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Zeitgueist posted:Well since I'm on the subject, this is as good a place to ask as any: Could you expand on why she isn't happy? Also LA is a very competitve place to live so it is pretty saturated with health care workers.
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Apr 18, 2011 04:24
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So my girlfriend wants to be a PA and has been working towards it since graduating. She had excellent grades in undergrad and is currently working as a research technician for a prestigious neuroscience laboratory, where she scored a second-authorship on a nice journal publication. She has also taken night courses to shore up some of her missing classes (physiology/anatomy, etc). However, she is very concerned because she is lacking hands-on patient care. She has contacted hospitals to volunteer but they either don't get back to her or won't let her volunteer because she has no volunteering experience. She isn't sure what to do about this catch-22 and is starting to freak out. Any suggestions for getting some hands-on patient experience? Just keep harassing hospitals until one of them caves?
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Apr 25, 2011 20:41
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Forever Zero posted:Could you expand on why she isn't happy? Also LA is a very competitve place to live so it is pretty saturated with health care workers. Essentially she works in a clinic with poor, non-compliant patients, terrible coworkers, and terrible management. Any one of these can be expected at any job as a clinician, but when you have all three it's a very, very discouraging place to work. For reference, she didn't take a day of vacation for 2 years before I met her, at which point I made her take a week off so we could get her someplace tropical to avoid her going insane. After 2 years of not ever having her take a vacation day, they gave her a very hard time about taking a week off straight. My job, on the other hand, would yell at me for not taking all my time off. I could give a litany of major/minor ways that they have hosed with her and screwed her over, but that would make it more of a E/N post then it needs to be. Now the odd part is that they pay her fairly well, though still below the national and local median wage a PA of her experience. All the listings she's seeing are low-balling pay if they list it, or she gets far enough in the interview process that they ask her what kind of money she's looking for, and then never call back. My guess is that the area is saturated with people willing to work for less, so it's depressing the wages. I suspect that companies would rather hire a less experienced recent grad if they can shave 10-20k off the salary. So the outcome is basically that she can work at a place she hates for OK money, or take a significant pay cut to work elsewhere. We understand that all jobs have issues with coworkers you hate, clients you hate, and managers you hate, I get that. It's just that this one has all of those, and badly.
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Apr 28, 2011 00:15
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I graduated from nursing school on Friday and landed a Graduate Nurse position in the Emergency Dept where I was a Nurse Tech since last August. I could not be happier! Now, my last "worry" is taking the NCLEX-RN. I plan to sit at the end of May/beginning of June...as soon as I get my certificate to test. Did anyone take Kaplan? Is it worth it? Has anyone done the online Kaplan (no in person class sessions)?
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May 1, 2011 21:53
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The courses are pretty good at giving you test strategy skills and refreshers on questions and subjects, I can't tell you the difference about in-class versus internet stuff though. I guess it depends on where you are in relation to the school and what kind of student you are. I got my class for free though so I'm gonna be a tad biased.
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May 1, 2011 22:19
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Just got the information about my first clinical placement. It's all very exciting! It'll be good to put seven weeks of clinical skills and A&P into practice.
