Stony Brook Accelerated Nursing Class of 2015

bloodorange · Jan 22, 2014

Thank you so much -- this is awesome. I'm going to be living in St. James and hopefully biking to school most days (gotta get some exercise somehow), and I would certainly not want to turn DOWN a job offer from SBUMC, so I think I'll try to get up front and sign up for SB24. :)

I also appreciated the words on specializing. (Funny, I also feel like peds is the only area I'm not really interested in!) I'm a pretty open-minded lady and intend to go with the flow, totally cool with working med/surg, etc.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2014

I currently work on a medicine/telemetry unit, been there now almost 2 years and I started there as a DEU student. It's tough but I have learned a lot about a lot. I wont be there forever but at least I know I got a great foundation and I no longer have to compete for jobs as a new grad, which in my opinion these days is the HARDEST hurdle as you begin your nursing career. Once you get experience as a nurse there are more doors open to you. Employers now seem to want nurses with BSNs and at least 2 years experience. My advice: don't be picky about where you start out, just get that job and bear with it for a year or two until you are considered experienced! If your heart is set on anything peds, I recommend going that route instead of adult med surg, as that world is easier to transition to PICU and NICU and even OB. If you want MICU or SICU or anything like that in the adult world, adult med surg or ICR is the ideal starting point and likely easier to get a new grad job in. If you can go straight into ICU as a new grad, by all means go for it, but you have to be ready to embrace that specialty, it is tough when you are new. I know I eventually want a critical care specialty, but right out of nursing school I knew I wasn't ready for that so I opted for acute care floor nursing. Now, I crave more critical care training, so for me it is a natural progression. Some people are ready for it sooner, I was not, and you know yourself best.

Don't think you have to pick a specialty while in school, nursing is so diverse you have time to explore it all. Just get the experience, you definitely don't wanna stay new grad for too long. The first year of nursing sucks, I am not going to lie. You will see how much you did NOT learn in nursing school and believe me you will never want yo be a new grad again after that. I have already precepted a new grad and I got to see what it was like a year before, I was just like my orientee, scared and overcautious, which bites into your time management and prioritization and delegation. Fortunately, I am a very patient preceptor lol, and I know what it is like for a new grad on orientation. I promised myself I would never be one of those grouchy nurses that are impatient with new nurses. You will get slack from overworked nurses who just dont have time to deal with your inexperience and cluelessness, unfortunately. But eventually that goes away, just don't become one of them!

By the way, most of my classmates who did med surg clinical and capstones at North Shore LIJ seem to have better chances at getting jobs there. Same for Stony Brook. Although some were successful elsewhere out of state, these two hospitals hired the majority of us.

I echo GoVeg in advice about OB: if this is your thing, especially NICU, get your clinical at Stony Brook, because I did my OB at another local hospital and it sucked. Which was ok since I don't like OB but I do like NICU and no other NICU in the Suffolk area compares to Stony Brook because it is a Level III. Peds is ok wherever. Psych clinical: depends if you are into it or not. Pilgrim is the better location to learn it, VA Northport if you wanna just get through it lol.

Sent from my iPad using allnurses.com

kace1234 · Jan 27, 2014

Has anyone heard anything with regards to the two year applications? Is there another post I should look for?

Aquaman909 · Feb 5, 2014

Dam guys I got Rejected.... I really applied to this school as a safety, guess it was harder than I thought to get in haha. Good thing I was accepted to my first choice PA program, Maybe I'll come back to Stony Brook and put some of you nurses to work lol. Thank god too because I wasn't a huge fan of bed panning and putting in catheters lol ....Have fun with that :)

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2014

Dam guys I got Rejected.... I really applied to this school as a safety guess it was harder than I thought to get in haha. Good thing I was accepted to my first choice PA program, Maybe I'll come back to Stony Brook and put some of you nurses to work lol. Thank god too because I wasn't a huge fan of bed panning and putting in catheters lol ....Have fun with that :)[/quote']
Hmm, sounds to me from your post like Stony Brook knows what it's doing ... ... I NEVER see PAs on my unit BTW. And nurses are often getting docs to put in orders anyway based on bedside care and assessment of the patient, guess who is putting who to work? You really are missing out on the scope of a nurse's job. We actually THINK too you know. LOL!
Sent from my iPad using allnurses.com

