Sep 03 2007

Burning questions?

Published by nurseSF

If you could do this whole thing over, what would you do differently?

There isn’t much I would have done differently, except maybe take a strong Pathophysiology class before MEPN. If I had the luxury of hindsight–and if I had known about the field of nursing back then instead of playing around in jobs I didn’t like–I would have applied to MEPN a couple years earlier. Yes, I think MEPN when I was age 27 would have been great. I would have had the luxury of time to soak in all that is nursing before having to start to think about fitting a family into the schedule. Unfortunately, a couple of my classmates have voiced that if they could go back in time knowing what they know now, they would not go through MEPN at UCSF. One said she would have chosen a longer program and another said she might not have gone into nursing at all.

What is your schedule like?

During the first quarter (summer), the whole class (84 students this year) takes three classes together (Pathophysiology, Pharmacology and Intro to Nursing). These take up three full days. On the remaining two days, you are in clinicals at a hospital for eight hours each day. In the fall, the group gets split into two. Each group has its own schedule and classes. You swap schedules and classes in the winter and spring. In my schedule for the fall, I will have two and a half days of classes and two days of clinicals at a hospital, this time a full 12 hours each day. Two 12-hour days back to back will be interesting.

What is the mix of specialties?

The specialities are across the board, but the Family NP program has the most number of students, followed by Adult NP, Midwifery, and Pediatrics. I don’t know many specifics but I think there’s one person in Policy, one in Administration, three in Occupational Health, and a few in Acute Care.

Where are clinicals?

Clinical placements range from UCSF, SFGH, John Muir, Stanford, to Kaiser SF. Placements may change year to year. You can’t choose or argue with your placement. Some people were very unhappy with their placement; for some it was almost what broke the camel’s back because the commute can be horrendous…but so far everyone has stuck with it. Just be prepared: It’s simply one of the compromises you have to make to be a part of this program.

Do you feel well supported by the faculty or is it a “sink or swim” atmosphere?

With regards to the first year, it’s not exactly a “sink or swim” atmosphere, but it’s also not one that will coddle you. It’s a program for adult learners so you have to take a lot of initiative and be flexible. To be frank, the faculty seems overwhelmed; the program may have overextended itself to accommodate more students this year than it should have. I believe that any accelerated program will be chaotic. I believe the faculty wants us all to do our best but they don’t always have the resources to make everything go smoothly. The best support you will get is from your classmates. The Master’s years are supposedly more supportive. To stay sane and balanced, don’t be too hard on yourself and don’t expect everything to be perfect. Roll with the punches and keep focused on your long-term goals.

How are the duties of a nurse practitioner different from those of a registered nurse? Does an NP have to do unpleasant tasks like helping patients to the commode, changing soiled sheets?

A nurse practitioner is an advanced practice nurse, which means that they not only assess patients as RNs do, but they also diagnose conditions/illnesses and prescribe medication. NPs are not involved in the hour by hour bedside care (taking vital signs, administering meds, giving bed baths, etc.) that RNs are. While NPs don’t deal with blood and guts the way RNs do, an NP does have to acquire RN licensure first and foremost. I feel strongly that NPs should have an understanding and respect for bedside nursing, including the unpleasant tasks, because those tasks are all important for the well-being of the patient.

In both the hospital and clinic setting, NPs work closely with the MDs to manage a patient’s condition. In the hospital, it seems that NPs are being employed to fill in for MDs and Residents. In the clinic, NPs seem to be able to spend more time on illness prevention and health promotion.

Viewing 13 Comments

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    First of all, thank you so much for keeping up a travel journal... It's been so insightful and not to forget, so much fun to read because of your writing style!

    I'm also looking into nursing options (I also am trying to make a career change into nursing) across the country and wanted to know if you knew anything about DNP programs. I've heard mixed statements about the future of NP's... whether the standard for nursing will be raised to the doctorate level, if you're getting a doctorate in nursing, might as well go to medical school (which btw, I think is crap.... I feel like nursing and MD's are apples and oranges), etc. etc.

