frankie,RN

just took stats fo the healthcare professional this past summer. its a killer class online, but definitely doable. the five weeks was tough but i was glad when it was finally over. good luck with whatever you choose.:)

Congratulations.:)

Congratulations. Very happyfor you.

Hi. I actually attend La Salle Univ. right now. I started in may and hope to graduate next summer. It is 500/credit. But if money isn't the issue its a really good school. If you want more info, let me know. I love it and it does have a good reputation.

i think you wont be able to adequately do your job if all the lights are off. in the end, if something happened, the board would be asking, "what would a prudent nurse do." i wouldnt feel like a safe nurse if i had to care for a child in total darkness. how can you know their skin color, does the child have a pulse ox?? that would make me feel a little better. if you cant see them turning blue at least that will maybe give you some forewarning. My agency does allow us to bring a laptop/ipad/whatever. i bring my laptop and stick one earbud in so I dont disturb the client. I also bring a booklight to do studying for my bsn program. i personally think its too much to ask you to sit in total darkness. a little source of light is ok. i would be pickier about the nurse making too much noise at night.:)

Congratulations.:)

Congratulations.:)

Congratulations. :)

Dont you have an RN nursing supervisor during the shift who could take a few minutes to adjust the rate?

i think public health is an important/required class. everyone usually offers it.im curious, which school is not requiring it? if your going for you msn eventually, then i would contact some schools to see if it is required and if it needs to be on your transcript.:)

if you use the search button at the top and put in whichever school you want to look up, also enter either 2011 or 2012 some old threads should come up where people are discussing those schools. sorry i cant help. im in philly at lasalle univ. there are some students at those schools who come on here from time to time and will answer questions. but in the meantime definitely use the blue search button at the top of the page.

First of all, good luck on your cpne. :) Second, are you going to do your bsn through excelsior or another school.

Great stuff. Its fun to look at the history of nursing, esp. at Penn, and learn a little. Thanks for posting.:)

I definitely agree with you about who has the potential tobe violent. not sure about the OP's location, but when offering advice you have to give the good as well as the bad. I speak on the experience of living in an urban/inner city area. a lot of the psych patients are poss. paranoid schizophrenic/ affective, with a tendacy to violence and drug addicted maybe. and they do attack when you are at your most vurnerable moment. especially new people.not only are these patients in psych facilities, they are also being admitted to ltc facilities. just because the majority of psych patients where you are may happen to be great people going thru a troubling period, it maynot be like that everywhere else. some nurses do clinicals in state hospitals where its not all great. So please dont come down too harsh on me you guys. if someone asks for advice you have togive them the honest truth. OP- let me rephrase my original post. i should have said. if youare unsure or nervous of what to expect, always remember to-PREPARE FOR THE WORST BUT HOPE FOR THE BEST- especially in urbanized facilities. but still, dont turn your back.

Can i ask a question?? WHO CARES?? This isnt the Army or the Marines, its healthcare. there is no rank when discussing lpn's and medics. as someone already said- apples/ oranges. nobody ever really pulls rank in heathcare facilities except nsg supervisors/ managers and doctors. the rest of us are all foot soldiers.

if you plan on going for your bsn, then try to take something that would apply to that degree as well. most bsn's require something like nutrition or statistics. both classes suck majorly but they are required courses. you dont need them for the asn. but if you do want your bsn my advice is to take a relevant course. good luck to you.:)

in addition to all the wonderful advice everyone gave, I'll add my two cents... 1. never turn your back on them. 2. never let your guard down. 3. And always watch your back because you never know. You know. good luck to you. hope its a wonderful experience.:)

During my cpne last december, i had an older lady and i couldnt get a brachial pulse on her. she did have some bruising on her arm. but i just let the ce/ca? know and she said dont worry. and so i cont'd on. Truth be told, i think vitals was one of the scariest part of the cpne, because you could fail w/o even really having your foot in the door. old vitals may possibly give you some type of baseline, but vitals do change. and you do have to have your vitals within a certain rangeof the evaluators. i think the hardest is the first blood pressure because its manual. after that, its automatic. i also think a lot of people fail vitals because theyre so nervous. you have to be calm beause you need to concentrate. as far as the apical pulse goes, hopefully you'll get that unless maybe theyre morbidly obese or in the process of being deceased(hopefully not). the good thing is that the evaluator uses the double stethascope, so they hear everything that you do. unless the students hearing isnt great, then if you dont hear it then they probably dont hear it either. word of advice... definitely practice vitals with someone else priorto going for the cpne. we take vitals so many times that we do it like second nature. practice taking your time. even something so simple as inflating the cuff has to be done a certain way...i think no more than 30 above the baseline. so you dont want to over/underinflate. also the good thing about taking your time with vitals the first pcs is that you will have already had your careplan done so you should have maybe a little bit of time to make sure your vitals are right. but dont take too much time because you dont want to run out of time in the end. the paperwork at the end is another story itself.:)

Glad you didnt give up.hope everythings better now. good luck to you. We will be rooting for you.:)

let the studying begin. Congrats and good luckto you.:)

Congratulations.:)

After going thru the study guide afew times, I took an excelsior workshop last november. it brought everything together for me. i dont think it really matters which workshop you take as long as you feel you are prepared for the cpne. i felt the excelsior one was really thorough as far as prep. i dont know if they were "teaching" anything but whatever you call it, i did learn a lot from them.:)

Every year someone pulls a prank at our Halloween office party. I wonder who would spike the punch with GoLitely?

I applied last year early october for npac. got a date week later for the first weekend in december in albany, ny. that was exactly two months between application and actual test date. i passed everything except for the iv minibag the first time. And graduated a month later. Just call the region number where you want to test at. they will give you an approximation of wait times. I can gaurantee you, wasting anyones money(YOURS) wont be a factor to them.

congrats again on passing the cpne. Its a very difficult thing to do first time up. I called Excelsior when I graduated to inquire about the RN-BSN program, just basic questions. They may give you some info, but they really dont want to take the time for you unless you pass your boards. you cant even apply until you get your RN. Good luck to you and congratulations again.:)