Dancingqueen94

I'm sorry to hear this dear. It's no fun being in that type of position, but just like another member has said, take this as a lesson and learn from it for your future endeavors. Always show up early to work. You never know when you will run into unexpected traffic on the way to work, construction, weather, etc. It won't hurt you to show up a few minutes early and wait in your car until it's time to clock in or to wait in the break room. As far as transferring the patient, remember that the patient always comes first! Maybe she was scared of transferring after surgery or she maybe felt weak. Don't be afraid to ask your coworkers to assist you in transferring a patient, even if in your own mind they might be "fine". If it puts the patient more at ease to have two people assisting them, then that's what you should do.

Have you tried Koi scrubs?

Feel free to ask as many questions as you want...I'm so happy to help! :-) For me, fall semester was a bit busy just because I also work at a hospital as well. I took 10 or 11 credits I think but the U does offer a 13-credit exemption if you are taking less than 13 so you only pay for what you are taking, rather than paying for those extra credits you aren't taking. Do you have other classes to take besides your nursing classes? If you do, I would maybe recommend trying to get some of those in during sophomore year since you start your clinicals and all of that fun stuff your junior year. The only extra class that I had to take outside of the nursing program was an upper division writing class through the Twin Cities campus, but I took it online. We do go up to the Twin Cities campus a few times throughout the semester for different things. For example, this semester, we went to the Twin Cities for our Application of Genetics in Nursing class and then we also sat in lecture with our Twin Cities classmates. Other than than, your classes and clinicals will be in Rochester. :-) As far as extra time outside of the program, I felt like I had a pretty good balance between school time and personal time. I also work but I still felt like it was manageable. It really all depends on what you can handle if you do decide to work. I worked about 25 hours per week during fall semester and then I cut back to about 20 per week during spring semester. It's all about time management and what you can handle. You'll do great! Many of my classmates live in Rochester or in the surrounding areas so they don't really commute much but I have a few classmates who do live in the cities and they always went back home most weekends and then came back for class, which is totally okay! It's important to spend time at home with your family and friends. They will be an awesome support for you during school. Spring semester picks up the pace a little more because we start putting the pieces together from first semester courses and also applying them to the new skills we learn in lab. This semester I was only on campus one day. I had my second lab course in the morning and then Nursing Care of Families I course in the afternoon. (In my first post, I meant Nursing Care of Adults I, not Nursing Care of Families.) I also had an online Application of Genetics in Nursing class and an online upper division writing course. I think I had 11 credits this semester. This semester was super fun because we really started delving into the fun nursing skills like injections, IV's, medications, trachs, etc. It's really important that you learn your material in first semester because it all builds into second semester. It's amazing to see how much you learn in one year and how you can put the pieces all together! I think all of my classmates and I were really happy to see the progress we have made from day one until now.

Hey there! First of all, congratulations on acceptance to the U of M's program, as well as getting accepted to the Rochester campus. You will love it! I am officially a junior in the program on the Rochester campus since I just finished up my finals on Wednesday afternoon. Time to enjoy the summer and a little break from the studies :-) For me, fall semester consisted of the courses Nurse as Professional, Lab (Nursing Interventions), Nursing Care of Families I, and pharmacotherapy. Pharm is an online class and you can take it either first or second semester. I was usually on campus about 3 or 4 days a week, depending on what was going on that week. I also joined a study group that met Monday afternoons. Wednesdays I would have Nurse as Professional and then I had lab and Nursing Care of Families on Thursdays. I live about an hour west of Rochester but I decided to commute this year. The commute wasn't bad but I would definitely recommend the 318 commons or some form of housing in Rochester. You never know what the weather is going to be like in the winter so sometimes that drive can get to be a little messy. I am so happy to "meet" some of the incoming sophomores on here. You will absolutely love the program and you will really get to know your classmates well. They get to be like family! If you have any more questions or want to know anything else about the campus, the program, the classes, the instructors, etc, just let me know! :-) Again, congratulations on your acceptance! GO GOPHERS!

Thank you for your input! :-) It sounds like you guys have a really good system set up. You're right though...teamwork is the key! The last few weeks our census has usually been around 15-17 patients but we still only have one CNA on per shift. Would you say you give baths only in the morning? I feel like that's such a huge focus of my day that I don't get to do some of the other things that I should be doing, yet most of the nurses tell their patients that I will give them a shower or a bath. Almost like it's just a given that I will be able to get everyone bathed in one eight hour shift.

So I have a question for the CNA's that work in a hospital setting, or I guess anybody that could give me some insight. I am currently finishing up my first year in a BSN program and I am also working 20 hours per week as a CNA. I work at a pretty small hospital. The floor that I work on has about 20 beds or so I think. I LOVE my job! I love the people I work with, I love the experience that I am getting, and I love working with the patients. The only problem is that we only staff one CNA per shift. I feel like it gets so overwhelming sometimes and that I might not have my day organized the best to complete everything that needs to get done. Does anybody have any tips? I'll list what my usual day is like below. I start my shift at 0600 and I get my report on my patients. I am responsible for all of the patients on the floor so depending on the day, my report can be anywhere from 5 minutes to about 10 or 15 minutes. Then I get my glucometer and take the blood sugars that need to be done. Lately, I have also been taking my patient's vitals at 0600 and their weight if that needs to be done as well so it is one less thing the nurses need to do when they get there. After the accuchecks are done, I help patients order their breakfast trays and use the bathroom and freshen up a bit in the morning. I usually change their sheets right away and ask them if they would like to take a shower or a whirlpool bath at some point during the day. The patients that I usually offer showers or baths to are the patients that have been there for more than one day. I also answer call lights at this time since this is when the day shift is coming on and getting their report from overnights. After breakfast, I usually start on some showers or baths and do this until about 11, as well as answer call lights. I do my lunch time blood sugars and help patients order their meals. After lunch, I usually continue with more showers and baths until the end of my shift. I also answer call lights along the way and help the nurses do things such as repositioning, help with 2-assists, etc. On a normal day, I usually give around 6 or 7 showers or baths. What is your routine like? How do you organize your day?

