Event 5: Advice and Inspiration from a Second Career Nurse (Special Guest Edition)

00:00 All right. Well, I think we're going to go ahead.

00:03 I'm trying to see if the numbers are rising.

00:05 We're going to go ahead and get started and everyone will start coming into room.

00:09 So welcome to Lecturio nursing advice and inspiration from a second career nurse.

00:16 And this is from the classroom to the delivery room.

00:20 So how awesome is that? So we want to thank you all for being here again.

00:26 We know you have a lot of things to do.

00:27 There's 24 hours in a day you're sleeping, eight of them.

00:32 The rest if you're in school, you're studying.

00:35 Right. So I appreciate you dedicating an hour today to us.

00:39 If you have any questions, feel free to put them in the chat.

00:43 Um, and we will answer them.

00:44 I do have a team behind me who's answering the chat as we go along.

00:49 So if you have any tech issues, any questions, please put them in the chat and then we will, um, answer them as we go.

00:57 So and I'll tell you a little about how we're going to do this thing today.

01:01 So, um, and thank you all for, um.

01:05 Jumping in really quickly.

01:07 So let's go ahead and get started.

01:10 My name is Nicole Shinn, and I am responsible for Lecturio student engagement. And I am going to be your host today, although I am not a nurse.

01:19 Um, I have a lot of friends that are nurses and doctors, and, um, I've been working with nursing and med students for over ten years now, and so my heart is with the student.

01:33 I love working with students.

01:35 I love interacting with you all and just giving you some pep talks.

01:39 I'm really good at pep talks, so if you're ever on the edge, I can pull you off the edge.

01:45 Um, so that's my specialty of pep talks.

01:48 And then I want to, um, introduce you to Mrs.

01:54 Julie Pratt. So actually, Julie is a really good friend of mine.

01:58 I've known her for a very long time.

02:00 I remember when she started this journey, and so when we decided we wanted to do something to open up our community at Lecturio Nursing, we're really trying to build a community where we're adding value and giving you just some more resources, in addition to obviously, what we offer for our online resources, our video lectures.

02:21 But just having a community, having a safe space where you can ask questions and learn more, um, some of you may not have access to a practicing nurse, or you just want to hear from someone who's recently, um, graduated, even though it's been a little bit of time now. I can't believe how time has flown, but we want to do that.

02:43 Lecturio. And that's why we decided to do this event today, to give you full access to a practicing nurse and one a second career.

02:52 Obviously, that has its own Challenges, and so we thought it would be fun to do this event today, where you'll be able to ask the questions that you'd like to ask.

03:01 So that being said, I want to just give Julie a chance to say a couple things about her background, um, and about why she chose to be a nurse.

03:11 Hello, guys. How are you? Thank you for joining us.

03:15 So my name is Julie Pratt.

03:17 I'm a registered nurse.

03:18 So I began my professional career as a high school math teacher.

03:23 So when I hit like year, I would say like 7 or 8, I started thinking like, okay, you know what? I had two dreams when I started undergrad.

03:35 One was to go into healthcare and one dream was to work with children.

03:40 So initially I started out as a biology major.

03:44 So with taking all those sciences, I realized that, wait a minute, I think I want to do education first.

03:50 So that led me to teaching.

03:53 After teaching for a while, it hit me.

03:56 Hey, you're missing out on that passion that originally drove you into undergraduate, which was to go into healthcare, so decided to go back to school and become a registered nurse. So here we are.

04:09 And what made me chose the labor and delivery because that's where I currently work.

04:13 Uh, I always have a love for children and women and fuze that together.

04:20 And here you have it. Labor and delivery nurse for seven years.

04:24 Thank you. Julie. So that gives you a little bit of background.

04:27 We'll dig a little deeper, um, as we go through.

04:30 So of course, when you guys registered, um, we asked you to, to pose a question, ask Julie a question, and, um, and we had so many of them, hundreds.

04:41 So we did have to take them and kind of pare them down and get them focused to the most common questions. Um, so what we're going to do is we're going to present those questions.

04:51 Julie's going to answer those questions.

04:53 And then if you have any questions that you're thinking of, kind of from that question that we're we're presenting at the time, please feel free to put in the chat.

05:03 And then Julie will will answer those questions too.

05:06 So as we go along what we have some questions we already have, um, put together based on your registration questions.

05:14 But feel free to ask more questions as we go through the process.

05:18 And so we'll just kind of go through if we we have some backup questions just so you'll know. So if we get to where we run out of the questions we had scheduled, we have some backup questions just in case.

05:30 So let's go ahead and get started.

05:34 And let's start with question one.

05:38 So question one Julie, did your age affect your confidence.

05:42 And is it okay to start a challenging nursing career in your 40s.

05:47 So my age Did not affect my confidence.

05:52 One thing with a second career, you know, you're more focused and you're more driven. Now, what I can say when I did start my prerequisites because because it's a second career, my prerequisites were over ten years old.

06:06 So once your sciences and math are over ten years old, some things you have to retake.

06:11 Like one example is like anatomy and physiology.

06:15 So day one in anatomy and physiology I had to give myself a pep talk like, okay, make sure you sit in the front.

06:22 Make sure you acknowledge the professor.

06:25 After class, go up to the professor.

06:27 Introduce yourself. So I had to click back into that mindset of how I used to coach my high school kids. This is how you want to approach your first day of school.

06:37 So I had to do a little self-talk and pat myself up.

