GEMINI06

Side-conversations, know-it-alls, teachers who are rude, people who use class as their personal therapy sessions, ALL drive me nuts. :trout: And although cell phones going off during class etc bothers me, I have to admit that on the day of our very last final of nursing school ever, I made the mistake of picking up my hubby's phone (which is always on loud ring) instead of mine (always on vibrate).....only I didn't know it until his phone started blaring - and the ring-tone is none other than Jimmy Buffet :Melody: "Wasted Away Again in Margaritaville" :Melody: !!!!!!! Nothing like being in the middle of one of the most important tests of nursing school, and having that happen! I was so mortified I turned purple and cried for 10 minutes. Luckily everyone else thought it was pretty funny and even funnier that I was hysterical about it :) Turns out it was my mother calling. :argue: I was furious and let her really have it because she knew I was in my final exam! She sounded shocked because she thought she could just leave a voice mail - can't remember what she wanted to say, but my kids weren't bleeding, dismembered or dead so it couldn't have been that important!

We had a very sad incident recently in our town....a man called 911 to report that his wife had cut her stomach on something, wasn't sure how it happened, and to send an ambulence. The dispatcher told him "Okay, Mr. So-and-So, we've got you". Mr. So-and-so replied "How did you know it was me?" The dispatcher replied quizzically "Uh, it came up on the screen". Of course the dispathcer meant they had his address...Turns out, the husband had stabbed his wife, and thought they meant they knew he did it. After the ambulence came and took her away, the police tried to come in to do a formal report, he shot the police officer, then locked himself in, shot and killed his two kids and then shot and killed himself. Definately sad, not funny, but ironic when they released the 911 call.........Makes you think twice.

I just graduated and interviewed at our local PICU for an intern position. The initial HR one was pretty gross- just an HR person reading a list of questions off a list (typical stuff like give me 2 adjectives that describe yourself- OH PLEASE!) The one with the director was more detailed - asked me specifically about myself and the program I went through. Most of the questions were based on "behavioral interviewing". IE she asked me about certain scenarios and what would I do....kind of NCLEX like, with each answer, the scenario grew and intensified. For example, she asked me "If you were sitting in the main RN station and a woman carrying an infant car seat walked up and told you that her pediatrician told her to come and admit her child to the hospital, what would you do?" (by the way, our unit is on the 5th floor, and the ED is on the first, so it would be weird for a person to come all the way up the elevator....) See where I am going with this?! Think about clinical situations that you can use to describe events and how you handled them (a time you made a client feel really special/good, a time you failed at something, a time you didn't agree with a doctor's order). Have fun, and be yourself! My interview went great, and I got the job, had my first day yesterday!!!!! Good luck!

Ahhhhh...a very touchy subject indeed! Funny thing: for years, UT students have been doing their BSN through MCO (as well as Bowling Green), as a transfer program. They retain their home campus while completing the 2 year RN portion on MCO's campus. The diplomas have always said UT/ MCO or BG/MCO depending on what your home campus was. With the merger, it is true the campus will be known as University of Toledo Health Sciences Campus (YUCK! - not the name I voted for:uhoh3: ) Rumor is the diplomas will say UT but also something that signifies MUO campus - may not be MUO though. It is too bad if you don't want to go there because of the association with UT - the teachers and the program will still be the same, and still have the same standards and quality education...you would miss out on an awesome program and opportunity because you think the status is less because of the name. I assure you, the program is still very respected around here - our grads are being offered some amazing positions, and the feed-back to the school is always positive and complimentary about GEMINI students. PM me if you have more Q's, or I can help!! Thanks :)

Sorry it took so long to find your post! I just graduated from teh GEMIN program (convocation May5th!) It was 2 of the best and most challenging year sof my life! We had 2 women from CA come to Toledo for the program. Both of them found plenty of fun things to do. Besides, there is Ann Arbor, MI to shop in - if you are a "foody". And plenty to do in Toledo and around Toledo. The 5 semesters keep you very busy indeed. And there are certainly plenty of clinical site that will give you great experiences! One draw back- yes, the weather (not as bad a Cleveland- what we call snow here is really just a dusty flurry!!! LOL!) But pretty grey, and it goes from hot to cold, sunny to cloudy all in the blink of an eye- but where else can you get to enjoy all 4 wonderful seasons? And the city has a lot of pride in terms of activities, events, etc. I would highly recommend the program to anyone coming from anywhere in the US. The teachers are wonderful! And just to clarify: Yes, Medical College of Ohio became Medical University of Ohio in June 2005....the school of nursing came to be the college of nursing. But all of that is changing because the school is merging with the University of Toledo.....I am not sure what each campus will be called, but it is a pretty touchy subject for the staff and students. Keep an eye on it through the web site (which was re-vamped last week). Hope you come to Toledo - and if you are ever in Toledo Hospital, please stop in the PICU and introduce yourself! Best of Luck! The One and Only GEMINI class to ever graduate from Medical University of Ohio - GEMINI 2006!!!!:balloons:

