Plan for a Great Long-Distance College Tour

Plan for a Great Long-Distance College Tour

Whether you are applying to nursing school for the first time, going back to earn your BSN to meet your organization’s requirements, or pursing a long-held dream for your MSN or beyond, knowing which college is your best match is tricky.

If some of the colleges you are considering are far away from your home base, it’s especially challenging to know if the school is a good fit for you. But there are lots of ways you can narrow down your choices, even of schools that are a couple of states away. It just takes some planning.

Here are some tips for making every minute count on a long-distance college tour.

Pick the Right Time

When you are scheduling a long-distance college tour, choose your days carefully. Check with the school to make sure they are having tours when you want to go and that you can sign up for one. Many colleges and universities have varying schedules and you don’t want to drive eight hours only to find there are no tours scheduled. Remember weekends are convenient for you, but not all schools have tours on weekends or might only have them one or two Saturdays a month.

Plan Your Visits Carefully

If you have a few colleges in mind but they are several hours away, plan to visit them all in one sweep. And it wouldn’t hurt to do some research and add in tours of institutions that are near the top choices you are visiting. Map out your route so you can hit at least two colleges in one day, if at all possible. By doing this you can have a fresh impression of schools, can compare them, and won’t waste days of trips for visiting.

If you have to fly to visit, investigate flight schedules, how far the airport is from campus, and plan to visit several schools in the area. Even if the schools aren’t on your list, it helps to have an idea of what other schools offer.

Meet Faculty

Call admissions to see if you can meet with a faculty member in your area of interest and have a list of great questions prepared. See if you can sit in on a class and even get a copy of a syllabus or two. Eat in the cafeteria. Check out all the facilities on campus from the lab space to the gym to the library. If you have come all that distance, you want to get a solid understanding of what that college is all about.

Stay in the Area

If you are considering a school, call ahead to see if you can spend the night on campus. Some schools will let you do that, especially if you have already submitted an application. If that’s not possible, stay nearby, so you get a feel for the area and what life on campus would be like. After all, if you find that you are uncomfortable walking around campus at nighttime, that could change your mind about the school. Find out about attractions that interest you, where you might do clinicals, and the job prospects in the area as well.

Talk to Everyone

This is good advice for any college tour, but be particularly nosy if you are far away from home. Ask your tour guide why they chose the school and where they are from. Find out what it’s like to attend the school when you won’t be heading home very often. Talk to others on your tour to find out what they liked about the school and to see if anyone is from a far distance.

Bring a Friend

If you can do the long-distance loop with a friend, you might gain some valuable information. A friend can give a new perspective, ask different questions, and think of how you would fit into the school.

Trust Your Gut

Virtual tours are incredibly helpful when you just can’t get to a school you have applied to. But if you have the opportunity to get on a campus, it can make your decision that much easier. Trust your instincts. If you find the campus is too large or too small, too urban or too rural, or your department of interest isn’t quite on par with what you had hoped, you can use that gut feeling to make an informed choice.

When you tour colleges far from home, use every minute wisely. You might not go back before you have to make a final decision, so being on campus is an excellent way to figure out if this is the school for you.

Focus on You in the New Year

Focus on You in the New Year

When the calendar turns to January 1, are your New Year’s resolutions posted front and center on your fridge, ready to inspire you each morning and night? Or are you more of an anti-resolution kind of person who finds such promises to be less of an inspiration and more of an intrusion?

Whichever camp you’re in, you’ll find that January 1 always brings fresh promise. Maybe it’s the dozen new months stacked up on the calendar, free of the burdens that weighed you down in the previous year. Maybe just writing a new year down gives you courage to set new expectations.

A new year is momentous and deserves some reflection. Even if you take just 5 minutes, think about what this year might hold for you and where you would like to see yourself at the end of another 12 months.

Here are some things to consider.

Your Job

Are you happy with your nursing career? Do you like your role? Jot down a few reasons that inspired you to become a nurse in the first place. Remember your energy and passion when you first started. If you’re just starting out, use this list to find areas you want to focus on. What can you do this year to continue on that path?

