PhillyRNtoBe

I am interested in working in Community Health after I graduate (BSN). I'm concerned about training and resources for new grad nurses in this setting. Is it common for new grad nurses to work in community health? Is there a such thing as a preceptor in community health? Are the orientations/ trainings comparable to that of a hospital? I want to work in a setting that will provide me with the best training as a new nurse but will also allow me to work for a setting that is in need of nurses. If anyone has information specifically on working for Philadelphia department of public health that would be great! Thank you!

Awesome, congrats!

For some people their school has a deadline regarding tuition payment, their classes may be dropped without the signed contract or coming up with anther way to pay until they get the scholarship funds. My school will not tell me if I am losing my existing financial aid package until they have the contract. This is difficult for me personally because I can't make a decision if I am keeping a part of my loan or not until I know if my school is taking away over $15,000 in scholarships and grants. If they are rescinding my financial aid package then I need to keep part of the loan to cover the taxes I will owe the IRS on the amount of the scholarship. If they allow me to keep it, I will be giving back all my loans and paying the taxes with the stipend money. Essentially this is either a $10,000 + tax bill vs. a $3500+ tax bill that I will owe the IRS, I have no way to plan how I will pay for it until my school gets the contract. I was very stressed until my financial aid office told me today that I have time to decide on the loan, they have until the end of the semester to send it back so that makes it a little easier to wait now.

My contract is not signed yet and my status still says I'm in final review! It's making me crazy, I hope it updates tomorrow!

And to be clear, I only had someone co-sign a private loan for me 1 year out of the 4 years I will be going. I had to scrape by every other year. For this year My scholarship won't kick in until November and I had to max out all my credit cards to afford my books an another stethoscope. I was lucky that my school didn't force me to pay tuition on time, they are putting my account on hold until November. Other girls were forced to find the money to pay upfront. It's even challenging when you get scholarships! Nothing is easy or cheap as far as education in this country. It's extremely difficult for so many to pull off. I am in my mid 30's and had to put it off so many times in order to put food on the table. Don't give up hope!

Could you get a job at a hospital and then have them pay your tuition? I know many people who have to do it that way also. In Philly many of the larger hospitals will pay for their CNA's and Medical Assistants to go to nursing school. Find the BEST employer in your area, and make it a serious goal to gain employment there and reap the benefits of employment. UPenn and CHOP and Jeff all offer those types of benefits to their employees. Network..network...network, tell everyone you know you are trying to get a job at that particular hospital and ask people if they know of any openings or know anyone with a connection to management to put a good word in for you. I was always afraid to network until I saw it work for people. Sometimes it's all about who you know!

I had to do some extreme stuff to make nursing school happen, including having my younger brother co-sign a private loan for me which is something I would never have considered doing before all of this. I had a yard sale, sold off all my expensive bags, sold stuff on Craig's List and I'm moving! My boyfriend and I are giving up our apartment and moving into the in-law suite of one of his family memeber's home for a $400 a month less than what we are paying now. He and I are making many sacrifices so I can get through the last 2 years of school. I keep reminding him it will be worth it and before we know it I will be working full time again. It's been a crazy journey but we worked together an figured it out. I also got a scholarship this year and feel really lucky. Apply for as many scholarships as you can every single year! If I can do it so can you, I promise, you have to commit and get creative with living expenses. I use my brother's Netflix account and Amazon Prime account for whatever I need. It takes a village, use whatever resources you have to make it through. Good luck! You got this!

you are my hero, I'm 34 and starting Junior year of a traditional BSN program. Some days I feel so stupid for waiting this long to get a bachelor's degree and other days I feel like it's a strength. I couldn't imagine doing this while having children. You are truly a superwoman!

Yes, that is what I figured. That was kind of were I was going with that, if an employer provides the necessary vaccines and they are free, it's easier to have compliance and harder to mess up. With students we are relying on insurance companies, Doctors offices and sometimes the state to accomplish the long list of necessary requirements.

ugh, at least you could still attend clinical and at least I'm not the only one.

I hope so!

