$$$ Secrets revealed for your Nursing education

$$$ Secrets revealed for your Nursing education $$$

Presented by Ng0c-Quynh (Amy) Le Tran, Club President

Location: SCI 153
Time: 11:15 - 12:00
Date: Tue, Mar 31st, 2009

!!!All are welcome!!!

Bonus: how nursing is illustrated in the media? trailers provided ^^

^^ Please come and join us ^^

Series: Hot Nurses vs Hot Nursing

Next Official Club Meeting

Dear all valued Pre-Nursing Students,

The Collegiate Nursing Readiness Club will be held officially on Tue, March 17th, 2009
Location: SCI 153
Time: 11:15AM - 11:55AM
Contents:
1 - Introduce new club officers
2 - How to find funding?
3 - How to find volunteering positions ?
4 - How to choose your best-fit Nursing Program ?
5 - Sign up to be official members

We are looking forward to seeing you

PS: New blog update: new user-friendly interface with chat box and calendar

Best Regards,
Ngoc-Quynh (Amy) Le Tran
President
The Collegiate Nursing Readiness Club

Johns Hopkins University - School of Nursing @ Los Angeles

Interested in learning more about Hopkins? Join Hopkins representatives and alumni for an upcoming information session at a location near you!

Los Angeles Area Reception
Marina Del Rey Marriott
4100 Admiralty Way
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
Date: Sunday, February 22nd, 2009
Time: 3:00pm-5:00pm
Registration: http://www.nursing.jhu.edu/apply/more/receptions/

The Collegiate Nursing Club Recruitment

The Collegiate Nursing Readiness Club has the following positions for students interested in club activity:

Those are open to all SMC students regardless of majors, sex, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, physical ability, and mental ability. (for more information, please refer to http://www.smc.edu/associated_students/)

I - Positions
1 - The Vice President
Duty: shall assume the duties of the President in the latter’s absence, shall be an ex-officio member of all program committees, and shall have particular responsibility for posting notices of the meetings and shall see that due publicity is given to the club meetings, functions and activities and elections.

2 - The Secretary
Duty: shall keep a written record and account of all meetings and club business, shall conduct official correspondence of the club, and shall be responsible for maintaining a list of club members. This list is to be made available to the officers of the club for the purpose of promoting club activities and the duties of their respective offices.

3 - The Treasurer
Duty: shall keep a written record and account of club finances, shall supervise and coordinate fundraising activities of the club, and be responsible for honoring the guidelines established by the Associated Students and College Auxiliary Services.

4 - Inter-Club Council Representatives (2)
Duty: At least one of these officers or the Club President will attend and represent the club at each ICC meeting and report to the membership after each ICC meeting.

5 - Product Designer
Duty: blogging about club activities, helping with constructing club website, designing T-shirts, pins, taking photographs, etc.


II - BENEFITS:
1 - Funded field trips to Nursing and health-related conferences and activities
2 - borrowing Nursing materials
3 - priority for SMC scholarship
4 - Great resumes
5 - Recommendation letters

III - If interested, please SEND the following documents
1 - Self-portrait
2 - 2 brief sentences describing yourself
to
email: smccnr@gmail.com
Those documents are used to be put on the official club website and club blog.

IV - If you are selected, you will need to meet with the president, Ngoc-Quynh (Amy) on Tuesday, Feb 17, 2009 to
1 - Sign the club registration documents
2 - Some other information as well
Location: Santa Monica College - Main Campus
Time: TBA

Thank you very much
club blog: smccnr.blogspot.com

To date a nurse or not to ???

I found this note written by a husband of a nurse... oh the pros/cons of being with a nurse....

Written by a husband of a nurse.......

Ah, such mysterious, wondrous creatures are nurses. What treasures lurk beneath those crisp, white uniforms....What young man doesn't have fantasies of discovering those secrets for himself?

SCREEEEEECH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Reality check! I've been married to a nurse for a quarter of a century, and let me tell you, nurses are not what you expect (and I don't even care what you expect, because you are wrong!). Let's begin by tearing down some of the more famous assumptions about nurses right off the top:

The Nurse as Sex Kitten: Any man who lived through the early seventies or has made it a point to rent such famous videos as "Night Duty Nurses" or "Student Nurses" or "Night Duty Student Nurses" or any one of several dozen nurse-centric skin flicks will immediately believe that all nurses have heaving bosoms, just millimetres away from popping out of skin tight white uniforms. You will also believe that nurses always wear white garters, fish-net hose, and stilettos. This, of course, is a handy dress code because movie nurses spend *a lot* of time hopping in and out of patient's beds.