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May 2, 2011 19:21
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I was also hired into the ER. I highly recommend a Kaplan course -- if not for the class, at least for the QBANK. It gives you a quick test to analyze weaknesses, and helps build up your stamina for the exam, as well as giving you progressively more challenging questions to the point that by the end you're answering 300 questions of the highest tier questions -- which are the ones you need to pass. The current Kaplan QBANK looks EXACTLY like the current NCLEX. What you see, their design, everything is exactly how it will look on the NCLEX, and they were rather decent about explaining rationales in the QBANK. I think Kaplan's methods are very relevant, and they tell you exactly how the questions are designed, picked, and help you understand WHY the NCLEX is asking the questions. I also paid for access to the NCSBN's official testing site (NCSBN creates the NCLEX questions) which I did not like at all, and "snuck in" to classes with my friends who went through the 'Rutgers Review' which is one of the local college's review courses that everyone in the area goes to because "it's cheaper and taught by nursing professors". I preferred the Kaplan questions, and my Kaplan instructors WERE nursing professors. I guess I got lucky? I passed the NCLEX at the minimum... 75 questions. If you don't go to the Kaplan class, at least get access to the Kaplan QBANK, and just sit there and answer questions over and over and over until your fingers bleed, or you are getting a good estimate from their performance evaluator. There were near word for word questions from Kaplan on the NCLEX. This also came in very handy: http://www.learningshark.com/Nursing/Nursing%20Homepage/NCLEX-RN_Cramsheet.pdf Just my opinion though, congratulations and good luck! Edit: Also brush up on classifications of drugs. Not necessarily specific drugs themselves, but things you would need to be concerned about with some of the more common classes, and don't go crazy. Just major common reactions or contraindications. That being said I didn't have many pharm questions, so don't go too nuts. I also got lucky and didn't have any of those cultural sensitivity questions. Anyone get any of those on their NCLEX? Zeo fucked around with this message at 20:16 on May 3, 2011 |
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May 3, 2011 20:03
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Zeo posted:I passed the NCLEX at the minimum... 75 questions. If you don't go to the Kaplan class, at least get access to the Kaplan QBANK, and just sit there and answer questions over and over and over until your fingers bleed, or you are getting a good estimate from their performance evaluator. There were near word for word questions from Kaplan on the NCLEX. Yes, a thousand times yes, heed this advice! I also passed in the 75, and I owe it to doing over 2000 NLCEX questions (perhaps a little insane, I know). I don't think I did any material review at all- just the class and the questions. I don't think I got any cultural sensitivity questions, but I did get a LOT of drug questions- of which I didn't really know much of them, but apparently I knew enough to pass. So yeah, know the drug endings! Or do a poo poo ton of drug-related questions!
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May 4, 2011 07:05
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Doing my first clinical quarter in a nursing home. Any tips for coping? The place is just...awful. The STNAs treat the residents terribly and they're always yelling at us student nurses for actually interacting with the residents. I had a lady who's supposed to be on continuous 02. She tells me she's having trouble breathing at lunch, so I check her tank....it's empty. I try to snag one of the aides or anybody to help me out and I get told (yelled at) that she's on her concentrator and doesn't need it. They're right, she has one, but it's not plugged in. Thing is, all of that happened last week. This week, I check her tank and it's still empty. Next day, check tank again...STILL empty. Plus, what about when they wheel her around the place? I'm not too familiar with concentrators, so maybe it has batteries?
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May 4, 2011 14:21
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GuidoApopolis posted:Doing my first clinical quarter in a nursing home. Any tips for coping? The place is just...awful. The STNAs treat the residents terribly and they're always yelling at us student nurses for actually interacting with the residents. I would talk with your instructor about this. Maybe the staff knows something about that particular patient you don't, but you don't want to gently caress around when someone's having problems breathing. And techs don't need to be yelling at students (unless you hosed up) - makes the management grumpy because it turns off potential recruits. Concentrators (at least the ones I play with) usually sound an alarm when low on power.
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May 4, 2011 18:00
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Just finished my second semester of nursing school! I should be graduating this time next year. I am having to take OB/Pediatrics over the summer which should be interesting. As a male who has zero interest in the birthing process, I'm sure I'm in for quite the experience.
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May 5, 2011 00:47
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Hughmoris posted:Just finished my second semester of nursing school! I should be graduating this time next year. I am having to take OB/Pediatrics over the summer which should be interesting. As a male who has zero interest in the birthing process, I'm sure I'm in for quite the experience. That's how I felt going into OB when I was a that part of nursing school -- the thing you gotta remember is that if you ever want to work in a place like an ED you might just wind up delivering a baby somehow. It's good to at least get a little bit of exposure to the process I think. My group and I got lucky and were in an OB unit that had both nurses and patients who were pretty receptive to us and didn't treat male students any differently. I don't think any of us were asked by family not to be in the room for a birth either. It wasn't exactly the most fun I've ever had in my life or even in nursing school for that matter but it really wasn't all that bad.
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May 5, 2011 07:01
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Can anybody that's done both the CRNE and the NCLEX comment on the similarities of both?
