LSU Nurses Notes 3/2/14 LSU Health School of Nursing Transitioning to Practice Demetrius J. Porche, DNS, PhD, FAANP, FAAN As an undergraduate or graduate nursing student, you will be soon or in a few semesters entering the health care workforce environment at a time of health care reform. As you engage in your new professional nursing role as either a Registered Nurse (RN), Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), nurse educator, nurse executive or nurse scientist, you will be challenged with providing quality health care while maintaining economic efficiencies in a dynamic and changing environment. Once you have your license, there is an almost immediate expectation that you are to function in your new role in a competent manner. These expectations along with the dynamic and changing health care environment sometimes creates distress, emotional exhaustion, and decreased professional self-confidence. There are established reports citing that as many as 1/3 to 2/3 of new graduates change their place of employment within the first two years. In addition, other reports cite that as many as 1/3 of new graduates leave or consider leaving the nursing profession within three years of graduation. You have dedicated your time, energy, and financial resources to achieve the goal of graduating as a RN, APRN, nurse educator, nurse executive, or nurse scientist; therefore, you must not give up on this goal, it will be a wonderful career. However, you must prepare for this transition into practice. The Stages of Transition Model provides some guidance on what to expect in your transition. The model proposes the following stages: Initial - first 3 to 4 months is a period of time you should dedicate to adjusting, adapting to and accommodating the new realities of your work and personal life balance. During this phase you may experience some culture "shock" regarding the realities of the health care environment. Being emotionally aware of your feelings and debriefing with someone is critical during this phase. During this time, prepare to continue to be in a learning mode - continuing to learn nursing knowledge and skills, job expectations, levels of authority and responsibility etc; Stage 2 - occurs over the next 4-5 months, generally after the orientation period is over and you are alone without a preceptor. This period is characterized by the need to think rapidly and advance your knowledge and skill competency level. You become more aware of inconsistencies and inadequacies in the health care environment. During this stage, you must continue to be aware of your professional "self" or role and find balance between that professional role and your personal life. Generally, you are expected to function as an independent RN or APRN. During this time, it is good to consult and collaborate with experienced nurses. This consultation and collaboration builds your professional relationship and confidence. However, this consultation and collaboration should demonstrate that you are requesting advisement from a position of knowledge - don't continue to ask "dependent focused questions" during this time, ask a question but demonstrate that it is an informed question; and Dean s Notes continue on page 2 Demetrius Porche, DNS Professor and Dean
Lastly, the final stage occurs during the remaining period of your first year in practice. This period focuses on engaging in the larger nursing community, building relationships with coworkers, and reflecting on your "place" within the nursing profession. You will still be learning a tremendous amount, this is the period where you increase the depth of your knowledge not just the breadth of your knowledge. It is not uncommon at this time, even though you thought you would never go back to school, to begin considering other avenues or careers in nursing. This model only provides a framework for you to understand what you are experiencing. What you really want to avoid is the professional exhaustion and burnout along with transition shock. Some other helpful strategies during this time to assist with your transition are: Find a mentor and develop a mentoring relationship; Engage in reflective journaling; Develop your emotional intelligence skills; Exercise, it focuses your thinking, wards off negative thoughts and emotions; and Remember, we will always be here to support you, encourage you, and provide advisement to you as an alumni! 2
LSU Nurses Notes Ms. Tracie Gravolet joined us February 24 th as the Director of the Office of Student Affairs. Please feel free to stop by to meet her or call her at 504-568-4114 if you have any questions. Catherine Lopez, RN, DHEd Assistant Dean for Student LSUHSC School of Nursing LOGO Many of you have submitted requests for approval on items for sale that have different versions of the LSUHSC School of Nursing logo. This is the only approved LSUHSC School of Nursing logo. Please delete any other you may have. I wish all of you a safe and Happy Mardi Gras. 3