The reality is that most nurses wear scrubs - shapeless, draping hunks of cotton that could cause you to breeze past Pamela Anderson without a second look. Shoes are white and chunky with blobs of things on them better left unexplored. Socks replace white hose and garters, and when is the last time anyone saw a nursing cap? Graduation, perhaps?

The Nurse as an Angel: If you want to hear the latest gross jokes, just find a nurse. Some uninformed males seem to think of nurses as angelic creatures: demure and loving, a cross between a nun and their mom. Well, hate to bust your bubble, guy, but as a group, nurses are some of the rawest folks you'll ever run into. I don't care how sweet and demure they may look on the outside inside is someone who has seen things that would gag a maggot, break your heart, or drive a normal person nuts. So most nurses develop a very wicked sense of humour squarely lodged in the black-to-sick side of the scale.

Also, in case you are looking for angelic sympathy for the little boo-boo you had in the shop, forget it! Let's say as a typical male klutz, you manage to saw your finger off. You go running to your nurse wife who is on the phone with a nurse friend of hers. As she continues to talk to her friend, she gives the stub a good eyeballing, slaps a towel on it, takes out a baggie to put the severed digit in, and tells you to get some ice while she is explaining to her friend that her dummy husband just sawed his finger off. As you stand there bleeding profusely for 15 minutes she calmly finishes her conversation as though nothing is going on until finally she says, "well I guess I better get him to the hospital."She hangs up the phone, looks at you, sighs and calmly says, "let's go." You have just learned an important lesson. On the nurse scale of emergencies, yours is about a minus 9! As my wife has told me, "when you are on a ventilator, with six drips running, your head down and your feet up, then you're sick. Anything less than that isn't worth getting excited over!"

The Nurses Mutual Benefit Network: As a male either dating or married to a nurse, you should realize one important thing. There are nurses everywhere. That, in itself, is no big deal. The fact is, every nurse knows other nurses who know more nurses, so that by the time you are finished, a nurse on the Island Nation of Chuuk who observes you doing something you shouldn't has the immediate capability of getting word to your wife. This system is way more reliable and efficient than the Internet and has existed for a much longer time. Take it for granted that your nurse wife will know about anything you have done, good or bad, before you get home!

Your Social Life with Nurses: Nurses hang out with other nurses and soon you may find that all your friends are married to nurses. The reason this happens is because in situations where nurses mingle with nonmedical folks things can get ugly. For example, you are out to dinner with your nurse wife, another nurse couple, and two civilian couples. The nurses sit and chat, discussing fun things like bleeding bowels, open sores, how much fat was sucked out of some patient, projectile vomiting, traumatic amputations, etc., all over a nice pasta dinner. The nurses carry on talking as the civilian couples turn funny colours, make faces and suppress their gag reflexes (and this is if the nurses don't have any really gross things to share like the homeless guy with maggots in his bleeding sores!) After several dinners and gatherings like this, you will soon find your circle of friends has shrunk significantly.

The key to avoiding this is to do the following: Never go out in mixed groups with more than one nurse. A lone nurse is ok. The trouble starts when you have more than one, and when that happens, keep the regular folks away. Also get used to the idea that some friends and neighbours will take advantage of the fact that your wife is a nurse by calling at all hours of the day and night for advice. This may include male friends "dropping by" to show your sweetie his rash. The best advice I can give is to just deal with it and hope it isn't contagious.

The Health Ramifications of being with a Nurse: Most nurses have been described as having the constitution of horses which isn't true because I've been around horses and they get sick more often. The reason for this is pretty simple. After about 3-5 years on the job, nurses have been exposed to so many bugs that they either end up dead or full of every antibody known to mankind. (If you want the ultimate booster shot, just get a blood transfusion from a nurse who's worked in a hospital for 20 years!) You don't have all these antibodies, though, so when she does come home with mild sniffles, a week later you're flat on your back with the worse case of the flu of your life!! Oh, and if you are the least bit squeamish, don't even think about the bugs she brings home on her clothes. It will mess with your mind as she talks about her resistant TB patient, the patient full of body lice, or the one with poison ivy in his mouth! so don't ask.

