MedicFireRN

DNTcode- I am in the RN to MSN with a focus in Informatics. I have completed the BSN portion, so I have 6 classes left to finish for the MSN portion. I have taken 3 to 4 courses per semester while working full time. I have had a decent school/life balance, but it hasn't been easy to balance it all the time. I would say taking 2 classes a semester would be much easier.

Yes, this is true for a few particular schools, Tx Wesleyan being one of them. I have been casually looking into CRNA programs as an option for the future; I'm an EC ADN grad, currently in the BSN capstone at EC (I am doing their combined RN-BSN-MSN program in Informatics since I'm not entirely sure what I want to be when I grow up LOL). Most schools do not have issues with EC grads- if you search for Excelsior CRNA here on allnurses you will find threads with replies from people who have done their RN and BSN at EC and successfully completed CRNA school, so it does happen... but CRNA programs are very stringent in the admission process, and since EC is one school out of a nation of schools, it makes sense that you wouldn't see a ton of EC students who go on to CRNA school. In my searches, most schools do not state what Tx Wesleyan does; They are the only school I recall seeing that states that requirement regarding clinicals- but admittedly I haven't looked at every program, only the ones I'm interested in potentially down the road. I'm okay with the idea that I can't apply to them or to any school in CA (Since I can't get a CA nursing license). The way I think about it, to become a CRNA you only have to get accepted into ONE school and attend it.

I too entered the program as a medic. I graduated in the fall of 2015. I worked in the ED as a nurse until March of this year when I switched to ICU. I am currently doing one of EC's RN to MSN programs with a specialization in nursing informatics. I doubt this will be my end-all degree, but I figured why not since I'm still in the school mentality and I know I wanted to get way more bedside experience before considering doing an APRN program of any kind. I took almost all exams, but the course option did come around toward the end of my program completion, so I did utilize it for the last 2 courses I had prior to FCCAs which I didn't feel super motivated for (lol).

Good luck, Bill! I have enjoyed reading your progress on here; though I haven't been a very active poster in recent years :)

I hear you, CHN was definitely a time sucker. I too worked full time and took another course while taking CHN, so it is doable (albeit exhausting). Have you picked a place for your clinical hours? PixieRN is right, the clinical hours requirement is common among RN-BSN programs for certain classes, especially CHN. You can be happy to know that CHN is the only EC course with such a requirement (at this time, anyway; who knows what can happen in the future). I did my hours at the local county council on aging. I volunteered and helped at an adult day health care center. They were really flexible; I was working a midshift at the time and they let me come in in 3 hour increments prior to going to work. I went in for longer stretches on days I didn't work, and I got it all done within a month's time. I am taking the BSN capstone right now and I can tell you that CHN was honestly the most time intensive course of the program, so take heart- it's smooth sailing once you've navigated this semester.

I am taking the CEN in 10 days! Eeek!!

I was wondering if anyone has completed Excelsior's LPN to RN program? yes, many have. I am one of these many :) How was it? Did you do the traditional classes or the self study ones? It is nursing school. It is no walk in the park but it is doable. I took almost all exams but at the end I did take a course before the FCCAs because it was an option (the courses weren't offered when I first started the program). Was there a wait to do your clinical weekend at the end? Yes.. I waited 8 months from accepted app to test date. Currently the wait time is 1+ year unless you get a cancellation date. Did you take and pass the NCLEX? yes, 1st attempt Has anyone gone on to further their education post Excelsior? I am doing ECs RN to MSN program and as expected there were no issues there. Many others have gone on to other schools for their BSN or MSN. Personal choice. I will add that I didn't run into any issues with employment because of my school choice, either.

It's very typical. Our hospital is 1:4 but our sister hospitals are 1:5 in the ED. I worked at one hospital where the ratio was 1:3 for all patients except ESI 1's-2's which were 1:1 or 1:2, but the nurses there complain about the pay because it's less, but that's the only way they can support that staffing ratio. You either nurse 1:4 or 1:5 or you have less patients but also get less pay because there's more nurses.

Community has a clinical component required now; It's really only observation in a public health setting, but the requirement is something like 40 hours. Just keep that in mind if you're trying another 8 week at the same time.

this hits the nail on the head. Also both, recently stopped working as a medic although I still am one. I love both, but nursing pays way better and has better advancement opportunities, plus more diverse options for the future.

Yeah, if we had more techs I could see it being more practical; but we often only have 1 tech; on a good day we have 2 techs for the entire ED from 11a-11p.

Well it's been a miserable few weeks with no sign of change

Hey everybody! I'm curious, how does triage work in your department with your patients that walk in to be seen (so excluding ambulances)? My hospital is doing a new thing where the triage nurse out front does not triage the patient at all unless there are no available beds in the back. If there are available beds, a tech walks the patient to the back and the primary nurse for that room must triage the patient. The triage nurse cannot leave triage for any reason. Previously, we did "pull until full" but the triage nurse would walk the patient back and triage them in the room. Now, they are just sitting at triage doing nothing until we have no available beds. None of us are crazy about this, because we all know that just because there is an open bed does not mean that primary nurse is available to triage the patient.... so sometimes it will be that the patient has been in that room for 10+ minutes, not triaged; the primary nurse may not even realize another patient has been brought back that hasn't been assessed at all.... so, that being said, I'm wondering how you guys do triage at your hospitals? And how many beds is your ER? Just wondering if there's any kind of precedent for doing it this way, because it seems pretty unsafe to me. Thanks :)

I plan on switching to the RN to MSN track in August when the new catalog goes into effect; I have been taking classes with that aim since enrolling in January :) So when you're done I hope I will be done with the BSN portion and working on the MSN but I am happy to help others on their journey! :)

One of the big things to consider here is your facility's policies on titration. IMO, because of how they want us to titrate versed vs. how we can titrate propofol, I usually get much better sedation out of propofol than from versed. Versed we're only supposed to titrate by 1 mg q 10 min, whereas we can titrate propofol by 5 mg q 10min. Your mileage may vary depending on facility protocol.That being said, I have had patients where their hemodynamics made the choice in favor of versed over propofol, and in those cases I often need to bolus doses of versed while titrating the drip to achieve adequate sedation.