm 32!