06:41 But overall, I felt confident and I felt fine with going back to school.

06:45 Um. And what to start a challenging nursing career in your 40s.

06:51 It's okay to start in your 40s.

06:53 It's okay to start in your 50s.

06:55 If you feel like you want to go back to school for whatever career, there is no age limit.

07:02 You do what you feel you want to do in your heart.

07:04 You have one life to live and it's okay to pursue your dreams.

07:09 There is no time stamp on that.

07:12 Nice. So we have a question from Tenille.

07:15 And the question is, is the stress unbearable at times as a nurse? Well, yes, because you're dealing with life and death.

07:24 It's not that it's unbearable.

07:25 Just sometimes it's okay to go in the corner and just take a deep breath.

07:30 Just take a deep breath, collect your thoughts and go back to what you're doing and that that will get you through.

07:39 Breathe in always helps.

07:40 Sometimes just pause, take a second and then go back to what you're doing. One. Perfect. Okay, so now the next question.

07:52 What was the most challenging part of nursing school and how did you study without distractions? So the most challenging part of nursing school, of course, was gathering all of the information.

08:06 I myself went to a nursing school part time, so that actually helped a little bit, you know, versus doing an accelerated program.

08:14 Because with the accelerated program, you are you're going, going, going. You have to really get that information in quickly.

08:22 So that was the challenging part for me, was just to get the information and understand how to take the test, because that's where a lot of nursing students kind of hit their little stumble when it's time to test, because it's one thing to read all the notes, but then you have to be able to apply it in the form of a question.

08:47 So you have to learn how to critically think.

08:49 So with mathematics, that's because that's my background.

08:53 It's kind of black and white. There are no real gray areas right.

08:56 There's no there's no human saying ouch.

08:58 That hurts with mathematics.

09:00 So that was, uh, something for me that was challenging and I had to overcome.

09:06 So how did I study without distractions? So, as you know from my bio, I am a mother of two and I have a husband and I have two dogs, so my house could be really busy.

09:18 So what I had to do was go to Panera Bread up the street.

09:22 Like all of the people that work there knew my name.

09:25 They're like, we got your corner.

09:27 So that's where I used to go.

09:28 I had my corner, I sit there, I get my food.

09:31 I gained a lot of weight and all those carbs.

09:34 But that's where I used to go to get away from everyone.

09:39 So I wouldn't have distractions.

09:41 Because the number one thing that was a no no for me, and I learned early on, was trying to study in my room, especially sitting in the bed, because when you sit in the bed and you're studying, you get comfortable and then you're going to fall asleep.

09:54 So I had to get out of my home in order for me to stay focused.

10:00 So that's how I was able to study without distractions.

10:03 Get out of that house.

10:05 So we have another question.

10:08 Um, do do you have to worry about bullies in nursing? Do you have to worry about bullies in nursing? No, I wouldn't say that.

10:18 You have to worry about bullies in nursing.

10:20 Um, the main thing is, is you want to make sure that you're just, you know, getting all the material that you need, you know, and being able to speak up for yourself.

10:32 If it's something that you don't understand.

10:34 So when we think about bullies, what I would say in a sense that, you know, sometimes you could kind of bully yourself in a sense where you feel like, oh, I don't want to ask that question.

10:47 I don't want to make everybody in the classroom say, oh my gosh, we already went over that two times.

10:54 Let them go over it a third time.

10:56 You know, get what you need from your class because it has to benefit you.

11:01 So that's how I would answer that, because that, that can that that kind of thing did happen in nursing school where people would get a little bit, you know, a little annoyed with people asking multiple questions. But, you know, you got to do what you have to do for yourself. We know nursing school is intense.

11:17 So that's an expense. So so we have another question.

11:21 How is, uh, the nurse practitioner job different than a bedside nurse? Well, when you are a nurse practitioner, nurse practitioner, they are. They're directing the care.

11:35 They're they're creating the care plans. They're directing the care. They are writing their prescriptions. Nurses can't write prescriptions. Nurses have to take the orders and then implement what it is the nurse practitioner wants to do, or the doctor, and in my case, the doctor or the midwife and a midwife or a nurse that has a specialty position. Thank you Julie.

11:55 That was awesome. Okay, so let's go to the next question.

11:59 How did you gain confidence as a new grad? So as a new grad, um, what I could tell you is once I got on the job, the way I started to gain my confidence was to attach myself to nurses that I saw that like, they had a good head on their shoulders.

12:17 They were very driven, you know, they're very friendly.

12:20 They're they're very willing to help.

12:23 Those are the type of nurses that I gravitated towards.

12:26 And they will they'll take you under your wing.

12:28 You're going to always find yourself when when your unit, whatever unit you choose to go into that there's going to be a nurse, there's going to be someone that's going to say, come here, tell me what you got going on.

12:38 And, you know, and that's your opportunity to really open up to them.

12:42 And they will help instill in you the confidence that you need.

12:45 Because you are a new grad, you know, you are tiptoeing around trying to figure it out. The confidence is not there.

12:52 But they once you get yourself attached to someone that is, uh, know what they're doing, that will really help to build your confidence as a new grad.

13:00 Nice, nice. Okay, so, Aubrey, Nicole has a question.

13:03 Did you try to work, um, in full time while in nursing school? Well, I was working full time.

13:10 I was a high school math teacher, so I basically, I felt like I had three jobs.

13:15 I was working as a high school math teacher.

