mccoy

While I admire you ambition, I'm going to give you the same advice one of my friends in Nursing School gave a Pre-nursing student when he said he was going to work 60 hours while in NS: "You can do it... you just won't pass." But all joking aside, if that's what you really want to do and you have the drive and means necessary to do it, then go for it! However I'd be remiss if I told you I thought it was a good idea. If you do go though with it you have a hard time ahead of you, and so I wish you the best of luck!

Have you looked into any RN-Paramedic bridges? I'm currently an EMT and nursing student, and I plan on getting a job in the ER out of college, then becoming a Paramedic on the side just because I love EMS so much. In some states I think RNs can actually just challenge the Paramedic by taking the NREMT-P. However in my state I do believe I just take about a 2 month bridge class and then I'm eligible to sit for the exam. Good luck in whatever you decide to do though!

I guess my only question is this - Has anybody else verified the validity of the results? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for finding out the best way to treat patients, but some of it just seems a little odd, maybe just because I've thought of ABC for such a long time. I mean, how long does it really take to open the airway and provide 2 breaths *in MOST situations? It doesn't seem to me like that minimal time might make a huge difference in the grand scheme of things. And sure it would get blood circulating faster, but does that really even matter if it's oxygen deficient blood? Just some things I think about... but like I said, I'm all for improving patients chances of survival, just as long as it gets more testing to approve its effectiveness and we don't change policies prematurely.

Working with patients comfortably is just as much of a learning experience as the actual class work part. To some it comes naturally, but others may have to learn it through lots of practice (and building your own confidence in your abilities). Give yourself a break, you're just a student and this is your time to make mistakes and learn, and no one expects you to be perfect. Keep in mind too, that others may be struggling with classwork but excel at clinicals. So you're not alone, maybe just in an inverse situation. All I can tell you is that if nursing (or anything for that matter) is your passion and it makes you happy, you shouldn't let anything stop you! Good luck

I understand why you wouldn't want to lie, so if I were you I would try to just "stretch the truth" a little. As you are just starting this job, it would probably be understandable if you had a previous engagement scheduled before you even took the job / knew your hours, and that you would like to have a little extra time during your break to attend. If pressed, you can just explain it would be very hard to reschedule and it's something you'd prefer not to discuss. This way, you're not exactly lying, per se, and you have a better chance of not having the pressure to explain yourself.

Like I said in my previous response, the answer is probably yes, go ahead and apply the AED. But the thing about the medical profession is that not every situation is "textbook", and you may have to make accomodations for special situations.

I haven't gone over this in Nursing School yet, but I'd assume it would be the same as my EMT experience, which is: -If witnessed and you can immediately shock them, do so. -If not witnessed, do CPR for 2 minutes and THEN apply AED. Perhaps the mixed answers you've received are due to several possible extenuating circumstances? For instance, you may want your partner to go ahead and do some CPR while you are getting the AED prepared and ready, even though it may not be necessary. Or, if YOU didn't personally witness it, but someone else did and said it was just moments earlier, you might want to do CPR for 2 minutes just because you may question the validity of the witnessed event and want to cover all your bases. But as a general rule, if you do witness it, just go ahead and apply the AED. Hope that helped!

Ok, thank you! I was very confused when my professor said that it was a definite thing now. I'd be ok with it if the doctorate contained more advanced clinical education, but I've read that it doesn't. Thanks for the clarification. Anyone have an idea of when we'll have a better idea of whether this will or will not occur?

Started my ADN program right out of high school at the age of 19. I already had a lot of prereqs done from doing college in high school though (thank goodness). I graduate in 2012! :)

I'm a new member, though I've been reading these forums for a long time and love the site. So I hope that I did this properly, but here goes: I am wondering about the requirements to become a Nurse Practitioner. I know there are many threads about this, but from researching them all I was unable to find one that had a definitive, conclusive answer -- so I do believe that this thread is different and not a repeat. From what I've read, I had thought that the AACN's proposal to make DNP the requirement to be a Nurse Practitioner in 2015 was just that - a proposal. However, yesterday in class my professor (who is an NP), mentioned that it IS going to be the requirement in 2015. I've been doing lots of research to find out which is correct, but everything I've read has been very vague or outdated. So I'd just like to ask and get an answer once and for all, is it a proposal or the new requirement? Thank you guys so much for your help. I want to be a Nurse Practitioner, but I can't seem to find the answer to this so I can't start planning for my future career. And I hope the conclusive answer I receive will help clarify this for others as well! -McCoy