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May 5, 2011 15:41
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Hughmoris posted:I am having to take OB/Pediatrics over the summer which should be interesting. As a male who has zero interest in the birthing process, I'm sure I'm in for quite the experience. I'm just finishing OB and have a peds rotation starting next week. I'm a woman with no interest in babies or pregnancy, so I'm kind of coming from the same place, except that people make assumptions that they don't seem to make about the guys - in the first week I managed to astound and amaze people with my lack of diaper and infant-holding knowledge. That being said, my group of 5 was 3 women / 2 men and the guys didn't have any male-specific patient-acceptance problems. Some patients don't want students at all, but no one said they didn't want either of them there. We're supposed to do teaching, though, and they said talking about correct breastfeeding techniques was a bit awkward. I lucked out and had a great floor - the staff were used to students and liked having us there. The weird thing about OB vs most of the other rotations is that you're generally working with healthy people. Uncomplicated C/S in a healthy woman isn't much different from uncomplicated vaginal delivery. Post-partum is pretty low-key, mostly teaching and physical assessment with specific area focuses, and patient sleep management - sometimes you can tell they want their visitors to go home, and you can kind of redirect people if you start to sense her flagging. Bonus Pearl: If someone offers you a face shield on L&D, take it. L&D is splashier than I was led to believe.
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May 5, 2011 18:57
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I was also a woman with no interest in kids or babies wading through my OB rotation: it was embarrassing having to ask a NICU nurse how to hold the babies correctly or swaddle them, etc. Luckily all of the L&D nurses were awesome and LOVED having students do skills - I was afraid to heel stick the babies and my nurse said, "WHATEVER, THEY CRY AT EVERYTHING, JUST DO IT." I never had a patient that asked to not have a student. Post partum is the WORST. You teach these women the same poo poo over and over again because they have whacked out hormone brains and it doesn't sink it. It was rare I got to sit down during an 8 hour shift because I was usually going over breast feeding AGAIN. I will take the smelliest poo over amniotic fluid, the smell stayed in my nostrils for the rest of the day. 
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May 6, 2011 00:26
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AmbassadorTaxicab posted:Can anybody that's done both the CRNE and the NCLEX comment on the similarities of both? There are absolutely no similarities whatsoever. I walked out of the NCLEX knowing that I passed with flying colours and I walked out of the CRNE wanting to vomit. The CRNE exam has very little to do with actual nursing and instead asks a lot of really weird nebulous psychosocial questions that don't have concrete answers. It's also a paper and pencil exam that you have to wait six fun-filled weeks to get the results of. otter space fucked around with this message at 21:35 on May 13, 2011 |
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May 6, 2011 23:29
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otter space posted:There are absolutely no similarities whatsoever. I walked out of the NCLEX knowing that I passed with flying colours and I walked out of the CRNE wanting to vomit. The CNRE exam has very little to do with actual nursing and instead asks a lot of really weird nebulous psychosocial questions that don't have concrete answers. It's also a paper and pencil exam that you have to wait six fun-filled weeks to get the results of. Thanks for your input. I've written the CRNE last year, and on my way to register with a state nursing board and get permission to write the NCLEX. From what you're saying, the NCLEX is just straight anatomy, physiology and other nursing conundrums we face on a daily basis? AmbassadorTaxicab fucked around with this message at 03:12 on May 7, 2011 |
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May 7, 2011 03:10
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AmbassadorTaxicab posted:Thanks for your input. I've written the CRNE last year, and on my way to register with a state nursing board and get permission to write the NCLEX. From what you're saying, the NCLEX is just straight anatomy, physiology and other nursing conundrums we face on a daily basis? Not at all, there is almost no A&P, or physio on the NCLEX. It focuses almost exclusively on safety and decision making. To pass the NCLEX is considered an entry level milestone into nursing in the US, and means that you know the bare beginnings of nursing -- how to be safe, when to ask for help, what problems or complications to look for in patients, pharmacology and classifications of drugs, drug safety, etc... You are expected to have learned the appropriate A&P through class, and by passing the required classes which are mandatory to graduate from most accredited nursing programs, so the NCLEX doesn't really touch on that. quote:What is NCLEX?
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May 7, 2011 05:56
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My girlfriend wants to do a nursing degree at University of Phoenix. I've heard a lot of bad things about for-profit schools in general so I'm wondering if this is a good option? Thanks.