13:18 I was in nursing school.

13:20 And then, of course, I have to come home and be with my husband and my children.

13:25 So, um, it was a little bit challenging at times, but I had to get a system in place.

13:33 I had to organize myself to be successful trying to do nursing school, which is a beast of its own, of its own and work.

13:41 You have to come up with some type of organizational system that's going to work for you, and you're going to have to block out the noise.

13:48 You're going to if you set if you set for the day, let's say, of Monday, you said, okay, when I get off work, I'm going to hit the books for two hours.

13:56 And you're going to turn your phone off. That's what you have to do.

14:00 You have to commit to whatever plan you put for yourself every day.

14:06 Okay, I like it, I like it, I'm a planner myself, so that makes sense. So we have a question.

14:13 Um, and I don't know, um, how well we'll be able to answer, but we will try. So if you get thrown out of accelerated aid, is it worth it to do, um, an LPN program? So I just want to say really quickly that we're not going to get kicked out because we're going to do everything we can to stay in.

14:34 But for a backup plan.

14:36 Julie, what if you get thrown out of your ADM program? Should you go and, um, go into LPN program? Well, if you have any type of hardships where you are, uh, having to, let's not say kicked out, but if you, you know, if something happens where you have to stop the accelerated program, then you want to go and talk to your advisor and see if your advisor could place you in, uh, on a different track, maybe go into sit out a semester or two and then restart accelerated, or go down to just the traditional or see if you could get into part time.

15:15 If your school has a part time, uh, program.

15:17 But always talk to your advisor first like, you know, let them guide you. You know, sometimes it's not necessary that you have to just change your whole scope and go to LPN.

15:27 Uh, there we did have, uh, students when I was in school that they both ways, they started out part time and then they were able to move up to accelerate it. And then we had those that were in accelerated program, and it just started being a little bit too overwhelming for them.

15:43 So they had to come down to a regular full time or come down to part time, because life happens when you're in nursing school.

15:51 All kind of things happen.

15:53 So sometimes accelerated just is not the thing for you.

15:57 But a lot of schools, they make provisions because they understand, you know, that life happens and they can help you out with that instead of just going to LPN. Great answer. Great answer.

16:09 So Michelle, um, wants to know, did you always meet deadlines with assignments? Um, and if not, what advice could you give to, uh, to keep keep on top of things when juggling family life, etc.? So for me, um, I always met my deadlines And what I had to kind of do is kind of like lie to myself in a sense that when if something was due, let's say on a Friday, I had to tell myself it was due on Wednesday.

16:40 So I had to build in little, um, tactics to compensate for my sometimes not so much punctuality per say.

16:51 So that is something that I had to do for myself.

16:53 If it's due Friday, in my head, it's due Wednesday.

16:56 And that way I know I had myself covered.

17:00 I like it, I like it. And so we have another question from Tennille to know do not do not be afraid to ask questions.

17:07 That's why we're all here today.

17:08 So we love it. We love it.

17:11 Um, and so her question is, um, I'm just trying to read here and get to the stem of the question.

17:22 Do you recommend working full time as a teacher and go to nursing school or, um, take a reduced paying job as a nurse and go to nursing school at the same time.

17:34 Okay, so whatever your job, you know, whatever job you choose or whatever field you're in, um, you know, you could you could juggle that.

17:44 It's not per se that you have to just be a teacher, because to be a teacher is so much involved.

17:48 That's a four year degree.

17:51 So it's and it's a lot involved with being a teacher.

17:54 Um, but you know, any job that you have, you could balance that with nursing school.

18:02 You know, just hopefully the job that you have, if you're doing a, say, a part time program, that they have it where you don't have to work weekend hours, because usually if you are a part time nurse, your clinicals are done on the weekends.

18:14 So you kind of got to have a primary job that keep your weekends pretty free if you're doing part time. And I know with a full time and accelerated like your clinicals.

18:24 They could sometimes be in the week or the evening and also but they also on the weekend as well. But I know sometimes the school that I went to, sometimes the clinicals will be in the evening and the week.

18:34 So it's just a matter of of the primary job you have if it, uh, works with nursing school or, you know, if maybe you have to probably work part time or, you know, talk to your boss to see if they could like, you know, be flexible with your schedule so that you could accommodate nursing school.

18:53 Perfect. She's actually a teacher.

18:55 Um, okay. So. So do you have something in common? So, yes. Makes perfect sense.

19:03 It makes perfect. Yeah. And, Ryan, I was in high school, so in high school, you're out at 240.

19:08 So it gave you. You had a lot of time.

19:11 I know I I'm always amazed at how early high school students get out, so. Exactly, exactly. Well, my friends that are bankers and attorneys, they're still at work at five.

19:23 I'm home with my feet up.

19:24 Exactly. You're at home studying? Yeah. So my feet up and studying.

19:29 Yes. Of course. So Rashawn has a question.

19:31 I think. Rashawn, we might have this something similar to this coming up, but we're going to go ahead and address it now, and then we'll just add on to it. So, um, what's your favorite thing about being a nurse, Julie. My favorite thing about being a nurse is caring for my patients and nurturing them.

19:48 Because I'm in labor and delivery.

19:50 You have these first time moms that they are terrified.

19:54 They don't know what to expect.

19:56 They don't really understand what's going on.

19:58 And, you know, as their labor room nurse is my job to to help, to build their confidence, to ease their anxiety and to coach them along the way, giving them informed information about their care and just being there for them when they ultimately deliver their baby.

