HeartNursing3

Does everything have to be proven as credible through a peer reviewed resource in a discussion? I understand a paper... But I am not even allowed to share my own experiences unless someone else had that same experience, researched it, and published it. I understand it takes away the purpose if the entire conversation is just things you "think" or "feel" but why can't SOME of the discussions involve personal experiences?

I am planning to apply to Case Western's post-master's DNP program. They just required satisfactory scores on the MAT or GRE. How do you decide what to take? I think I'm going to do horrible on either one. I have always dreaded the GRE. I made sure I went to a MSN program that did not require the GRE. I think I would do OK at the math after studying and OK on the writing. It's the verbal part that would get me in to trouble. I have bombed all my practice tests and have made minimal progress on my GRE vocab flashcards. I read a lot of scholarly books and got a 3.6 in my ADN, 4.0 in my BSN, and 4.0 so far in my MSN (graduate in June). So I'm not sure why my vocab is AWFUL or how else to improve it. It's also a long and expensive test. The MAT sounded easier. It's short and simple (just analogies). Aaaand then I started doing practice questions. You also have to know some vocab (although less). And then you have to know random minute knowledge about obscure areas! Like the name of the sperm in a whale or what Beijing was previously called. How do people know this and how do you prepare? I feel like I'm doomed regardless. Any ideas?

I teach at a large University in the College of Nursing. As I only have my BSN, I am only allowed to be a teaching assistant, which means I work at the direction of the faculty member. I primarily coordinate and set up all the labs and I coordinate, program, and run all the simulations. However, one of the faculty members has asked me to teach tomorrow and Friday. Students are graduate entry students in med/surg II. These are people with previous bachelor's who are in a 3 year track leading to a MSN and APRN certification. They are in the RN portion at this point. They have previously learned how to do a full head to toe assessment. This is about teaching them to do a "10 minute assessment" which is the head to toe assessment that nurses actually do on a typical patient. They should have viewed a PowerPoint prior to coming to lab. I will have 7-8 students per group and will have each one for 1 hour. We will be working with a high-fidelity simulator. My thoughts: Go over the 10 minute assessment with the students briefly. Have them as a group do a normal assessment. Break them into two groups and have each group do a head to toe assessment. I will modify the simulator to have abnormalities which will be different for each group. The other group will observe when the first group is doing the assessment then they will switch. At the end, they will "present" their assessment and I'll go over with them what they missed and what they did well. Any thoughts, opinions, or feedback? The instructor left the door wide open for me but I have never been in charge of anything before so I'm nervous! Thank you!

So it is like a post-masters certificate? Or a "minor" as part of a MSN program?

It doesn't change the fact that Hondros does NOT have regional accreditation and their LPN and ADN programs are NOT nationally accredited for nursing. Only their BSN program is CCNE accredited. Most MSN programs I looked into required both national and regional accreditation. You may be able to get by with just the BSN being CCNE accredited but that forces all students to at least attend Hondros through their BSN if they ever want to go anywhere.

If the PCA uses the wrong size BP cuff, the result is going to be wrong. The nurse might pick up on it if the result is too low or too high but if the BP is actually high or low and the wrong cuff size is used, the result could incorrectly show up normal. Should we not let PCAs check blood pressures either?

I think they have a website, but not the type of website people actually go to. They're looking for one website for now -- essentially the one that'll gave them the most bang for their buck :)

My mother is a LPN at established and long standing allergy and asthma office. They're looking to hire an experience FNP or PA as soon as possible. However, we have no idea where to post the job opening to reach a large number of possible applicants! The office is private (not affiliated with a hospital) and in NE Ohio. I know Craigslist is often shady. What are some good websites to post this job opportunity? It would likely be part-time. Thanks for the help!!

