Tag: nursing

Uncategorized

Things to Consider in Home Health: Availability of Parking Spots

Posted on by Chris

If you are planning to work at a home health agency as a home health nurse, there are some things you may want to consider. Some of these things are obvious while others are not. This series of posts will go over some things you may need to consider if you plan to work for home health.

I think this applies more if your patients live in the city. In Los Angeles, for example, (more specifically in Downtown Los Angeles), finding a free parking spot is very difficult. Good luck finding street parking in Los Angeles. Parking meters are usually occupied and you will most likely have to park at a parking structure where you can expect to pay anywhere from $5 to $20. Parking rates in Downtown Los Angeles can vary depending on the day and the time you use the parking structures. Double check with your agency if they will reimburse you for the amount you pay for parking because those parking fees does add up especially if you are going to see multiple patients.

There are times when you are really out of luck where the patient’s home have no parking space, there are no street parking, and no parking structures available nearby. In those cases, you would have no choice but to be patient and drive around the same couple of blocks over and over again for an available parking spot. There is also the option to park several blocks away and walk to your patient’s home.

It will be very tempting to park at the parking lot of a nearby convenience store but do not do that. Your car will get towed and it will be very expensive to get your car back. Your agency may or may not reimburse you for the cost of getting your car towed.

If you are applying for a position as a home health nurse, ask the agency if they reimburse for parking fees and/or towing fees. Do not assume anything. You need to aware about these because you may find yourself with a high parking cost and/or towing cost that will take chunk out of your paycheck.

0
Uncategorized

Things to consider in Home Health: Time

Posted on by Chris

If you are planning to work at a home health agency as a home health nurse, there are some things you may want to consider. Some of these things are obvious while others are not. This series of posts will go over some things you may need to consider if you plan to work for home health.

Commute Time

As a home health nurse, you will be driving a lot. Your commute time can vary depending on the distance from one patient to the next. Unlike a hospital or a skilled nursing facility where all your patients are on the same building, your patients in home health will have a lot more distance between them so your daily commute time will vary depending on how many patients you have scheduled for the day and how far apart they are from each other. Traffic, road construction, road closures, etc can and will affect your commute time.

Visit Time

The length of time that you will spend while at the patients home depends on the patient’s status, the care that the patient needs, the teaching/education needs of the patient and family, the skilled nursing task that you need to perform, etc.

Time for Documentation

As with other types of nursing practice, you will need to perform documentation on the care that is provided. Most, if not all, home health agencies now uses electronic medical records. Some home health documentation software are web based that you may be able to access as long as you have a computer and internet connection. Some are accessible through your phones as well. You can choose to do your documentation in between patients or do them at your home but make sure to finish your documentation after seeing your patient and do not procrastinate. The amount of documentation you will need to do for home health can pile up quickly if you procrastinate.

0
Nursing School Tips

That one time I my graduation nearly got delayed by one semester

Posted on by Chris

The school where I went for my RN program required their students to purchase Castle Branch and use it to upload document that are required during the program such as background checks, Immunization records, drug panel screen tests results, etc.

Less than a week before the start of my last semester of nursing school began, I received an email from the my school telling me that there is still a requirement in Castle Branch that I have not completed and that I was at risk of having my last semester of nursing school delayed.

Reading this email gave me quite a scare. I was certain that I uploaded all the requirements to Castle Branch before the deadline. I logged on to my Castle Branch  account and found out that the status of the last document that I uploaded was still “Pending Review”.  During that time, It had already been about 14 days since I uploaded the required document. I have no clue as to why it was still ‘Pending Review” status for that long. I tried to call Castle Branch but by the time I read the email, it was already passed their hours of operation.  I was not able to speak with a Castle Branch representative to find out why the review of the documents that I uploaded was taking so long. There was the option of emailing Castle Branch but from what I was told by my classmates Castle Branch’s response time to emails is about 1 to 2 days even though Castle Branch’s website says they will respond within 2 business hours. I was beginning to become more anxious because I felt that time was running out.

Luckily, the Castle Branch logs the date and time of the uploads. I screen captured my Castle Branch dashboard showing the date and time of the document upload and emailed it to my school to show that I uploaded the required documents before the deadline. In the same email, I attached a copy of the document that was being asked of me and asked that my school not to delay my last semester of nursing school. 