Conclusion: Ah such mysterious, wondrous creatures are nurses.

Ten reasons why you should date a nurse:

Ten reasons why you should date a nurse:

1) They can help you get over a hangover or sickness
2) Bedbaths!
3) The uniform
4) They are exposed to so many xrays, its like a form of birth control
5) You willl never need to buy condoms, paracetamol, toothbrushes or any hospital supplies
6) They know how to handle bodily fluids!
7) Nothing shocks a nurse, they have always seen smaller or indeed bigger!
8) They wont be disgusted by your toilet habits
9) They are experienced in manual evacuation when your full of crap
10)They know how to handle the human body!!!!!!!


Did you hear about the nurse who died and went straight to hell??
It took her two weeks to realize she wasn't at work!

You know you're a nurse if.....

• You believe that every patient needs tlc, diazepam,temazepam and haloperidol.

• You would like to meet the inventor of the Nurse call buzzer some night in a dark alley.

• You believe not all patients are annoying, some are unconscious.

• Your sense of humour gets more warped each year.

• You can only tell time by the 24 hr clock.

• Almost everything can seem humorous....eventually.

• When asked what colour that patients diarrheic was, you show them your
Shoes.

• You know the smell of different diarrhoea to identify it.

• Every time you walk you make a jingling noise because of all the
Scissors and clamps in your pocket.

• You can tell the pharmacist more about the medication they are dispensing than they know.

• You carry more "spare" meds in your pocket rather than waiting for pharmacy to deliver them.

• You refuse to watch ER because it is too much like the real thing and it triggers flashbacks.

• You check the caller id on your day off to see if anyone from the hospital is trying to call and ask you to work.

• You've been telling stories in a restaurant and made someone at another table throw up.

• notice that you are using more 4 letter words than you did before you started nursing.

• Everytime someone asks you for a pen you can find at least 4 of them on you.

• You can intubate your friends at parties.

• You don't get excited about blood unless it's your own.

• You live by the motto "to be right is only half the battle, to convince the doctor is more difficult"

• You've basted your thanksgiving turkey with a nasogastric syringe.


• You've told a confused patient that your name was that of your co-worker and to holler if they need help.

• Eating microwave popcorn out of a clean bedpan is perfectly normal.

• Your bladder can expand to the size of a Mack Truck's Radiator Sump.

• When checking the level of a patient’s orientation you aren't sure of the answer.

• You find yourself checking out other customers veins in grocery waiting lines.

• You can sleep soundly at the hospital cafeteria table on your dinner break and not be embarrassed when you wake up.

• You avoid unhealthy looking shoppers in the mall for fear that they will drop near you and you'll have to do cpr on your day off.

• You have ever referred to someone's death as a transfer to the "Eternal Care Unit".

• You have ever wanted to hold a seminar entitled "Suicide ... Doing It Right".

• You have ever had a patient look you straight in the eye and say "I have no idea how that got stuck in there".

• You have ever had to leave a patient's room before you begin to laugh uncontrollably.

• You throw a party for a co-worker and use a urinal (clean of course) as a lemon-aid pitcher and use a bed sheet for a tablecloth

• You believe that the government should require a permit to reproduce.


• You hate to get dressed in "real clothes" because scrubs are what you live in and why can't they make jeans that comfortable.
• You have ever restrained someone and it was not a sexual experience.
• Your most common assessment question is "what changed tonight to make it an emergency after 6 hours / days / weeks / months / years)?".


• You often stay awake for 24+ hrs at a time when you work nights realize you don't need alcohol or drugs to hallucinate just lack of
sleep...

• You pull over in some parking lot after working nights because you are too tired to drive home and wake up to someone knocking on your window thinking you have had a stroke because you are passed out in your car and drooling.

• Your finger has gone places you never thought possible.

• You have seen more penises than any prostitute
• You disbelieve 90% of what you are told and 75% of what you see.
• You've sworn to have "Not For Resuss" tattooed on your chest.
• You threaten to strangle anyone who even starts to say the "q" word when it is even remotely calm.

Its just to help you understand our mindset and questionable mental status/sanity.
Most of the time we function in spite of this sick sense of humour, fairly normally and very responsibly.