20:17 So you have the mom crying, the dad crying.

20:19 I'm wiping my eyes because everybody's so happy and like we did it.

20:23 It's like a group effort. So it's like I go to work and I'm like a cheerleader with scrubs on. So that's that's what I love about being a nurse.

20:32 I can't say like, I remember when I had my daughter that my husband was all in the way, all in the incubator and all.

20:38 But the nurses were always so nice and just, you know, just made you not necessarily want to have another one, but you felt comfortable while you were there.

20:49 So I really do appreciate I really do appreciate that.

20:53 Um, okay, so Misty would like to know, do you have any, um, memory tactics for, uh, nursing school? Being that she's an older student, um, she's 38, I think that's quite young.

21:08 Yes, it is. It's very young, Misty.

21:10 I would love to be 38 right now.

21:12 I remember 38. So. But any any quick tips? Um. For Misty as she's going through this process.

21:21 Oh, yes. So fortunate for me.

21:25 I had a friend that we went to nursing school together, and we used to come up with, like, the most silliest things that help us remember some of the information.

21:37 Like it literally would like make no sense to anyone else, but it would make us laugh and for some reason connecting laughter to certain topics.

21:46 It would help us to remember.

21:48 So when you're trying to when like let's say if you're studying for a test, you know, just just find fun little things to put, uh, with, with the topics that you're studying.

22:00 And I guarantee it will help you to remember.

22:04 And I know, like, one, uh, one topic, uh, we had something with gastrointestinal and, uh, our professor, he used to, he would say stomach. So for some reason, Whenever you're talking about gastrointestinal, we say the stomach.

22:19 We just. It'll just click.

22:20 We'll just start remembering things.

22:22 So try to keep it fun.

22:24 Like try to take the edge off.

22:25 Don't make it so serious for yourself all the time.

22:29 I like that it reminds me of, um, I had a nursing instructor that I used to work with that would always say you should, never should on your patients.

22:39 So never say should this, you should do this.

22:41 You should do that. And I always stood out.

22:44 Yeah, yeah. You find you find different little fun things to say.

22:48 And again and it makes you remember.

22:50 And it could be the goofiest thing but.

22:53 But it's stick even if you're not in nursing school.

22:56 Yes, yes, this is true.

22:57 This is true. So, um, Karen would like to know, how did your husband support you during, during, um, while you were enrolled in nursing school? Um, and what are some tips to keep your marriage intact? Well, my husband, he supported me by.

23:13 He had to, like, basically just, you know, he was always involved with our kids, but just like be more involved, like, you know, so when I would come home from studying, studying, he would have dinner ready.

23:25 You know, he would. Oh, I already gave the kids their baths. So he just stepped up to stepped up a little bit more to really help out.

23:32 And I'm one of those moms that I got to be involved with everything.

23:36 I had to let go of the reins and allow myself to let him help me, because that becomes a hard part.

23:45 You know, you're so used to doing everything you have to sometimes just take a step back and allow someone to give you that help.

23:51 And what was the other part of the question, Nicole? Oh, just how keeping your marriage intact going through this process.

23:56 Oh, well. Well, going through the process for me to help to keep my marriage intact, I even though I was so focused on school, I had to set aside time for date nights.

24:08 Date nights still got to happen.

24:10 You know, you still got to do those little things. You know. I love Panera Bread. I bring them one of their little cookies because you like the cookies. I want to.

24:20 Eat the eat the cookie together.

24:22 So, you know, you got to do those little things to make them feel special and to let them know that you appreciate them.

24:28 Because sometimes you can just go, go, go, go, go.

24:30 And you kind of lose track of that, you know? So you got to let them know that I appreciate you.

24:35 I see you and I appreciate you.

24:37 I like that, I like that Margaret would like to know how did you deal with distractions like social media and watching TV? Well, when I would go to Panera Bread in my little corner, I used to give myself, um, a little time that I would carve out, like, okay, this is your amount of time.

24:56 You got 20 minutes or 15 minutes to look at whatever.

24:59 You're going to look at, text, whatever you're going to text. And then I sit, phone goes on vibrate, phone goes in the bag.

25:06 So I had to do that because you have to break up the monotony of just study, study, study. But I had to put myself on a timer.

25:14 So what I could say there, there are trips that I missed out on.

25:17 I missed out on a trip to Puerto Rico.

25:19 I missed out on a trip with my friends to Orlando.

25:22 I missed out on a couple things, but I had to tell myself that Puerto Rico will be there. Orlando will be there and night out with my friends for some drinks that will be there. It's not going anywhere.

25:37 You know, I had to put nursing first and she did believe me, she did. She did. So, um, Michelle would like to know, were you always happy with the assignments you submitted, or did you just submit, um, due to the deadline? Well, when you're submitting your assignments, like, your assignments are going to reflect you, um, in my nursing program, sometimes your Lecture your person who will give you Lecture was, uh, who did your clinical rotations, but not always. And you know, when you're building a relationship with your clinical rotations, with your with your teacher, and then you're also building a relationship with your teacher in the classroom.

26:18 So you want to always try to put your best foot forward.

26:21 You always want to try to, you know, take your time when you're doing your assignments because your assignments, what you put together, that's that's reflecting you as a person.

26:30 So you always want to try your best.

26:32 That's the advice I'll give you.

26:34 I like it. So Carol, I see your question.

