MidnightTang

I do agree about not creating friendships outside of work. We have one, very motherly, older nurse who is facebook friends with several former patients. This has always struck me as crossing a line.

I don't know what the rules are, but I can think of two cases when we did big things for a couple patients on my neurology floor, who were long term residents (1 month or more) due to insurance/finances/lack of support. A couple techs were recognized with a hospital award for throwing a birthday party for a patient, food and presents included. The same patient had a collection taken for baby items. Another patient had horrible taped together glasses and we collected money and took him to the eye clinic to get new ones. I feel good knowing we were able to help, regardless of the rules. I do often by little things, like candy and newspapers for patients.

I do still feel pretty stongly that I will do my np. I just can't see myself away from the bedside forever. I'm just unsure about how feasible it is with my work schedule.

I agree with others that the sidelying position is best with severe contractures. Easier to keep a sterile field and it's much more comfortable than trying to pry open legs.

I'm tentatively about to start a new job (just finalizing some details) that requires me to start a Master's program. The job is in the realm of patient education, not direct patient care. I have been doing bedside nursing for the past 7 years. I had been planning to enter an NP program when this opportunity became available to me. While an MSN in administration or education might be more appropriate to this new position, I am more interested in being an NP. Two questions come to mind. Do np programs require you to be involved in bedside nursing? Is there an online NP program that will allow me to go very slow? Now that I am going to work 5-8 hour days instead of 3-12 hour days, I'm worried about time for studying. I want to start out slow. Affordability is also a concern, but not as great a concern, since I'm going to take it slow. I want to make sure it's a quality program

Just want to say that being a teamster doesn't guarantee anything. My husband has been a teamster machinist for ten years and I have been a nurse for seven and he makes a couple bucks less than me. His insurance is comparable and his pension was dismantled and changed to a 401k in the last contract. Oh, and none of these things compare to the fact that he is in his second layoff of the year. He was off 6 weeks the first time and then he left a temp to permanent job to return to his union job. The company brought him back on mandatory overtime for 6 weeks and immediately laid him off after the work was done. Nothing to dispute. It's all legal in the contract. Sorry to go off subject, but being in a union is not a cure all in any profession. A union is only as good as it's contract.

Thanks for the reply. I hope there aren't so few seats/so many applicants! I have good grades, but that competition is stressful. I'm going to probably apply at a couple more places, too, just to cover all my bases. I think I can still handle it if all my classes are in a classroom. I was just hoping to get a little flexibility.

I'm in consideration of applying to the FNP program at SIUE and am having a hard time finding any info out about it. I have seen several topics about the CRNA, but not the FNP. Can anyone give me some info about this program? Are there any negatives about the program I should know? How competitive is entry into the program? Can you work full time and manage the part time course load? What makes me interested in this program is that it is local to me, so I could attend some in person classes and would have real live support if I need it, but it appears that the majority of the classes are offered online as well and I love the online format. Can anyone tell me if they felt like the online courses were good? I would love any help/opinions that you can provide. Thanks :)

Well, 2 interviews down and I think I have a shot. Your post really helped me to be prepared. Thanks.

Thank you, that is so helpful.

I have an interview for a position as a staff nurse educator next week. I'm curious what qualities are valued in that position. I would also love to know if anyone has interviewed for this sort of position recently. What kind of questions should I expect?

That's why I'm having such a hard time with this decision. I want to find a good school for a reasonable price. I have such a hard time figuring out what schools will provide a good education and are well-respected by employers. I would love it if the cheapest school also provided the best education, but I'm sure that's not true. I need to find the perfect synthesis, a school that I can afford that provides a quality education. What school did you end up deciding on?

There are many similar threads on this subject, but I cannot seem to find enough info to make my decision. Or maybe I'm just indecisive. I live in southern Illinois and work in St. Louis, Missouri. I want to find a program that is online, but I am willing to make a couple trips to campus for a week at a time. If the program is local, I could do several live classes, but I would like a majority online. Cost is a factor. It doesn't need to be the cheapest, but not terribly expensive. I looked at St. Louis University, but the $1000/hour was daunting. I want a program that is respected by employers. I don't want to feel embarrased about my degree. I want it to be challenging and I want to know my stuff when I'm done. I am about to finish my RN-BSN at UTA and I have had a good experience with online education. I did not do a lot of research before starting this degree and chose based mainly on cost and ease, but I want to be pickier about my NP. Can anyone help me or give some suggestions? Thanks, Anne

Truthfully, I have been practicing for a while, 6 years, and if I were to pick the career I truly want I would probably choose nurse practitioner, but due to the fact that I need to work full time and I have a young daughter and I don't want to lose time with her I just don't think it's in the cards for me. An NP program just requires more clinical time than I am willing to sacrifice. I know I want to continue in an acute care setting, not an academic setting (at least not right now), but I do have interest in education (patient education or staff development). I would like to keep the option open for a move to management down the line. I'm just trying to decide which pathway will be the most flexible. I want to be marketable and I don't really want to be pigeonholed into one career.

I'm glad you've both had good experiences with online nursing schools. It makes me feel a little more confident knowing that a Master's from a strictly online school is respected by those doing the hiring. I understand the need to do the MSN right after the BSN. I was going to take a year off, but I started to have doubts that I would go back. I've looked at Western Governors University before, but I have 2 concerns about it. First, I just don't know how I feel about the pass/fail aspect of the classes. I'm motivated to study partially because of my desire to maintain my A average. I'm worried I would lose some of that in a pass/fail situation and in an online learning situation, motivation is everything. My other concern is that, while I love the pricing, I'm worried that I would overstretch myself trying to get as much done as I could in a short time, since it isn't priced by hour, but in 6 month increments. Do you find yourself having that problem with that?