Mymimi

Excellent advice, and good luck to those of you going into the nursing education field. This is my second year as full time faculty in a BSN program. It is extremely difficult to go from being an expert to a job where I am a novice! One of my mentors told me that it takes about 5 years to have a solid educator. My background is critical care, and it takes 2 to 3 years to have a solid ICU nurse. The pointers/tips that I have learned on this website have been invaluable to me. Especially, my first year, I wanted to RUN back to critical care! The students make it worth it. Thanks, VickiRN Mymimi

I would like to pose a question in the midst of this discussion. As nurses we are liasons for our patients, their advocates. In my almost 20 years of practice have encountered many situations in which I spent a great deal of time educating the patient, family on the DNR status, quality of life, and the options available. There have been times that the patient and family wishes were not carried out, and it was directly related to one or more interventions of physicians that were not willing to carry out family and patient wishes. Do any of you believe that maybe some health care providers are not secure in their own afterlife, along with their training, cultural issues, whatever it may be driving them perform interventions that may keep the patient alive, but not give them quality of life? Could the root of this be they don't know where they will go if they die? I will continue to be an advocate for what the patient wants.

I receive literature from Walden, I am so glad to hear that it is a great place to get an education. I have steered away from out of state tuition, due to high tuition costs. thanks

Thanks!!

I, too am anxious to get into a DNP program. It is my understanding that some of the programs will be organized for MSN candidates and it will not be necessary to obtain a NP prior to admission. Has anyone heard of programs that include the NP as a part of the curriculum of the DNP tract? Mymimi

Just a thought, be sure and check out what is available in your state, considering out-of-state tuition. Good Luck! Mymimi

Great story!! A reminder of WHO is REALLY in control. Things happen for a reason, and there were many guardian angels on duty! Thanks for sharing, I will be able to use this example with my students, I also teach undergrads as well as work CCU. thanks, Mymimi

I have not heard of this syndrome! We use propofol routinely. How do you like the intesivist in your hospital? We have discussed using them, but are not using them at this time. thanks, Mymimi

At a conference I attended in Memphis, TN, several suggestions were made for post conference. One program assigned each of the students a medication to discuss at the end of the day. Each student knew which day and which topic/drug to discuss. Someone else suggested playing a game of triage the patient. A group of 2-3 students were given admissions, discharges, and # of beds. They had to make patient assignments according to admission slots and patient acuity. Again, the concept mapping were used on a specific disease process, and was done as a group. l

Thanks for your tips on critical thinking. I just attended a critical thinking workshop and the things you suggested were exactly what was talked about in the workshop. Many of the clinical instructors are using the concept maps to replace careplans, and instead of the hours of grading careplans, are going over the concept maps individually with students to find out where their thinking is. Some give letter grades, but many were pass/fail. Excellent suggestions, thanks for the tips.

I am also from Texas, and we are limited in the number of clinical sites, with a 30-40 student increase from last year! The Texas BNE does limit the number of students per instructor as mentioned above. I have had first year nursing students this semester, the nurses were wonderful, and I had students on one floor only. It was great! For the seniors next semester, I will have them in several different areas. It seems every area in nursing has a shortage, including clinical areas. Our hospital restricted the number of students on the floor at one time, also.

Robin Denison is from Kentucky and has written the "Pass CCRN" http://www.robindenison.com (I'm not sure of the website), my book is at work. She is excellent, and takes the test every couple of years to stay up to date. Her book is in the second publication. Hope this helps. lvc

Vicky, Great advice! As a new educator, I, too needed to hear your words. Thanks so much. lvc

http://www.aacn.org is also a good place to go for critical care literature. At our hospital, we use their program for orientation to critical care areas. It is also an excellent resource for evidence-based articles and research. lvc

Our time in the clinical area is soooo valuable, I don't want to let the students off to go smoke. They need to use every minute to learn. I totally agree with the smell. I am very thankful that I don't smoke anymore. Actually, I am for a completely non-smoking hospital environment! lvc

Would you mind to give me the website, or e-mail me the pdf? Thanks! lvc ]

Vicky, These are great websites, thanks. As a new educator for BSN level, this will be a great asset. Great way to teach cardiac drugs! thanks.

Hi, I just graduated with a master's degree with my major being nursing education and administration. I went to a private, church affiliated school and it cost about $487/semester hr. I am working at the nursing school affiliated with the school. Have you tried American Association of College of Nurses? http://www.aacn.nche.edu? Or, a search on higher education costs. Good luck!

When I have students, as a nurse in critical care, I try to remember that I once was a student, and had to learn. The students have feelings, too, and they are there to learn. As an educator, I see the students wanting to learn and do everything that they can. lvc

I put the question on a website: http://www.globalrph.com to find out. Until recently, I didn't know that it was given IV. Our ED is using it frequently in ACS. thanks

Hello, I completed my BSN on-line in 1 year, and Vicky is right, it was brutual, working full time. My theory is how bad do you want to be a nurse? BSN programs will more than likely give you credit for your other degree, if you have those credits, why not go ahead with the BSN? ADN worked for me, when I received my ADN, I had 3 small children, and my husband was killed in a car accident, so I was able to complete my education to support my family, with the intent to further my education. (I just completed my MSN). Good luck, I believe in admission into BSN, but that is my personal opinion.

I also just graduated with my MSN, YEAH! Congrats Vicky, I like Nurse Educator, Journal of Nursing Scholarship, and My Love, Critical Care Nurse. The nursing school I will be working for subscribes to Nurse Educator, and other journals, so I can still have those at my fingertips, thank goodness!!

great resource. you can sign up to receive the nln e-bulletin for free. that's how i heard about the book. do yall (i'm from the south!) think that becoming certified as an educator, along with the degrees at some point will help us to be recognized and affect the nurse educator pay scale eventually? i personally think that with the certification we can use that as a "tool" for bargaining for higher salaries.

I agree that the senior students should do the baths, but it seems in a senior leadership clinical the emphasis should be on leadership. What about having them "shadow" a nurse manager/administrator/director? The literature is very clear about the shortage not only of nurses/educators, but of administrators. I think (my opinion) that if the students are going to get an accurate view of leadership and all of the roles that entails, they need to spend time with people that are in that position. I am new to education, not to nursing, but graduated with MSN in nursing education and administration. Good discussion.

Vicky, I read your comments about loving education. I will be starting a full-time position in August at a 3 university consortium nursing school. We (the university) and I negotiated my salary. I am curious to know how I can impact and make my voice heard about the salaries of nurse educators? Many nurses in practice (including myself) have no idea what nurse educators make. I realize that I have great potential where I will be working, but I would also like to influence change for nurses that would like to go into education. thanks, lisa