26:36 We're going to move on to the next slide, and then we'll jump into your question just to, um, make sure we get to all the questions we have assigned.

26:44 So we'll do this question and then we'll go to Carol. So what did you wish you knew before graduating from nursing school? Excellent question. What I wish I knew I wish I knew in the clinicals setting to be more up front, be more hands on, Volunteer like just get more involved and be seen more by the staff.

27:12 Because what was happening after nursing school, we had a couple of our nurses, a couple of our students.

27:19 They already got job offers without applying at all.

27:22 And how did they get that? Because they were actually auditioning while they were doing their clinicals.

27:29 And it's like, I wish I thought about that.

27:31 I was so busy trying to be so focused and very nervous about being there that I didn't think about that. And so my message to you all while you're doing your clinicals, get involved. If the nurse manager is there, go.

27:43 Hello. How are you doing? I'm Julie Pratt.

27:45 Nice to meet you. I'm here with my class.

27:47 And, you know, just introduce yourself, talk to the nurses, talk to the charge nurses. Be involved.

27:53 Oh, I need someone to help with such and such. Oh, I got that. I'll help you.

27:56 I'll go do that. Like, be very involved.

27:59 Let those nurses know who you are.

28:02 Because I guarantee they will offer you a job.

28:07 I like it, I like it. So Kerr wants to know.

28:10 Carroll is 60, has raised three sons.

28:14 Bless you. Boys are hard up and always wanted to be a nurse.

28:20 Um, and so basically she's asking since everything with the pandemic and lockdown life adjustments, would she still be welcome as a student and nurse? Even. And I don't like the word even LPN because we need LPN, we need we need all nurses.

28:36 So but even as an LPN, absolutely all hands on deck, the more the merrier. Your age doesn't define when you stop dreaming.

28:47 If you're alive to dream, then the sky's the limit.

28:50 You keep going. If nursing is what you want to do, you do it. I totally agree, I totally agree.

28:57 So please, Carroll, please pursue your dream.

29:00 We need you. We have a nursing Yeah.

29:03 We need you. We need you.

29:05 Wherever you're comfortable.

29:08 So Bob has a question.

29:09 Is it advisable to take the RPN first for two years or straight for four years? And which exams are easier? Um. What exactly? What is he? Um. That's what I was.

29:24 Yeah. Um, so it looks like.

29:27 Maybe it looks like maybe.

29:28 Bob, you're talking about maybe being going to an ASN associate in nursing versus, like, a bachelor in nursing. You think? Or maybe I think maybe.

29:37 Does he choose to do Penn and then do a bridge with RN, or does he go straight and do a BSN? Well, um, the way I'm interpreting the question, um, some people choose to get their associate in nursing and just start working so they could start working, because you could work as a registered nurse with an associate and then after working for a year or two or however long some nurses, they'll go back to school and get their bachelor's degree in nursing.

30:08 So that that that does happen, you can do that, you know. But if you're a person that you already have degrees, like you already have a bachelor's degree, like I have a bachelor's degree in mathematics, I have a master's degree in leadership and organization.

30:22 And that degree is more to be like a principal.

30:25 So for myself, getting my associate was enough for me to be able to work.

30:31 So it just turns into, you know what? If you don't have a bachelor's and if that's your goal to get a bachelor's, and if you know you want to go into upper management, you know that that will be your track.

30:41 But an associate degree in nursing is enough for you to start working and address as far as exams easier. Um, the peon versus the RN, there's a different scope of practice.

30:54 So it's really not kind of apples to oranges because the scope of practice for MN versus MN is different. Um, so it just depends on what you feel and what your heart leads you to. So but great answer Julie I love it.

31:09 Okay. So now Kevin. Um, Kevin is 33 year old second career student biology major. Um, in the US and we we are talking about, um, US programs and worked as a human resource manager for Home care hospice and decided to study abroad and currently a third year BSN student, a popular international school in Southeast Southeast Asia.

31:40 Um, do you have many foreign educated nurses as coworkers? Uh, actually, I wouldn't say a lot, but I do have some.

31:50 I do have some, uh, coworkers that are foreign educated.

31:53 Yes, I do. I would say two, us as a patient, I would say that also to, um, it really depends on what area, what region you're in too.

32:04 I think to depending on, um, where you may see a higher population of, um, foreign educated nurses.

32:13 So it just depends on where you where you live, where you are, where you're working. Right.

32:18 Yeah. What we have in labor and delivery, we, uh, had some nurses. It was two in particular that I know of that they in their country, where they're from, they were they were midwives.

32:28 But once they came over to the US and they had to go back to school and, um, because they couldn't their midwife and their midwifery degree didn't transfer over here, so they had to go back to school a registered nurse.

32:40 Yep. Perfect. Alright.

32:43 Um, now, were you able.

32:46 This is from Bob. Were you able to work some other jobs during your schooling? I am 39. Well, I mean, I worked as a high school math teacher, so that was my main job, my main bread and butter.

33:00 And then did nursing school part time.

33:01 So yes, you can now if you're trying to do the accelerated program, accelerated program, it'll be very hard.

33:08 What I saw from different students that I would talk to, it was very hard for them to try to work full time and do the accelerated program.

33:14 It was almost impossible.

33:16 I mean, there where there's a will, there is a way, but I just know it was very difficult and quite a few of them had to just quit their job. When they did the accelerated program, full time program, they were still able to work like in the evenings, but accelerated.

