Crunchy Nurses '08 - Page 7

[eurobin]

Oh wow, I'm so glad to have found this thread!

I'm currently in banking. I never really meant to get into this career... just sort of stumbled into in because back in college, it was a great summer/part-time job. It was air conditioned and had good hours! But I never really expected to work forever -- I *thought* I'd be a SAHM. You know what they say though -- Man plans and God laughs.

I'm now a single, working mama planning to go back to school. There's an accelerated pathway program for students who already hold a bachelors in another field. I'll be able to get a BSN and continue on to a master's program to become a CNM. I'm hugely passionate about women's health so this is extremely exciting. I can actually see myself getting involved in public health or academia at some point but I'm trying not to put the proverbial cart before the horse.

I really don't have the foggiest idea how I'll manage to keep a roof over our heads while going to school. I'm going to an info session in a few weeks and hopefully they'll have some suggestions. I have a strong undergrad GPA and strong GRE scores and I'm determined as hell though, so I'm optimistic that it'll fall into place somehow.

[hopefulfaith]

Re: where to get contact hours/CEUs:

I've been going to Western Schools (www.westernschools.com) for the last few years. Lots of CEUs for relatively not a lot of money (i.e., 30-40 credits for under $75). I keep up my CEN (100 CEUs per round) and other certifications which require dozens of contact hours, so going that route has been good for me. They also have a lot of at-home courses which include the price of an actual textbook out of the course fee (i.e., I just did the "Case Studies in Critical Care Nursing" course which included a good text that I am going to use to study for CCRN).

I had a coupon for 10% off my next order. The code is #NG91A and it expires 4/30/09, if you are interested. It was a pre-printed coupon, so I imagine it's good for all of us.

[lorijds]

Bump.

Everyone doing okay? Still have jobs? No layoffs?

Things are looking okay at my facility, though we are on a hiring freeze. Recently we lost several housekeepers, and keeping the place clean has been an issue. I hope they either redistribute people to housekeeping or hire new people!!!

[twirlygirl]

I'm a nurse. I don't know how crunchy I am but probably much crunchier than most I work with. I've work in NICU for 4 years now. When I was pregnant with DD I planned a home birth and the looks I got, you would have thought I had 2 heads. As it turned out she was born in hospital, but I hope for a homebirth this time around. I also breastfed til 17 months and even had our apparent breastfeeding expert tell me they didn't need breastmilk after a year and that there was no point.
I do struggle a bit when advising mamas about breastfeeding as other people come along and undo all the work you have done.

[major_mama11]

Originally Posted by lorijds

Bump.

Everyone doing okay? Still have jobs? No layoffs?

Things are looking okay at my facility, though we are on a hiring freeze. Recently we lost several housekeepers, and keeping the place clean has been an issue. I hope they either redistribute people to housekeeping or hire new people!!!

My facility (small, community hospital) has promised not to lay anyone off for 2009. No hiring freeze as of yet. However, the CEO has been very upfront over no raises for *anyone* for '09, no more company matching for the 403b, cutting way back on employee bonuses and incentives (which they were probably much more generous about than many other hospitals, anyway).

We're all a bit sad over the no-raise thing, but the general feeling is that we are all very, very appreciative just to have secure-for-now jobs in this economy. Especially with knowing that some nearby hospitals are already planning to cut back on nurses...

[nursenoel]

Hi! I am a NICU nurse , ttc baby #1 and new to the forum world. I think I am slightly crunchy and hoping to become a bit more. Any advice?

[mags]

Originally Posted by hopefulfaith

Re: where to get contact hours/CEUs:

I've been going to Western Schools (www.westernschools.com) for the last few years. Lots of CEUs for relatively not a lot of money (i.e., 30-40 credits for under $75). I keep up my CEN (100 CEUs per round) and other certifications which require dozens of contact hours, so going that route has been good for me. They also have a lot of at-home courses which include the price of an actual textbook out of the course fee (i.e., I just did the "Case Studies in Critical Care Nursing" course which included a good text that I am going to use to study for CCRN).

I had a coupon for 10% off my next order. The code is #NG91A and it expires 4/30/09, if you are interested. It was a pre-printed coupon, so I imagine it's good for all of us.

Thanks!

