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RogueTrick posted:I'll be starting up with our Community College nursing program for the fall semester. I was wondering if you guys have any recommendations regarding stethoscopes for a nursing student. From what I've been hearing, a nursing student is much better served by an expensive stethoscope so they can more easily learn to distinguish particular sounds. Buy a Littmann Classic II S.E. Here http://www.allheart.com/2200-16.html it's a nice middle of the road high quality scope
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Jun 3, 2010 10:46
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Like most things, you tend to get what you pay for. I have a Littman Cardiology III, and I've never had a complaint with it. If I had to replace it today, I'd most likely buy a http://www.grxmedical.com/grxmedicalcd-29cardiologystethoscope.aspx Whatever you get, put your name [and phone number] on it. Lots of people pay for engraving; mine wears a wristband with my name and pager number, and has always found its way back to me.
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Jun 3, 2010 21:02
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mason likes onions posted:mine wears a wristband with my name and pager number, and has always found its way back to me. Which kind? Fall risk, Allergy, DNR, Limb Alert?
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Jun 4, 2010 14:54
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From what I've read, black unengraved expensive ones tend to disappear very fast.
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Jun 4, 2010 17:18
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Bum the Sad posted:Which kind? Fall risk, Allergy, DNR, Limb Alert? Fall risk, since we don't use them anymore and have boxes of them lying around, they tend to find creative new applications.
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Jun 5, 2010 15:58
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Not sure if there are many Brits in this thread, but it would be interesting to hear from anyone who is qualified or in training. I worked as a HCA / CSW in my local hospital for a year before starting my Dip HE in Adult Nursing. Im in the middle of my acute care module in my 2nd year out of three. I think its all going pretty well, academically its been fine and my care management has really stepped up on my last placement (orthopedic surgery). Im curious to know if anyone has much trouble moving between working in different trusts? Ive only worked for the one trust so im a bit too comfortable with it i think. Also the age old question, how is it for jobs around the UK at the moment? Im loving every bit of my training so far. Apart from our dreadful student uniforms.
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Jun 6, 2010 17:01
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I am curious about the British system for nursing training. You say you are doing your training in Adult care, and I have read about other students doing theirs in Paediatrics or Mental Health or what-have-you. What happens if you decide you're bored with adults and want to move on to Paediatrics? Do you have to re-train? For comparison, the Australian system trains you in, I suppose, General nursing, which encompasses adults, kids, mental health, aged care, critical care etc. The only thing the basic training doesn't really cover is midwifery, which is a separate or post-grad degree.
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Jun 7, 2010 01:51
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Yay, an Australian! Would you mind going into more detail about our system?
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Jun 7, 2010 10:43
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annaconda posted:I am curious about the British system for nursing training. You say you are doing your training in Adult care, and I have read about other students doing theirs in Paediatrics or Mental Health or what-have-you. What happens if you decide you're bored with adults and want to move on to Paediatrics? Do you have to re-train? Well where i am studying, the four branches of nursing (adult, kids, learning disability and mental health) do the same common foundation programme for a year before splitting off into our individual branches for the next two years. So as im studying adult nursing so i do acute / critical care, palliative / care of the elderly and public community health. If i wanted to do paediatric or mental health i would have to do a conversion course, which i think can be either a year or 18months, and allow you to be dual registered. Midwifery works the same way as your system. Its worth mentioning im in one of the last groups to be doing the nursing diploma in the UK, as it is being stopped to make nursing a graduate only profession. At the moment diploma and degree students qualify for the same level as job though. hmmm
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Jun 8, 2010 11:58
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I have some questions for British nurses too. The local HEI held an Open Day and I went along to some sessions on Adult and Child nursing. Whilst very informative, they did not actually help me decide which branch would to choose. Although I lean towards Adult nursing purely because of my limited experience with kids, in all honesty I don't really know enough to be certain. How did you choose? A couple of the student nurses there had brightly dyed hair, long(ish) fingernails and helix/nose piercings. Doesn't this violate the NHS dress codes? Or doesn't it matter as long as it's not a hygiene risk?
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Jun 13, 2010 19:15
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Jeephand posted:I have worked as a midnight shift rear end-wiper of retarded people (not a nurse) for the last 4 years. You may think I'm insane, but it's the best job I ever had. There is one main reason I love it: DOWN TIME. I'm not sure how this works or is perceived in nursing, but in medicine we call this "lifestyle." You're going to come off rude to a lot of people if you don't watch how you phrase it, but deep down inside most of us want to get paid a lot of money and not work very hard. In medicine, the "lifestyle" specialties tend to be some of the most competitive - ie: those that are perceived to be less work, more flexible hours, or higher pay. As long as you're careful who you talk to about this, it's nothing of which to be ashamed. RE: Stethoscopes: Single lumen stethoscopes like the Littmann II are decent for blood pressure and basic assessment. If you really want to hear fine murmurs and such, go with a cardiology grade, dual lumen stethoscope with a stainless steel bell. They're heavier/larger than the II classic SE which has an aluminum head and single lumen, but the sound just isn't as good. If the Littmann III is too expensive, go for MDF or another reputable brand. I'm actually not that big a fan of the Littmann tunable diaphragms anyway, and just about all of the Littmanns are way overpriced anyway.