33:29 They had to, you know, something had to go.

33:31 They couldn't do both. And I'll add in, too.

33:34 I know some programs won't allow you to work.

33:36 So when you're admitted through admissions, they'll say that because they know it's an intense program and that yeah, that they that they know it'll be hard to to slice up that 24 hours.

33:49 So great great great. So we have another question.

33:55 Are there fun opportunities as a nurse like invitations to parties, prizes, awards, uh, opportunities to travel as a traveling nurse? Well, um, as well. Now, because of the pandemic, like, uh, travel nursing is like on the rise.

34:11 It is like the big thing to do.

34:14 So there are travel nursing assignments in every specialty in nursing, even as, uh, even for med surge, every, uh, aspect there is opportunities for travel nursing. Um, different um, agencies have their own type of incentives for signing on with them.

34:32 So that's just, you know, independent to the agency.

34:36 Nice, nice. So, um, and we're going I'm going to come back to your question.

34:40 We're going to go to the next question in the deck, and then we'll, um, come back to your question.

34:46 How do you find your first job as a new nurse? So, um, going back to what I said, uh, first thing you want to do to help yourself so you don't have to go.

34:59 The route that I went is definitely put your foot propel yourself and your clinicals.

35:05 Let the staff know who you are.

35:06 Let them see you in action.

35:08 That will really that could possibly help to shorten your time in looking for a job.

35:13 Um, when I thought I finished nursing school, it took me quite a while.

35:16 It took me, like almost ten months to find a job.

35:19 Um, because when you're doing your application and you put less than one year, you know, that that could that could create a little hesitancy with the employer, because a lot of times they they at that time, I would say that they were looking more for nurses that already had some experience.

35:36 They were ready to hit the road and go.

35:39 Now, what I'm finding because there's such a shortage, uh, being a new nurse and, you know, with no experience, it's it's, um, it's more welcoming now in this current day.

35:52 Uh, they have a lot of programs.

35:54 Where in the hospitals where they they want a new nurse, and they are putting you in these classes.

36:00 So why are you. Why are you working as a nurse? You have to go to classes and they train you.

36:04 It's a little bit more intense.

36:06 And, uh, that just helps to foster and create a better nurse.

36:10 So now those programs are way more available than when I first started as a nurse.

36:16 I like it, I like it. I apologize Armando, I did not have I don't have my glasses on and it looked like an so I apologize.

36:24 So Armando is asking, can we expand on the, um, the idea of scope of practice, the difference between RN and P.n.

36:33 So if you like to, Julie, explain the difference between the scope of practice for RN. Well P a practical nurse and then you have a registered nurse.

36:42 So a registered nurse is going to be able to um, like I said, to pass, um, to be able to pass more medication and, uh, versus a practical nurse.

36:56 Fantastic. Okay. Let's see.

37:01 Um, so Karen would like to know, did you apply for multiple licensure, and if so, how difficult was it? Uh, no, I did not apply for multiple licensure.

37:11 I did not, um, because I initially I didn't have any intent of traveling, like, um, a lot of nurses now that are like, once they get their experience and they decide that they want to travel, then they try to apply in California and apply in other states that they want to, uh, practice. But for me, because I had a young, young kids, I mean, they're older now, but when I had young kids, like, my focus wasn't to be to travel, it was just to stay local.

37:40 I like it, and I would suggest to if you do, there are in the US compact states that interchange the licensing.

37:48 So just, um, look at your board of nursing that you're interested in and just see what the qualifications are and the criterias are if you're interested in that.

37:57 So before we go into we're going to move on to the next slide to the next question. And then we'll catch up with some of the questions in the chat. What do you like about being a labor and delivery nurse.

38:07 So we answer the question earlier.

38:08 What do you like like about being a nurse.

38:11 But what do you like about being a labor and delivery nurse? Yeah, yeah, I kind of I'll go back over it.

38:17 Kind of like we covered it.

38:18 But I love to coach my new moms and to help them, uh, a lot of times they are full of anxiety.

38:26 They're scared. They, you know, they they do their best to try to read and understand what's going on.

38:31 So they're not completely in the dark, but just as, uh, the labor nurse, I'm there to encourage them, to educate them and to be their big cheerleader and to help them to ultimately deliver their baby. So nothing gives me more satisfaction than.

38:47 Working with the moms, and especially moms, that they're having a difficult time. And sometimes doctors come in and they start saying that C-section Word.

38:56 And we're like, no, we don't want any C-sections. We want vaginal delivery.

39:00 So. Nothing gives me more joy than helping the moms, uh, to be able to go into.

39:07 Different positions, you know, for as far as for pushing to to have that that. That baby with the vaginal through vaginal delivery.

39:14 That warms my heart. The most.

39:16 And like I said, like, the mom is crying.

39:18 Dad's crying. I'm tearing up.

39:21 That is the highlight of my day when I go to work.

39:24 I like it. Now, this might be Michelle had this question and it might we might have kind of touched on it just now.

39:29 But how did you decide on being a labor and delivery nurse? So maybe that was it. Okay.

39:36 Well, from from myself, um, being a teacher, you automatically are.

39:41 You're a you're a nurturer.

39:43 You're a giver. You're an educator.

39:45 And for myself, I knew I wanted to work with women and children.

39:51 Initially, I wasn't sure in what capacity.

39:53 I just knew what I wanted to do.

39:55 And that is something for nursing school.