While I have no experience with HCMC, I work for Allina and I am so pleased. They are excellent to their staff and I believe they give amazing care to each and every patient that comes through!

3-4 days sounds about right. During the fall, I was on campus on Mondays for our study group, Wednesdays for Nurse as Professional and our lab lecture, and then Thursday I had my full day of lab and adults lecture. This semester I am only there on Wednesdays for lab and our families lecture. As far as clinicals, Mayo definitely has peds opportunities! Junior year you will rotate through four different clinicals. Mental health, Med-Surg (Adults), OB/Maternity/Peds, and then Public Health. Each clinical rotation is about eight weeks I believe. For me, I will start in mental health this fall for the first eight weeks and then the last eight weeks I will do the Med-Surg clinical. The really neat thing about the University's program is that you get to do an immersion your third year. You get to pick a specialty that you would like to shadow a nurse in and they try to arrange it for you to be in that department. Mayo has endless opportunities! For lecture, it is fairly interactive between the Twin Cities and Rochester. I had an amazing professor for Nursing Care of Adults that really tried to keep the Rochester students just as involved as the Twin Cities students. We would do in-class activities as small groups and then talk about what we did when we joined the large group again. I actually enjoyed the ITV lecture much more than I thought I would. They really do make you feel like you are in the same classroom as they are. As for going to lecture in the cities, they sadly don't allow that. There are a few times though that you will go to the Twin Cities campus for various things such as orientation, and then in the spring you go to the Twin Cities campus once for the genetics course you take. The Rochester campus has a wide range of ages and backgrounds in the program. Some of my classmates are working and have families and are coming back to school, some are true sophomores, and others are somewhere in-between. If I had to give an average for age, I would say maybe 25 years old. Even though we are all different ages and are at different stages in life, we all get along great and we have made such good friendships with each other. You really get to know everyone in your class and they become family!

Hi SaraG21! Congratulations on your acceptance! I am currently a sophomore nursing student at UMR and I really like it! We have about 30 students in our class so you really get to know each other and the nursing faculty on campus. Fall semester consisted of our lab course, a course called Nurse as Professional, and then the main class which is called Nursing Care of Adults. You connect with the Twin Cities campus via ITV for the adults lecture and there is also an instructor on campus in class with you. Spring semester so far has consisted of our second lab course, a genetics course, and then our Nursing Care of Families course. Just like fall semester, you connect with the Twin Cities via ITV for families. I start my clinicals in the fall so I can't give much advice there, but from what the current juniors and seniors say, it is a WONDERFUL experience. The lab courses you take sophomore year really work on preparing you for clinicals. It is probably one of my favorite classes. About three times each semester we go to the simulation center that is run by Mayo in order to practice some of our skills. They set up a scenario for us and we take care of the patient just like we would if we were the real nurse. They give you about 20 minutes to work through the scenario before debriefing with you and your team members about the scenario. It's an awesome learning experience and it's really fun! As for commuting to campus, I live about an hour west of Rochester. This year I have been driving to campus but it does get tricky sometimes with weather and different things. I would highly recommend finding housing in Rochester. I was on campus about 3 or 4 times per week. This semester I have only been on campus once a week but there is also an optional study group that meets on Mondays so some people are on campus two days per week. There is on campus housing called 318 Commons or there are many apartment complexes around the area with lots of transportation options to downtown Rochester. I hope this helps you! Congratulations again and I'm looking forward to welcoming the incoming sophomore class! Let me know if you have any other questions! :-)

I would say #2! It's a good way to experience what you are interested in, as well as seeing a new environment. You never know...you might really like the facility! Externships are a wonderful way to get your foot in the door at different facilities.

Thanks for all of your awesome posts everyone! I'm now just about one month into my BSN program and I'm finally getting into a routine with my reading and studying. I have been trying to skim before I go to class to get a handle on what we will be talking about. I also print the powerpoints and try to take notes during class. After class I go back to the book and really read about the big topics we talked about in class. This has been helping me and it saves a lot of time, rather than reading every chapter word-for-word before I come to class. I have my first big exam this coming Thursday (October 2nd) so I'm really nervous! Anyways, thanks again everybody for your posts! I hope if any of you are taking classes currently that they are going great and you are doing well! :-)

Thanks to both of you! :)

Hello everyone! I just started my BSN program this past week and I have to say, I am SO overwhelmed with all of the reading! It seems like almost too much to even retain the material if I read all of it. Do any of you have tips or ideas on how to tackle all of the readings? How do you organize your time in order to get it all done? I would appreciate your help! Thanks!

Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

Mine is a Littman Classic II SE with raspberry tubing and rainbow finish on the chest piece. I love mine! :-)