Taima fucked around with this message at 23:44 on May 11, 2011 |
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May 11, 2011 23:33
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Taima posted:My girlfriend wants to do a nursing degree at University of Phoenix. I've heard a lot of bad things about for-profit schools in general so I'm wondering if this is a good option? Thanks. It can be very, very difficult to find medical facilities to do clinicals when you are not affiliated with a local nursing program. If the clinical rotation information is not clearly outlined or at least accessible from the university, walk away and go somewhere else. I also recommend that your girlfriend watch this Frontline episode about how predatory online for-profit nursing programs can be.
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May 12, 2011 01:32
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Happy International Nurse's Day (May 12th), everyone! 
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May 12, 2011 01:47
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Taima posted:My girlfriend wants to do a nursing degree at University of Phoenix. I've heard a lot of bad things about for-profit schools in general so I'm wondering if this is a good option? Thanks. I've known several people who've gone through Excelsior, but they all had years of experience as road-medics beforehand so this may put them on different footing. I also haven't kept in touch with too many of them after they've completed their classes, so I don't know how well things panned out.
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May 12, 2011 02:29
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Thanks Otter and Rat I'll have her watch that documentary for sure.
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May 12, 2011 03:41
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I wouldn't do any initial certification online, or any certifications that require clinical work, unless it's through a local university with a regular nursing program.
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May 12, 2011 18:05
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I agree. I got my initial AS through my local community college (where they have connections to have you do clinicals in local hospitals) and THEN got my BSN through Keiser University (online). I'm glad I went that way, although I'm still wondering if I did the right thing by getting my BSN through Keiser.
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May 13, 2011 21:40
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Enigmatic Troll posted:I would talk with your instructor about this. Maybe the staff knows something about that particular patient you don't, but you don't want to gently caress around when someone's having problems breathing. And techs don't need to be yelling at students (unless you hosed up) - makes the management grumpy because it turns off potential recruits. Concentrators (at least the ones I play with) usually sound an alarm when low on power. Or perhaps the staff just doesn't care? I tend to hold a bias against nursing homes now from all the poo poo I've seen in them. I was also fired unjustly at a nursing home for no good reason. Nursing homes are the worst places to be a nurse at, especially if you actually give a drat about the people living there. I really want to report my former place of employment to the state DOH but state already showed up literally the day before I started. Risky fucked around with this message at 17:59 on May 14, 2011 |
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May 14, 2011 17:54
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Taima posted:My girlfriend wants to do a nursing degree at University of Phoenix. I've heard a lot of bad things about for-profit schools in general so I'm wondering if this is a good option? Thanks. As a recent graduate of a nursing program in Phoenix (but not at PC) I've heard plenty about a lot of the local programs over the years. PC's is not that great (some say it's notoriously bad, actually) -- there were a few students in my program who left it in favor of a community college program. The private school of choice seems to be Grand Canyon...which is very expensive however. The wait lists for Maricopa district's community college programs are very, very long indeed (I think it's up to over 2 calendar years now). I myself waited 2 years to get in. However, I heard so much about how bad it is to try and get through an awful program. Nursing school isn't easy to begin with, and it's hard to justify going through it in a terrible program that just wants your money and couldn't give a poo poo about making sure you're going to be a safe practitioner. So, I have two points to make about it -- first, I think it's worth it to wait--if nursing is really something you want to do-- to get into a good program where they actually try to teach you. Second, with the way the job market is right now the additional wait may not be so bad in the end! Part of me kinda wishes I had an excuse to futz around some more on student loan money instead of braving the world of cold-calling and accosting unit directors in person. Datsun Honeybee fucked around with this message at 09:13 on May 17, 2011 |
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May 17, 2011 07:21
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How competitive are UCSF and Samuel whatever Oakland programs for their 3 year NP programs (as in going without a BSN, with just a bachelors in something else)? The website just says >3.0 GPA and >600 GRE which really isn't helpful because I'd imagine the competition is pretty steep. How about for these MEPN programs in general?
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May 17, 2011 07:22
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Broke and disappearing. But only temporarily with any luck. They've been cut in a few areas since our universities don't have very much money. But hey, they want to start BSN pilot programs for community colleges in California! Nurse Fanny fucked around with this message at 07:51 on May 17, 2011 |
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May 17, 2011 07:39
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Datsun Honeybee posted:As a recent graduate of a nursing program in Phoenix (but not at PC) I've heard plenty about a lot of the local programs over the years. PC's is not that great (some say it's notoriously bad, actually) -- there were a few students in my program who left it in favor of a community college program. The private school of choice seems to be Grand Canyon...which is very expensive however. I'm starting my program at GCC in August. Which school did you graduate from? Have you had any luck looking for a job?