HopefulSRNA1234 · Feb 5, 2014

Dam guys I got Rejected.... I really applied to this school as a safety guess it was harder than I thought to get in haha. Good thing I was accepted to my first choice PA program, Maybe I'll come back to Stony Brook and put some of you nurses to work lol. Thank god too because I wasn't a huge fan of bed panning and putting in catheters lol ....Have fun with that :)[/quote']
Sorry you got rejected! When I become an NP maybe I can put YOU to work, seeing as I'll be able to work independently but you'll always have to be supervised. And as someone in the program, don't worry future RN students, I hate bed pans too but their not a big part of the job. But even though I hate them in theory, when I've seen a patient on the floor sitting in their own poop I don't even think twice about changing them. It's really nice to be able to help someone with their basic needs. If you don't want to care for patients, nursing (and really anything health related) is def not for you!

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Feb 5, 2014

Sorry you got rejected!

I wouldn't be sorry. His true colors were somehow evident enough in the application, and we dont need people so averse to basic care in the profession so much that they have to bash "bed panning." What is that, like 1% of what we do? LOL

bloodorange · Feb 5, 2014

HopefulSRNA1234 · Feb 5, 2014

I wouldn't be sorry. His true colors were somehow evident enough in the application and we dont need people so averse to basic care in the profession so much that they have to bash "bed panning." What is that, like 1% of what we do? LOL[/quote']
That's a big reason why I love the nursing profession and often (not always of course) what separates nurses from PAs or MDs. Nurses really care for their patients in a more holistic way and the people who really help the patients in their daily lives make such a big difference for them. I have so much respect for the nurses aids I see who have to do some pretty "gross" stuff but are only interested in making their patients feel good. It's a tough job and it needs the right people.

Jencor · Feb 6, 2014

Aquaman, I'd like to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you did not mean to come off as bitter and condescending as you did in that post. Let me suggest that you read what you write before you post it. The tone was very unappealing and smiley emoticons do not negate nasty comments.

Aquaman909 · Feb 8, 2014

LOL! You guys are funny. First off, an NP will never put a PA to work, only practitioner that gives orders to PA's are MD's or D.O's. NP's are limited in what they can specialized in (Unlike PA's). Also, due to NP's being "Independent" practitioner’s they are more expensive to insure for an employing hospital, making them less favorable than a competing PA. You know what’s great about being supervised? The blame doesn't fall on me :) . GoVeg , I'm going to be working in Surgery, oh wait ... NP's can't work there too bad!

Also, I never really meant to Bash nursing. As an EMT I see some great nurses in the ED, and personally witnessed them save lives. It was my goal, if i didn't get into PA school to be an ED nurse. However, I wasn't looking forward to the bed panning, placing pt's on commodes, (cleaning commodes), or putting in follies. Not sure why you guys take offense to this? You guys looking forward to it???... if so, more power to ya.

Vervain7 · Feb 8, 2014

LOL! You guys are funny. First off, an NP will never put a PA to work, only practitioner that gives orders to PA's are MD's or D.O's. NP's are limited in what they can specialized in (Unlike PA's). Also, due to NP's being "Independent" practitioner’s they are more expensive to insure for an employing hospital, making them less favorable than a competing PA. You know what’s great about being supervised? The blame doesn't fall on me :) . GoVeg , I'm going to be working in Surgery, oh wait ... NP's can't work there too bad!
Also, I never really meant to Bash nursing. As an EMT I see some great nurses in the ED, and personally witnessed them save lives. It was my goal, if i didn't get into PA school to be an ED nurse. However, I wasn't looking forward to the bed panning, placing pt's on commodes, (cleaning commodes), or putting in follies. Not sure why you guys take offense to this? You guys looking forward to it???... if so, more power to ya.

You deserve to be rejected. And you also lack in research skills. I used the search function to see what type of NP specialties are out there and NPs are not nearly as limited as you foolishly believe. There are RN first assists that become NPs and do work in surgery- doing more surgical work than a PA can dream of. there are Oncology NPs , Gastro NPs and even Neurology and Dermatology NPs.

Every job has dues that need to be paid- if you think as a PA you are not going to have jobs you dislike then you are fooling yourself.