Jeniele

I work in an ambulatory community health clinic. We don't typically have huddles, but we are a small facility. Often us 3 nurses will discuss in the morning if issues need to be addressed, items need ordering, etc. The schedule is made out the day before and posted on the white board by the supervisor. As far as cell phones, the MAs are required to have them out of sight and not in use in patient care areas. For us nurses, we are allowed to have them out at our workstation because we may receive work related text messages from one of the supervisors or later shift nurses. We're expected to know proper phone etiquette. Unless I'm expecting a text from my supervisor, I will keep my phone in my desk drawer.

I think it entirely depends on your locale and situation. I just graduated in June and will be starting in a clinic next week. I did apply to positions on the floor at a hospital where I had worked for several years as a CNA (though knowing I would be unhappy). Fortunately, I didn't get any of those jobs and was offered my perfect position, I just had to wait it out several months. So it depends on how long you can wait and the potential for positions to become open in your area. Then apply for literally everything that sounds of interest to you. It can be grueling, and multiple rejections can become disheartening but you can always take a PRN position while waiting for what you really want.

Depending on your program you should be able to apply and sit for the NCLEX-PN to get your LPN. This will allow you to keep your skills and knowledge fresh while you look for programs and evaluate your options. You might be able to find one willing to accept you as a new second-year student. At my school the only students allowed in mid-year were those who had previously attended our program and even then they had to start with winter term and not spring for second year (even if it was only the last term they failed). Other students were allowed in at the beginning of second year. I didn't have any in my class, but from what I understand it was a struggle for those who did. Granted mine was a exceptionally rigorous program. I was more worried about passing school than I was passing the NCLEX-RN and for good reason; the NCLEX wound up being easy for me.

My congregation does not have a parish health ministry and I believe we might have a need for one. Has anyone started a new ministry at their church as a volunteer? What would be the best way to determine if there is a need and what services to offer? Where would I learn what services I can provide under my scope of practice? We do have a congregational care committee that coordinates cards, meals, prayer shawls ect. so I was thinking that this could be an extension of that and provide BP checks, diabetic and medication education during our senior lunches, etc.

In our house cereal (cold or instant oatmeal) is usually what happens. My oldest prefers Carnation Instant Breakfast because she finds solid food disagreeable before 10am. My other would be happy with frozen waffles. Pretty much everyone is on their own to grab and go, or not. With very young children scrambled eggs are quick and hearty. Buttered toast served with a heaping scoop of apple sauce and sprinkled with cinnamon. Overnight oats with fruit are quick and delicious. Children often like yogurt parfaits. These can be made ahead of time and can include granola or other cereal and fresh fruit. Children can help make them (and will be more likely to eat) and are easy to grab and go on the busiest morning.

As a recent grad I can say for my school at least that they gave us so much HIPAA training that we were paranoid about everything.

Thanks everyone for your advice, I appreciate it!

Hey everyone, looking for some input on your end of shift note. I'm a second year nursing student and I struggle with this. Each of my clinical instructors have had different requirements for it, and of course each facility I am in has a different EMR which makes it different as well. But overall I am left with a void on what I should be noting there when I'm out in the real world. I've read some articles on it and they would have you list everything, no matter how insignificant which seems impractical as no one is going to read your 5 paragraph "summary" of your shift. Some of my instructors have had me write SOAP or DARP notes but I don't see that being done by the RNs in the facility. So what is it that you put in your end of shift note? Thanks!

It all depends on how rigorous your program is and how well you succeed at it. My first term in my program, our director asked a few second year students come in and answer any questions we might have about the program and share some tips. Two of the three second year students had failed out their first year due to working too much (in their own words). My program is very difficult, average test score is about 84. I work Per-Diem, which might be a good option if you can get one. I work holidays and then can call staffing to fill in shifts on weeks that my study burden isn't as high. BSN is a great goal, but you have to get through the ADN program first so that should be your first priority. Especially if you're not having to worry about paying for food and rent.

