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Hi everyone! I just finished my first of three semesters for the Psych NP program and it has been a challenge! One of the biggest difficulties was/is obtaining a clinical site-it's been quite ridiculous actually. I live in a bigger city and have had a really difficult time with multiple sites not being able to take me for legal reasons, requiring that I get supplemental insurance, etc. I wish I had known to start looking for sites much earlier in the game than I was told. I am looking for a site to do my 60 hours of physical assessment clinical's and having a time finding someone to take me-the FNP's either don't want to take students and the MD's don't have time. Did anyone else have a hard time finding clinical placement sites (doing a distance program) or is it just me?? Any tips on what to look for in an office that may want to take me? Thanks for letting me vent-on hold with another Family practice office to ask about clinical's ..

Our faculty don't have to come out to our clinical sites thankfully even though we're distance. That would really stink if you had to pay $1000 for them to come to your site! Did they tell you about that requirement ahead of time? Good luck, let us know how it works out, I'd be curious to know..

Hi all, I am interested in finding articles that utilize the theory Nurses as Wounded Healer as a base. I like its concepts so much that I am willing to go into the topics that the theory is most utilized in-I'm assuming in addictions nursing. I am using PubMed, etc. but am not coming up with research articles that explicitly utilize this theory as a guide. Do you all have any suggestions or are familiar with it at all? I'd appreciate any feedback.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

Hi! I know a little about Vandy.. From what I hear the pay is lower than average for the area, but I suppose they mean for the benefits to compliment that..The conditions seem pretty good-it is a university hospital so you have a lot of residents changing hands, etc. Obviously they like to do research on interesting subjects..Seem to really care about their employees I don't know about the loan repayment option-if you work full-time though you can take 12 hours of credit in the nursing school per year for free.. Any specific field you're going to?

Hi! What would you like to know about the program? I don't know about the midwifery program specfically as it's not my specialty. Do you live still live in the area?

Hi all, I was wondering if you all had heard of/used the "Handle With Care" method for physically managing aggressive/threatening patients. I was told by the staff training us that it is pretty common to use across the US..I have been using CPI up until this facility and hadn't heard of it.. http://www.handlewithcare.com/index.php This website doesn't go into hold specifics but gives an idea of where and when it was first created.. I know there is no nice way really to take a threatening/aggressive patient into control, but just wondering what you all think of this method!! Thanks everyone..

Charlotte will make the person with the best sens of direction get lost-especially the area Queens is in, the Dilworth area. It's well known that the city was not built with longterm plans to become a large city so the roads are really sketchy and make no sense, don't worry, you just have to get lost enought times to know where not to go.. Do you take 77 South from Salisbury? There are no 'easy' ways from 77- Woodlawn in the afternoon (from 3:30 on) is horrific so I wouldn't adivse that any other time than off rush hour times.. Tyvola can also be horrible but once you turn left on South Blvd. but you can avoid the Woodlawn traffic.. You can also turn left on Park Road (which is what I did) from Tyvola and Queens is right there. Providence Road is an easy way to get there, but traffic can be bad as well so just plan ahead! No big problems with the RN-BSN program, it's just 'newer' to the school and when I was there, some kinks still needed to be worked out.. Enjoy your time there!

First born with history of ETOH abuse on both sides of the family-parents less so than other relatives..

I took the NCLEX, was trying not to freak out too much, but got 75 questions and passed! It goes by so quickly when you only have 75-it was a blur! Good luck to all!

I think CMC and Presby are pretty welcoming to new grads and actively seek them! It's impossible to know how a preceptor will be as there all kinds of individuals that orient people and they can be good or bad-not necessarily reflecting on the hospital system.. As far as hospital units go, they may be more or less welcoming of new grads, but there's no way to really know that with any certainty as things always change, people transfer, etc. that makes that different anywhere you go..CMC does have a new grad/special program for those who want to specifically go to the ICU which sounds pretty welcoming.. Both hospitals have a pretty friendly 'new grad' stance overall..

Speaking to Carolinas program: Getting your pre-reqs done is always good-I did them concurrently with the program and it was a load-but that's the same story anywhere.. I enjoyed the clinicals at they were at CMC Main which is one of the bigger hospitals in the area, you can get a variety of experiences.. The instructors were good, some were tougher than others, but overall they bring a variety of experience to the classroom.. It is a small program in a small building so you will know everyone quickly if not their face (which is good or bad depends on you).. There's not always a lot of space to spread out and study so I would find a seperate location to do that if I were to do it again.. I dont know if the parking situation is any better, but when I was there it was horrendous for us, haha.. Our class had a high NCLEX pass rate (close to 99%) and we took CAP tests after each class to prepare us for NCLEX which was great.. UNCC-a lot of people trying to get into that program and not enough slots! I heard they had some trouble some years back with accredidation/NCLEX pass rates but I think that's behind them..Seems to be a good program.. Queen-There are some other threads here that talk about it a lot-it's a good program, their ASN program recently merged from Presbyterian Hospital to Queens and so they're enthusiastic about that program.. -Hope this helps!

Which place are you leaning towards? Charlotte is a large city that's trying to grow to be more 'metropolitan', and Winston Salem is nice too..