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May 17, 2011 08:46
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Well, I passed my last exam of nursing school and have a job lined up for when I pass the NCLEX. I can't believe I'm graduating already.
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May 17, 2011 23:45
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I have an interview next week for a new grad position in the operating room. Super excited about this. Anybody have any advice?
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May 27, 2011 00:18
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I've just been upgraded from "nursing student" to "unemployed nurse*."   drat you California!*actually I do home health care but obviously want to do RN work/get RN pay now.
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May 30, 2011 00:48
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Baby_Hippo posted:I've just been upgraded from "nursing student" to "unemployed nurse*." About the nursing job availability in California.. I'm interested to know why there's such a problem finding jobs? Is it because the most desirable costal cities already have tons of people competing for nursing positions? Or is it the case that if you go east or in between Los Angeles and Sacramento that you'll find plenty of jobs, albeit in lovely locations?
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May 30, 2011 01:12
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Totally Negro posted:About the nursing job availability in California.. I'm interested to know why there's such a problem finding jobs? Is it because the most desirable costal cities already have tons of people competing for nursing positions? I think it's just the case everywhere. I'm in MA and it's very difficult to find a job--mine is per diem. My classmates, many of whom are experienced as PCTs or EMTs, are all struggling to find jobs.
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May 30, 2011 02:09
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Is there such thing as agency work in the states? It definitely wouldn't be ideal as a new grad, having to shift around to different hospitals and wards every day, but at least you'd be making (more) money and getting some experience.
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May 30, 2011 02:27
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leb388 posted:I think it's just the case everywhere. I'm in MA and it's very difficult to find a job--mine is per diem. My classmates, many of whom are experienced as PCTs or EMTs, are all struggling to find jobs. Why is it the case everywhere? And are you sure it's everywhere, you mentioned MA, which is another highly desirable place to live. If I were to go out to bumfuck, montana, would I easily find a nursing job? Pardon my naive questions if they seem that way, I am just trying to get a feel for why the nursing profession is having this problem. I've always been under the impression that as a nurse you could go anywhere and find a job... Why are hospitals not hiring? Are the current nurses just taking up more shifts because they're strapped for cash?
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May 30, 2011 02:55
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Totally Negro posted:Why is it the case everywhere? And are you sure it's everywhere, you mentioned MA, which is another highly desirable place to live. If I were to go out to bumfuck, montana, would I easily find a nursing job? I'm still a student but from the research I've been doing, most hospitals don't want to take on new grads. They want at least a year of experience. Down here in Pensacola, it seems each hospital has about 25+ RN positions open but they are firm on requiring 1+ year of experience.
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May 30, 2011 03:00
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Hughmoris posted:I'm still a student but from the research I've been doing, most hospitals don't want to take on new grads. They want at least a year of experience. Down here in Pensacola, it seems each hospital has about 25+ RN positions open but they are firm on requiring 1+ year of experience. This seems like such a strange notion. Here in Australia nearly every hospital has a structured grad year program. Granted there aren't enough places for every new grad, but it's better than nothing. How the hell else are you meant to gain that experience? Aged care? And somehow a year of aged care experience is going to prepare you to work on an acute ward?
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May 30, 2011 03:06
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Totally Negro posted:Why is it the case everywhere? And are you sure it's everywhere, you mentioned MA, which is another highly desirable place to live. If I were to go out to bumfuck, montana, would I easily find a nursing job? I'm not sure it's everywhere, but it's definitely hard to find a job in Western Mass and I hear it's even harder in Boston. Older nurses around here just can't afford to retire, or they are holding onto a full-time job with benefits because their spouse can't find a job that offers health insurance. Add that to hospitals doing layoffs or having hiring freezes, and it's difficult to find a job anywhere. I don't think it's anything that's changed in the past 2-3 years. And yes, a lot of hospitals do specify that they want 1-3 years of experience, but I've seen them take on new grads from time to time. It depends on the hospital.
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May 30, 2011 03:59
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