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Thursday, April 16, 2009

Greeting from Nashville, TN and the NSNA Convention

Hey guys!

Justus, Kaye Wilson-Anderson and I are in Nashville, TN for the National Student Nurses Association Convention! We are in the midst of 3,000 future nurses, nurse leaders, faculty and even assistants to the Surgeon General!

Last night the conference kicked off with thanking sponsors who put on this convention and giving special awards to deserving recipients. We then heard from Rear Admiral Carol A. Romano, PhD, RN, FAAN, Assistant Surgeon General, Chief Nurse Officer, US Public Health Service. The theme for the convention is "Making it Big, Nursing Students Stepping Up and Stepping Out. Dr. Romano challenged us as nurses to do exactly this Step up to the challenges we have and will face in our career and most importantly to step outside our comfort zones in our careers. Be the nurse that creates change, never settle for a no answer.

We hope to write on the blog daily while we are here and let you know what we're up to and why we're here.

Today we ended an exhibit hall with hundreds of Nursing Schools represented from all over the US as well as health care organizations looking for nurses to hire. There were tons of NCLEX prep companies represented and selling their products. The Army, Air Force, Navy, US Public Health Service and many more organizations were in attendance. This was a HUGE version of our Nurse Extravaganza. We picked up tons and I mean tons of information about hospitals that are "hiring" meaning probably, well maybe, we will hire in January, but don't worry its getting better! So for those of you graduating next year get ready and start looking into companies you may be interesting in working for. Applications for their internships are generally due before May graduates graduate. They do offer suggestions every time we stop and chat with them, which is nice :) Here they are: BE FLEXIBLE, TAKE WHATEVER YOU GET, but apply everywhere!, Write thank you notes for everything, Drop them off in person, Check in with nurse recruiters often and establish a relationship with them, they will be your advocate in the application process and most importantly know that things will get better and you can always move to a new job after this whole economy settles. Hospitals are reporting to us that at least 1/3 of their nurses are over 55, therefore it is key for them to hire new grads now and train them up in their system.

Secondly we went to a Pharm Made Extremely Easy focus session. We were singing songs about SIADH and learning about Anticholinergics with a picture of a guy sittin on the toilet strained saying "No pee, no see, no spit, no shit" I'd say I reinforced quite a bit in that hour class and got to laugh. I would recommend checking into their products!

A few stories. They eat fried apples for breakfast here. It's like eating the middle of an apple pie with no crust.... The hotel we are in is like a little town under a 9 acre glass ceiling! 15 acres in total. Last night we ended up at a very expensive restaurant in the hotel, so Justus ordered Lobster Bisque for $12. The guy brought it and a huge bowl only had 3 lil pieces of lobster and no soup. The look on his face-PRICELESS. The waiter then pulled out the soup part and dumped it in, but let me tell yea I was laughing and Justus was not impressed!

Well, we are off to see the town of Nashville tonight. More pictures, tips, stories, ideas to come tomorrow (or tonight who knows). Leave us comments or questions and we'll answer them or figure out the answer!



--Melissa

5 comments:

Kelsey L. said...

Hey guys! Sounds fun and very beneficial. You both look so slick! Have fun out on the town...I love Nashville! :)

Jason said...

Hey, thanks for the update. Sounds like the trip is going really well. :D

I'm curious: I googled "Pharm Made Extremely Easy" but didn't find anything that seemed to match. Would you be able to post a link at some point?

I lived in TN for a short time, and visited the Opryland Hotel a few times. Crazy place, eh?

ZigZags and Blossoming said...

Hey Jason I found it on amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/Pharmacology-Made-Insanely-Loretta-Manning/dp/0976102900

:) Hope that helps!

--Melissa

Jason said...

Oh, cool. Not sure how I missed that. :)

Thanks!

Anasofia said...

lol wish i could've seen justus' facial expression. i probably would've been outraged too hahaha