busby

Hello! I am a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner student at Stony Brook University and live in NYC. I am in need of a pediatric SPECIALTY preceptor for the fall 2020 semester. Due to COVID I have had a lot of difficulty with any office managers and administrators getting back to me, and I cannot exactly go door to door looking for a placement. Due to the strict timelines for hospitals, many in the area are out of the question, so I am looking at outpatient pediatric urgent care or specialty care offices. I have exhausted my searches and am now contemplating some of the services that you pay for to match you with a preceptor, but this seems like a complete rip off and I know many people who would never do that. Does anyone have any advise on finding a PNP preceptor in the NYC area (or just general advise for an NP student in a program that does not help them find preceptors or placements). Thanks! Chrissy

Hello, I am a new grad who is interested in pediatrics (I am sure of that)... I have interviewed and been offered a position at a hospital, and they are letting me choose between the PICU or general peds unit, since they have open spots in both. I am leaning toward the PICU because I feel like it will be great clinical experience, I will have a little more time to get deep into the conditions my patient's have because I will have fewer, and I felt a better fit with that nurse manager. My question is if other people started out in the PICU and felt like that was do-able/ they weren't too overwhelmed? I know it will be challenging where ever I am to be a new nurse, and I am ready to work hard for that, I just want to make sure I will survive going straight to the PICU! Lastly, the hospital is offering about 6-10$ less per hour than I was expecting! I have been getting very few other offers from hospitals as I am only looking for a pediatric position. Is is worth taking the position for less money to get my foot in the door and to get the experience, or should i hold out for a higher paying position? The salary they are offering I can make work, its just a little discouraging because it is a lot less than I had planned on (this is also my second career, so its hard to start back at square one after having worked for years). Thanks for all the advice! -busby

Hello all, I am a new nursing grad who was recently offered a position at Newark Beth Israel Children's Hospital. I am trying to figure out if the offer is something I should take since the pay is a fair amount less than I was expecting. Was hoping to speak to any RN's at this hospital to see how they like it! A little background- I am a second career nurse, so I have my bachelor's in psychology and previous work experience (however no work experience in nursing). When I went back to school to become a nurse I actually also got my master's in science, however I am still technically an "entry level" nurse. My dream is to work in pediatrics, so the fact that I was offered a PICU position right out of school is amazing!! I am just a little worried about the starting rate. I was offered a rate of 28$/hr night shift. With some research I found people at Newark Beth that were starting 33$/hour for nights and that was even some years back. Here are my main questions: 1. does Newark Beth offer additional compensation for a having degree regardless of experience? Bachelors? Masters? etc. 2. What is the typical starting salary for night shift at Newark Beth? 3. How long is the typical wait to move to days? I know this is unit specific, but ballpark? 4. Will I be safe commuting on public transportation for night shifts in this area (I am from NJ and live in NYC so I am fully aware and okay with highly urban settings, but I do not know this area of Newark per-say) 5. I have heard from many sources that the work is tough at Newark Beth, which I am totally ready for, but I also was hoping to hear some of the reasons why people actually enjoy working here besides that it is just good clinical experience? 6. How long is the on-boarding process typically? I am still waiting on NJ state BON for my license....? Thank you in advance for the help! -Chrissy

Hi all, I am a second degree nurse! I have a bachelor's degree and work experience in a different field. I just finished my master's in nursing (I am not an NP, it is an entry to practice Master's of science in nursing degree), have taken and passed the NCLEX, and have been seriously looking for over 6 weeks now with absolutely zero response. I am getting super frustrated with the lack of response, and I am not sure where to go from here. I am located in New York, which I know is a difficult place to get a job, however, I have expanded my search to anywhere in the tristate area. I am predominately interested in pediatrics, but have also expanded my search to other areas as well. I have connected with everyone I possibly can from placements during school, and no one has anything for a new grad with no experience. Does anyone have any advice as to what I can do? I am applying online, including a cover letter, my resume is in excellent shape, I went to a very highly regarded school, my GPA from both my bachelor's and master's are above 3.8.... I am at a complete loss of what to do at this point! I am willing to pretty much take anything right now, but at the same time I want to be in a good hospital where I will be able to orient and learn from the best as I am just starting out. Any and all advice is welcome, thanks! -Chrissy

Hi all, I am having some difficulty deciding what to do once I graduate at the end of this spring. Background: I have a BA in psychology, and worked for 5 years in clinical psyc. I am currently attending an entry to practice Master's program, which I will be completing in the spring (so I will have an MSN and an RN). My end goal is to be a pediatric nurse practitioner, incorporating both teaching and research into my clinical practice (I would like to have at least 50% of my time be clinical practice). I can remain at the school that I am currently attending and go straight into a DNP program where I would receive my NP licensure as well as my clinical doctoral degree. However, for financial reasons this is not feasible unless I go part-time while working as an RN part-time, which is not an option of this program. So, I have been looking at alternative options, and this is what I came up with: - Work full time as an RN for a year or two to get experience, then apply to and attend a full time DNP program in pediatrics - go straight to a different DNP program part-time while working as an RN part-time - do a licensure completion program to receive my NP license, and then begin working as an NP while going back to school for my clinical doctorate - Get a second master's and NP license, while not getting a DNP -Do a licensure completion for my NP, and not get a DNP Because I am interested in both research and teaching, advisors at my school have recommended a DNP as opposed to an NP licensure completion, which I tend to agree with, however I want to make sure this is the best degree plan for me, before entering into a program for it. Has anyone gone through a similar path in their education, and if so, what would you recommend? I am especially interested to hear from anyone who attended an entry to practice program, and went straight through to their NP license, without having worked as an RN. Thanks! Chrissy B

Thanks for the advice! Very helpful response :-)

Hi all, Just looking for some advice out there to help me figure out my path in school... Background info: My end goal is to be an NP. I already have my bachelor's degree in Psychology. I have worked for 3 years in hospital administration at a top cancer hospital. I also have already taken all of the required prerequisites for both accelerated BSN and Direct Entry Masters programs. My GPA is 3.75 undergraduate and 4.0 in prerequisites. My GREs are decent but I will be taking again. My main issue is I do not know if I should do an accelerated/ second degree BSN program, get clinical experience working as a nurse for several years and then go back to school for my advanced degree, or if I should apply to a direct entry program where I would receive my BSN along the way, but move immediately onto my masters. As I said above I have no doubt that my end goal is to be an NP, therefore direct entry is more efficient. My only fear is if direct entry programs prepare their students adequately with clinical experience for their work as an NP. Also does anyone feel that it is more difficult to get hired out of a direct entry program because employers may feel you lack clinical experience? Lastly... to make everything more confusing is the slow but inevitable change that will require NPs to have their DNP. Because of this I have started to think that doing my BSN then going straight to a DNP program after I have several years of work experience may in the long run be the best way to go. I will be applying this fall for a Summer 2016 start. Mainly looking at schools in Boston and New York. Thanks :-)