As for the question about lay offs. I'm not working right now, but my DH works at the hospital (not as a nurse). There is a hiring freeze, they laid off a few administrative type of positions and also many of the asst nurse mgrs. He said the last round 300 employees were let go. No raises this yr, b/c ppl complained about the increase of insurance, so instead the hospital decided not to do any raises and not increase insurance prices. My brother's a PM&R physician and works for a big ortho group. He says that surgery #'s are down (ironically, my DH works in open heart surgery and their #'s are up), so it's been slow for them lately. He said he heard that plastic surgeons are really struggling right now and have been looking to do flaps (for breast cancer) pts, b/c they are so desperate, BUT they don't really get that much from insurance companies for doing flaps (which is a really long surgery). So, the economy has really hit healthcare pretty bad too. I know agency/travel nurses who have been let go too and have to been scrambling to find something.

[RN-Mommy]

Originally Posted by lorijds

Bump.

Everyone doing okay? Still have jobs? No layoffs?

Things are looking okay at my facility, though we are on a hiring freeze. Recently we lost several housekeepers, and keeping the place clean has been an issue. I hope they either redistribute people to housekeeping or hire new people!!!

Hiring freezes all around my city : Im graduating in 2 weeks, and the majority of my class is having a hard time finding positions. I interviewed at a hospital 60 miles away yesterday, and feeling like that may be my only option GN positions are hard to come by across the country I've been hearing...

[lactivistmama]

Originally Posted by hopefulfaith

Re: where to get contact hours/CEUs:

I've been going to Western Schools (www.westernschools.com) for the last few years. Lots of CEUs for relatively not a lot of money (i.e., 30-40 credits for under $75). I keep up my CEN (100 CEUs per round) and other certifications which require dozens of contact hours, so going that route has been good for me. They also have a lot of at-home courses which include the price of an actual textbook out of the course fee (i.e., I just did the "Case Studies in Critical Care Nursing" course which included a good text that I am going to use to study for CCRN).

I had a coupon for 10% off my next order. The code is #NG91A and it expires 4/30/09, if you are interested. It was a pre-printed coupon, so I imagine it's good for all of us.

This is where I have gotten just about all my CEU's my entire nursing career.. I am very pleased with them!

[chandistar]

Glad I found this thread. I'm still taking pre-reqs but will hopefully start nursing school (ADN) Fall 2010. I'm in taking a CNA class this semester. We are finishing up the clinical part next week. I'm not sure what area of nursing I want to work in. There is an awesome birth center where I live. I don't think I could work in L&D at a hospital.

[birthdancedoula]

Hi Chandi!! Glad you found this thread!

Yes, we definitely want you at the birth center when you're done with school!

[Iriemama]

Which path should I take?

Hi mamas! I'm an RN student (just finishing up 1st year) who hopes to become a Certified Nurse Midwife someday and has a lot of questions about which path to take. I tried reading through this whole thread but have not found the time (I also happen to be a single, working mama on top of being in Nursing school ) so I apologize if this I'm being repetitive. Anyway, currently I'm getting my Associates in Nursing but plan on continue schooling to become a Certified Nursing Midwife. So, since I need my BN in order to get apply to a Midwifery program do I go the Associates of Nursing to Bachelors of Nursing to Midwifery program? Or is there a way I can get into a Midwifery program with just my Associates? I'm so confused! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Love and Peace to you all.
:

[lactivistmama]

Originally Posted by Iriemama

Hi mamas! I'm an RN student (just finishing up 1st year) who hopes to become a Certified Nurse Midwife someday and has a lot of questions about which path to take. I tried reading through this whole thread but have not found the time (I also happen to be a single, working mama on top of being in Nursing school ) so I apologize if this I'm being repetitive. Anyway, currently I'm getting my Associates in Nursing but plan on continue schooling to become a Certified Nursing Midwife. So, since I need my BN in order to get apply to a Midwifery program do I go the Associates of Nursing to Bachelors of Nursing to Midwifery program? Or is there a way I can get into a Midwifery program with just my Associates? I'm so confused! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Love and Peace to you all.
:

Hi! I am no help, but I just wanted to say hi and tell you that the path you have listed is most likely the exact way that I am planning to get my CNM. I am trying to find all my options for the CNM and to see if there is a way that I can at least do my core classes online.. Best of luck!