Believe me, this is how we think, ALL THE TIME, Scary huh??

It must be added to the list that you hate flying just incase the air stewards announce "if there is a Doctor or Nurse on board... please make yourself known to the cabin crew" At which point you cringe and hide!

SMC Winter Class

Dear Pre-Nursing Program Student:

I am emailing you to let you know about a class that will be offered this winter at SMC for pre-nursing, currently enrolled, and re-entry nursing students. Although this class is not mandatory, it is highly highly recommended since it is designed to help nursing students improve their study skills, prepare for examinations, take notes, manage time, and increase reading comprehension and vocabulary. This class will help prepare you to succeed in Nursing Program courses, especially for those who seeking admission to the nursing program. Please think about registering for this class, if you have not yet taken it already. It is a really great class!

WINTER SESSION 2009
Counseling 1, Developing Learning Skills
Section # 1159
4:00pm-7:05pm
Thursday
Six week session
starts January 9th
Bundy Campus, Room 217
Instructor: Lisa Battaglia, Nursing Counselor

Nursing Entrance Exam Prep Books

The funding for the Nursing Entrance Exam Prep Books has been approved.
The books are to be expected to arrive either next week or the week after next week.
Even though no more meetings to be conducted,
official members can still contact me to borrow the materials.

email: smccnr@gmail.com

Thank you very much!!!

No more meetings

Dear all valued members,

Thank you very much for your participation in our club.

May you have a great Thanksgiving!

Last tuesday was our last meeting.
There's no meeting until Spring 2009.
This blog will still be updated with nursing news
Please come back next semester!!!

The Collegiate Nursing Readiness Club

Guest Speaker

CNSA reflection

California Student Nurses Association

State Annual Convention

REFLECTION

UNIVERSAL CITY- I did not know what to expect at the CSNA conference that Saturday. I was anticipating to meet nursing professors and receive more information about schools and different programs. Though I glanced over the schedule for the day, the conference and meetings brought me many surprises. That morning, I was an hour late, because I had gotten lost on my way to the conference. When I arrived at the conference, the first plenary speaker was welcoming the students and spealing about being a star by doing more than the requirements in the nursing career. He encouraged us to look past the social stereotypes and to look at our personal aspirations and the nursing profession as a whole. I also attended the seminars "Take 1" and "Learning from the Master" by Marlene Hurst with my fellow CNR club members. We learned to tackle some of the NCLEX questions in a very educationally stimulating way that kept us on our feet. We, the listeners, filled the room with laughters and answers to the speaker's questions. I also sat in the seminar "Inside the Screen Actors Guild: Finding the Right Coach" and was reminded of how mentors and role models greatly influence the student's career and goal planning. The seminar confirmed my decisions to becoming an excellent nurse and soon a nurse educator. I am looking forward to being a mentor or role model for the future generation of nurses after my years of experience and memories as a nurse. Overall, the conference was a great experience to learn more of the nursing field, to gain greater insights as to how to survive as a nurse, and to spend time with fellow nursing students as we become the next generation of nurse leaders.
- Hannah Jang
Official Member
The Collegiate Nursing Readiness Club

Great Anatomy Websites!!!!

1 - Gross Cadaver Anatomy:
http://www.anatomy.wisc.edu/courses/gross/
From University of Wiscosin, videos of cadaver dissections from top to toe, from the beginning to the end, highly recommended especially for Anatomy 2 students.

2 - Gross Cat Anatomy
From Professor Fink, anatomy professor @ Santa Monica College,
very detailed & crystal clear, highly recommended especially for Anatomy 1 students.

VIDEO OF PROF. FINKREVIEWING SKELETAL MUSCLES OF THE CAT
http://www.mydeo.com/videorequest.asp?XID=51498&CID=202129

leg & gluteal muscles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8shKFdm7O4

forearm muscles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dKlo5awUjo

Iliopsoas: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZfZgx5SDqc

Latissimus dorsi & Rectus Abdominus: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxB-cAcUJWk

lower leg muscles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWDcJJMJ3dw

Mylohyoid, Sternocleidomastoid & Tensor Fascia Lata: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkcAjmjO76g

thigh & leg muscles; Adductors & Flexors ("Hamstrings"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5rXxHKgJhw

forearm muscles (more): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W4C0S_1N_8

Source : http://www.professorfink.com/ANATOMY___HEALTH_CAREERS.html

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008 meeting

1 - Guest speaker: American Red Cross representative

Name: Cesar Jaycee Fontanilla

Position: Donor Recruitment Associate

Department: Biomedical Services

2 - TEAS exam preparation:
TEAS review presented using Powerpoint.
Provided by Amy Tran - President

Please come and join us!!!