I planned to go to the school the following morning to speak with them directly and bring with me a physical copy of the document that the school requires. Before going to bed, I checked Castle Branch again and was now showing that all requirements have been completed.  Even though it was after hours, I received another email from my school saying that all my uploads from Castle Branch had been approved so everything was fine. I am very thankful that I went to a school that cares very much about their students.

My advise…

Don’t procrastinate. Complete your requirements early and upload to Castle Branch as soon as possible. The time and speed of their review of the documents uploaded in Castle Branch is not consistent.

Check Castle Branch regularly to follow up on the status of your uploads. Contact your school or Castle Branch if the status of your documents is still not completed after a few days.

According to Castle Branch’s website they will respond to emails within 2 business hours. Take note which time zone you are in and what day you are sending your email. I am told by some whi have experience emailing Castle Branch that the response time is about 1 to 2 days.

0
Nursing School Tips

RN Program Application Tips

Posted on by Chris

Check for Nursing School Accreditation

There are a lot or nursing schools that have opened up offering RN and BSN programs. There are also a lot or prospective nursing students looking to get accepted into a nursing program. Some schools are harder to get into then others. Here are some things to consider when applying to a nursing program.

  • Make sure that the school where you applying to have an accredited nursing program by the board of nursing. The last thing you want is to happen is to go through (what you thought was) an accredited nursing program and only after you graduate you find out that you are not eligible to apply to take the NCLEX because the school is not accredited. According to the California Board of Nursing, ” The Board cannot qualify an applicant to take the NCLEX, or to be licensed, after completion of a California based unapproved nursing program” Source: https://www.rn.ca.gov/pdfs/education/unapproved.pdf
  • Check your board of nursing website to see a list of colleges and universities whose RN program is accredited.  The California Board of Nursing lists all of the of accredited nursing school. https://www.rn.ca.gov/education/rnprograms.shtml

Community College vs Universities vs For-profit Schools

The type of degree that you earn upon graduation, the amount of money you will pay for tuition, and the length of the program will vary depending on the nursing program and the type of school.

Community College

  • Tuition fee is cheaper compared to  Universities and For-profit Colleges
  • May take a long time before getting accepted unless you are really lucky
  • Earn an Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) upon graduation
  • A generic RN program generally can take up to 2 years
  • A bridge program from LVN to RN can generally take about a year

Public Universities

  • More expensive than Community Colleges but can be cheaper than some For-profit Colleges
  • May have more admission and recency requirements for classes
  • 4 years of nursing school to earn a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing upon graduation
  • May or may not have a bridge program from LVN to RN or RN to BSN

For-Profit Schools

  • Admission into the program is easier and faster compared to Community Colleges and Public Universities
  • May be the most expensive route to get a nursing education. You will most likely need to get a student loan when you enroll at a For-Profit School
  • Graduate with a Bachelor’s degree upon graduation
  • The length of the nursing program can be shorter than a Public University
  • May or may not have a bridge program from LVN to RN or RN to BSN
  • If you are applying to a For-Profit College, double check on the board of nursing website to make sure that they are accredited or approved by the Board of Nursing
  • There have been instances of For-Profit Colleges abruptly closing down with no notice to their students. https://nurse.org/articles/education-corporation-of-america-close-nursing-sch/

RN Program requirements

Different schools may have some differences in the requirements for admissions for the RN program.

  • Most nursing programs now have a recency requirement for science classes meaning the schools want you to have taken your Anatomy, Physiology,  and/or Microbiology classes within a certain time frame. Some schools have a recency requirement of 5 years while others have 7 years.
  • Go through the list of requirements for each school before sending in you application.
  • If you have a foreign diploma or have taken classes at a University abroad, you will need to have your transcripts and/or you diploma evaluated for equivalency. There are several organizations that provides this service. Ask the admissions and records office at your school to find out which organization they prefer to use for the transcript evaluation. These organizations will not keep your records forever so request for multiple copies of the evaluation. This can cost a pretty penny but you will need multiple copies of your transcript to apply and re-apply to multiple schools.