It all depends on the programs you are looking at applying to. You said you're not worried about the W, so does that mean those programs only take your highest score? All the programs around me (including the one I'm in now) use a point system and only allow for one re-retake and then the grades are averaged, with a W counting as an F (0.00). So you need to be sure what the criteria are for applications before you make that decision. You also say that it would require you to get a B on everything here on out to finish out this term. That's entirely doable. I know that not getting a 4.0 hurts, I was in the same boat; my second term of A&P was a 3.5. But in my scenario, taking a W would have given me a lower application score than the 3.5 did, and at 41 I didn't want to postpone my application another year. Since you're concerned about postponing your pre-requisites further, it might be best to tough out this term and see what you get, especially since you've already paid for it. You can always give it another go next next year if you apply to nursing schools and don't get in this year, but you might get lucky in get in. Schools can give you average scores of students that get in but it really depends on what everyone you're applying with has that year. Some years are more competitive than others. Additionally, it can be amazing what you can accomplish when you know the stakes are high. I had several classmates last term that had to get 89 or better (better than they had done all term) on the final to continue in the nursing program and a few were able make it and are doing much better this term. Anatomy is a beast. I dreaded every second of it and everyone said that nursing school was much harder. I don't know how to explain it exactly, but the rote memorization of A&P killed me but nursing school has been more conceptual. In nursing school it's primarily the physiology that counts. We're expected to be familiar with the structures, and yes know where the tibia is; but so far in my musculoskeletal unit no one has given me a slide with a muscle on it and asked me for it's name, origin, insertion, and action. I am however expected to understand the bone remodeling process and the role of calcitonin and PTH. Hope this helps you.

Lurker here as well, but take a look at the info on a product called Lice MD. I don't sell it, not affiliated, just a really frustrated mom that got some great advice from an awesome nurse in the ped's office. First time my daughter got lice it was bad before I noticed it (I don't think she is particularly sensitive to their saliva). I tried the typical treatment and literally wore myself to exhaustion cleaning and steam cleaning everything and spraying the pesticide spays on everything I couldn't. Fast forward a week and we repeat the cycle all over again but with all three kiddos this time. This went on for a month before I called my pediatrician literally in tears. The NURSE at the office suggested I try the Lice MD. It's not a pesticide, it's lube...but allows you to comb all the nits out of even the longest hair. First treatment and they were gone, finally. Plus you can repeat until you finally see no nits because it's not a pesticide. Fast forward three years and my daughter has lice from horseback riding lessons. I grab some of the super lice lube, sit outside on the porch and comb for less than a hour, wash her clothes, jacket, and bed linen. No lice, no worry. It does make the hair greasy looking for a day or so, but better than the really bad dandruff the pesticide shampoo gave my daughter.

Stupid question here. What about the patient's pulse? Side effect of hydralazine is tachycardia, so if the PT was tachy wouldn't that be an indication for holding the medication and considering an alternative for the hypertension? I've seen scenarios when nurses have held BP meds for HRs of PTs in both instances of tachycardia and bradycardia.

So I studied about 50 hours per week for just A&P. Find out what your study style is and make your own study guides for that style. I used concept maps, made my own power point flash cards from A&P revealed, and used EZ Notescards and Quizlit like crazy. I would also photocopy the diagrams from the book, use white out to cover the names and make a million copies for my own fill in the blank practice. Most schools will average your grade or deduct points for re-taking the class so I agree with sticking it out. I got an 4.0 with A&PI but had to do A&PII at a different school due to my husband getting laid off and having to relocate to a new state. I got a 3.5 in A&PII and still got into a nursing program so you don't always have to get a 4.0 in everything.

You might find a school that's flexible but the schools around me are not. We have a set schedule, lecture on Monday and Wednesday from 8-12 followed by lab in the afternoons on those days. Clinical is on either Tuesday or Thursday, you don't get your schedule until the start of the term and it may include an occasional night, weekend, or both days on a given week. Additionally, we have our exams every other Friday. My advisor had me sit down and calculate out the numbers of hours I would be sitting in or attending class, followed by the "recommended" number of hours to prep or study for each class. This totaled to about 60 hours per week that we would have to devote to school. After writing that down, my advisor told me that the school doesn't recommend that we work our first term so that we can develop a study plan that works for us before trying to work.

My instructor provided powerpoint slides for her lecture. I recorded the lecture with the recorder app on my surface (can use phone too) and I used the comment function (under review) to add additional notes or remarks my instructor made during the lecture that weren't included on the PP. I found OneNote at the end of the course which made it even better. As soon as possible after class, I would listen to the lecture and then add in anything I missed and highlighted the things she repeated or specifically said "know this." I also used the online study modules provided by the textbook publisher and almost always did the end of chapter review in the book. I put in a ton of hours studying for micro. My instructor was above par as far as college instructors go, so she gave short answer essay questions as homework and these were always what was on the exams. So if you did well on the homework, you could expect to do well on the exam. If you did poorly on a homework question, you could study that weakness and ace it on the exam. That class was truly the best educational experience I have had, and I have a previous Bachelor's Degree. So if you have a crappy instructor, it can make it difficult. I had that issue with A&P. Another option to help is concept mapping. I just learned about these and think that they would have been very helpful for me in my pre-reqs and plan to use them extensively in pharmacology this fall. These especially help if you are a kinesthetic learner. Finally, look at quizlet and EZ Notecards for practice study questions. You can find test questions that are specific to your textbook on there and are great for practicing for the exams. If you have specific issues, let us know and we will see if we can help.