39:58 While you're going through the process and doing all your different clinicals, start thinking, is this something that I would want to do long term? The particular area that you're in during your clinical rotation? So for me, I knew that I loved to work with, uh, with women, you know, pro women.

40:20 So that so that's what that's what made it easy, a easy choice for me for labor and delivery.

40:28 Nice. Okay. Did did blood make you queasy at first? How did you get over it? No, actually, uh, blood never made me queasy.

40:38 Crazy. I never had a problem with blood. And that's like the number one thing when people say to me like, oh my God, you went back to school to be a nurse.

40:45 That didn't blood make you queasy? That is like the top question.

40:49 And no, it never did. Now what? What did make me queasy when I was in nursing school was, um. When you. Mucus, mucus, mucus.

41:01 That is what made me queasy.

41:02 Not not blood. I could see blood.

41:04 I could see tissue. I could see anything.

41:09 Mucus. You kind of answered.

41:11 The next question is, how did you deal with other body fluids? So mucus is number one that you can't deal with? Yeah. No, your mucus was that was hard to get by I mean eventually because, you know, you have to do it. You gotta get to where you say, okay, I'm going to confront my fear and I'm going to deal with this mucus.

41:33 But initially I was terrified of mucus, but we did go get past it.

41:40 And, you know, here we are.

41:42 And that's why I so appreciate all of you, that even if you're just considering a nursing career. Because that's the part I have a hard time with.

41:50 So I like working with nursing students so that I can still kind of, um, have some kind of exposure and interaction.

41:58 But those that's the part that, um, it's hard for me.

42:01 So as a patient. So that's why I'm so appreciative that you all have chosen this career. So our next question is, do you give a starter pack to new parents? Well, yes, a part of that admission, uh, paperwork.

42:16 Um, moms, they get a packet, and that packet talks to them about breastfeeding. It talks to them about infant care.

42:23 It talks to them about the changes that their body is going to be going through, uh, after they deliver, um, signs to look for, uh, if they are developing, um, Pre-eclampsia.

42:36 Um, they're developing pre-eclampsia symptoms.

42:40 So a lot of times people think pre-eclampsia symptoms just happen while you're pregnant.

42:43 Sometimes after you deliver, you can start to have issues with your blood pressure going up, having dizziness, seeing stars.

42:51 So if you're bleeding too heavy, like, uh, the let them know about their lochia. That's what we call it the bleeding.

42:57 After they deliver how it's supposed to start to gradually decrease.

43:01 So, um, that's the kind of packets that they get, the kind of information that they receive.

43:06 And while they're admitted, it's constantly educating, constantly educating throughout the whole labor process.

43:11 And once they are delivered and get transferred to postpartum constantly, uh, educating them as well and, uh, going through, assessing them and telling them if, hey, if you start feeling like you're really sad, if you're, you know, feeling like you can't stop crying, you know, you want to let someone know because postpartum depression is very real.

43:32 It is it is very real.

43:33 It is very real. So, um, we're kind of going we're going a little bit back to nursing school, but how did you, Margaret, like to know? How did you study and retain what you read? Well, for me, with studying, I used to make up, uh, little jingles and little songs and, um, that that's a way that I, um, would approach studying, uh, anything to try to keep it fun.

44:00 You know, have, like, music playing in the background because I have to have a little distraction if it's, like, too quiet, like, you have to figure out what works for you. And if you're a person that you need silence, then you know, that's what you you give yourself. Don't don't change what you feel that you need.

44:13 For myself, for for some reason, I like to hear like when I would be in Panera Bread, I like to do a little people watching, hear the hustle and bustle, the moving around.

44:24 For some reason that helped me to focus.

44:26 Sounds bizarre, but you know, I figured out that that's what I needed because when I would try to study by myself and alone, I would just get, I don't know, I would start to stare off.

44:37 And then what also helped as well in nursing school is to introduce yourself to some of your classmates. Even if you're online, just just reach out and talk and meet people because it's better to have study groups when you're in nursing school, when you're trying to do it alone, it makes it makes your road a little challenging. And being in a group really, really will aid you and help you to retain the information, because other people, you're going to always be able to learn from other people, and other people are going to always have different tactics and tricks, and that you could apply to help you retain information.

45:14 Nice, I like it, I like it.

45:16 So what other alternative fields did colleagues, um, did your colleagues pursue other than bedside care? Uh, well, I had, um, well, as far as my colleagues or my other classmates, I can say.

45:32 My classmates say classmates.

45:34 Yeah, yeah. So I would say like other classmates, I had one that, uh, she actually.

45:40 And I didn't even know this was a thing.

45:42 She is a, um, an insurance fraud investigator, and she was wanted to get a promotion.

45:50 And the promotion, you had to have a registered nurses license, and you're not even in the bedside.

45:57 I literally did not know that that was a thing.

46:01 And, uh, that's what she did.

46:03 And then I know another person who they worked in, uh, health insurance. And again, for a promotion, you had to have a registered nurse license.

46:11 You had to be an RN. But you're not nowhere ever touching a a patient.

46:17 You're not doing any bedside care.

46:19 But for that particular promotion, you had to be a registered nurse.

46:23 That's very interesting.

46:25 It's very. Yes it is. Yeah.

46:27 So Christine would like to know, is it true that more experienced nurses are not nice to the new nurses? No. Christine? No, no.

