tanna898

Thanks guys, I accepted the position at the prison and will remain PRN at the jail. My new adventure begins March 13th at the prison. I am very excited and really appreciate your feedback.

I recently was offered a job with my existing private for-profit company to work full time at a local county jail. Today I found out that CDCR Represa/Folsom is checking my references for potential employment. I have been a jail nurse for 3 years and love what I do. The versatility of my job and the autonomy is what makes me love my job. I am in the dilemma of which job I should take. I know that the CDCR is a state job with excellent long term benefits and my current job also has great benefits and pay, plus I know the job well. My questions: 1. Why do you love/hate working in a prison? 2. Have you done both and what are the differences? 3. Has anybody recently been employed at Folsom (new) prison and what is the work culture like? Thank you

Hi Cortney, I wanted to know how the program is going for you? I was just accepted into the bridge program at ARC for the Fall 2014 and Im so excited I can hardly contain myself. I applied at ARC 4 times and the bridge program once. I want to thank you for adding the little details about orientation I have been searching everywhere and your info is the best so far. :)

kingkill My letter of contigent acceptance was in the mail today. I also recieved an acceptance email from Sac City too. Now I need to decide which one to accept.

I agree wit mmtorrez89 "Fake it till you make it" Even when you are not confident act as if you are because eventually you will be confident as practice makes perfect. I remember my first day of clinical I was SOOOOO nervous but after a week that nervousness dissipated and I did become more confident… then we would change clinical sites to something more acute and the nervous cycle would start all over again. Whatever you do DON'T GIVE UP!!!!!! EVERYBODY feels that way some people just wear a more confident mask than others. you can do this.

Is anybody currently in the bridge program at ARC or finished the bridge program at ARC? I would love to know your thoughts about the program.

I am currently a LVN working at an elementary school and a jail. My acute care experience is pretty limited since in this area they do not hire LVN's for acute care. I have recently applied to 6 RN programs 3 of them are bridge programs. Yesterday, I spoke with a counselor at ARC and he was pretty confident that I would be accepted for either the fall or spring semesters in their bridge program. My hesitation is that I will be jumping into the RN program the second year with my feet running and this makes me nervous. I feel that I may be at a significant disadvantage because of this. I am trying to decide if I should go to the bridge program or if I should wait to get into a traditional RN program. When I was in LVN school I was a very strong student both academically and clinically, top in my class in both aspects. However, I know that this will likely not be the case in the bridge program or even the RN program which is fine with me. I don't need to be the best, I just want to be able to pass a program and my NCLEX and get on with my life. Despite my hesitations with the bridge program the fact that it is only a year rather than two years is extremely appealing to me. Do I go for it and struggle so I can be done finally or do I wait and take the traditional program? I would love to hear your experiences with bridge programs and how the transition is and welcome any advice.

Yes, I work at the Jail on weekends, holidays, and summers. The pay is double what I make at the school. I would leave the school job but I absolutely LOVE it and wouldn't trade it for anything :)

Program Type: BSN Adjusted Individual Total Score: 84.0% ATI Academic Preparedness Level: Advanced Mean - National: 64.3% Mean - Program: 70.6% Percentile Rank - National - 94 Percentile Rank - Program - 87 Reading Adjusted Individual Score: 88.1 Mathematics A.I.S: 80.0 Science A.I.S. 89.6 English and Language Usage A.I.S. 76.7 I feel horrible about these scores. I expected it to be higher as I have taken TEAS 4, some years ago and scored in the high 80's in both English and Math. If only I could merge my two test together. The program I planned on applying for required me to have a 92% to be competitive Now, I either have to take it again, settle for a lottery based ADN program, or apply at another (much further away) University.

I lost weight in nursing school for a few reasons. I was much more active running around the hospital and when I did eat I usually just had a salad because lets face it hospital food stinks and there is no time to run and get fast food. The weight loss was temporary unfortunately after I graduated I got a job at a school and sit around most of the day eating all the yummy treats in the office. I am now thinking I need to go back to nursing school so I can loose some weight.

Funny how some schools won't let you use a hand held electronic device while others require it. I loved having mine at clinicals. It saved me from having to lug around all those books. Plus the apps for the books are much more searchable than the actual books. I would say they are also cheaper but I bought both the books and the apps because the first year in nursing school the smart phones were not allowed then later the nursing director decided that the apps where a good idea and made it optional. This years class it is required.

Jazziepants I love this quote and you sound like an awesome nurse :)

I would check with the nursing programs you intend on applying at. I know the nursing programs here in the Sacramento area make a big deal over having W's in any of the science prerequisites. Good luck!!!

