OnwardEver

Yes, I received an email to check my application decision.

I just found out I wasn't oferred admission to the program I applied to at UNC. It's a huge relief finding out and being able to move on and focus on my choice among the more highly ranked programs I was accepted to. Because of the time element I made my deposit at another program months ago. UNC would have been the most affordable choice and I would have foregone my deposit if I had gotten in, but for a bit more tuition I will be starting at a more highly ranked and regarded program this fall. I am happy to have all the information I need to move forward from this application cycle. I'm hoping the rest of you will too.

That's crazy, redshirt09. Apparently you never came off the wait list last year? I appreciate how heavy the applicant pool is and the efforts of the admissions team devoted to making the decisions and hope we find out sooner in April than later. Good luck to everyone that applied.

I'm waiting to hear too. Problem is I've already received admission offers from two other top schools and they want deposits within 15-30 days. UNC is closest to where I am living now and as an in-state student would be the best choice financially and it is still among the top ranked schools but with my current lease ending in two months (and having already had to give two months notice to avoid an automatic lease renewal) and needing to move away from NC to go to school at either of the two institutions I have been accepted at, it makes the waiting very difficult. Where I will live and how much tuition will be (a difference of $35k+ overall) is riding on an admissions decision that may come in April (or even May!).

Thank you both for the advice. From my rotations in nursing school and experiences across the various specialties I have worked in I feel the PMHNP would be a great direction to go in for me. Nursing colleagues have told me I have a way with and seem to be a "whisperer" of sorts with the PMH patients I've had the opportunity to work with. That said, I agree with you and understand it's not the same as having locked down unit experience. I'm aware that psychiatric mental health nursing is a very different kind of nursing, just like any specialty priorities and goals and how you practice changes to meet the needs of the population you are working with. In addition, as far as I understand, PMHNPs work in a variety of settings, some locked down in-patient and others outpatient, etc. I appreciate the feedback regarding USA's program!

I find myself more and more interested in pursuing an advanced practice Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner post-master's certificate or DNP degree. I'm a North Carolina resident with 8 years of nursing experience ranging from med-surg to home health and critical care looking at affordable in-state and online out-of-state programs. While I already have a good idea what NC has to offer, I'm curious about hybrid or online programs at schools like Frontier, U or Ark, U of Missouri Kansas City, etc. I have read mixed reviews about programs through U of Southern Alabama. I'm hoping for a program that is authorized to provide education to North Carolinians as well as one that strikes a balance between quality education, reputation, and affordability. What programs do you think might be a good fit and what are the pros and cons of going for a low residency hybrid/online program vs. a traditional sit down especially when considering out of state offerings and clinical placements in or near-state?

My favorite part of receiving report from the ED is when the nurse that is giving me report has never even assessed the patient. So I ask of the ED nurse sending me a patient that was given Lasix 80 mg IV when was the last time the patient voided or does the patient have a urinary catheter and either way what has the UOP been. What are heart and lung sounds like? Any shortness of breath? What IV fluid and rate are you running and through what IV catheter size? Yes, I could look at the chart and from the few responses I've scanned in response to the OP it is plausible that it would save the OP or like-minded ED nurse's time, but have you laid eyes on and put a larger picture together of the patient you are caring for, what you or the person before you was doing for the patient and why, and then transferring all of what you know and don't know about the patient into my care? It's possible, as others have mentioned, that I have several catastrophes that I have had to delegate to another nurse or two and a larger patient group that I can't transfer out or ignore to take report from you or risk angering the Gods of patient flow or worse yet be written up for "refusing to take report" especially on shift change when I may or may not have completely received report on all my other patients. It is possible I want a complete picture of what is coming and what I need to do to prepare and what I need to get done that hasn't been that you would be in the best position to tell me as the nurse that is currently providing care to the patient. After all if I were down in the ED providing care for that patient myself then report wouldn't even be necessary but it so happens I'm not. Not to mention before you've given me report you're already up with the patient in a gurney even though you've been told the room either hasn't been cleaned or is being cleaned. Why haven't you looked at bed status in the system before wheeling your patient up to me? There is no question that it is faster and more accurate for you to look at any number of things in the system that would enable you to cooperate with me and not be at odds in providing high quality, seamless attitude free care to the patient. So--why don't *you*? As others have said both the ED nurse and floor or unit nurses are under pressure and trying to do less with more. What makes you think thorough communication and a safe, informed patient transfer isn't in the best interest of everyone including you, the floor nurse, and the patient?

I agree with mvm2 and others in that just because we are a males in the nursing profession it doesn't exempt us from performing medically necessary procedures on patients of the opposite sex. There will be shifts when all the nursing staff, from the charge nurse down, are male. You aren't going to allow a bladder to sit full of urine and cause the patient distress and harm by neglecting to place the urinary catheter. If you are unsuccessful after earnest attempts then get help, even if it's from another nurse that happens to be male. The only way you can grow and reach your potential in your career and in this field is by repetition and experience. Diverting or delegation of a task based on gender doesn't help you learn, it just allows you to deny your need for practice and mastery of an important and necessary skill. Some patients will prefer for modesty to have a nurse, doctor, or other applicable healthcare professional of the same gender provide certain types of personal care, but then that would be the patient's preference, not the provider of that care deciding for the patient without even giving them the option or approaching them about it. You owe it to yourself and the patient to attempt the procedure provided the patient agrees and continue to grow and promote your mastery of that skill no matter the patient's gender.