    Any idea???
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    Does anyone have insight into job prospects for acute care nurse practitioners in the Bay Area? I will be graduating from MEPN in a few years and am very anxious about graduating and not being able to find a job, that I just devoted a lot of time and energy into, in the area I want to live in.
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    Thank you for this blog!
    It has been wonderful to read, as I contemplate making direct-entry nursing my path as well.
    I'm also all about da Buddhism - actually, the Art of Living is what practice I follow - it is really great to hear your sometimes spiritually-infused perspectives on such an intense study experience.
    As someone who plans on applying to the 2010 mepn program, I have a couple unsettling issues.
    The one thing that sways my sureness about wanting to go into nursing (specifically midwifery) is that I don't know if it will be enough for me to help people one at a time. While I Totally value this path, I feel like working to change/influence policy, or social infrastructure would be better for me. Is it something central to one's personality - the desire to help one person at a time? or is this a common feeling?
    Also, ny experience with healthcare as a spiritual practitioner (and im just talking meditation) has often frustrated me, because I know that if many of the people being treated had learned to love themselves more / been introduced to meditation / etc., then their symptoms would not have developed. As someone who I think understands the effects of our lack of self-knowledge, do you have to reconcile these issues? how do you do it?

    i know these questions are unclear and a bit meddled. any comment would be appreciated!!

    Thanks very much!!
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    Burning Question:

    For those of us preparing for MEPN interviews, what do you think they like to see in students? Obviously there is a wide range in your classmates, but for those of us who wish to join your ranks, what is a common factor to your peers? Or is there one?

    Curious.
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    I also applied for summer 2008.....getting close to mid December and starting to get anxious. I also will say that if you live in the Bay Area, and have contact with the accelerated programs in the city --clinical placements, and fully available faculty members are across the board hard to come by. I am a community educator and get nursing students in my classes from USF's 18 month M.S.N. program for non-nurses all the time. Several of them have alluded to the sudden loss of clinical placements, shift in schedules, and inconsistency of instruction and application. I think nursing programs are doing the best they can with what they have. It is indeed a bit of a scramble.
    Good luck to everyone --be well, happy and peaceful.
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    If you could do this whole thing over, what would you do differently?
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    John, I applied for Summer '08 as well and haven't heard anything. I wasn't really expecting to until mid-December. Maybe they'll surprise us all but my impression of the confirmation e-mail was that they got slammed with applications and it would take a while to wade through them all, online or not. Good luck though.

    And thank you nurseSF for keeping us in the loop about what we may be in for next year. :)
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    Howdy all! Are there any other readers out there who applied for Summer 2008 admission? If so, has anyone heard anything about interview yet? I know we're a tad bit on the early side for finding out (the e-mail from admissions said to expect letters in early to mid-Dec) but I've been hoping that since the process was all online this year they might have made interview decisions a little earlier than in years past.

    nurseSF...I hope you're having a nice, relaxing Thanksgiving weekend!
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    two things-

    a) to Laura: the release of energy you've just described is what happens during matter-anti-matter interactions. since you can walk around without causing spontaneous combustion I doubt if any of the sort will happen upon your interacting with the OP. furthermore, if you think such an event were to happen then which one would you be? matter or anti-matter? watching too many jet-li movies can sometimes tint our perceptions of reality.

    b) the fact that they can't fire/replace nursing instructors despite his/her total lack of ability to teach is proof enough of the all-too-common staffing shortage(s) in the field of nursing. Expect more of the same once you actually get out in the real world. Then again, maybe it's a communication issue where this problem nurse-teacher is either not getting the fact that many of you students are unhappy with her teaching methods, or she simply communicates that way. if the latter is true then the only way any of you could ever get through to her is to communicate at the same level, which may require some stooping. nurses are just like everyone else where you run into all sorts and personality types. hang in there.
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    Hi, I really enjoy reading your blog. It is extremely informative for those of us planning to enter the nursing profession. I had a couple of questions though:

    How are the duties of a nurse practitioner different those of a registered nurse?
    I know that nurse practitioners have the capacity to prescribe medication but do they still have to do some of the more unpleasant tasks like helping patients to the commode, changing soiled sheets, etc?

    Thanks!
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    Hi, I think we have a lot in common! We might even be the SAME PERSON. I'm a writer, too, and I went through the accelerated program in Mizzou--now I'm a trauma nurse. I'm also a Zen Buddhist--do you think if we met each other we just like, explode? Like in that one movie they always show on cable where the guy keeps having to fight all his selves in the parallel universes--you know that one? Drop me a line. I'm a baby blogger--my kids had to explain it to me--sort of a luddite, me. We too had someone drop out--an older woman of color--interesting--only I knew her very well. She was my best friend in the program. You must be almost done. What are you interested in doing after?
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    what specialty did you choose?
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    Thanks for the answers. I appreciate your taking the time to share the info.
 
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