How to succeed in an accelerated program
Christina graduated from the Accelerated Second Degree program in December 2011. She is currently working on the Orthopaedic/Joint Replacement/Neuroscience unit at Henry Ford Hospital. As a student, she worked as a Lab Assistant and mentor to the incoming class in the Fall of 2011, was presented with the Leadership Award at graduation, and is a member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Society. She also holds a B.A. in Interior Design from Michigan State University.
Many of you may be wondering how to make it through the Accelerated Second Degree Nursing program. What advice would someone give who has been through it before? Well, for starters, the advice I would start with, is to be open.
Be open to the faculty, your peers, and the unknown. You are going to learn something new every single day, and oftentimes, your peers are going to be your best resource. When our program started, someone was smart enough to start a Facebook page for our class. This became a great resource in the weeks ahead, as many of us had questions about the days lecture, the proper way to cite something for a paper, and where to meet up for a bite to eat to decompress from a long day.
One of the things that stuck with me throughout our program was a statement made by one of our instructors. She told our cohort that she had never seen a group of students work so well together. Looking back, that was a very astute observation.
When the program started, I think we all looked around the room and said “we’re in this together, we are a family now.” We made a pact that we would not let another classmate struggle and do what we could to help them succeed.
This meant group studies for some, or group venting sessions for others. Everyone found their niche at some point, but when push came to shove, we were a family, and family is always there for one another. So, for those of you starting the program, when you see one of your fellow students struggling, and you have an extra 15 minutes, pull them aside and see how you can help.Be open to helping when and where you can…to whomever you can.
Truth be told, when you are out there working as a nurse, it’s this kind of teamwork (and openess) that makes such a difference!
“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
-Leo Buscaglia
I often think of this quote during my clinicals.
Even as nursing students, we still have the ability to touch the lives of those around us. Talk with your patients, get to know them. It makes their day when you take the time to be with them. Also, if you get to know your patient better as a person, it makes you a better nurse.
When I had my clinical in the nursing home, I was assigned a patient and after spending time with her week after week, I knew what her baseline behavior was. So when I came in one week and saw a negative variation in her demeanor, I knew something was not quite right.
Sure enough, after sharing my findings with the nurse, a doctor was called in for an assessment and it was determined that she had pneumonia. My suggestion to you as new nursing students is this: that even though you may be preoccupied or overwhelmed with the technical side of nursing at first, which is important, please do not forget the caring side of nursing as well. Knowing you patient thoroughly will help you recognize subtle, but significant changes that may occur, which ultimately may indicate alterations in a patient’s health status.
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Chelsea Young is a Junior in the BSN program at Oakland University. She is a Peer Mentor at the Career Services office, is a class representative for the Student Nurses’ Association of Oakland University, and was a Relay for Life participant. She also is a member of various organizations including YoungLife and the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society.
New Student Convocation
Lauren Sawyer is a senior in the basic BSN program at Oakland University. She is a member of Dean’s Circle, Sigma Theta Tau, Golden Key International Honor Society, and the Student Nurses’ Association of Oakland University (SNAOU). She is the current president of SNAOU. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends. In the future Lauren plans to become a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.
Fall semester has begun! Before classes officially began for the semester, Oakland University hosted the annual New Student Convocation. This year the New Student Convocation included part two of the New Student Orientation where incoming freshman students had the opportunity to tour their academic areas of interest.
Luckily the rainy day cleared up and the incoming freshman students were able to tour around campus to see what Oakland University has to offer.
Within the School of Nursing, students were given a welcome by Dr. Moore and Dean Schuiling. Following the welcome, students were guided, in groups, by School of Nursing faculty and students to areas of interest within the School of Nursing. The tour stops included the Human Patient Simulation Lab, Nursing Therapeutics and Health Assessment Lab, and a classroom filled with research posters, academic advisers, graduate program representatives and student nursing organizations.
Throughout the tour, many students were impressed by the ambiance of the new Human Health Building that is now the home to Oakland University’s School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences.
Within the Human Patient Simulation Lab, the incoming students were excited to experience the Sim-Man and auscultate his breath sounds. Hands-on demonstrations were provided in the Nursing Therapeutics and Health Assessment Lab. Both lab stops in the tour did a wonderful job providing interested students with a better idea of what the nursing lab curriculum entails within the program.