RN Program Criteria for Admission

Different schools will have different criteria and admissions process

  • Some schools will require you to attend a workshop for application to their RN program. During the workshop, the requirements for application, requirements for graduation, and the date when you need to come back to submit your application will be given to you.
  • Some RN programs have a waiting list for admission. For example for  Los Angeles Trade Tech there is a 2 year waiting list. As long as you have met the requirements,  you can apply for admission and then about 2 years after you will get admitted into the program.
  • Other community colleges have a point system, where applicants are awarded points for meeting certain criteria such as GPA average, TEAS or HESI exam score,  if you already have a Bachelor’s degree or an Associate degree, if you are fluent in foreign language, if you have experience working in the healthcare field.

TEAS vs HESI exam

  • Some schools may require you to take the ATI TEAS exam or the HESI exam. You can take the TEAS exam multiple times but some schools will only consider your first TEAS exam score. Check your schools requirements to make sure that you are taking the correct version of the TEAS exam. If you take an older version of the TEAS exam, your school may not accept it.
  • There are some schools such as Azusa Pacific University that does not require their applicants to take the TEAS nor the HESI exam.

Start Saving Money Now

The RN program is intense. Simultaneously working and going through the RN program will be even harder. It’s not impossible to do both but it will be very difficult. Focusing solely on the RN program increases your likelihood of passing the program. I understand that most people have financial responsibilities and can’t afford to quit your job for a year or two while in nursing school. In most cases, if you are still planning to work, you may have to reduce the number of hours that you plan to work so you would have enough time to go to class, to go to clinical rotations, to study and to go over the reading materials. 

There are other costs associated with your nursing education. Besides the tuition fee, you would also need to buy your uniform and other equipment for your clinical rotation. Your school may also require you to purchase a subscription to ATI or other software programs.

If you are applying to a Private College then you may get accepted right away. Granted that you will be paying a lot of money with private colleges. If you choose to go through the Community College or University route you may have to keep trying a couple of times before you get accepted into the program. There are times when people gets accepted to an RN program on their first attempt to apply for an RN program but most people are not as lucky. In some cases you may have to keep trying for a while. Getting accepted into an RN program may take about a year or two. While you are waiting for that acceptance letter or email, plan to save up some money.

Apply for financial aid, fee waivers, and/or scholarships. Every bit of money helps so go to your schools financial aid office and find out how you can get financial aid

0
Uncategorized

The Biggest Influence In My Nursing Career

Posted on by Chris

The person who has had the biggest impact on my nursing career was my first boss at my very first nursing job as a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN). I have been an LVN since 2009 and I have met a lot of people working as an LVN. Most of the people that I have met have impacted by nursing career to some degree but none have made as much as a big impact as my first boss as an LVN.  

Fresh out of nursing school, I knew very little when I first graduated and obtained my License as an LVN. I met my boss at a flu shot event where we were both volunteers. I started to work with her shortly after that event. She was the administrator that a home health agency and she did home visits for clients every now and then. We worked together for almost ten years. During those ten years, she took me under her wing and taught me as much as she could. Most, if not all, of my skills as a nurse were sharpened because of her. I didn’t always agree with her management style because she had a tendency to micromanage but I always look up to her assessment and clinical skills. Her assessment and clinical skills are something that I hope to be on the same level on some day. She showed me what skills as a nurse is possible to achieve.

Before I got into nursing, a supervisor at my old job told me that being kind can sometimes cause people to get jaded and resentful when you get burned enough times. At that time, I had somewhat of an idea of what those words meant but I never knew how true they were. My boss showed me how to persevere and better myself despite being in less than ideal circumstances. Her kindness to her co-workers and the clients that she was providing care for were something that I wish all nurses possess. Sometimes her kindness weren’t always reciprocated. There was a time after she was consecutively and almost constantly being let down and disappointed, to say it mildly, by people close to her. The words of my old supervisor immediately came to my mind. I was worried that she would become bitter and resentful. Instead of being resentful, she showed me that there is a way of being kind to other people while not letting yourself get taken advantage off. Through her, I learned how to be assertive without being abrasive, how to be kind without being naive, and how to be confident without being arrogant. She showed me how a nurse should carry himself or herself.

She, for me, set the standard as to what a Registered Nurse should be. She set bar to that I hope I would be able to measure up to. I would not be the nurse that I am today without her help. She was my boss, my mentor, and my friend. She showed me how to be a nurse. 

0