OliveOyl91

I'm from the PNW and have worked in both Oregon and Washington. Looking for jobs as a new grad FNP, many were ranging $110k-$125k starting pay. These were outpatient internal med and family med clinics. As a RN with 6 years experience, that's about what I make now (not including overtime picked up). I was fully expecting to make about the same or even a little less before getting a couple years' experience in. I wound up accepting a full-time correctional position for $156k per year with annual performance increases.

Starting a thread for any other folks with IBD who might want to chat. ? I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when was 20. I've been working in healthcare as a CNA/RN since I was 22. For the most part, everything works out just fine. I've worked in the same hospital and with the same people for many years. I'm comfortable sharing that I have UC and know if I need to urgently go, that my colleagues have my back. I've met a few other colleagues with IBD, too! Also, I know where all the good bathrooms are! ? Welp, new year, new license, new me. I'm starting a new job as a NP at a new workplace. I'm saying goodbye to the hospital I've been at for 9 years and that makes my anxiety bubble deep down in my gut. Literally and metaphorically. ? I usually have emergency supplies in my work bag or locker. Spare change of clothes, wipes, Imodium, Poo-Pourri, plastic bags. Luckily, I've never had an accident while at work and on the clock, but like to stay prepared. Happy trails to all who see this!

I graduated in August and took the AANP in October. I passed first attempt. I primarily used the SM crash course and the Leik book. I also purchased a couple practice tests from AANPCB. Not only was the format exactly the same as the real exam, but I had similar questions on my exam from the practice tests.

Hello, everyone! I'm a new grad NP and am preparing to start my first job at a county jail. I've been an RN for over six years without a single mark on my record. I've had NSO liability insurance while practicing as an RN, but am finding it difficult to find professional malpractice insurance. I'm fairly certain it's because of the little box each website has that asks if you practice in a correctional facility... I get it. When I was hired I was told, "not every inmate has a doctor, but they all have a lawyer.” I'm waiting to hear back from NSO, but have already received automatic "we don't have any products for you" from Berxi and CM&F. Any recommendations? Thank you!

I'm also a new grad. I'm starting my first NP job, soon. It took 6 weeks for my DEA to go through. I was interviewed and offered a job before it was processed, though. Food for thought. I was starting to worry they'd need to push back my start date, because we were still waiting on DEA. ?

Definitely no harm in in having a dialogue. While in school, I completed hours at a few clinical sites that did not hire MAs, but as a compromise paid the NPs more since they were rooming, completing vitals, and doing lab draws.

Hi! Have you taken your boards, yet? I'm prepping to take mine in early October. I've been utilizing SM crash course and qbank questions, as well as the Leik book with their online qbank. I just took one of the practice exams from AANP and got an 80%. Hoping I'm hitting all my marks and am interested in hearing what others are doing or have done. Thanks!

Hello! Found this thread via a search. Hoping there are still folks around willing and able to discuss! I'm in my last semester of my FNP program and absolutely love with the idea of a nurse practitioner residency program! I'm looking into the Portland, OR VA primary care residency. Looking ahead, I'm nervous that the stipend may not be enough to cover my household expenses even with the most stringent budgeting (I'm the sole income in our household). Silly question, but is this stipend taxed? If so, is it taxed in the same fashion as a salary/hourly wages? The average RN salary in OR before taxes is $98k, but the VA stipend offered in $83k. Other NP positions in the Portland area start around $130k, but they're not all open to new grads. I'm not looking for or even expecting a massive pay increase as a new grad NP, but I want to be able to pay my mortgage and other bills. ? Thanks! ?

Sadly, Sumner doesn’t have a LPN-RN bridge program (at least not when I graduated in 2019). LPNs in my cohort had to start at the beginning of the RN program like everyone else. ? I’m not sure about Clark College in Vancouver, WA, but Lower Columbia College in Longview, WA has a well-known bridge program. I worked 12-hour shifts as a CNA and chose to go part-time, but many of my classmates worked full-time in various settings. We had classes maximum of four days a week when I attended and RN classes were all scheduled from as early as 0800 to end as late as 1530. We rarely had a full day like that and transferring in classes won’t help you graduate faster, but it’ll lighten up your schedule. All hospital clinicals were scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, because they were 12-hours.