So A. I am not a nurse, and B., given A I am obviously not a school nurse. That being said, you guys have great questions on your threads and I wanted to post to give a different perspective in case it might help someone else. Regarding malpractice insurance, I am a CNA and I carry a one million dollar policy through NSO. I run into people all the time who don't realize that it's available for CNAs and I am floored by the number of nurses I have to tell you can't not afford it when they tell me they don't have insurance because they can't afford it. I have a great manager and love my position at a very busy medical center, but I have no illusions that my employer wouldn't throw me under the bus if it could get them out of liability. As a CNA, since my scope and therefore liability are low my policy is less than $60 a year. That's like cutting back on one Starbucks coffee a month. I can totally afford that for the peace of mind I get, especially with those "special" patients who leave AMA hollering " Give me you name and credential number, I'm going to sue you all!" Lucky for me, I don't have my license number memorized, ha! When I finish nursing school and get my RN I plan to keep a personal policy in addition to the one provided by our state nurses association/union. I can see where inadvertently not following just one tiny aspect of some policy would release them from covering you and I am unwilling to take that risk. For a couple hundred dollars a year, it's worth it to protect my livelihood and educational investment.

You're well prepared then! Like you said, finding your niche is what it's all about and nursing offers one of the widest scopes for that over most any other career. Toss the bad apples aside and take a look again at the barrel, I'm sure you will find that the experience was an exception rather than the norm.

Hi Jen, I know you wanted advice from nurses and not students but I thought I'd poke my nose in anyway. I start my nursing program this fall and shortly thereafter will celebrate my 42nd birthday, so I get it with wanting a good paying career without all the bubbly altruism. I have worked in a busy regional medical center as a CNA for almost three years now and I can say that at least in my facility the culture just not like what you are fearing. Bravado in nursing exists, but it's mostly on here, kitschy t-shirts and mugs, and TV dramas. The nurses I work with are very humble, view it as a job that exhausts them, and rely heavily on the entire team to get through their day. My nurses also affirm that I am a very valued member of the team, even as a CNA and they take time to help my learn new things knowing that I'm working my way to nursing school. I don't mean for it to sound boring, some shifts are totally not; but for most of us we have very full lives outside work and that is where we focus ourselves. Sure, there is that super-rare individual that feels they need to place a class structure on the them (RNs) vs us (support staff), but mostly everyone ignores them and rolls their eyes and say "what was that about?" when they're out of earshot. I apologize that I don't know your situation, but I encourage you to try to work or volunteer in a hospital to really get a feel for what nursing is and if it will be a good fit for you. I mention a hospital in particular because in my personal experience, SNFs can be where bravado pervades and facilities are highly variable in their workload, etc. so they may not necessarily give you a good picture of what it's like to have five patients with acuity all over the place and three call-lights blaring simultaneously. Though seriously, days like that it's a wonder any of us come back the next day, and yet we do. Typically for a paycheck.... If after that, you decide that nursing isn't a good fit for you and your family; then, with your prerequisites you are set up to get a Bachelor's in Science in a number of fields in short order. Best wishes to you!

It is just like the basic calculator that you can pull up on your computer desktop.

As others have replied it is out of 100. I took it in February and scored 83 which I believe is 92nd percentile. It helps to have recently finished A&P. The questions that were from my current quarter I did very well on, but there were others that were osteo and neuro that I hadn't taken for three years and I had a harder time. I used the Mometrix Study Guide and their associated videos, many are available free on YouTube. I also purchased the ATI guide and started with that one but was discouraged by the errors. I took all the test exams in both books and scored much lower than I did on the actual TEAS. Also note, that not all of the questions count into their grading. So like the math had 36 questions but only 30 I think were scored. Good luck!

I'm 41 and just got accepted to a nursing program. Getting an RN opens a lot of different pathways that can allow you to work for an extended time period, it's not all floor work in a hospital. Right now I work in acute care/Onc and plan to return to my floor as an RN but after that infection control for our facility sounds promising when 12 hrs on my feet get to be too much.

So I know this is an old post, but I heard that listening to these were a good study resource. You can find the DVDs relatively cheap on the web, and I know they are old and but was wondering if the NCLEX rationale has changed significantly enough to invalidate them? I have a long drive to school and thought it would be constructive to listen to them during the drive.

Where did you wind up going? Was it Big Bend and if so, could you describe your experience for future AN viewers?

The TEAS is a multiple choice test, mine was done on a computer. You will be asked to read a short essay and answer questions regarding them. I recommend picking up a study guide, they will let you see what the questions are like.

INTJ -CNA and pre-nursing student. I find it odd as well as to how many there are of us for something classified as uncommon and incompatible with nursing.