Cool Career - Guest speakers

We want to make sure you know about this great program sponsored by the Career Services Center!!

This year’s theme is: The ABC’s of Cool Careers...what can you do with a Career Certificate, An Associate in Arts Degree and a Bachelor's Degree.

The Program will be held Wednesday, November 5th, Thursday, November 6th, and the following week on Wednesday, November 12th.

This is a unique opportunity to hear first hand what it is like to work in various careers. Professionals will discuss their career paths, typical days, what they like and dislike about their work, challenges, etc.

Here are the programs:

Wednesday, November 5

Entertainment, 3:45pm – 5:05pm, HSS 104 (previously in LS 106)
General Business & Management, 9:30 – 10:50am, Business 207
Sports, 12:45pm – 2:05PM, Gym Room 115


Thursday, November 6
Communication, 9:30am – 10:50am, Letters and Science 110
Medical Science, 11:00am – 12:30pm, Science 145
Computer, 11:15am – 12:35pm, Business 111
Environmental, 11:00am – 12:35pm, Center for Urban and Environmental Studies, 1744 Pearl Street (across from the main campus)
Forensics, 11:15am – 12:35pm, Math Complex 2

Nursing Volunteer Opportunities

listed in NO particular order

1 - Santa Monica -UCLA Medical Center- Orthopedic Hospital
ADDRESS:1250 16th St. Room 237 Tower Santa Monica, CA. 90404
TEL: (310) 319.4614
FAX: (310) 319.4519
WEB: www.uclahealth.org
EMAIL: eastwood@mednet.ucla.edu

Volunteer Contact: Volunteer Manager

Brief description of services provided:
Community hospital serving the Westside, connected with UCLA Medical Center. Volunteers supporting our caring values.

Brief overview of volunteer position(s):
Ambassador (welcome/ greet direct people), Information Desk in surgical waiting areas (assist families and patients), gift shop (clerical support), patient liaison (visit patients) and floaters.

Type of training/orientation:
Volunteer orientation background check, screening for TB and MMR required (at no cost to volunteer).

Special knowledge/skills/abilities required:
Willingness to help wherever needed, friendly and caring demeanor with the ability to understand communications.

Length of Commitment: 1 year, 4 hours per week.

Does your agency utilize youth volunteers?: Yes, minimum age is 15
Does your agency take employee groups for short-term or one-day projects?: No.

2 - St. John's Health Center
ADDRESS: 1328 22nd Street Santa Monica, CA 90404
TEL: (310) 829-8438
FAX: (310) 315-6142
WEB: www.stjohns.org
EMAIL: grenda.pearlman@stjohns.org

Volunteer Contact: Director of Volunteer Services

Brief description of services provided:
Volunteers are assigned to at least 45 different departments throughout the Health Center where they perform an array of duties, some directly with patients and others in hospital support areas.

Brief overview of volunteer position(s):
Gift Shop; Surgery, Waiting Room, Clerical Positions, Reception Areas and Transportation Team; support patients and staff in our Emergency Room, Outpatient Treatment Units and Nursing Units. Nifty Needler caps and booties.

Type of training/orientation:
1½ hour orientation, then a one-on-one interview with the Director of Volunteer Services. If accepted into the program, applicants attend an additional 4-hour training.

Special knowledge/skills/abilities required:
Seeking friendly, compassionate and service oriented people. Specific requirements vary.

Length of Commitment:
Minimum commitment of one 4-hour shift per week AND at least 100 hours. Volunteers have one year from their start date to complete the 100 hours.

Does your agency utilize youth volunteers?: Yes. Must be at least 16 years old.