I don't know about how Wake Med's program is (I hear it's good), but it doesn't sound like CMC or Presby has an 'in depth' program as it does from what I hear.. CMC certainly recognizes that you are a new grad and tries to accomodate, but I think it's about having a longer unit orientation probably than anything else.. Their management part of orientation (the first weeks) for new grads would include maybe a longer skills fair, an extra day of lecture (maybe two), but it's about the same as new employees to their system get.. You seem to get more of the new grad orientation on your specific unit than in the 'hospital' system.. I know less about Presby, but from what I understand it's somewhat similar to CMC (but I'm not so sure) with not necessarily having a 'new grad training' program where you go to class or something.. I could be off, but that's my experience and what I've heard from friends..

It is a good program-I asked about the pre-reqs because as with any other nursing program, it will make your experience more successful.. I know Micro is a challenge there and the abnormal psych depends on the instructor in the pscyh department you get there.. I wasn't impressed with their RN-BSN program, but all of my classmates who were doing the "Presby" program seemed to enjoy it.. A lot of the instructors have been around the school or the area for a while which is nice! I used to have Queens students on my psych unit to shadow and they were all very courteous/nice even when things got a little *crazy* that day, haha..

Are you looking to become a CNA? I'm sure there are 6-12 week type of programs associated with hospitals or other agencies which would help you find a job. You could work in a hospital system then, or with some experience, work in home health..

Hi! I don't know if you've started already, but I hope it's going well! It's hard to tell you what to ask your facility as they will probably touch on a little bit of everything.. If there are specifics, don't hesitate to ask those who actually work on the floor and who are orienting you as the management part of psych orienation is often vague and more the 'ideal' situations rather than reality.. Let us know how its going!!

Hi ZippyGBR, I didn't mean to sound like I was debating the validity of the Rapid Response element-just saying that I have actually worked where both staff and families could use it (they posted the number everywhere for all to use..) and there wasn't a big problem with families misusing it as far as I saw/our unit.. I was skeptical at first as well-that families would misuse it-but those that did seemed to be the same families doing it repeatedly because they were more difficult to please than others.. The team seemed to be able to sort out really quickly if their concerns were valid or not..

I worked in a hospital with the Rapid Response Team-their name for Code H. Anyone (pt's, families or staff) could call and describe their situation to an 'on call' nurse who then assembles the team (usually an ICU nurse, critical care manager, etc.) to come up to see the patient. I saw it used many times by staff for pt's with crashing glucoses, change in LOC, etc. I too thought when I first got there that it could be abused, but this really didn't seem to happen. Nurses were encouraged to use it and it mostly seemed to, yes, help confirm what the nurse already thought was going on/needing back up..

A good article/series from the Denver Post.. http://www.denverpost.com/lawlesslands/ci_7429560 This is the link to all of the articles and a video on justice on the reservation: http://www.denverpost.com/lawlesslands

Hi! Queens is a nice school, have you completed your pre-reqs yet or do them through the program?

I think it depends on you.. I recently worked full-time nights and am going to school full-time grad school and it was too much. There are many in my class who are working full-time as managers on their unit, going to school full-time and have kids/husbands/families, so it can be done!!.. Sooo.. I myself did the 'full time' orientation to be able to work part-time and even would like to be PRN to be as flexible as possible.. PRN for me works well because you can work as many or as little as you desire, ex. pick up more during breaks etc. and I still get experience behind me.. Prioritizing your time is crucial, because you still have to sleep and maintain your mental health with the crazy schedule or you'll crack.

Hi, What kind of information are you looking for?

I agree with everyone's sentiments regarding this push for 'excellent' care.. This particular push has not helped nurses at all but just provides the hospitals with more ground to put increased burdens on their hourly workers. I have to give the children (even 5 years old!) and childrens' parents discharge surveys that rate from "Excellent to Poor" and we are too given a script where we repeat "Excellent" at least 5 times before handing it to them. If they don't give us an 'Excellent' on one of the areas we have specific staff meetings regarding why that didn't happen with that patient, etc. This is at a children's psych facility where on any given day where they can be involuntary and they may have not liked the food, felt upset about having to go to groups, having a bedtime, etc. and our answers can be pretty bad! I view it as comedy now.. They post the results of the surveys (by the month) on the back of the bathroom stalls-you can't get away from it!haha

The state of affairs is shocking I do agree. Working in mental health-from chronic adults to eating disorder patients-you will see the scenario from the documentary repeated daily many times over. I believe I know which film you are referring to. Eating disorder treatment facilities in particular are notoriously expensive and they are lucky to even spend half of the time needed in inpatient treatment. I know families that have re-morgtaged, sold everything to self-pay to keep their relatives in these facilities past the insurance stipulation. Unfortunately the gravity of eating disorders has not really hit the national consciousness yet and not well understood. Many those with mental illness are only allotted so many days in inpatient facilities due to the 'deinstitutionalization' trend from the 90's.. When they no longer meet criteria (aren't acting out, hurting staff, expressing SI/HI, etc.) they are sent out-hopefully with services. Unfortunately if they are masking their symptoms, know how to work the system, etc. even with a history that should warrant a longer stay go right back out b/c insurance won't allow more.. With Substance abuse/psych patients in particular when they are released there is a higher likelihood to commit crimes, go to jail multiple times and end up being paid for by the tax payers dollar to be housed there and receive little effective treatment-only to be readmitted again to the inpatient facility again! I think this ends up costing the insurance more money than to let allot them days (when really needed of course).