Within the classroom, students were able to stop at organizations of interest. The organizations represented were Dean’s Circle, Sigma Theta Tau, the Student Nurses’ Association of Oakland University (SNAOU), and the National Black Nurses’ Association (NBNA). All of these organizations provided information about membership and the benefits of becoming involved within the School of Nursing organizations. Academic advisers were present to answer the questions many incoming students had about prerequisite classes and when or how to apply for the undergraduate program. Research posters from both faculty and students were presented to the incoming freshman students.
Although the research may have been complex for incoming freshman, the poster presentations were a great way to show incoming students the focus on research within the School of Nursing in both undergraduate and graduate programs. Graduate programs, including the Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Anesthesia programs, provided information for those students interested in attending graduate school after they complete their undergraduate nursing degree.
At the conclusion of the School of Nursing tour, the incoming students attended the formal ceremony of the New Student Convocation in the O’Rena. Overall, part two of New Student Orientation provided incoming freshman students with a wonderful opportunity to learn more about all the wonderful things the School of Nursing has to offer to its students at Oakland University.
Step 2: Know your priorities!
Sudha Chand is a senior in the Oakland University-Beaumont Graduate Program of Nurse Anesthesia. She is a member of the Dean’s Circle and recipient of honors from the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing for her graduate research. Sudha completed her BSN (accelerated program) from Wayne State University. She worked with a passion in the critical care units of Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and found a home in the Neuro-Surgical ICU. She loves spending time with her family and is now looking forward to her graduation!
Wow! My last semester is almost here!
Every semester has been different so far…requiring a reorganization of my thoughts and activities. Prioritizing and then staying focused was key. My priorities were many –financial, emotional, physical, mental and even spiritual.
It is pretty easy to say “know what you want” but I think it is more important to think about what you need before what you want. A good way to streamline activities is to think about what the goal is, and then focus on narrowing down activities so they contribute towards the goal. It was easier for me to set my priorities once I knew my goal in the first place.
Oftentimes there are multiple items to complete on the agenda. Organize them in the order of importance. Realize that you can’t do everything all at the same time. Keep your focus on what’s most important. In simple words, knowing your priorities is as simple as getting the most important thing of the day done first. This is more easily done if you have a list of items organized in the order of importance for you.
This approach also allowed me to choose to say yes or no to certain activities. In fact, if you were afraid to say no to something, you will not be anymore. Focus on things that matter. There may be a conflict in your mind about what you really need to focus on. Take some time to think and weigh the benefits in each case. Narrow your objectives down then choose carefully. Every semester will bring change and re-organization, be prepared for it.
Knowing your priorities will take you to places you want to go…adding to your final goal.
BSN Prepared Nurses
Natalie Webermin is a Senior 2 in the BSN program and will be starting her preceptor assignment in the Fall 2012. Natalie was accepted into the School of Nursing’s Traditional BSN Program in Winter 2010. She started working at Beaumont in 2008 as a Nursing Assistant in the Nursing Resource Pool and now works in the Transplant- SICU as a Nurse Tech. She is a member of both SNAOU and The Dean’s Circle. When she graduates and puts some time in as an RN she would love to offer her time and new skills to teach clinicals for nursing students. In her free time she loves being with her friends and family, watch a good movie and for anyone that knows her well she loves to go out to eat!
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a new consensus report in 2010. It stated four new significant messages, one of which particularly caught my attention. This message was that “Nurses should achieve higher levels of education and training through an improved education system that promotes seamless academic progression” (The Future of Nursing, 1).
I know for me, it is easy to think that because we are in a BSN program that they must be referring to the new DNP programs, but we are wrong. The changes that are facing the profession today are in regards to the health system requiring a BSN degree for nurses.
In a second article that I read, it was noted that in 2008 only about 39% of our nation’s nurses held a four year bachelor’s degree. The article stated that with the new consensus report issued from the IOM they want to raise that number to 80% in about eight years. The pressure is not only on the Associate Degree nurses, but also on nursing schools to implement programs that are easy for nurses to go back to school and achieve the advanced education. The readings also informed me that many hospitals are not even considering applicants for positions without BSN degrees.
My point in this blog is that not only are we fortunate enough to have been accepted into OU’s School of Nursing program, but we are very smart to get our BSN degrees now. The BSN degree offers us the critical thinking skills rather than just the technical skills of nursing.
This degree allows us to look at the whole picture of our professional field: the family dynamics, patient safety, leadership in Nursing and evidenced based practice, just to name a few. Sometimes it is difficult to understand why we are learning certain topics but it will make more sense towards the end.
Trust me, after doing some research on this new topic, we will be very successful and happy that we achieved our BSN.
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