[birthdancedoula]

Originally Posted by Iriemama

So, since I need my BN in order to get apply to a Midwifery program do I go the Associates of Nursing to Bachelors of Nursing to Midwifery program? Or is there a way I can get into a Midwifery program with just my Associates? I'm so confused! Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Love and Peace to you all.
:

Welcome to this thread, mama!! You actually don't need your BSN to get into a midwifery program. I am an ADN-trained nurse and am currently 1 year out from graduating with my MSN in midwifery. I did the RN-MSN Bridge program at Frontier, which was 1 year of BSN level coursework. I am so glad I went with Frontier instead of doing a RN-to-BSN program at a state university...it saved me 2 years of doing prerequisite work.

[Maiasaura]

hi ashley

i just got my acceptance letter to the nursing program at AB-Tech in today's mail

how are you?

[ollineeba]

Originally Posted by SN-Mommy

Hiring freezes all around my city : Im graduating in 2 weeks, and the majority of my class is having a hard time finding positions. I interviewed at a hospital 60 miles away yesterday, and feeling like that may be my only option GN positions are hard to come by across the country I've been hearing...

Congratulations on your upcoming graduation! I have one year left until I graduate and I just can't WAIT !! :

[ollineeba]

Originally Posted by birthdancedoula

Welcome to this thread, mama!! You actually don't need your BSN to get into a midwifery program. I am an ADN-trained nurse and am currently 1 year out from graduating with my MSN in midwifery. I did the RN-MSN Bridge program at Frontier, which was 1 year of BSN level coursework. I am so glad I went with Frontier instead of doing a RN-to-BSN program at a state university...it saved me 2 years of doing prerequisite work.

I'd love to pick your brain sometime about the Frontier program..

[shellnurse]

yep-I'm a crunchy NICU nurse if you can believe it. Basically, I have to ignore what went on in L and D and just try to support breastfeeding, AP and all the other crunchy goodness. I'm a doula also-so all the nurses who have "crazy hippie" friends get free consultations and bibliography (Ina Mae, Henci Goer) I love smelly, dreadlocked parents!

[akayerich]

its so nice to know there are others....

i seriously thought i was the only nurse in the history of nursing that takes a natural approach to life.
my co-workers call me "the all-natural girl" or "eco-friendly girl" or sometimes "health-nut". the last one amuses me, because i'm not sure where it comes from. maybe because i eat a lot of yogurt and granola for lunch.
they all told me i was crazy when i told them i was going to give birth with no epidural. and when they found out i'm using cloth diapers, they really thought i'd gone off the deep end. someone actually said to me the other day, "you seem like the type of mom that holds her baby. do you hold your baby all the time?"
one thing i have noticed, though, among my nurse friends, is that no matter where they stand on the "natural minded" spectrum, there are an awful lot of nurses that don't like to take medicine. i find that interesting.

[lorijds]

At our smallish hospital, we have several nurses and a pharmacist who have had birth center/home births. One of the nurses I work closely with is starting her CPM work, and wants to open up a birth center with a local homebirthing CNM and another CPM.

I worked on the Mother/baby floor for a while, and they are of course not at all supportive of anything like that; but elsewhere in the hospital, the staff is more open.

I agree, while I see a lot of nurses on sleeping aides and antidepressants (I work nights...), I do think the general trend is the nurses that I work with seem reluctant to take medications, especially antibiotics. We also have several nurses whom I wouldn't describe at all as crunchy--and they certainly wouldn't describe themselves as such--but they homeschool, or they grow a big garden, they make/knit a lot of their clothes, their kids are in non-mainstream activities, that sort of thing.

I think as nurses we see that alternative treatments work--or we see that sometimes western medicine doesn't. We see how much control the patient has--you know, someone who is on a bajillion meds for their heart, blood pressure, kidneys and diabetes, but they eat a high fat, high calorie, high sodium diet on a daily basis, and don't get any exercise at all. Or we see how much a warm pack, positioning, a quiet soothing environment, and massage helps back pain. That sort of thing. We see the mind-body connection, and we see how all the great pills in the world won't help someone who cannot or does not want to help themselves. I think nurses, especially nurses who work with the general population, are naturally inclined to be a little crunchy or have a crunchy view of healthcare, even if they wouldn't describe themselves in such a manner.