Does your agency take employee groups for short-term or one-day projects?: No

3 - Venice Family Clinic
(Venice and Santa Monica Sites)
ADDRESS: 604 Rose Avenue Venice, CA 90291
TEL: (310) 664-7532
FAX: (310) 392-6642
WEB: www.venicefamilyclinic.org
EMAIL: helprfc@ucla.edu

Volunteer Contact: Director of Volunteer Services

Brief description of services provided:
Provide comprehensive primary health care that is affordable, accessible and compassionate for people with no other access to such care. We also have counseling and an early head start program.

Brief overview of volunteer position(s):
Providers-physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, psychiatrists and pharmacists. Health Educators-translators (especially in Spanish, Farsi and Russian); clerical; fund-raising; reading to children/children activities assistant.

Type of training/orientation:
Orientation is an overview of our services and history and philosophy. Training varies with position.

Special knowledge/skills/abilities required:
Specific valid licenses for professional positions that require licenses.

Length of Commitment:
We expect a minimum of six months of service. Those who want to help with our annual May Venice Art Walk are not required to put in six months.

Does your agency utilize youth volunteers?: Yes
Does your agency take employee groups for short-term or one-day projects?: Call to inquire

Nursing Volunteer Opportunities

1 - Cedars Sinai Medical Center
About Volunteering
Cedars-Sinai volunteers are as diverse as the community they serve. Anyone, at almost any age and from any cultural background or experience, can become one. While patients unquestionably benefit from their service, volunteers find it to be richly rewarding as well, with the typical volunteer serving at least four years.
Our adult and teen volunteer program is year-round. College students can also volunteer through the Independent Student Program and gain valuable experience by working in a research environment. This program is also geared toward individuals who have earned credentials, and wish to gain experience in their area of specialization.
For more information, please call Volunteer Services at (310) 423-8044.

M.D.-to-RN Program Offers Second Chance at Caring

For Work. For Life.

M.D.-to-RN Program Offers Second Chance at Caring

By Debra Wood, RN, contributor

Rarely do you hear about physicians returning to school to become nurses, but 32 foreign-educated doctors recently graduated with a bachelor of science in nursing from a unique education program at Florida International University (FIU) in Miami.

"It allows us to go back to the medical field and the health-care system," said Hancy Brignol, GN, one of the students in the first class. "There will be a lot of opportunities for us."

Brignol came to the United States from Haiti, in 1991, and while raising two children as a single mother, could not make time to prepare for physician licensing exams or locate a residency program. She worked at a research facility and longed to return to an active healing role.

Adjusting to nursing practice proved a little difficult at first, but FIU professors prepared coursework explaining the scope of practice, nursing diagnosis and nursing process, which aided with the transition.

"I’m a very caring person and that helped me to change from one mentality [medicine] to benefit the other one," Brignol said.

Fellow students John Alvarez, GN, and Edwin Vides, GN, reported little trouble adapting to their new roles.

"The way we practiced medicine is more like the nursing model in the states," Vides said. "The approach of a doctor in our country is more holistic and [deals with] the whole complex entity. We take care of the family and [patient], and our office visit may be 60 minutes and 45 minutes for follow up. It is very different than how medicine is practiced here."

Vides practiced as chief of an emergency room in Columbia before arriving in the United States, in 2000, as a political refugee. He started in this country as a nursing assistant and has worked as a case manager at a hospital and for an insurance company.

Alvarez moved from the Dominican Republic, in 1990, and said in his country, doctors do a lot of nursing. He found the technological advances and monitors amazing and exciting.

"The critical thinking portion of nursing was a challenge, because we had to change our mode of thinking," said Alvarez, explaining that doctors do not coordinate and follow up on all aspects of care. "But the assessment is very similar and one of our strong points."

FIU nursing school director Divina Grossman, Ph.D., RN, ARNP, CS, FAAN, expects the students will stick with nursing and not use it as a stepping-stone back to medicine, because the model of nursing practice in the United States offers so many opportunities for professional satisfaction.

"We have a very professional nursing practice model," Grossman said. "Nurses are autonomous and responsible for the kind of assessment that maybe in their countries, nurses were not responsible for. My guess, going through this program will increase the likelihood of their staying in nursing, because they will have professional satisfaction."

A special sense of camaraderie developed between the students. Vides said it felt as if partnerships formed as they coached each other through the rigorous five-semesters.

With accelerated classes in a range of traditional nursing topics in the evening, clinicals on the weekend and most students working full time, Brignol said it sometimes felt as if 24 hours were not enough for one day.

