jennakay89

I applied, but the program doesnt start until january 2013. I'll find out around october if i get accepted. I'm also waiting to hear from a couple other programs. I've actually been working as a CNA for 5 years. My current job is two 12 hour shifts a week, which after my shift i am completely exhausted and am not up to studying, so i think even that would be too much for me during the program. I've thought about working for a registry, where i can work as little or as much as my school schedule allows, but even then you aren't an employee of a hospital. I suppose it would help though, you still get to know people by hopping around to different hospitals.

Makayla, I would have a foot in the door at my hospital, but i'm not planning on working during the program, so 3 years later they may have new employees trying to get an RN position that have had a preceptorship. New grads have enough difficulty finding a job as it is, my hospital only accepts around 6 new grads a year.

Hi everyone, I applied for the SD January cohort. I just have a question about nationals BSN program that i'm hoping someone could answer. I feel like the nursing forum gave no info on the actual program, just how to get in. Which i wasn't too fond of. But i heard that NU's program doesn't include a preceptorship. Is this true? If so, that could be a huge deal-breaker for their program. A preceptorship is where you get your "in" for jobs near the end of your program, and it's pretty much the only thing a new grad has going for them when looking for jobs. I know this first hand, i work on a med-surg unit at a hospital and my boss told me that it would be extra hard to find a job without a preceptorship on my resume. So, if anyone knows for sure, let me know! Thanks. and good luck to everyone getting in to the october cohort!! :)

luvxallxthextimex; i'm also applying for the october cohort! i have all the classes done except the statistics. were you told that they ALL have to be complete before you apply? i was hoping to be able to apply in june and do the statistics while i wait to find out, but looks like it needs to be done and ill have to wait until october. Thanks!

JessicaC88; Definitly do them at a cc first! At national, you can get them done quickly because it is 1 class per month. BUT, it is $1,386 per class. At a CC it is roughly $100-200 per class. It all depends if you want to spend more money to get it done quickly, or save money in the long run. If you do the CC route, you could probably get them done in 2 semesters. If you do the NU route, you could get them done in about 6 months, but it is 10x the price. Weigh your options carefully :) Jenna

thank you all for your input. groovahgrl: that is a great idea. We complain and complain and complain and management does not seem to care. We will have to step it up and show them the data. We use walkie talkies that they too carry at all times, so they hear how many calls we are getting and that it takes up to 20 minutes to get to a resident, even when they presss their emergency pendant. But we will step it up and record specific data to present to them. Thanks for your advice!

I am a CNA at an assisted living facility in southern california. To me and my coworkers, 'assisted living' means that the resident is ambulatory and alert, are able to take care of themselves but need help with bathing, having meals prepared, housekeeping, med management, and dressing. I have searched and searched for a staff to patient ratio but CANNOT FIND ONE!! everywhere says that is is left to the management of the facility, but what if the management doesn't give a you know what...about the patients or the staff? Our facility is Independant Living/Assisted living...though 80% is assisted, it should be titled a nursing home. I have worked here for 3 years, and since we have a new director we have less and less staff, with more and more patients who are declining every day. 75% of our patients are wheelchair bound, they wear diapers that need to be changed at least twice per 8 hour shift, they have accidents daily, and some even need to be fed. We have at least 10 hospice patients, we have patients over 100 years old that have hospice beds and lay in bed all day, they need to be lifted out of bed (without a hoyer lift of course) and placed in a wheelchair. They cannot stand or walk even one step! We have 1 LVN who is the "charge nurse." She does medication and treatment/insulin for about 25 patients. on top of that she has admission paperwork, doctor calls, family calls, incident reports, med orders/faxes, etc. We have a med-float that does all of the medication for the independant residents who need it, which is over 35 people, and that person is required to help the CNA's after passing medication to 35 people, as well as in between med-passes. We have 2 CNA's for over 30 patients each. Half of these people live on the independant side, but they are really assisted living patients so we are constantly having to walk all the way to the other side of the HUGE building (originally built to be a HOTEL), and we continue to walk back and forth all day long. We do not have call lights since we are an ALF, but we have walkie talkies where we recieve the requests for help. We usually have 2 or 3..even 4 people waiting on us (cna's and LVN) at all times. They usually wait 15-25 minutes for help. This is not only fair to us, but it is unfair to the residents, ALF's are definatly not cheap and are not at all covered by medical or medicaid. It isnt fair that we are constantly late to help them, and they are soo embarrassed when they have an accident because we couldnt get there on time. The CNA's are also required to help serve in the dining room, distribute the mail, collect trash, etc. When we confront or director of nursing and the director of the facility, all we ever get is "Teamwork is key! you guys must work together and help eachother out." IF EVERYONE IS BUSY, THERE IS NO WAY TO HELP ANYBODY ELSE OUT, no matter how much teamwork you possess, if there are too many patients per cna and lvn there is no way you can have teamwork. Can somebody please provide me with some STATE/GOVERNMENT documented laws or regulation on this to show to my director? because last time we asked him about a staff to patient ratio, he said there is NONE for assisted living. IT IS 2010...there MUST BE! We neeed some proof to show him before we break our backs!! ANYTHING HELPS...thank you!!