gypsy26

I have worked at places that have no limits and guests/family members are allowed to spend the night. I have been to places with things like "quiet time" for 2 hours during change of shift and I think they're fabulous. You can easily and safely give report without being interrupted by call lights, family members, rounding doctors, etc I do think it fosters a safer transition of care. It's also easier to do things like bedside reporting because you don't have to worry the NACs will come bother you about someone you haven't even received report on or a family member asking for linens. The few places that do "quiet time" or something similar, add additional staff or stagger change of shift to make it happen. (It's always really bothered me when everyone changes shift at 7, no one knows what happened an hour ago with a patient sometimes. . . and management is gone for the day, so the people you normally would ask for help are gone.)

Do you have a fb? I would love to add you to a group of WSU DNP students or you can search for it. :)

I actually just now saw this, sorry about that. I actually am in the same boat! I am hoping to find a job in Spokane because I was previously living there. I currently live/work in Puyallup but applied to Spokane campus and was accepted to the FNP. As for my GPA/background, I have no problem sharing. I'm not from the PNW originally, my degree is from a school in the south. I started as a med/surg nurse in Florida and then became a travel nurse, my GPA is a 3.8 for my BSN. I wandered to WA and never left, I love this place. I will however be paying out of state tuition because my "home of record for taxes" is not WA. I did a fair amount of emailing with WSU asking questions when I was applying because I was unsure how competitive I was. I do recommend applying to at least 2 or 3 schools. I have friends from undergrad that only applied to one and weren't accepted, so they had a wait a full year to re-apply. I also used rankings, I didn't apply to UW because I know my GRE score wasn't high enough and they're in the top 10 every year for nursing. I actually went to nursing school with a woman who graduated with a 4.0 and came in with a 4.0. She was denied admission to UW's nursing school as an undergrad, her experience did not inspire faith that I would be accepted into their graduate program (that to me is a crazy competitive undergrad program)! I saved myself the money and applied to other programs.

I had a schizo patient on the medicine floor where I work (pt was pretty much a stable and ambulatory patient waiting on placement). They pushed the call light every minute or two and would say it was because they were lonely. It actually made me sad and it was before my hospital had portable computers. I can't sit in your room and chart on other patients. I had another patient push his call light every few minutes from the second he was told he would be getting discharged. (Of course several hours before the MD put in the actual order to discharge him.) I told him, the more time I spend in his room turning off the call light, the less time I have to spend working on the paperwork to send him home. He slowed up once his family came to visit.

I love nights, even with a higher ratio than days. It's awesome. As a med/surg nurse it rocks to not have a million departments calling all the time, wanting different things or patients in different places the entire shift. Management is gone, so there tends to be less red tape and random paperwork. It sometimes takes longer to get something done but very few things come up that require outside interventions. I like being able to plan my shift and get things done like chart reviews and order evaluations. I also enjoy having the time to do a few little things to help day shift get ready.

I think you might be right about New York. Table 3: Salary Adjusted for Cost of Living - Nursing On Point Is a website I use a lot and NYC is a horrible place to be a nurse. I think nurses are worth their weight in gold but I feel strongly about nurses sticking together and being advocates for themselves. I think in comparison to most people in the medical profession we are not well paid in most of the country and we are not well-paid for our educational background. We also have some of the lowest increase in income over time of any medical professional. My mom and I are both nurses, she has an ASN, 35 years of experience and is certified in her field. I have a BSN with 2.5 years of experience and I made more money than she did last year. I also did a lot of things to put me in a position to make good money. (In my undergrad program they said nurses should change jobs every 3-5 years to maximize benefits, bonuses, training and pay. I've had more jobs in 2.5 years than my mom has had in the last 20 years.)

I worked a float nurse with only about a year of floor experience. I was not allowed to float to the ER or ICU but as a whole I really enjoyed it. I agree with you, I avoided drama and I liked the variety. I actually think it's a great experience and more people should do it. I highly recommend being honest with your leadership and your self, if you feel like something is a bit much, say something. I received excellent support for the most part but ultimately I left the float position because the hospital struggled with a culture problem of being mean to float nurses. (I never understood that, you would be short without me and having a very busy day.)

I think falling asleep is inappropriate but by the same token I highly doubt you'll be punished beyond a talking to. My undergraduate program did not kick out students who were blatantly plagiarizing and cheating on exams, I think you'll be okay in the long-run. I actually fell asleep during my practicum (it was way more boring than I expected) and other than my preceptor not being happy about it, I turned out just fine. I did however pick to work as a nurse in something I found more interesting. I looked at it as a learning opportunity.

I applied to (Washington State University) WSU's DNP class for Fall 2017. I was wondering if anyone else did? Or does anyone currently attend their graduate school? It says it is mostly online and I was wondering how it is structured, admissions is not very forth-coming with information.

Thanks!

Do you know how long the reserves requirement is for an HPSP NP? (After you leave active duty).

Thank you! She said she is going to work on it.

I was accepted to a DNP program for Fall 2016 and I will hopefully be in the July 2016 boards for the AF HPSP. I wish there was more information but even my recruiter is unable to answer some of my questions. I'll graduate in May 2019.

The VA hires using a point system (veteran's preference, dependents, disability, etc) and vacancies. I highly recommend looking for a nurse residency program, only several VAs offer them nationally. They typically hire all of those new grad nurses. Next, make sure when you are submitting applications on USAjobs that you are filling out all the forms they require and correctly. I had to have another nurse show me, I was missing several important obscure forms. Secondly, I would recommend getting experience and a BSN, both make you a more competitive candidate. Most VAs have a surplus of applicants and many of the applicants are experienced private sector nurses looking to get a federal retirement. . . those nurses out experience me every day of the week. I had to sell my first NM on my BSN and potential. Sometimes it means applying for obscure VA facilities in rural areas. (Each VISN has a different policy about hiring and transferring, typically you should keep your first job at least a year. Some VAs have rules about even applying for specific positions. My first VA wouldn't let a nurse with less than 5 years of experience work in a clinic). Good luck!

I've worked in several VAs. VAs are as diverse as private sector hospitals. One VA I remember had horrible staffing on the psych unit and the patients were acutely psychotic, the ratios were roughly 9:1 and on the medicine floors it was 6:1. The VA I work at currently is much better, the entire unit is only 10 beds and they try to keep the patient to nurse ratio at 4:1. As a whole, it highly depends on the VA and the management.