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Jun 13, 2010 22:34
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otter space posted:University of Missouri. Took NCLEX, been working in the US for two years, now I'm subjecting myself to the CRNE so I can work in Canada. The CRNE is a very... odd exam. After doing it, I felt there was no way I could prepare for that adequately. I hear the NCLEX is very much hard science focused in comparison.
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Jun 14, 2010 00:03
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I wish I found this thread earlier. I was in school for cell biology/neuroscience but I'm looking to transfer this fall to a BSN program; I'm currently looking at Drexel. I've heard it's a very difficult program (as all are, I'm sure) but I'm hoping after being able to handle the neuroscience at Rutgers I can get through this. I've already been accepted and, although it's an enormous amount of money for tuition, I was very impressed from the tours and students I've spoken with. Does anyone know what kind of reputation Drexel has as far as nursing goes? itsneverlupus fucked around with this message at 03:19 on Jun 14, 2010 |
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Jun 14, 2010 03:17
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Bungdeetle posted:Yay, an Australian! Would you mind going into more detail about our system? What do you want to know? An undergraduate degree in nursing will get you a dual cert; general and mental health. You can do pretty much anything but maternity since that's either post grad or a different degree. If you want to work with kids there's no special training, you just have to convince a ward to hire you. If you do work in a specialty area you're usually expected to do some post-graduate study but that's almost always provided by wherever you're working (though you have to pay for it). For example, I'm working in emergency and in the middle of a post grad specialization but I was working here a year and a half before I started the course, cause I didn't want to do more study so soon after I finished my degree. If you want to go work in the US/Canada you have to have some maternity experience, though you don't need to be a midwife. When I was trying to get registration in BC (Canada) I either had to do a post-grad course in midwifery or work 3 months full time in maternity, which is why I never went.
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Jun 14, 2010 07:48
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Our (Australian) system involves a three-year undergrad degree. Most people participate in a grad year in their first year out, which involves rotating through different specialities (e.g. medicine, surgery, oncology was my rotation). This year also involves extra support, mentors and the handy "Oh, sorry, Im a new grad" excuse. The grad year is not required for registration or anything, but it does help you learn to be a nurse. I'm now an ICU nurse. I did a one-year, hospital-based training program in ICU which gave me 2 subjects' credit for a grad cert (and cost me nothing). I have now finished my masters in Acute Care ($8000, paid by HECS). We are going to see national registration in the next month, so it won't matter where in Australia you trained, everyone will be nationally registered. It will be interesting to see how that will affect things like ratios, pay, penalties for different shifts etc. Hope that helps a bit.
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Jun 14, 2010 08:35
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annaconda posted:It will be interesting to see how that will affect things like ratios, pay, penalties for different shifts etc. Be very interesting. I moved from QLD to VIC and took such a pay cut that two years later I'm making what I was as a grad!
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Jun 14, 2010 13:47
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Lady Demelza posted:
We dont have one.
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Jun 14, 2010 20:49
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Lady Demelza posted:I have some questions for British nurses too. The local HEI held an Open Day and I went along to some sessions on Adult and Child nursing. Whilst very informative, they did not actually help me decide which branch would to choose. Although I lean towards Adult nursing purely because of my limited experience with kids, in all honesty I don't really know enough to be certain. How did you choose? I dont know about most trusts, but generally if you have long hair - tie it back, doesnt matter what colour it is. Ear rings are fine but most other jewellery isnt (especially anything below the elbow). As for deciding between adult and child nursing - I dont really like kids, I have a background in adult nursing and i dont mind the elderly. My friends who are kids nurses seem to be spending a lot of time in the community with health visitors and school nurses - this may well be purely down to where they are on the course though. All of the basics are the same - kids nurses need to be able to communicate with children, and you need to think about the child's development all the time. There is a lot of overlap though, both kids nurses and adult nurses will work in A&E departments and be expected to treat both adults and children Ive just had a supremely satisfying week on placement - effectively running a bay of 8 or 9 patients each shift and basically doing everything. I think i might be able to do this properly one day.