I received a job offer to work in a family practice clinic that is associated with a hospital. The clinic is a residency training program so each year you get new residents who come through. The residents see the patients but confer with the attendings. The clinic sees a large portion of the underserved population. They see the entire lifespan and do a few procedures and see far more adults than kids. The clinic has mostly medical assistants as there is only a very tiny portion of the job that requires a RN license, but they want RNs to get PCMH certification. I worry that I'll lose my RN skills or an edge in the job market down the road by doing a job that is 98% medical assistant. We don't even do patient education because the residents need to learn, but we're supposed to help teach the residents. Any thoughts? I have 15 months med/surg telemetry experience to date. Long term goals include going back to school for FNP, but strongly prefer pediatrics to adults. The hospital is a large financially stable hospital, but not super well ranked (I only place so much emphasis on rankings though). They do still have a good reputation in the city. They have good tuition reimbursement if you attend their college of nursing, but the MSN programs are campus based, not online, and the campus is in the opposite direction of my home and the clinic. If you attend another MSN program, they give you $3,500 a year. While they do have a pension plan, they got rid of 403b matching. I also have a job offer to work at our pediatric hospital in the endocrinology clinic as a diabetes educator. I would see patients both in clinic routinely as well as respond to any inpatient consults. There are 6 educators currently and I would make the 7th. It's a high ranked and well respected pediatric hospital. They only offer $3,500 a year in tuition reimbursement, making it likely not feasible to go back to school while working there. However, there is always the chance of making it work or transferring to another system in a few years once I have more experience. They do have both a pension plan and 403b matching. Both jobs are daytime Monday to Friday hours. The diabetes educator position takes weekend call, but only every 7th weekend. Both jobs are about the same distance from where I live, but the family clinic job would not have to deal with rush hour traffic. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated!

I would recommend getting a job as a PCA/PSA in a hospital throughout the program. It is difficult to get a job as an associate degree nurse in Columbus. The market is over saturated to begin with and Magnet stated that 80% of bedside nurses need a BSN by 2020 so there is a big push for BSN only. The James at OSU is BSN only - no exceptions. Main OSU is on a hiring freeze. I would apply for a RN-BSN program as soon as you are possibly able to. OU and OSU are both online. I did OSU but I know a lot of people who did OU as well. You can apply to at least OSU while still in school and would recommend it so you can start ASAP. Start networking. Make connections. And like I said, get a job in a hospital. My friends who were not already working in a hospital had to wait over a year (and after they finished their BSN) to get a job. I got a job within 24 hours of passing the NCLEX but that's because I was in the OSU system (had been throughout my entire nursing program), made a lot of connections at OSU, put forth a lot of effort of networking and talking to various managers and college of nursing faculty, and was already accepted to OSU's RN-BSN program.

But the glucometer automatically uploads to the patient chart so it's not like the PCA can chart it wrong or tell the nurse wrong.... it's glucometer to chart. I don't see how this creates an issue? However, I always insist on doing the carb counts myself.

I am currently a RN working on an adult med/surg unit. My other experience was only as a PCA and was also adult only (cardiac step down and psych). I have come to learn that med/surg nursing is definitely not for me, but I am grateful for all I have learned. I have an interview in a few days for a special care nursery at a typically adult hospital. This hospital also has a NICU. What types of patients should I expect? What is a typical shift like? Any tips for the interview or anything I can do to prepare? I really am hoping to get this job. Thank you!

Yes. It still doesn't happen frequently but we got in trouble by Joint Commission over it.

You SHOULD have parameters if it says give 12.5mg-25mg of a medication. It should say to give 12.5mg for pain 5-7 and 25mg for pain 8-10, for example. If not, ask for them. If you make the call yourself, you are prescribing, at least in my state.

I worked as a clinical research data coordinator during nursing school (entering data into case report forms mostly). I worked closely with the research nurses so I have a pretty good idea of what the job entails. I currently am a bedside nurse - I have just over 13 months experience in nursing. As much as I love the 3 days a week, I miss out on so much working evenings, nights, weekends, holidays, etc. I really want more of the 9a-5p Mon-Fri type job so I can be on the same page as most everyone else. I have an opportunity to work as a research nurse. I'm debating whether or not to take it. I'll still get frequent interaction with patients, but I won't be doing any hands on patient care. While that isn't all bad, I worry it wil hurt me down the road if I ever decide I would like to return to the bedside. Has anyone left bedside nursing this early in the game? Has anyone successfully returned to bedside nursing? What if I end up hating it? Just looking for some advice before making a major career change! Thank you!