maverick87

Pretty much what dianah said. After cardiac surgery with better circulation (bypassed vessels), proper medical management has been shown to SOMETIMES improve the EF. Some will f/u with the cardiologist and have a repeat echo ordered after a certain amt of time, and sometimes the EF will improve thus not needing an AICD. This is usually with patients whose EF is borderline for needing an AICD. A lot of patients requiring CABG that have a low EF usually have ischemic cardiomyopathy, which means that the heart is used to pumping with somewhat limited circulation. Plus as with everything else, insurance also plays a part in it.

I chose to get my ASN strictly because I could make the same amount of money with less schooling (this was 8yrs ago). Now, I'm glad I did that. I felt my ASN helped me with just the task of being a nurse where as my BSN helped me with defining what it means to be a nurse. My BSN really opened my eyes and showed me what this profession is all about and how important nurses are in the healthcare industry.

If your dream is to be a CV nurse, don't let anything deter you. When I graduated, jobs were abundant (33 nursing jobs available in my community hospital at the time but it was in 2008) but now they don't seem as easy to come by, at least in southwestern PA. Talk to unit managers and ask them what you can do to improve yourself in their eyes. In my honest opinion, don't work in a nursing home/non clinical job. Since you are new, you still need to develop critical thinking skills and learn how to actually manage patients which is important if you want a hospital job. Nursing school is unfortunately only the tip of the iceberg. That's if you want to work in a CV unit in a hospital. It just depends on where you want to work. Sorry if that's all confusing, I just remember what it was like for me and what I had to do when I graduated to be able to work in the ICU. I was kind of in the same situation and remember that it did suck for a bit. Hope this helps? Good luck and don't give up either way.

I've been a male nurse for almost 7yrs. If you're single you'll love it (if the class has some babes lol jk). I don't think I was ever treated differently. All in all it's a great profession, A LOT of different opportunities (travel, nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, home care, management, i could go on and on). I'm 27 and have had patients who are the same age and younger than me. Just gota act like a boss when you walk in the room and they don't seem to mind lol. Try it out, shadow and see if it's something you like. Remember, there are tons of nursing jobs in the hospital (med-surg, telemetry where you watch a heart monitor, operating room, critical care, and more). Give it a go.

I had the same question as you before. I decided on a MSN program. There's less time in school, less tuition, and the opportunity to really decide what kind of doctorate I would like to obtain and where I would like to go with a terminal degree. I think of it as ASN vs BSN. I felt my ASN program really helped me with the task of being a nurse and BSN helped me define what it means to be a nurse (if that makes sense? lol). I'm kind of viewing the MSN vs DNP the same way. To get a feel of the CRNA profession with a MSN and then pursue an area that I want to work on and get a terminal degree that would most benefit me in achieving it. Hope that makes sense.

I would say adult. Some programs will take students with a pediatric background but understand that the majority of time spent in clinical/didactic will be geared for the adult population. Just like nursing school you will have didactic/rotations in OB and peds, just not as much as adult. Whenever you graduate, just do as much as you can to show that you want to excel and go above and beyond (CCRN, committee if able, charge/precept if able). Just become a well-rounded person with a passion to improve yourself and you'll do great. Hope that helps!

I'll be starting in the summer for school so I'll tell you what I'm doing. I'm just going to pay the minimum or slightly above the min for my undergrad loans (Stafford, etc) due to their low interest and focus on getting my higher interest loans out of the way (car, credit card, etc). Then I'm just going to focus on saving as much as I possibly can. I have friends who are in school/completed school and this is what they've recommended to me. I know a lot of people who have taken out extra private loans (Sallie Mae or from another source). I'm just prepared to accept the fact that I'll be over 100k in debt probably. Hope that helps.

Just wondering if I could get some feedback about Case. More specifically from people who know the program (students, alumni, whoever.). I have an interview with them but I do not know a lot about the program (other than what I have read on different threads/sites). I really want to know what made you choose the program, why case western? Any pros/cons etc. Any advice on the interview would also be helpful. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your input.. Gonna start mid summer and I'll let you know what company I pick and my review etc. Thanks

Hey all, I have ICU and CVICU experience. Wanted to travel to Florida with a fellow co-worker (same experience) and was seeing if anyone had a good recommendation for a company? Looking at American Traveler and American Mobile. Also interested if anyone has had any bad experiences in a ICU/CVICU setting in Florida. Thanks