46:42 You know what? What? I could tell you it's a different culture if you're working in a teaching hospital versus, you know, a private hospital like my hospital where I work is a teaching hospital. So you always have all kind of students there all the time. So, like, we're you you're you're that's the culture.

47:00 You're always educating, helping, saying, come on with me.

47:03 Let me show you. I'm getting ready to do. I'm going to put in a Foley catheter. Have you ever done that before? Like we that's our mindset because of the type of culture at my hospital.

47:11 So so no, we're always nice.

47:13 And that's that's true and honest answer.

47:16 We're always nice, always inviting, willing to help.

47:19 Because guess what? There was a day where that was me, the new person that don't know what they're doing.

47:26 And even though you passed your test, got the job, when it's time for you to to take that, to do that first task at hand, you're like, oh my goodness, I hope I'm doing this right.

47:38 You know that that's going to be you. So always, always, always, guys, once you become a nurse and get into your into your field, always remember that was once you you were once that new grad that is so self conscious of your skills.

47:56 I like it so in the interest of time because we're getting so we're getting so many great questions. These are great questions.

48:03 Um, but in the interest of time, we're going to take three more from the chat.

48:07 And then unfortunately, we'll have to cut it off just so we can finish on time. But, um, we appreciate the interaction and just having so many wonderful questions that are, um, really intriguing and interesting.

48:19 So, um, just so you'll know, we're going to do three more from the chat.

48:22 And then if you have any questions later, feel free to.

48:26 I'll have a slide. You can always email us at Lecturio.

48:28 So the next of the last of the three is, um from Raven.

48:33 How do you feel with doctors that make you feel like you don't know anything because you are a nurse and not a doctor? Well, um, honestly, yeah.

48:44 Sometimes doctors could, you know, it's that they could be a little bit much, you know, sometimes.

48:52 But what I could tell you, Raven, is don't take it personal.

48:56 Do not take it personal.

48:58 You know, you you receive your orders, you go and you know and do what you need to do. You know, sometimes doctors are just like nurses.

49:05 You could be, you know, overstressed.

49:07 You could be overworked. It could be, you know, outside factors that's happening.

49:11 So what I would tell you is do not take it personal, you know, unless it's something where you feel like, you know, the the doctor is berating you or something more extreme and, you know, then you go, of course, to your charge church nurse and go up your chain of command.

49:23 But you know, doctors, they can be.

49:25 Some of them can be a little a little harsh.

49:28 But you know, you don't don't take it personal.

49:30 You know, ultimately they're there to to take care of the patient.

49:33 They want to see the patient do well.

49:35 And ultimately that's what you want as well. So believe it or not, you kind of on your own. Definitely on the same page on the same team.

49:42 That's right, that's right, that's right. So do from Chanel.

49:45 Do you, um, do you do a lot of charting and do you find it to be time consuming or tedious? Uh, well, yes, we yes, you do a lot of charting.

49:56 And, um, with the charting you, you're charting in a way that you are kind of. I don't want to say defending yourself, but you want to make sure that you are covering every aspect of, of what's going on with that patient.

50:10 Because what you are doing as a nurse, you're like a storyteller.

50:15 You got to tell that story.

50:16 You got to build that big picture.

50:18 You are really the eyes and ears for the doctor.

50:21 So you want to make sure that if a doctor goes in and look at the notes, because they don't just look at their notes, they rely on their nurses as well.

50:29 Especially where I am in labor and delivery.

50:32 Like you're making a lot of decisions like those doctors are really relying on you to paint that picture so that they know how to proceed with the care.

50:40 So yes, there could be a lot.

50:42 Yes, it can be a lot of charting at times, but you get accustomed to it because you know that those doctors are depending on you to be their eyes and ears.

50:52 I like it. And so our last question is, Shawn, I hope I didn't mess that up, I apologize.

50:59 Um, I am thinking about investing three years of my life, um, with over 130 K for a BSN through a private school.

51:07 Um, I'm sometimes not sure this is the right path.

51:11 What is your advice? Well, my my advice is to you as, um, go and look around for multiple, look at different schools and look at the price of different degrees.

51:25 Because one thing I want to let you guys know, you know, sometimes we get so hung up on Ivy League schools or, you know, schools that got the best reputation.

51:35 And at the end of the day, if the school is an accredited school, then and that's what that's what you need.

51:43 You said ultimately you have to just be able to pass your NCLEX because you could go to an Ivy League school and still not pass your NCLEX.

51:51 If you don't pass your if you don't pass your your boards, you cannot be a nurse.

51:57 So $130,000 degree versus going to a community college and getting a $20,000 degree. You know, you have to if you don't pass your boards, you're not going to be a nurse. So it kind of like, you know, it kind of really, I would say use that $130,000 For some other things, you know, take a little bit, find a school that's accredited and and just focus on, you know, passing your, your test, getting the knowledge you need to pass your license, your test. Again, $130,000 school versus a $20,000 school.

52:30 It's not going to take away anything from our end, because at my job, that's what we see.

52:37 People who went and got $100,000 degrees, they are in and they're sitting side by side with me, who didn't pay anywhere near that much for my degree.

52:50 So thank you so much, Julie.

52:52 I really appreciate it.

52:54 Um, and I'm, I'm sure everyone who's in attendance does too.

52:58 We I am I am so thrilled at the interaction and the questions because these questions were great questions and very, very thoughtful questions.

53:09 So we really do appreciate that because it just made it all worthwhile for everyone.