What kind of pain? Chronic, acute? What age? I took a complimentary therapy class this last semester that suggested several ways to help people cope with pain, everything from guided imagery to acupuncture. We also got certified in theraputic touch, which helps to lower stress and anxiety and has been shown to help people cope better with pain. If you work in a hospital, check the policies before administering any complimentary therapies. However, I am a huge fan of trying anything to help a patient feel more comfortable when meds just don't cut it or are not what the pt. wants! Quiet music, holding a hand, light massage or touch, anything that helps a person to better qualify and quantify their own pain, and makes them feel in control of it is sure to help. Best of Luck!

I am sorry if you took this the wrong way- I was just throwing it out there to show that some areas are more aggressive than others when it comes to degrees and licensure. I wasn't trying to say that I support that thinking or not. My husband is an AD RN, so if that happened in Ohio, we would definately be not happy!! LOL! I actually had the opportunity to work in his unit for my adult critical care experience. I saw a side of him that I didn't know even existed- he is so tender and compassionate with his clients. He is also very patient and kind with students and loves to include them in any learning opportunity he can dig up. I don't view myself any better than him because of my degree. If anything, I look up to him, and he inspires me because I have seen what a wonderful RN he is. My personal goal is to practice nursing with the passion and compassion that he does. I just happened to have a BA and qualified for a entry level program, so I figured why spend the money starting from scratch when I can build on what I already have invested in? I also might add, that during my hubby's 2 years of RN school, many of the classes he was req'd to take were classes such as philosophy, sociology, psych, etc. that I had already done in my BA program, so eliminating the cross over is where we get the time to focus on the higher level nursing classes. If anyone is interested, check out the GEMINI program at www.meduohio.edu that is where I graduated from, and you can check my course of study and program requirements, and compare to other programs. Peace!!

I should be a little more clear: My degree was a BA in English with a minor in women and minorities studies. Although I definately skimmped on the sciences doing this degree, there were still science reqs that had to be met to graduate. Also, our program requires chem, A&P I and II, Micro to even be considered, which I did at our community college. The program is full time M-F, and often has evening and weekend clinicals. It is 5 straight semesters. And it was very tough, but worth it! We often talked about how our degree would be perceived by those who have already achieved RN status, and how we owuld fit into the world of nursing. I have confidence that as more of these programs emerge, and people work with us, they will realise what a wonderful change and opportunity this is!

I just graduated yesterday from a graduate entry-level masters in nursing program....:mortarboard: Many of us had careers (I was a teacher) and even Masters in other fields. It is amazing how much of our previous expereinces relate to nursing. Almost everyone in our program has been offered a clinical position. Many of the positions are direclty into critical care placements which does raise a few eyebrows of fellow co-workers :smiley_ab , but once they work with us, they find out that we not only get the same 2 years of hands-on that ALL ADN, and BSN nurses get, we also get all of the theory, advanced practice courses, and did a thesis, along with a 270 hour preceptorship our last semester. Several of our graduates are going directly into certificate programs for advanced practice. I think this is a woderful way to reach new groups of people that bring a variety of knowledge and experience from diverse backgrounds. Most of us know that it is unrealistic to assume that we could graduate-to-hire into a position as a unit director or something like that. You have to work in a unit before you can possibly know how to manage it! How can one expect to manage nurses if one doesn't know what they do on a daily basis??!! But it is not unachieveable! I do believe this is where nursing is headed. By the way, I heard that the state of New York either did, or is going to, announce that ADN nurses have a certain amount of time to earn their BSN and then the state is not renewing RN licensure for AND nurses. The push is to raise the level of education, which is documented in literature to raise job satisfaction, and most importanly positive client outcomes, which will only further Nursing as a profession instead of a vocation.

We are required to wear a lab coat in our program...besides being asked to remove in some clinical settings (peds, geri, psych), we were often confused with RT, residents, and MDs. I found that the easiest way to dispell misiterpretation of who I am is to greet each client/ family as "Hi, I am (name), I am a student nurse from (school) and I will be working with (RN's name).....) No matter what we wear, it is our responsibility to present ourself as what we are, and not let others "assume" we are residents, etc. Anyways, I ended up writing a scholarly paper on nursing uniforms, and the following articles have some good info: Mangum, Garrison, Lind, Thackeray, and Wyatt (1991) - developed a Nurse Image Scale that people rated professional qualities in 9 different pictures of the same nurse wearing 9 different nursing uniforms - all white with a cap and/or stethescope was preferred over all the others! Newton and Chaney (1996) Also gave a likert-type scale to nursing faculty and students. Age, curriculum level, and teaching level all correllated with preferences in attire. Overall, all groups viewed lab coats as professional. Lastly, here is a quote for you: "It is the nurse's responsibility to present a professional therapeutic and approachable image through behavior rather than rely on the nature of the uniform that is worn (Cambell et al 2000). To make a long story short - yes, labcoats are professional and appropriate to wear as a nurse or nursing student. Go for it, and wear it with pride!!!