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Jun 14, 2010 22:45
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Silentgoldfish posted:Be very interesting. I moved from QLD to VIC and took such a pay cut that two years later I'm making what I was as a grad! Ouch. I'm hoping for NSW pay rates, WA night shift penalties (35%!) and VIC ratios!
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Jun 14, 2010 22:59
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Guys I need some advice on getting my required classes. I am 4 classes away from being eligible for my schools nursing program lottery. I need Anatomy, Physiology, Microbiology and Intermediate Algebra. The classes are extrenmely hard to get at the community college level, any idea where I could get these classes online at an acredited school? Also there is a HS chemistry prereq for the Anatomy/Physiology. I never took chemistry in HS. I am taking the summer off school for health related reasons, I was thinking of boming up on college algebra so I can take an assessment test.
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Jun 16, 2010 02:28
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b0nes posted:Guys I need some advice on getting my required classes. I am 4 classes away from being eligible for my schools nursing program lottery. I would really suggest you take the science classes in person if you can, as most of them have a lab component that a lot of nursing schools require. What do you mean they're "hard to get"? Hard to get into, or academically challenging? I took them at a community college and all my teachers were very helpful. And talk to the school about that chemistry class. You can probably take it at the college level or study up and pass a challenge exam to get into A & P.
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Jun 16, 2010 02:59
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leb388 posted:I would really suggest you take the science classes in person if you can, as most of them have a lab component that a lot of nursing schools require. What do you mean they're "hard to get"? Hard to get into, or academically challenging? I took them at a community college and all my teachers were very helpful. Hard to get into the class. And I am a bit worried about the challenge since I didn't take a lot of science classes in HS.
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Jun 16, 2010 04:26
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b0nes posted:Hard to get into the class. And I am a bit worried about the challenge since I didn't take a lot of science classes in HS. Try to get into the easiest ones first then (algebra maybe), and then register for the harder ones. Register as early as you can. I had to wait on A & P for a few semesters because either I just couldn't fit it in my schedule or the classes kept filling up before I could register. A lot of community colleges offer free tutoring, so take advantage of that if you can. If you can find someone in your class to study with, even better. There are also a lot of companion books/CD-roms available to help with things like chemistry and biology.
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Jun 16, 2010 05:06
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b0nes posted:Hard to get into the class. And I am a bit worried about the challenge since I didn't take a lot of science classes in HS. You may want to take a general college-level Biology course first. I took Bio I and II back when I was working on my first degree in 2001 (along with General Chemistry I and II), and having the background knowledge was immensely helpful for A&P and Micro. You might be able to get by without that background knowledge for A&P, but Micro will likely be a great deal more challenging if you have no foundation. Microbiology does get easier as it goes along, but the initial chapters explaining the details of cellular activity like DNA/RNA replication are pretty brutal.
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Jun 16, 2010 11:21
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b0nes posted:Hard to get into the class. And I am a bit worried about the challenge since I didn't take a lot of science classes in HS. I never bought it because I had a pretty firm chemistry background, but my A&P professor swore by this book, and recommended it to anyone with chemistry issues: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Chemistry-Biology-Students-9th/dp/0805395717/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276683695&sr=8-1
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Jun 16, 2010 11:25
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JAF07 posted:You may want to take a general college-level Biology course first. I took Bio I and II back when I was working on my first degree in 2001 (along with General Chemistry I and II), and having the background knowledge was immensely helpful for A&P and Micro. I took A&P 1 before Micro, serves the same purpose as taking biology would, I'd imagine. In regards to other science classes, instead of taking a non-credit pre-req, I took Chem-101 before A&P and it served me very well, in addition to being a requirement for the Maryland BSN program(right now I'm in an ADN program).
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Jun 16, 2010 21:36
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Do we have any traveling nurses in here? If so, could you share some of your experiences with it?
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Jun 24, 2010 17:39
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This has been such a helpful thread, thank you everyone! I had my Nursing School Orientation yesterday and we were told we needed two sets of white scrub pants for clinicals. I have bought some in the past and have found that I cannot bend over without showing a lot of crack! So I'm basically looking for scrubs that have a boot cut or flare leg, and a high waist that I don't have to be adjusting all the time. For reference, I am 5'8" and usually buy regular length pants, but maybe I should go tall so that I may have more coverage?
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Jun 30, 2010 17:27
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Dickies makes a good flare (not huge) with a higher waist. They come in regular, petite and tall. They are a little more expensive, but it's all I'll wear.
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Jul 4, 2010 00:43
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I just finished my first year! It was hard, but really interesting. My last clinical rotation was psych and I absolutely fell in love with it--I know, I should wait a bit to see what other specialties appeal, but so far that's a forerunner (besides ED, which everyone recommends going in to right out of school anyway). So, for any nurses in California: any reviews/hints as far as working in that area? Anything I should pick up on (or avoid)?
