marmaduke

Hi everyone, I am a new grad who got my first job in October, so I have about 6 months experience working as a nurse on night shift (4 off of orientation). I work on a ~36 bed general pediatric med-surg floor, so we see a wide variety of patients (3 days old to 18 yrs old), and our unit census can vary widely (some nights we are full and get loads of admissions, other nights we have only 10 pts on the floor). I feel more and more like I am getting the hang of things and feeling more competent in what I am doing and getting in stride (although still sometimes go home feeling dumb). My biggest problem seems to be that I never seem to have time to chart and often end up staying late to finish up my charting bc whenever I sit down to chart I end up getting an admission, or one of my pts needs something, etc. Because I am new I think I am slower and take more time to do things than more experienced nurses, and I am also a perfectionist so I probably worry about little things too much and therefore take longer doing things. But I often feel like I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off, or at least not sitting down for 5 hours and eating lunch while charting, whereas other nurses might just be sitting and chatting and take their full lunch break. I also tend to spend a lot of time in pt rooms, rounding and making sure that they have everything they need, and talking with pts and families/explaining things to them. I don't want to be learning bad habits i.e. to cut corners this early in my career, and I want to make sure that I do a thorough assessment of all of my patients (i.e. actually count the respirations and HR not just look at monitors, check med doses, etc.), actually going into check or explain when the monitors alarm, answering call bells promptly if a tech or other nurse is not available, and I usually write detailed nursing notes, probably with more information than necessary (although our hospital requires them every 8 hrs anyway). Still, I don't want to get in trouble with management for staying late, or be judged as slow by all of the day shift nurses, and I want to have my charting done early so that the residents can look up the information they need before they round on the patients. I know it is probably best to chart right as you are doing something, but I just don't understand how I can sit and chart a full assessment and note on one patient at the beginning of the shift when I have three other pts who I need to see first to make sure they're ok, and might need meds/etc (which I sometimes see nurses do). Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

How did you apply to the new graduate residency program? I keep looking at the Lehigh Valley Health Network website and they don't have any new grad positions posted.

Hi, I am a senior nursing student in Atlanta and am picking my preferences for my role transition 170-hour internship with a nurse preceptor this summer. I selected NICU as my top choice because I am interested in working in a NICU after I graduate in August. The clinical coordinator told me that there are 2 spots available for students in a Level III Children's Hospital NICU (very good children's hospitals, one is Surgical, one is Med-Surg with ECMO) and also 2 spots in a Level III delivery hospital. I have previously had clinical in a delivery hospital NICU and shadowed in a Children's Hospital NICU, each for one day, and found them both interesting. I am not sure which one to pick. Would an experience in a surgical NICU make me more marketable for other pediatric/ICU positions (in case I can't find a NICU job), or look better for all NICUs because it's higher acuity? However, the delivery NICU would also allow me to see deliveries (which I enjoyed in my maternity rotation). I spoke to my professor who worked in a delivery hospital NICU about this decision, and she recommended the delivery NICU, because she said you get to see what normal is, and what "healthy" preterm babies are, and can recognize then when a baby is getting sick. But she also said that if I might be interested in going into the PICU, then the Children's Hospital NICU might be a good option. I really keep going back and forth on this, and have to make a decision by the end of this week. Any input from NICU nurses about what would make me more marketable/would give me a better experience? Thanks!!

Yeah I totally agree about that...because the financial aid decision will actually determine whether I go to Emory or not! I think the financial aid director said we should hopefully hear about all forms of financial aid (including need, merit-based and endowed scholarships) by early March...the wait seems so long though!!

Does anyone know if we have to stick with the master's specialty we applied to when we start the program? I applied for the FNP program but I was very torn between that and midwifery so I was just wondering if once I start the program, if I liked OB/L&D more, if it would be possible to switch? Not sure if anyone has heard anything about this. Seeing as I think the ABSN portion is the same regardless of master's specialty?