Hi: I have a BA in English, and worked as a teacher for while (loved it, but the school I was teaching at closed:o . I was enrolled at the local CC for their ADN program and ready to start clinicals when I found out about a local U that offered a program to people that already have a BA in some other field but want to get into nursing. It is 2 years (five semesters) of intense full-time course work and clinicals, but at the end (which is so close I can see it- JUNE 2!!!) I will have a generalist MSN and be eligible to sit for NCLEX ---a little more expensive, but the same amount of time. I don't think that I needed to start from the beggining and get experience first. After all, I already completed one degree, so the only portion left towards a BSN would have been the nursing classes- why not take 2 years of nursing classes towards an MSN -more bag for the buck! I have had 15 hours of class room time, averaged 3 clinical days per week, and written an awesome thesis. Plus I am doing 270 hours of one-on-one precepted time right now. I feel very prepared to be a safe, compentent nurse. Many people are confused about our program because they think it is for management, or some sort of advanced practice licensure- not so! As for me, I have had plenty of job offers for when I graduate- everything you would expect to be offered with an ADN or BSN. And I am only a few classes away from an Advanced Practice Degree if I decided to go back :roll So is it possible to get a BSN or MSN without an ADN? Sure....all programs are different, as far as requirements, and what you do to get your degree, but as for my program- LOVE IT! and would highly recommend it to anyone:mad:

wow! glad you finally found something to shoot for...i am in peds icu for my preceptorship, and i absolutely love it! for me, it is not just about the kids, but the families also. in the icu, i get to spend alot of time doing family teaching, and it is so rewarding to be there at that learning moment. elkmn06: just think, graduation is only weeks away! here's to our programs and making that leap of faith into a new professions!

WOW! Great post! As a student in an entry level master's program, we don't always have the warmest welcome from staff nurses. So not only are we student nurses, we are resented for our program from the get-go. This is usually a common topic brought up at post-conference. Besides the fact that there is a nursing shortage, there is a nursing faculty shortage in my town. So our clinical groups are maxed out. Some of the ways our school has tried to deal with this is that we spend a lot of time with instructors in a lab first semester, and have competency check-offs on skills such as foleys, I.V., injections, even charting. That way, when we get into clinical, our instructors know that we have performed the skills before. Many still like to go with us the first time on the floor so if we have a "freeze" moment, they are there to help. The only thing we can not do is IV pushes and pull meds from the med-cart, so often our instructors end up chained to the med-room and is not available to help. I have had clinical days where the nurse I was working with made me nervous and anxious because she was too involved, and others where I was literally left on the floor with her entire patient load for over two hours (found her in the break room surfing the net :angryfire) There are many aspects to this situation that have been addressed in this post. I can see why people would want to be paid more to precept, and I am all for compensation for their time. My only concern there would be that people may want the incentive, but not the experience...not a good reason to take on students! But to address the original post...More important than teaching is providing safe, compentent care to our patients. Recognizing your limitations is important to meet that goal. And it takes a lot of guts to stand up for yourself. As students, it is our job to learn, and I think we can learn a lot from someone who has the courage to stand up and say "I can not take students because I want to focus on my patient and provide them with the best care I can". I don't think of it as "eating our young" but promoting self-care, advocating for you patient, and reminds us that we can not extend our actions any further than what we feel comfortable with. Thanks!

my husband is a nurse in an micu, and i am working on my master's in nursing. so when it comes to working holidays we understand that it is a must. we also have two young daughters. unfortunately, they can not understand that mommy and daddy have to work on holidays. sometmes we end up working the same holiday - not easy with little ones with expectations of being with their parents. however, instead of focusing on the holiday, my husband and i choose to focus on family togetherness. isn't that what holidays are about anyways? it would be great if we could both be home to see their faces when they wake-up christmas morning and run to a big pile of toys...and sometimes that works out. we love our time with our children if it is the morning or night of the holiday, the day before, the day after, and so on. your co-worker needs to look deep inside and think about what it is about the holiday that is so important to her. i hope you enjoy your time with your family, and i hope your co-worker realizes how special and valuable her time is with her kids, no matter when it is that she celebrates the holiday with them. last year my husband had to work christmas eve night and christmas day night because of the way the rotation fell. instead of ranting and trying to guilt others into switching shifts, we used it as a teaching opportunity for our girls to learn about giving of oneself to others in need. the girls and i made a full turkey dinner, loaded up the car, and set up the spread at the micu for the staff and families that were also "stuck" there for the holidays. holidays are what you make of them, a little creativity and extra effort can make them enjoyable for everyone! good luck!