Asinda

As many would understand I've been devoting a lot of time towards researching my options for a PMHNP MSN. For a long time I've had my eyes fixed on the UND online program- they had a good reputation and were one of the more affordable options near me in SE MN. Catching up on the newest word on the forums now alarms me- it sounds like there were many changes for the worse and the new track director was not ideal. Looking at current faculty though shows there is a different interim director and the less ideal staff member is not listed on their faculty site. I'm looking to see if anyone from the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters has any insight into if this new director has been a change for the better? Is the former director likely to come back? Overall how do you feel the learning experience has been for you? I'm ok with the recent higher tuition costs; it's still more affordable than many other options. I'm ok with having to do a lot of the legwork of my own learning; I feel that's to be expected with most online programs and I have some great staff connections where I work that would be willing to help mentor me. I'm not ok with unpleasant instructors and unclear grading and performance parameters. Anyone willing to share their experience? Thank you in advance!

I have extremely thick hair as well, a little past my shoulders. I understand how it can downright hurt to have that much hair up in a bun, and a pain to keep it there. Depending on your personal style, you may be able to pull off what I call my "piggy-buns". I part my hair slightly off-center towards the front, bringing more towards the midline as I get further back. Then I bring my hair down behind my ears and secure them into two small messy buns. The key is to place them low and midway between your ears and the center part. This keeps you from looking five years old, LOL. Then you secure each messy bun along the edges with pins to make it neater and stable. Twist and pin any bangs or tendrils back cutely, and voila! Super-cute, easy hair that stays put. Once you get the hang of it, it takes about ten minutes tops.

Hehe, when I was working as a retail manager I had one of my assistant managers call in because she "had caught her teenage son having sex in her bed". The previous day.

LOL Yeah I hear what you are saying... academics is the one area where I become a totally pretentious jerk. I am routinely amazed by some of my classmates. If someone actually tries and it is still a struggle for them, I will gladly offer my help. I learned this past year that I LOVE to tutor people. But for those that completely embody a sense of entitlement and lack of work ethic to get where they want to be... well I just sit back in chuckle (unless they are interrupting class with their braindead questions- then I just want to scream). Because clearly, they are just holding themselves back and probably will not last through the nursing program. If they do, they will be unlikely to have to drive and ambition to find themselves a great job upon graduation. Just focus on yourself and being the best you can be. Learn all the things! And find someone as smart and driven as yourself to vent with and revel in each other's knowledge and intelligence. You will be much happier!

Not to be rude, but nobody has answered this question because: a.) You have posted 3 seperate threads all asking basically the same thing. I answered one of them. b.) If you are looking for information for a specific school or a specific state, you are supposed to post in the section for your specific state. Go to the Region tab at the top and follow the links to find Texas. c.) This may be a more appropriate question for the Pre-Nursing Student forum, instead of General Nursing Student? d.) The only thing about the Hesi that changes between schools is which sections you are required to take for their program entrance. I do believe you get a basic mixture of all the same questions no matter where you take the test. And the Hesi has been beaten to death on allnurses. Go to the search box at the top and type "Hesi A2" or "Hesi entrance" and peruse your results. You will find lots of tips and information on other people's experiences taking the Hesi. Review the A&P section of the Hesi A2 study guide, and spend a little time every day reviewing your A&P class notes or book. I know it seems like a lot, but just do a little bit at a time and don't let yourself get overwhelmed. If you did well in your classes, you don't need to worry much, just do what you can to review. If you didn't do the best, schedule a couple hours a day to review a chapter and you'll get it done with faster than you think! Good luck guys!

Maybe evaluate how your perceptions of how you EXPECT people to treat/think about you could cause you to give off an impression that keeps people at a distance? I haven't been completely in your shoes, but I understand some of what you are feeling I think. I am a white woman, so I am in the majority in my program. The only thing that would physically set me apart from my cohort would be my age (27, though I look young and usually pass for anywhere from 19-23, so still not a biggie) and my hair color (natural blaaaazing copper red). But I felt a lot of what you have described when I started my program. I ended up realizing that due to my own personal reasons, I was expecting to be ill-recepted- and so I was. And it wasn't even so much that I was actually being rebuffed by my peers. I ended up realizing that I was overblowing small details in my attempts to make friends, and misinterpreting other's actions. When I overheard people snickering, I automatically thought it had to be me the were laughing at. I would hear snippets of conversation and thought they would have to be talking about me. Really it just boiled down to plain ol' social paranoia paired with insecurity. So I worked hard at being more objective, and realized I was being silly. I stopped trying too hard, relaxed, and worked towards more positive ways of being sociable and helpful. It's had good results, and I have made a few friends and have been enjoying my education a lot more! I'm not sure if this truly applies to you or not, only you can evaluate and decide that. It could also just plain out be that you unfortunately live in an area where people are socially sheltered and/or ignorant and racism may be more prevalent. If so, that's a crying shame and I wish you the best in overcoming to make friends. Try not to let any ****** attitudes get you down; while you can't control how other people treat you, you have complete control over how you react to it. Work your hardest and show them up! My life motto: Succeed despite all odds! Even if an attitude is prevalent, there will usually be good people who don't fit that mold. Try talking to some of the other loners in your class. They might be by themselves because they don't agree with the majority! Best of luck to you! :heartbeat

Congrats to everyone! I am starting this fall at St. Cloud State University in MN. My cumulative GPA was 3.42, pre-req GPA 3.8, and my HESI A2 score was 95.66%. SOOOOOO excited to start the end of August!