I also won't be able to make it to the Admitted Students' Day (currently living overseas!) so I would also love it if someone could post some info afterwards! Emory is one of my top choices but I am still waiting to hear back about scholarship/financial aid information...I'm not sure I can afford it otherwise!

to wickedblue, here is a really informative post from Paco from last-year's thread giving a basic overview of the schedule: https://allnurses.com/new-york-state/stony-brook-accelerated-554207-page40.html

Hi! Yes, I got a phone call too, or rather, my parents got a phone call (I think I gave them my parents' home phone number on the application as I am currently living in Germany), saying that I got in! Nothing on OPUS yet though either. I am excited about Emory, heard it's a great school, and really like the program, but as most of you are saying, I need to find out about financial aid first...it's too expensive without any, and I got into some other schools that are about 1/2 of Emory's price. Kind of annoying we won't find out about scholarships/financial aid until March. Anyone know if/when we have to give them our answer, and deposit and whatever? Anyone know how many clinical hours it is? Or when orientation starts? Since I'm abroad won't be able to go to the Accepted Students Day...but hope it goes well! Congrats to everyone who got in!

Wow thanks for all of the really detailed, helpful and timely responses! Thanks for the tuition clarification; I also finally connected with someone in the student accounts office who knew the answers to my questions, and she said that Stony Brook only charges you up to 12 credits for the fall and spring (even though we take more), but they charge you per credit in the summer (and I think we take 18-19, so the summer is strangely more expensive than a regular semester), but all in all I think total out-of-state tuition should come to around $30,000-$32000 with fees (depending on if you need the school health insurance plan or not, and if tuition goes up for the fall). Not bad at all. I'm definitely leaning toward going to Stony Brook now based on the amazing feedback on this thread, that must say something about the kind of people that go there! :-) It really does help us prospective students get a sense of what the program is like to hear from current/past students so thanks so much Paco-RN and Emer1234, I will definitely have to post when I am in nursing school/done with nursing school to help future students out! And its also really great to get support from fellow applicants. After reading all this, I'm really excited to start (although also a little apprehensive because it does sound like a lot of work)! :-) Last quick question- how are the faculty there?

Hi Dodongo, I just found out I was accepted to Pitt's ABSN program for this spring and am currently trying to decide between it and a couple other programs...I am a new member so I don't think I have enough to PM you. Would you recommend the program? I saw that UPitt's nursing school is very highly regarded, as is the U Pittsburgh Medical Center, but what are your opinions of the program in particular? Is it as tough as people say? Did it prepare you well for the NCLEX/working as a nurse afterwards? I also might be interested in working in peds/maternity nursing but from what I've heard there aren't many clinical hours in these areas...would you say there are enough? Or any info on day-to-day schedule would also be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi, I have been reading the thread from time to time as I was working on my application but only just signed up for an allnurses account, so this is my first post! Just found out on Monday that I got into Stony Brook's 1-yr program! I'm excited, and I agree, thanks Paco-RN for your info/advice on what the program is like! I had a few more questions though: I have been trying to get in touch with people at both the nursing school and the Stony Brook Bursar's office to tell me how much the program would cost for out-of-state students, and no one seems to know the answer! It's really frustrating! I looked up on the Bursar's web site how much it should be each semester, but they only publish tuition up to 12 credits/semester (which is like $10,000/semester for out-of-state) and I think for the program it will cost more b/c we take more than 12 credits a semester...I talked to someone at the Bursar's office (who didn't seem to know what they were talking about) and they said out-of-state is charged $750/credit, and looking at the program's website, we take 69 credits throughout the course of the program, which would mean $750*69= ~$51,000? That's way higher than Paco-RN's $28,000 figure (which I hope is correct). Anyone else get a straight answer on this? I tried emailing the nursing school afterward and they just told me to talk to the Bursar's office....ugh. I will try again today. Also, I was wondering if any current students could give an opinion on how well they think the program prepared them to become a nurse, and how well it is regarded...I also found out I was admitted to UPitt's accelerated program on Monday and I am trying to decide between Stony Brook and Pitt...Pitt is ranked a lot higher on US News's nursing grad school rankings, but both of these are undergrad ABSN programs so I wasn't sure if this was relevant or mattered in the long run, as I would eventually like to go to grad school. Also another question- where are most of the clinical sites for Stony Brook's program? Stony Brook University Hospital? And were there enough clinical hours? (It looks like there are 820, which seems like a good amount). And how is Stony Brook to live in? I'm from New England and currently living in Germany, so want to know what to expect...is it like living in NYC or more suburban? Thanks to anyone who might be able to answer any of these questions! I know there are a lot! And congrats to everyone who got accepted, and I hope waitlisted people get offers soon!