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LSU Nurses Notes LSU Health School of Nursing SNA Updates SNA Meeting Dates: SNA will be selling fleece, badge reels, and clipboards that are very helpful while in clinicals. March 10 th at 7 a.m. April 14 th at 7 a.m. February Donations: UPCOMING SNA EVENTS: 1. From February 10th until March 10th we will be collecting soap and deodorant for the Mahalia Jackson Childhood and Family Learning Center. It has been brought to our attention that many of the students there are having trouble with hygiene. Many of them do not have good direction from parents and/or cannot afford the products necessary for proper hygiene. Some of our nursing school students are doing clinical rotations there and would like to pass out soap and deodorant to these children. As usual, 8 is the magic number to earn one donation credit (8 deodorants, 8 soaps, or any mix of these equaling 8 products). Your donations will help the greater good. March Events: 1. Pawdi Gras- March 8 th 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. 2. Sunday, March 23rd LaSPCA s Dog Day Afternoon; Unlimited volunteers/bring-afriend event shifts from 7am-11am; 9am-1:30pm; or 1pm-5:30pm 3. Friday, March 28th Daughter s of Charity Keeping out Promises Gala 22 volunteers from 6pm-11pm 4. Saturday, March 29th Habitat for Humanity 25 volunteers from 7:45am-4:00pm 5. More information on the NICU sugar plum ball to come. 5
LSU Nurses Notes SGA Updates LSU Health School of Nursing We will be selling the SGA polo shirts and scrub jackets with our school logo on them. The Scrub Jackets are $30 and the Polo s are $25. Some sizes are available in the scrub jacket, however if we do not have your size preorders will be taken. Upcoming Sale Days: * March 10th 8 a.m.- 12 p.m. * March 24th 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. Upcoming SGA Events Meetings: March 10 th at 12 p.m. in MEB 15 April 7 th at 12 p.m. in MEB 15 (Officer nominations will be held) Crawfish Boil: April 5 th from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. 6
Solid Color hair ties are $1 and $2 dollars for ties with pattern or glitter. We are selling our short sleeve t- shirts "Top 10 Reasons Why I decided to go to Nursing School" for $18. Please contact either Caitlyn Blanchard (cblanc@lsuhsc.edu) or Catie Brown (cbro12@lsuhsc.edu). HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!!!!! ONLY 73 Days until Graduation!!! FRONT BACK Senior I Class Senior I s are selling there Mardi Gras t-shirts for $18. They also have a navy blue LSU t-shirt for $16 and a purple t-shirt for $20. Please e-mail Kaitlyn Moser if you are interested in buying any fundraiser items at kmoser@lsuhsc.edu. Front Back
Greetings JR IIs, Hope everyone is doing FANTASTIC!! We have made it to March, meaning two more months till SENIOR STATUS! March also means, dues are no longer $50. As of March 1, 2014, dues are now $60. We are still selling $30 White Sweatshirts, $10 tumblers, and $2 coozies. Your officers would like to wish each and every one of you a HAPPY MARDI GRAS! Please have fun but BE SAFE! You guys have a GREAT week! Junior I Class - Be on the lookout for more info about the Junior I class party! It's the last day of finals, so it should be a blast! BACK OF SHIRT- Above LOGOS ON FRONT OF SHIRT- LEFT - Don't forget, dues ($40.00) need to be given to the class treasurer by the day before Spring Break. There will be a $5.00 late fee after this date! - Finally, be on the lookout for Sale Day emails, we have plenty of LSUHSC parent t- shirts for sale! We have plenty or L to XXL in yellow and purple. Karen Rosenow Junior I Class Secretary LSUHSC SON
Hey everyone, We would just like to thank everyone who came and made the Sophomore I and Sophomore II class party a success. We will have some exciting new fundraiser items coming very soon. We hope that everyone has a fun and safe Mardi Gras Break! Thanks, Sophomore II Class Officers Sophomore I Class Class dues are $45 and are due April 30, 2014. You can pay by cash, check, money order, or cashier s check. Make all checks payable to Class of December 2016. SGA members will meet in the Atrium for 30 minutes on Mondays and Tuesdays after lecture. If you are a repeating SOPH I student and paid your dues last semester, you DO NOT need to pay class dues this semester. Remember that class dues cover a wide range of class events that will take place during our time at LSUSHC-SON. If you have any questions, or need to schedule a time to pay dues, contact Kevin France (kfra12@lsuhsc.edu). We will be accepting pre-orders for the Crawfish Boil t-shirts on March 6, 7 & 10. Shirts will be $18 and can be paid by cash or check. The t-shirt design will be posted soon. Please, contact Angie Vitrano (avitr2@lsuhsc.edu) or Sarah Vitaliano (svita1@lsuhsc.edu) for more information.
Happy Mardi Gras! The APRN Interview paper is due as well as our Gerontology exam on Friday. CARE XIII.
Is anyone interested in being tutored or tutoring someone else? If so, please send your request to SGASecretary@lsuhsc.edu and it will appear on this page in the next Nurses Note. If you would like to post something, please email SGAsecretary@lsuhsc.edu so that it will be on the next Nurses Notes.