I agree with Kara there are many differences from the text book vs the ATI books. What worked best for me was to take the practice exam and then look up everything you missed in the ATI book. At the end of the test you can print off a list of the areas you were weak in and it gives you the chapters you should further study. I found in the end the ATI tests prepared me for the NCLEX. :)

Your compassion shows that you will one day be a great nurse. Sure today was emotionally difficult and there will be many more emotionally difficult days in the future but you do get used to it and realize that this is a way of life for many of our elderly and geuss what they deserve good medical care with compassion. They need nurses like you. Today you shadowed a cna, next month it will be a LPN, and next year it will be an RN. You will soon begin to learn what it is like to be a nurse and it is far from easy but it is the most rewarding of all careers and it makes it worth it. The good news is that if you decide that working in a nursing home is not for you there are several other types of nursing jobs out there. I work in an elementary school as a nurse and I LOVE IT!!! Don't give up yet.

I used to have a pair of nurse mates and honestly they are not much different than a pair of sketchers or nikes. The most comfortable nursing shoes I have ever owned are my Dansko clogs. They are not cheap but they last forever as I have had mine for 7 years now and they are still comfy. Another really comfortable yet expensive are my SAS shoes but they didn't last near as long as my Danskos. However if you have your heart set on the nursemates, like I did when I bought them, I would go with the first pair. :)

I would recommend an iPod because of its smaller size is perfect for clinicals and will fit in your pocket. Clinicals is where you are going to need it the most so you can look up meds, definitions, treatments, diagnosis, etc.

Hi everybody, It seems as if the parents at my school don't understand when they should keep their kids home from school. So I have decided to make a flyer for the parents to remind them. I will include the most obvious stuff like when they have a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea in the last 24 hours, But what about other illnesses. I was thinking I would include red eyes with yellow drainage, rash with a fever, and sore throat with swollen glands. It is soon to be the cold and flu season and I really don't want a school full of sick kids and staff I want to be as proactive as possible. Any additional info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the great advice guys (especially having her clean up her own mess). for now we have her sitting on the toilet with her pull up on for 5 min until we can think of a better plan

I have a 4.75 year old preschooler girl who has selective mutism and public bathroom phobia. She has been coming in to the health office for scheduled toilet training since the start of school with little success. At first when she started coming in she would demand the bathroom door to be wide open which caused privacy issues and I could not have other students in my office. We have since worked our way up to having the door slightly ajar so now other students can receive medical treatment while she is in the bathroom. The problem is she refuses to actually urinate in the toilet. She will urinate on the floor or in her pants and is not embarrassed or anything about it. I have tried positive reinforcement measures however nothing seems to work. She continues to have 2-3 accidents a day. It has gotten to the point where she has even urinated in the cafeteria on the bench at lunch. The school nurse has referred her to the counselor. Today the school nurse told me that the mother is insisting that she uses a pull up which at first seemed like a good temporary solution however slightly counter productive to our potty training efforts. When she came into my office for her regular scheduled training I was expecting her to be wearing a pull up but to my surprise she was not. Instead she had one in hand went into the bathroom, put it on, urinated into it, took it off and then threw it into the trash. She has complete control over her bladder. I feel like I'm in bizarre town and have no idea what to do about this. Has anybody ever experienced anything of the sort or have any advice?

I'm sorry you didn't make it does your school offer a remediation plan?

I graduated from twin rivers adult school in sac. However, I am speaking of carrington college for their LVN to RN program.

No it looks like I need to take interpersonal communication before I can apply. I can't get into that class until this spring at my local community college so I won't be able to start till next June

I know many hospitals in the Sacramento area will hire a MA in the ER as a tech however those jobs are very few are far between. I was a MA for 10 years before becoming a nurse and the best way to land a job is by knowing the right person. It's a great job and I made good money doing it.

ABC to healthy lifestyles board is something that I plan on making one when things slow down. A for apples as snacks, B for eating breakfast C for cross the street carefully etc etc. with colorful pictures. As for what to expect priority one at our school is to make sure the students with epi pens and diastat orders have care plans established and all proper paperwork received. also get there early as many parents drop off meds before school (if you are lucky). Make sure they have filled out the forms and check expiration dates of the meds. I also scan through all the new registrations that came in over the summer and see if they have any significant medical concerns which may require special accommodations or medications needed on campus. Good luck it's a lot of work but eventually things will slow down and then you can verify all the vaccination records and physicals requirements. It's a great job you are going to love it.