CC Wisconsin

I am currently finishing up in the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Accelerated BSN program. Here is the link: Accelerated Online Bachelor's to BSN â€" College of Nursing The theory coursework is all done online, so you can live at home. The program will set you up within 50 miles of your home (if possible) for clinical rotations (as long as your state/area has preceptors available...the list of states is on the website). There are three times that you would have to visit Wisconsin: once for orientation weekend (Friday-Sunday if I'm remembering correctly), a "bootcamp" session (two weeks with combined lab/precepted clinical), and Capstone week (one week at the end of the program for testing and graduation). We have 728 hours of clinicals in: Adult Health I & II (usually Med/Surg or something similar), Mental Health or OB (depending on preceptors), Pediatrics or Geriatrics (depending on preceptors), Community Health, and Senior Synthesis (you can choose an area that you'd like experience in). I believe the curriculum is available as well on the website.

I'd go with Implementation

If they are federal loans, you will not have to pay them back until after nursing school. I'd suggest picking up a part-time job during nursing school (it would be tough, but shows future employers that you are a hard worker). Otherwise, say hello to interest :)

You are correct about incompatible meds. Stop, unhook the line, flush with NS, push med, flush again, then you can attach the primary line again. When doing pushes, just make sure that you are doing it at the closest Y-site to the patient. As far as little bubbles...the previous poster is correct: small bubbles won't harm the patient. I have heard that up to an inch of air in the tube is fine. If it is bigger than a centimeter I usually flush it out. One way that you can prevent air bubbles at your Y-site is by properly priming the line. Always hold all of the Y-sites so they are pointing down. This will cause the air to rise out of the ports and into the main line. That air will then be flushed out with priming. With IVs running on pumps, clamping the tubing for pushes probably doesn't matter because there is always positive pressure, like the previous poster said. However, if for whatever reason you don't have a pump (let's say in an emergency with a mass amount of patients...) you will need to clamp the tubing. I always clamp so that I am in the habit of doing it in case a pump is not available. :)

Here's an example of how I do my pushes. Let's say I have a primary line of NS running and I need to give an IV push of Zofran 4mg over 2 minutes. I clean the Y-site and attach the Zofran syringe. Clamp above the Y site, push in 1mg Zofran, unclamp the tube. 30 seconds later, I do this again (x3 to get the full 4mg in). That is how I was taught in school. I find it easier than trying to continuously push on the syringe. Plus then I don't get that annoying beep (seriously, IV beeps will be the death of me). Hope that helps :)

Correct! Just remember that if a patient is receiving a basal rate, they are receiving that amount regardless of if they press the button. The basal rate is like a continuous infusion...no matter what, they will receive that amount per hour. So, for example, if the order is: 4mg/hour basal rate, 1mg with a lock-out time of 6 minutes... Total amount = Basal rate (4mg) + patient demand (60minutes/6minutes=10 demands; 10 demands x 1mg= 10mg) The patient would receive 14mg/hour maximum

You clamp the tubing (you can just bend it to make a kink) ABOVE the Y site when you are pushing the med

In the program right now.

I was totally quiet when I started clinicals...I was just so nervous! Now when I head into clinicals, I'm much more outgoing. I think it has to do with your confidence and how comfortable you feel in the situation. I also found that I was way more quiet with my preceptor around than I was when I was with the client alone. There is something about "feeling like a student" that makes me feel inadequate. When I am alone, though, I feel much more like a nurse and I act more like a nurse. I would just take it as constructive criticism and talk to your instructor more about how you are feeling :) As others have said, you don't have to have a loud and assertive personality to be a great nurse! You'll do great!

I can't say either way if you would receive feedback and/or how to ask for it. For your next interview, I would suggest reading: https://allnurses.com/nursing-interview-help/how-answer-most-748905.html ("How To Answer the Most Common Interview Questions" on the Interview forum of the Careers section). There are three articles with several questions that you may run into. I absolutely despise interviews...but looking over these questions and preparing a general answer really helped me in my interview. Hopefully you get a response from the employer, and good luck in future interviews!

I would recommend getting the study book. There are a lot of concepts that I learned long ago that I had to refresh upon. But yes, it is similar to the ACT...shorter and easier though in my opinion.

Thanks everyone!

My Accelerated BSN interview was via the telephone since my program is online. It was pretty similar to a basic interview, I thought. It was a while ago, but they asked: -Why did you decide to go into nursing? -Why are you applying to this program? -What do you know about this program? (DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!) -What are your strengths/weaknesses (definitely mention organization as a strength...it's super important for accelerated programs!) -What would previous coworkers/supervisors say about you? -What three words describe you the best? -Give an example of a difficult situation and how did you handle it? -Why should we select you? Non-verbal communication is super important...if yours is a phone interview like mine was, you need to sell yourself with your responses. If it is an in-person interview, focus just as much on non-verbal communication as on your answers. Make sure you do your research about the program. They want to make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into (ha!) and that you know what is expected of you. Also make sure you prepare yourself and know what you will say to these questions. I'd also look elsewhere on the forum to see some common questions. Good luck!

Correct. Keep in mind this statement, though: "the nurse knows that the max rate of administration..." If this is an inpatient and/or the patient is not in a hurry, I'd run it over a little more than 30 mins.

If your accelerated program is anything like mine, you won't have time to work during school, so hopefully you have already been working in the healthcare setting. During school, keep your eyes open to create contacts. All of my clinicals were at one hospital...if yours are at various hospitals, always go in and talk to the nursing supervisor and I would even periodically email them to maintain communication. If you have your foot in the door at one place, it's always a good start. In my program, we have to keep a log of all of our hours and diagnoses that we see. I'd recommend doing the same, that way when you go to an interview you can bring a sheet along saying that you have X amount of hours on X unit and you've seen all of [these] types of diagnoses.