I LOVE zombie movies. Love. I love the whole aspect of social reflection you can get out of a good zombie movie. Romero's movies are excellent. I participate in the Zombie Pub Crawl in downtown Minneapolis every October. My favorite type of zombie? Infectious disease zombies, of course. And I have an excellent sense of humor. But I have to say, I found this article by the CDC to be in poor taste. I see what they were trying to get at, but it left a bad taste in my mouth. Is this seriously the only way that we can get Americans to pay attention to what to do in the case of disaster? I instead see this as a symptom of how sick and deluded my nation sadly is right now. I feel like this portrays how my government is becoming a bigger and bigger joke. There was a bit of good very basic information provided, but would any of this help much in the case of a Katrina-sized disaster? No... just trust the government... because that ended well. Also, who is going to be lugging around all these gallons of water? Is this holy water? Silly CDC, holy water is used against vampires... not zombies. I have more qualms, but really for the sake of brevity it all boils down me shaking my head in disapproval. I personally feel our government officials should convey important information in a serious manner, and I really doubt this is going to get the real intended content of the article known. Signing off, Debbie Downer

Broken bones or broken teeth (rotting/missing teeth are ick, but not so bad as broken). Snot, urine, feces, vomit, pus, anything like that doesn't make me bat an eye. But seeing an arm or leg at an unnatural angle sends a jolt of revulsion from someplace deep inside me!

The only one of those choices that remotely interests me is ER. It appeals to the high-stimulation ADHD side of me, and I get a kick out of dealing with the truly ridiculous reasons people come to the ER (whether it be stupid nonsense or more of a "how the hell did you manage that?"). But I am actually chomping at the bit for my psych clinical- I love everything to do with mental health, it is a subject I am very passionate about. I also plan on going on to be a Psych NP as soon as I can.

I will be graduating with a BSN at age 29 after a prior career in retail. For the person curious about having a BSN at 20, I am imagining she probably was a PSEO (post-secondary education option) student. Many schools allow you the option to go to university and earn college and high school credits at the same time for your Junior and Senior years of high school if you are a good student. So if she planned it right, she would have all her generals and prerequisites laid out and hop right into the nursing program after high school graduation. I don't know for sure of course, but that seems most likely to me.

If you are very concerned with money issues, yet want to be employable, I would highly recommend either the MN program from U of MN or the BSN from Saint Cloud State. I actually just got into the nursing program at SCSU, and I am very excited to begin in the fall. While the rest of SCSU is definately a party school, from what I hear from everyone in the nursing program is the curriculum is intense and the clinical experience very beneficial. SCSU also has the highest first time NCLEX pass rate in MN (or so I was told by our advisors). With a bachelors degree you can either do the traditional or accelerated program route, as long as you have the appropriate prerequisites done. It is very intense and competitive application process however.

Thank you elkpark! I didn't realize that psych NPs took on the role of counselor too, in speaking with some of my advisors I had gotten the impression that they filled more of a low key psychiatrist role... not a lot of prolonged contact with single patients unless they worked in a ward. I'll have to look into that, that would be much easier (and less expensive!).

Hello everyone! I am new to the community and honestly in awe of all the amazing and knowledgeable people I have seen on this site. I was wondering if you would be able to provide me on some advice regarding my ultimate career goals. I am a nursing student with very little background as of yet in the medical field, so I have a lot to learn about how the health system structure works. But I have a very specific idea of what I ultimately would like to do in the field, and would like to know if it is truly practical. My intended path pretty much is as follows: right now I am pursuing my BSN in the state of MN. Depending on the job situation at my time of graduation (2014) I will either look for a job within state to get experience and then move out to CA, or move straight out to CA after graduation. After practicing as a nurse for 2-3 years I would like to return to school to become a NP or PA. And after gaining experience as an NP/PA, I would like to return to school again to become certified as a mental health counselor. The end product being that I would like to be able to provide broad-range and detailed support to people that suffer from mild to moderate mental illness and disabilities. As a NP/PA I would be able to prescribe their medications under supervision while also providing their outpatient counseling, giving me an enlarged window to be able to observe how the medication is truly affecting them. As a person who has witnessed mental health care through both my own and my families experiences (Two of my sisters and I have ADHD, my mom suffers from depression and my father ADHD w/comorbid bipolar disorder) I found the lack of continuity between care to be distressing. I felt extremely frustrated that the person who was prescribing me my medication didn't know me as a person and really didn't see how it impacted my functioning in the 5-10 minute window I saw them. And my counselor didn't really understand how the medication worked in my system and I felt couldn't adequately evaluate the results either. I know there are lines of communication, but I just felt there was a gap (though I am sure it was not intentional and they truly did care about my overall health, no offense to any psychiatrists or counselors out there!). But getting back to my original point, can anyone give me an idea to wether or not this is actually practical? On one hand I feel like it would save insurance companies a lot of money and make me more employable, but on the other I wonder if this is too specific and if it would even be desired? I know I have along way to go before I make any serious decisions, but I know myself... once I get my mind set on something I am pretty incorrigable and determined. I just want to make sure I set my sights on something that is attainable! Sorry for the long post, and thanks in advance to all that answer!