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Jul 5, 2010 19:05
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Does anyone have another online medical/uniform store to recommend besides Allheart and Redding Medical? My school has a rather draconian dress code and finding men's scrub pants that are white and lack cargo pockets is becoming a bit of a problem.
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Jul 10, 2010 22:05
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Evgenisa posted:Boston, Mass nurse here, working on a Cardiac Step Down unit! I can answer a few of those for you! Sorry if I can't answer them all! Welp, my fiancee finished nursing school in May and took her NCLEX last month. She was offered a job in Florida before she finished, but we were stubborn and wanted to move to Boston. I can't tell you how pissed I am that one of the largest health and biotech centers in the country (Boston) is not hiring new nurses. I didn't heed the advice and assumed she could get in anyway. Seriously Boston, what the gently caress?  We had been planning this move for years and with the economy as lovely as it is, we are now looking all over the country for anywhere that will hire new RNs with an associates (shes taking online BSN courses). PS: Anybody know whose hiring new nurse grads?
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Jul 11, 2010 15:28
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I've been in EMS about 7 years now, being a Paramedic for 3 of those. I am considering switching to the dark side and becoming an RN. I live in Austin, TX. I know this is a horrible vague question, but what would a new RN expect to make? I had one ER nurse tell me he was making $47 an hour, but more commonly I hear numbers around $24-28 an hour. Has anyone here done Paramedic-to-RN?
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Jul 13, 2010 08:50
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To be honest, I've only ever heard of the reverse. And am mildly contemplating doing it myself.
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Jul 13, 2010 09:40
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The Antipop posted:Welp, my fiancee finished nursing school in May and took her NCLEX last month. She was offered a job in Florida before she finished, but we were stubborn and wanted to move to Boston. Right now there is an oversupply of nurses in many areas. Part of this is due to hospitals closing - with so many experienced nurses looking for work, many hospitals have no need for new grads. You can try a few things. If no hospitals are hiring new grads right now, look into nursing homes, and similar services. Many of them may be willing to take on new grads. You might also try looking into commuting to a hospital in the surround areas. And of course, depending on your own job situation, you might want to consider moving somewhere else. A few of my friends are in this situation right now: stay in the overserved city with few/no job openings, or move out somewhere else. Some are going to move, some are staying and doing part time hospital work, some are working for nursing homes, and others are still looking for any job.
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Jul 13, 2010 15:22
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Low Carb Bread posted:Right now there is an oversupply of nurses in many areas. Part of this is due to hospitals closing - with so many experienced nurses looking for work, many hospitals have no need for new grads. I'm sure she has read that. I was always under the impression that (even new) nurses were something that would always be able to find a job. Stupid internet and TV news led me to believe that. I know she's checked with all the hospitals in Mass as well as alternate places (nursing homes, VA clinics, etc) and nothing has come from it. She's currently looking anywhere now. It's horribly depressing to finish such a tough (but rewarding) program and not be able to find a job when her friends who had finished the same program a couple years ago were offered several thousand dollar starting bonuses.
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Jul 13, 2010 17:15
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Graduated with a Psych degree, but want to go into nursing. Enrolled all the community colleges in my area to get the pre reqs done, but it's completely impacted. I got waitlisted for most of my classes due to my now Freshman status. Any advice on how to get these pre reqs done?
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Jul 15, 2010 19:33
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Does it matter where you get your ADN? Reason I'm asking is my local community college has a good program which no longer has a wait list but a metric fuckton of prereqs for admission, yet Apollo College has ads up saying they can get you an RN in as little as 18 months. If I go in with some degree mill associates will that hurt me in the hiring process?
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Jul 18, 2010 19:02
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UK Goonurses: if the NHS covers your fees/provides bursaries, are you tied to work for them for a period? What happens if a newly-qualified nurse gets a job in the private sector/emigrates/decides they can't stand nursing? Does the NHS recoup its investment or write it off?
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Jul 18, 2010 19:33
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Lady Demelza posted:UK Goonurses: if the NHS covers your fees/provides bursaries, are you tied to work for them for a period? What happens if a newly-qualified nurse gets a job in the private sector/emigrates/decides they can't stand nursing? Does the NHS recoup its investment or write it off? You can work wherever you like when you finish, which is always more likely to be NHS anyway. I think if you decide to drop it half way through you forfeit any chance of getting another NHS funded bursary. I wouldnt know if the NHS sees it as a write off, from my experience a lot of people drop out of nursing courses. But then again the NMC is apparently looking at making mentorship even more important in maintaining your registration, so there must be quite a few people out there needing training.
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Jul 19, 2010 01:38
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