teacher91

Our facility has a very difficult time having enough staff to work the weekends. We’ve thought about trying to implement weekend (Baylor) option or a 4 days on, 2 days off rotation. Does anyone know of other good strategies to staff the weekends?

My hospital is doing it now, and I feel like it is a terrible waste of money. This person gets $14/hr to do part of my job that I enjoy and can do competently and timely. A lot of what I do is automatic and it's harder to have to think out loud. Plus it's confusing to the patients. I have to edit and sign off on their charting which is harder than doing my own. I wish I knew why they thought it was a good idea and how it could possibly be cost effective.

One thing our Kaplan review course emphasized was that the NCLEX world is an ideal world. There are plenty of nurses, supplies, etc. Perhaps the real world experience is clouding what the right answer would be in the NCLEX world. Kaplan might be helpful as well if he hasn't tried it yet.

Maybe you could become a CNA or patient care tech. You can get a CNA certificate in about a month, and it would help you see what nursing is really like while giving you healthcare experience.

Also, PA's are trained in the medical model while nurses are trained in the nursing model. One thing I like is that nursing is a little more holistic rather than always pushing meds. Another thing to consider is the cost of the education. It may be easier to work some in nursing school than PA school. Also, do you already have a bachelor's? PA programs are usually at the graduate level.

I'm currently in 7th semester of the accelerated program (career changer from teaching to nursing). It's been a great experience so far. They've changed the curriculum some, but the only difference between the traditional program and ours was that 3rd and 4th semester were combined, and we did one semester in the summer. This current semester (7th) is the only one that's been more intense (just time consuming) than I'd like, but it's the same for traditional students.

It sounds like you'd be a great candidate for the accelerated program if you've already graduated. Last I knew it was based on gpa only.

I used to be deathly afraid of nurses because I thought they lived to give injections. Maybe it would be helpful to display a few syringes!

Anyone get their admissions letter yet? I had heard they were sending them on the 24th.