Many of us are low income and we get grants, and have to take out loans just like many people do to get by these days. Most people can't afford the cost of a professional program like Nursing School, Med School or Law School. This is why most of Americans are in massive student debt. If you are opposed to student loans, your only option is to move to Canada where education is FREE for all! ( that is what my brother did.)

Yes, I am when I try to login with Chrome but it works when I logged in on Internet Exploer. At least that was how it was yesterday, I haven't tied yet today because I've been so busy shopping, prepping and freezing food to eat over the next couple weeks while I start my med-Surg and behavioral health clinicals! Ahh one more week!

Hello, I think that you need to give more specifics about your program because it sounds nothing like mine and it's hard to give you advice when I'm unsure how they compare. Is it a ABSN program, ADN, LPN or something else? I have a neurology disorder that can be challenging but so far it hasnt interfered with school. You need to ask yourself, if you are prepared to find ways to work through or around your challenges without it impacting the care of your patients. In this regard it can be hard because you have to care for yourself while you are caring for your patients but you will find a way and will need to make a few adjustments.

Yes, you are very right but does your employer pay to have you vaccinated properly? Is it usually a situation where it's done in-house or do employees still have to go to their pcp?

According to my school it's some sort of new "Best Practice change that they are implementing in many schools. I think all the major employers in my area were unhappy with all the different techniques and lack of consistency that students were coming into the workforce with. Employers were retraining them on "their way to do it", some might say there is an "old school" way of doing things that were being taught to new grads by retired RN's that didn't gel with the techniques that employers were looking for. It seems there were studies done and they proved that learning on the job improves a new grad's IV skills. Also some employers find that nurses have better outcomes and less med errors when they reduce the amount of hands on tasks like IV insertion by giving that job to designated IV teams instead.

My BSN program told us we will only be practicing those skills in the lab on a dummy we are not allowed to practice on patients in clinical rotations. According to "Best Practice" apparently new grads are more successful when being trained on the job using the technique that their hospital or facility wants them to use. Some hospitals don't even have nurses inserting IV's, they have found that they have better outcomes etc. with IV teams handling those type of skills, while the nurse needs to focus on med administration, etc. So they are taking away basic yet tedious tasks from nurses that allow them to focus on more important parts of patient care and reduce med errors. I was shocked when I heard I will not be allowed to practice any of those things until I have a RN license. Times are changing I guess.

Saw the NP at my primary's office. He sent me to get the titer + other lab tests and they want me to start the series over again. I just got back from LabCorp and now have to make another appointment to see the nurse to get the Hep B shot. I also have to wait to get the flu shot because they don't have it in until the second week of September. So more waiting and paperwork won't be done until then. I hope my titer comes back with enough immunity.

Plus many people seem to believe the titer produces false negatives and I think that is why my doctor's office said Im better off having the vaccine started and on record.

That is really helpful, thank you!

That is the argument the school coordinator made. I get it, and at first I agreed but in the process of receiving multiple vaccines, and sorting through my medical documents and needing to go to Labcorp for all the blood work--my doctors office determined that it was highly unlikely that I never received a Hep B vaccine in the first place due to my age, no sign of it in my med history and other factors, including have no idea if I ever received the vaccine. They reccomended to proceed with the vaccine series to get it started so I could get my medical documents in. (My insurance doesn't allow for any in house lab work, I must go to Labcorp which would add even more of a delay.)

I'm constantly looking at my email as well. My school won't deal with me until I have my signed contract back from them. She said she will have to see if I get to keep my grant and scholarship from the school. This is nail biting stuff, I have no idea if I'm being taxed on $45,000 or $11,000?! I hope my school will give me a break.

Oh my, that is what I was afraid of. I just hope it's enough because I'm worried they will not allow me to start clinicals and I will have to repeat a semester or have it impact my grade in some way. Thank you for that information!

Thank you! I know the guidelines state you don't have to repeat the series but I found out it does have to be repeated if I have a titer that shows low immunity. My concern is does the extra 5 months contribute to low immunity or is it usually enough to not be an issue?

I was simply giving background on the situation so people wouldn't tell me to "just go talk to the school." Obviously every school is different, I specifically stated I can't get in touch with the person I need to speak to yet and I am asking if anyone else has been in a similar situation and can tell me their outcome.