sparklie.lady

I rented most of the books from Amazon. The only ones I though were worth buying (because I may need them someday) were pathophysiology and advanced health assessment. The pharm books we get for free (yay!) and the theory/research type classes really don't even need the books at all.

I'm halfway through UC's FNP program, feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions about the program. Good luck deciding :)

Hello! I'm halfway through UC's online FNP program. I'm still working full-time with a nine-year-old and it's rough, but doable. My best advice is this: forget about a social life and a clean house! Other than that, if you have the resources, try to find a babysitter or family member that can take your toddler a few hours a day. Each class has 1-3 hours of lecture/ week to listen to, plus doing the readings, papers, and projects can add at least another 10 hours/week of study. I don't know about you, but my brain can only do so much in a day, so I try to break it up into sessions and do a few hours every day, instead of trying to cram a week's worth of work into one or two days. Thankfully, my daughter is in school now, so I study in the mornings on days I don't work. Definitely doable! (and don't buy most of the books!)

My 2 cents...I'm halfway through an online FNP program while working full-time with a 9 year old. I'm not going to lie...it's rough...and I haven't even started clinicals yet. The biggest challenge is coming to terms with no social life, a disaster of a house, no "me" time, and missing about 50% of my daughter's activities. And this is with amazing support from my husband. When it's over, though, it will be so worth it...but I waited until my daughter was older. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't do it with little ones at home. I miss so much with my daughter and she's starting to get to the point where she doesn't want me around all the time, lol. Even when I'm spending time with her (or my husband), part of my mind is always at school. So, in answer to your question, yes, it is possible. But you have to decide if the trade off of missed time with your little ones is worth doing it now as opposed to waiting. Good luck deciding--it's a big decision!

I love settling in a fresh heart from the OR... Getting the lines untangled and labeled... Getting my gtts trusted just right... I love stripping chest tubes... Suctioning... Washing faces... No one seems to do that during bed baths anymore... I feel honored to clean up patients post mortem so their families can say one last goodbye ...

I learned that a whole weeks' vacation is awesome and I really don't miss either of my jobs (and that my tween daughter is an awesome little person). (And that new York state liquor laws are dumb and archaic)

Well, I don't know where you're from, but all I can say is that my only regret in life (so far, I'm only 40) is that I've never lived farther than 45 minutes from where I was born. If you can, take the opportunity and stretch your wings!

PRN (and a full time job) here! I work 48 hours every six weeks to keep the position. (Luckily right now, my unit is dangerously understaffed, so I rarely get cancelled.). Good luck! If you can make do with the hours and don't need health insurance, enjoy it! I find that being PRN allows me to enjoy everything I loved about this job while not having to care about management's dumb policies and the politics therein.

Vomit. Can't stand it at work, can't stand it at home. Give me a good endotracheal suction any day! Something so satisfying about seeing the tubing fill up with nasty mucous plugs!

Darn. I am so sorry for your family's loss.

Never met a bottle of wine that I didn't like... Or finish! And I'm a little fat since I like ice cream more than exercise! I refuse to consider my coffee habit a bad one.

I learned that even if you don't like the job itself, the fact that coworkers will show up OUTSIDE of work hours on a holiday to help one of our own makes it a great place to work! I learned that no matter what you do when you're in charge, you will always be wrong, so might as well do what you think is best. I learned that marijuana is part of a "holistic" approach for warding off a heart attack in a patient with known two-vessel disease, as opposed to statins, aspirin, and less red meat. :/

Count me in...I got my acceptance email to the fall cohort today! Anyone from the CLE area?

Great for you! :) I am also a new grad who is loving it so far!

Checking in from Ohio--my hospital tests new employees for nicotine as well. They also do a lot to help current employees stop. They also tie health insurance costs to wellness checks. The way it has worked is that they have frozen rates for those who get screened. They aren't penalizing for having lifestyle diseases yet. You just have to have the screening, not necessarily meet certain criteria.

I'm not sure what a good specialty would be, especially if you are used to some incredible levels of chaos. I did want to say THANK YOU for your service!!

If you are full-time at school, do they offer a policy to students? It might not be great, but would eliminate any gap in coverage. I have nothing else helpful to say, but good luck!

It's funny, my PHP and I had the conversation today about my weight and my motivation for fixing it. He pointed out that I should improve it as a good example for my 5 y/o. If we ate like she did, we'd be the healthiest people on our block. (we also abide by the eat it or go to bed hungry philosophy, except for Wednesday night, when she gets baked chicken nuggets and fries and The Man and I get to eat something a little more exotic that I know she won't touch). I just wish I could stop all of the binge-eating I do after she goes to bed. She busted me the other morning because I didn't throw away the Ben and jerry's container! Anyway, it is hard to control the emotional issues behind eating. But, some of us really need to just do it, regardless. Very little about parenting is easy and teaching smart eating shouldn't be any different.

Sometimes you may still have to cry, scream, and throw things. But it's good to read that you are getting through this and in a better place. :hug:

And this is why my OB/GYN is a woman Seriously, though, while I believe that it is illegal and unethical to refuse to hire someone based on gender, I would probably have declined to have a male nurse. Ridiculous, I know...but I couldn't have my mother with me and having another woman just felt "right."

Have a painless and safe delivery! Thanks for the laugh and I wish you much joy with your new little bundle :)

This is garbage! Tell me they are at least PAYING for these!

Well, my suggestion would be adopt one of the policies at the hospital you are doing OB and work from there. how would you best teach the new parents about this--video, handout? when would you teach it? just some ideas. good luck!

Do you mean security while in the hospital? Every hospital has its own policy--where is it like where you are doing clinicals? Do you have access to a journal database? you may find some articles geared to new-baby care there.

There are so many different things that can bring a person into a critical care environment. I love hearts, so I would want to research cardiac-related patho and interventions. You may be more interested in respiratory dysfunction or sepsis (although all of these things can be linked). There are cultural considerations to think about--the work of an ICU nurse is different than an office or floor nurse (Note: I did not say it was harder or easier--just different!) What interests you?