I felt the same way you did when I was looking into schools for my BSN. I was just fortunate enough to have gone to a school that really stressed the fact that they’re nationally accredited, so I was somewhat emotionally prepared for my limited options. Like I mentioned before, check if your previous school has any agreements or partnerships with other schools. Schools that have graduate programs. Keep searching, there’s an accredited school out there for you. Since your previous school was still CCNE accredited there has to be programs out there that will accept your degree as part of entry to their graduate programs. ☺️

I don’t think the situation is as dire as you think. Breathe. Let’s talk through it. ❤️ Let me try and wrap my head around your post and see if I’m understanding what you’re trying to say. You have your ADN and BSN from a nationally accredited, CCNE accredited school. You now want to get your FNP, but the regionally accredited graduate programs you’ve applied to rejected your applications, because your previous degrees are from nationally accredited schools? If I’ve got that right... ... There are nationally accredited universities/colleges that have graduate programs and ARNP programs. I went to a nationally accredited vocational college for my ADN, accredited through ABHES. I had a difficult time getting local, regionally accredited universities to take me seriously, because of this. What few schools would talk to me said I would have to take a lot of gen-ED classes (ones I already took for my ADN at my school) before applying to their RN-BSN program. I applied to and was accepted by Chamberlain University for their online RN-BSN program. I’m at the point in my BSN where I’m thinking about bridging into one of their MSN programs. Either nurse educator or FNP. I don’t know what schools you applied to, but it sounds like you just need to widen your search pool. ☺️ Chamberlain, Walden, Western Governor’s, Keiser, Grand Canyon, etc... Nationally accredited schools. Check if your previous school has any articulation agreements with other universities. If you’re not sure if your credits/degree will be honored/accepted at a particular school, e-mail the admissions office. “I have my BSN from *school name* and am interested in your FNP program...” The downside is that a lot of (if not all) nationally accredited programs are usually for-profit and can be more expensive.

@Shelle I had a classmate who worked for Legacy for several years and all through the nursing program. Right before we graduated they changed their policy regarding ADNs. They used to allow internal applicants to apply with their ADN with the condition that they complete their BSN in three years. She was devastated. I work at PeaceHealth Southwest and have classmates working at both PeaceHealth St John and Sacred Heart, as well. A few classmates are working at Providence St Vincent, Portland, and Centralia. A few of the “random hospitals” include Capital Medical Center in Olympia, Columbia Memorial in Astoria, Ocean Beach Hospital in Ilwaco, and Oregon State Hospital in Salem. Like any other nursing program, it had its bumps along the way, but in the end I felt like it was a solid nursing program and that I was prepared for the NCLEX and working as a RN. I wish the best of luck to every one going to school during these strange times!

Thanks for the tag! Cohort 9 grad here! I am currently working at a PeaceHealth hospital with my ADN. I have classmates from my cohort who are working at Providence with their ADN. Legacy, Kaiser, and OHSU definitely want BSN-prepared nurses. Not quite sure about Adventist. Classmates are also working at hospitals on the coast, hospitals in Olympia, the Oregon State Hospital, care facilities like Prestige, and local jails. I’m doing the online RN-BSN through Chamberlain and the transition was super easy. I graduated in September, did the NCLEX in October, and was starting BSN classes in November. For clinicals during this time of COVID, they have a limited number of students attending at a time and they’re spreading them out around the hospital. We used to get three or four nursing students on our floor at a time, but now it’s only one at a time. What I really liked about Sumner was that we started in long term care and worked our way up to clinicals at the hospital. At work, we sometimes see nursing students in their first quarter and they look terrified. They don’t have the knowledge or experience to really benefit from what they’re seeing and doing, in my opinion. We didn’t have clinical during our first term, that way anyone new to the medical field could get a jump on their fundamentals. Our second term we were in a locked memory care facility that was along the lines of assisted living. Third and fourth terms we were in a SNF (long term care/rehab). Fifth and sixth term we were in a hospital. The seventh term was busy, because we had another round of hospital clinicals, but we also had clinicals at a mother/baby clinic for maternal nursing. Eighth term was at the Oregon State Hospital for our psych nursing clinicals. Finally, term nine was 120 hours of clinical practicum at an approved facility of your choosing. I did mine at the hospital I worked at as a CNA and wound up greasing enough wheels to get into their RN residency after graduation. ☺️ The Portland/Vancouver area is really saturated with nursing programs. The farthest north we had to travel for clinical was Olympia, and the farthest south was Salem. Hope this helps! Feel free to ask me any questions! ❤️

Hi Kelsey! I had a 78% and made it into their program. Sumner is really great about their 100% acceptance rate. If you meet all their admissions requirements, they’ll find a place for you! Either with the current cohort, the next cohort, or a spot in a LPN cohort. I’d recommend waiting for a RN cohort. A new sessions starts every 10 weeks.

Good luck! ?? That’s what I’ve heard as well, regarding OB, but PeaceHealth in both Longview and Vancouver offer fellowships into ED, ICU, and OB for nurses with 1 year experience if you don’t get the opportunity now. ?