Your Family

Is your home life running smoothly? Since most people have bumps in the road, this is a great time to consider small ways to make your home life run better. Sure a vacation in the tropics would help any family decompress, but if that’s not in your plans, blocking out an afternoon when your crew can go bowling or just curl up with a game of Headbandz or Monopoly might help everyone reconnect. Even setting a few new rules – like no electronics at the dinner table – can bring a sense of calm in a chaotic day.

Your Health

You’re a nurse – do you practice what you preach? Take an inventory of all the appointments you might be behind on and set them up. You can’t help others unless you’re in good health, so think of one or two small tweaks to your routine that can have big impact. Don’t have time for a daily 30-minute walk? Then fit in a 10-minute one. Anything is better than nothing.

Your Mood

Are you stressed (what nurse isn’t?)? How do you deal with it? Using a few simple techniques – like using a quick meditation app or listening to favorite tunes while you clean up after dinner – can have a surprisingly positive impact on your mood. Find what works for you and use it consistently. Reducing your stress levels reaps huge health benefits, and while you can’t always remove the stress, you can change how you react to stress.

Your Finances

No this isn’t the time to start the major financial overhaul, especially if you are trying to make major changes elsewhere. But it is a great time to take stock. Are you on the right track? Are you saving enough? Do you have some financial goals or dreams? Find ways to save a few dollars here and there and save toward a specific goal. Saving for something in particular (a retirement goal, a house, a new car) motivates you more than saving for a general rainy day.

Your Surroundings

Is your home your refuge or does the clutter drive you crazy? Your home environment sets the tone for much of how you feel, so peaceful surroundings can give you an instant boost. Try to keep the clutter under control, but also focus on the larger picture. Paint your bedroom the color of snow-topped mountains or of the Caribbean sea – whatever makes you happiest. Keep a couple of plants in your living room and hang a key hook so your keys are always in one place. Let your home (or parts of it at least) reflect how you want your life to be.

New Year’s is a springboard for change, but it shouldn’t overwhelm you. Use small, effective tweaks to make your life easier, more beautiful, and more streamlined. I hope your 2015 gets off to a great start!

 

Why Med Safety Matters

Why Med Safety Matters

The headlines on medication errors are numerous. “Hospital Medication Error Kills Patient in Oregon,” is one such headline whereby a patient died from being given the wrong medication. Not all medication errors result in death, but over 700,000 emergency department visits annually are attributed to adverse drug events or injuries resulting from the use of medications according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is for this reason that nursing and patient education pertaining to medication safety is extremely important. Before noting the solutions, it is important to gain a solid understanding of the federal regulations governing the medication administration. The federal regulations pertaining to the safety of medication administration can be found in the state operations manual of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which notes that any personnel administering medications must confirm the following prior to each administration:

1. The identity of the patient

Acceptable patient identifiers include but are not limited to: the patient’s full name, an identification number assigned by the hospital, or date of birth. Identifiers must be confirmed by the patient’s wrist band, patient statement (when possible), or other means outlined in the institution’s policy. The patient’s identification must be confirmed to be in agreement with the medication administration record or treatment administration record and medication labeling prior to medication administration to ensure that the medication is being given to the correct patient.

2. The correct medication

Make sure that the medication being administered to the patient matches the prescription for that patient. Similar sounding medications, such as Aciphex and Aricept, or Adderall and Inderal, can easily result in dire consequences for all involved.

3. The correct dosage

Verify that the medication matches the prescribed dose, and that the prescription itself does not reflect an unsafe dosage level (i.e., a dose that is too high or too low).

4. The correct route

This ensures that the method of administration including orally, intramuscular, intravenous, etc., is the appropriate one for that particular medication and patient.

5. The appropriate time

This ensures adherence to the prescribed frequency and time of administration.

These are often referred to as the five rights of medication administration, but a sixth right is often noted as the “right documentation.” Many nurses may consider the five rights as somewhat elementary, but they are certainly not. Other than a prescriber or dispenser error, numerous medication errors result from a breach in the one of these five rights. It is for all these reasons that medication safety truly matters, and it is important for nurses to become familiar with various strategies to prevent or reduce the likelihood of medication errors.