FIU initially developed the program, in 1997, after a group of Cuban-trained physicians suggested it to Grossman. The school obtained board of nursing approval, but lacking funding, it never got off the ground.

The chief nursing officer at a local HCA hospital noted a number of foreign physicians worked at her facility as aides, technicians and phlebotomists. She arranged for a meeting between corporate officials and Grossman, which resulted in the hospital firm sponsoring the program.

HCA East Florida Division, HCA facilities Kendall Regional Medical Center and Cedars Medical Center, and Catholic Health East’s Mercy Hospital each contributed $150,000 to sponsor 40 students in the first class. In return, the students agreed to work in one of the facilities for two years.

Alvarez and Vides have lined up jobs in critical-care units. Brignol plans to complete her commitment and work on a master’s degree. Grossman called it a win-win for the hospital due to all the experience and knowledge these new nurses will bring to their positions. FIU said it is the only program of its kind in the country.

The hospitals funded another class with 60 students, who will graduate in 2004. The school has an additional 632 applicants on a waiting list. With additional funding, FIU could expand the program immediately.

The students came from countries all over the world, including Cuba, Colombia, Haiti, Romania, Mexico, the Caribbean and the Philippines. Eighty percent speak Spanish. Many could not afford to take medical board exams or complete residencies, which are required to practice as a physician. Some had tried and failed. Many were underemployed in minimum-wage positions.

Ensuring the students were fluent in English presented some challenges to the school of nursing. It worked with the university’s English Language Institute to screen applicants and offer courses for those not quite up to the level needed.

Men comprised half of the first class. Adding men and minority nurses to the workforce bodes well for the profession.

"That’s what we need in our community, what we need in nursing, because the patient population is diverse, yet the nursing population is not," Grossman said. "They will bring their professionalism to nursing, and it will be wonderful."

© 2004. AMN Healthcare, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

source: http://www.nursezone.com/printArticle.aspx?ID=12044&profile=Spotlight+on+nurses

Nurse or MD? Why Nursing Is Better

So you’re a nurse. You’ve spent three years in nursing school, you’ve done two years of clinical residency, you are hard at work in your chosen field and now people are asking you “Why didn’t you just go to medical school?”

Jo, head nurse of a neurology department, says it best:

“It happened again: a raft of compliments from a patient and her husband, with the husband taking me aside and speaking seriously about what a pity and a waste it was that I didn't go to medical school. The implication is that I'm too smart, or too hard-working, or too marvelous overall to be a nurse; that I'd be doing the world more good as an MD.

My two main foci as a nurse are assessment and education. It's because I'm a nurse that my assessment skills are more detail- and change-oriented than those of my medical colleagues: after all, they're in surgery or clinic all day, while I'm dealing with the same people for twelve hours at a stretch. When something minor changes, the nurse is often the first to notice--or the only one to notice--not just because she's there, but because she knows the patients better.

I'm not a helpmate. I'm not a handmaiden. I'm certainly not a failed, frustrated doctor-wannabe. I'm a carefully-trained, careful-thinking, observant clinician with a wide range of disparate skills and some strange little tricks up her sleeve.”

Nurses offer patients something doctors can’t; a holistic treatment approach that includes extended direct care. Doctors diagnose; nurses heal. There’s nothing more worthy a person can do.

SOURCE: Jo at http://head-nurse.blogspot.com

JHU-SON Admissions Application

Application deadlines for the Baccalaureate Program are fast approaching.

Early Decision Deadline - Applicants will be notified by December 15 if application is completed by deadline.
November 1 - Accelerated and Traditional Options

Regular Decision Deadlines - App licants will be notified on a rolling basis beginning end of February 2009.
November 15 - Accelerated Option
January 15 - Traditional Option

Please visit JHU - SON website at http://www.son.jhmi.edu/apply/applications/ to print the application. You may also call JHU-SON office at 410-955-7548 to request an application to be sent to you. We have been implementing a new computer system and an on-line application will be available in a few weeks. We will keep you posted!

Those of you applying for the Academic Merit Scholarship, be sure to submit the completed Scholarship Application and essay by February 1, 2009.

RPCV’s please note that the Peace Corps Fellows Application deadline is February 1, 2009.

As always, please do not hesitate to let us know if we can be of assistance to you!

Contact: Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, 525 Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21205