Starting pay for RNs at Southwest is $38.98/hr, regardless of department. Plus RNs get a $3.00/hr evening differential and a $5.75 night differential. And you immediately start earning EIB and PTO. You can’t use it right away, but it starts accumulating. At St John, the starting pay differs from department to department. I’ve seen starting wages around $34-$37 in Longview. I was an internal applicant and was hired by my manager onto the floor I worked on as a CNA. However, you list your preferences department-wise and you have a panel interview with a handful of managers. Based on your interview and your references, managers will offer you positions on their units. It can be a little slow going, even as an internal applicant. I applied in October, interviewed in November, and was given my official start date and orientation in January. You go through new hire orientation, EPIC training, and once that’s done, they place you with a preceptor. Medsurg gets a minimum of 8 weeks of orientation. ICU and CVICU gets minimum of 12 weeks. Plus, you always have the opportunity to get more of you feel like you need it. Once a month we have residency meetings where we meet with our cohort. I’ve enjoyed it and felt like I was prepared to work the floor solo when my time came. I’ve really enjoyed it, so far. My nursing school classmate is in the residency at Sacred Heart in Eugene and she also have nothing but good things to say.

The only time I scan a flush is when it pops up on the MAR as a scheduled PICC or central line maintenance.

PeaceHealth and Providence will hire new grad nurses with their ADN - especially if you are already enrolled in a BSN program. Working as a CNA at either of these hospital systems will be a huge help in getting into their RN residencies, because you’ll be an internal applicant and if you make a good impression on your manager as a CNA, they may want you back as a RN. I worked as a CNA for PeaceHealth in Vancouver all through nursing school and was accepted into their RN residency with my ADN. Legacy will no longer get hire ADNs, even if you’re an internal applicant. I have really enjoyed PeaceHealth and a couple classmates are at Sacred Heart near Eugene and also love it. A couple other classmates have also really enjoyed Providence - both Portland and St Vincent.

I’m afraid I don’t have any experience or idea of the speed of the OSBN during these times. Have you checked online the status of your application? There’s a list of things that the state is either processing or still needs. I.e background check, transcripts, etc. Before COVID, my friend’s application was taking what seemed like forever (where mine took maybe two weeks). She called the state, because the website said they still needed transcripts or whatnot, but she had already sent that in. Turns out they had received all her documents, but somehow didn’t mark that they had received them in the system.

As far as I’m aware of... no. At least the schools that I looked at. The school you complete your BSN at would have to be accredited by the same organizations, etc. I’m completing my RN-BSN online through Chamberlain and my Sumner credits weren’t taken at face value. They acknowledged my associate’s degree from the school and my RN license. Luckily I had completed prerequisites at another school. Sumner now has their own RN-BSN program and offers discounts to graduates of the ADN program.

I’m also new to a residency program! I’m working orthopedics/trauma. I’m grateful because it’s the unit and shift I worked for as a CNA for three years. Although already an employee, I enjoyed the week of classroom orientation and got to meet new nurses in the residency and also new (yet seasoned) nurses to the organization. My managers have scheduled me eight weeks of on-the-floor orientation with my preceptor, but have mentioned I’m welcomed to more if I feel like I need it. So far I’ve noticed that it’s a blessing and a curse working on my unit. I’m already comfortable and familiar with my coworkers, patients, and environment, but I’m really having to focus on my new position and priorities. My residency is also one year long and we have monthly meetings/seminars with our cohort. We won’t have any tests, but at the end of our program we have a specialty specific presentation that we need to give.

I work in Washington state. We are also screening individuals for respiratory illnesses and recent travel activity. I happened to be taking a class with our infection control nurse earlier in the week and she went onto a coronavirus tangent saying that until we learn more about the virus and how it’s spread, we will be to placing any potential coronavirus patient into airborne isolation much like how we did during our measles outbreak. I haven’t worked the floor since (I’m back tomorrow night), but I’m sure more education has been sent to our emails. Addendum: Our hospital has also discontinued using N95 masks and anyone working with airborne patients is required to use a PAPR.

I graduated with an AAS in September 2019 and once I passed my NCLEX-RN, I started my RN-BSN online in November. It was nice to dive in while still in the swing of things. I was lucky to already work for a hospital organization as a CNA that will hire ADNs into their residency program, but that’s not usually the case in my area (Portland, OR/Vancouver, WA). If a hospital is your ultimate goal, I would dive right into your BSN if possible.

For my ATI Comprehensive Predictor, I used solely ATI material to study. I used my textbooks, answered questions from the test back, and retook practice exams online. Passing was 68% for my school. I wound up getting an 80.7%. In hindsight, the ATI exit exam was much more difficult and tiring than the NCLEX-RN itself. ?‍♀️

I used the ATI study guide and invested in the practice exams. Super helpful. My worst subject was the science portion, but I focused on math and I’m glad I did. ? I actually commuted every day. The school’s in Portland and I came from Clatskanie (off Highway 30 by the coast). Luckily, another girl in my cohort was from Astoria, so we carpooled every day for two years, alternating driving days. Traffic could be really bad when class started at 8:00am, but it wasn’t until we reach Vancouver and were heading into a Portland. We always gave ourselves 2-2.5 hours to get there. It was tiring, but now that I’m done it actually went by very quick and was well worth it. We had folks from as far west as Astoria, far east as Hood River, as far south as Salem, and as far north as Olympia in my cohort.