5 Unprofessional Don’ts Every Nurse Must Not Utter In Front Of A Patient

5 Unprofessional Don’ts Every Nurse Must Not Utter In Front Of A Patient

As a professional nurse, you probably come across a number of awkward situations and people in a full day’s work that sometimes a slip-of-the-tongue just happens. But that’s still no excuse because you pretty much knew what you were getting into before signing up for the job.

Nursing is a career that requires as much verbal control as a sound understanding of performing medical tasks without bringing about too much discomfort to a patent both on a physical and emotional level. Here are five don’ts that you as a professional nurse must not let slip out of your mouth to make the patient you’re looking after feel uncomfortable.

1. “I don’t know; that’s what the doctor said.”

This is the biggest and most annoying mistake of them all. Knowing what the physician has planned as a part of a treatment for a patient that you and the physician are collaborating on is actually part of a nurse’s job description–there’s no other way around that. And not knowing what the physician has planned not only brings your ignorance as a nurse out in the open, but it also diminishes your value within the health care system. So make sure that you fully understand what the physician has planned and try to have your queries answered before you face the patent when the physician isn’t around to avoid a rather awkward confrontation and being misjudged.

2. “I haven’t done this before, but don’t worry.”

And after hearing that, most probably every patient will respond with something in the likes of “Then maybe you shouldn’t” because you probably have given them every reason to be worried with just those few words. If you’ve been asked to perform a particular medical task for the first time, the last thing that you should be doing is making the patient feel insecure because that way he or she may just begin to doubt the quality of the service being provided within the health care system. Imagine a mom taking her kid for a flu vaccination and you utter those words. She’ll definitely not be risking her kid in your lap. Although providing better pediatric health care is not that difficult and bears the lowest risk, you should still get into the shoes of a mother. What you need to do is prepare yourself by reviewing guidelines and policies, and bringing in a more experienced nurse for assistance. And yes, don’t worry–there’s always a first time for everyone.

3. “They don’t treat nurses well here.”

Well, after taking into account the fact that nursing pays more than just well, that’s probably a lie. And even if it isn’t, it’s rather unprofessional on your part to rant about the shortcomings of the health care system you work in front of the patients you’re looking after. Patients generally look at the nurses attending to them as an extension of the quality and the services the entire health care system provides. Trashing the system pretty much equates to trashing the credibility of the entire system as well as your own; and this is something you wouldn’t want to do, would you?

 4. “I don’t know why you’re on these meds.”

Much like being completely ignorant to what the physician has planned for the patient, not knowing why the patient is being given a particular medicine (or more) can actually turn out to become a matter of life and death; you wouldn’t want to give someone dehydrated due to food poisoning more diuretics to completely drain them out, or send the blood pressure of a patient who’s already experiencing high pressure off the charts also by giving them the wrong pills. To avoid unwarranted drama, know the medicines and know why the patient needs them; patients never stop asking questions and doing your job right never hurts.

5. “You don’t have much time left.”

Now why would you even do that? You’re not the bearer of bad news! Let’s just say that there are some things that physicians are simply better at conveying to the patient than a nurse. Physicians almost always have a scientifically logical explanation ready at the tip of their tongue to handle such a situation, so let them share that part of the really bad news.

What Makes a Successful Nurse? Enter and Win!

What Makes a Successful Nurse? Enter and Win!

For 65 years, Springer Publishing has published books covering every aspect of nursing imaginable. We know nursing – and authors, readers, and instructors alike know that there are many ways a nurse can excel.

Nursing success demands a varied skill set: patience, medical expertise, compassion, and a sense of humor, to name a few. So we’re asking nurses: what makes a successful nurse, in three words or less?  Only the most creative, clever, and memorable entry will win, but you can enter as many times as you like!

Enter our contest here, for the chance to win a $150 Amazon.com gift card.

See the terms and conditions here.

Ad