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New and Old board meeting Monday 1130-1330 Murphy Conference Room 4th floor of Franz Hall.


Friday, April 17, 2009

Gene Cotton's "I am a Nurse"




Gene Cotton's "I am a Nurse" performed at the NSNA convention It don't get much better than that! ;)

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

Thursday, April 9, 2009

**READ THIS**IMPORTANT INFORMATION**FOR MAY GRADS**

Hey May Grads—
We’re almost done!! So naturally we have things to take care of ….
1. If you want a Pub Crawl shirt you MUST order one from us by FRIDAY APRIL 17th. Email upsna@up.edu with your size. Sm-XXXL available
2. Melissa is making a slide show for the roast. Please send your photos to upsna@up.edu The photos need to have our cohort in them and can be from clinical or from having fun! SEND them our way!!
3. The May celebration/roast is May 30th around 1400 keep your ears open for the exact time.
4. UPSNA will need help with making the roast of the professors happen. We have an idea for it but would welcome all of yours.
a. In order to accomplish our plan. PLEASE SEND US favorite quotes and stories from the professors!! Please make them Tasteful!!
b. Kathleen Bell
c. Karen Cameron
d. Lori Chorpenning
e. Darcy Copeland
f. Louisa Davis Sills
g. Susan Decker
h. Kari Firestone
i. Tricia Gatlin
j. Joanna Kaakinen
k. Lorette Krautscheid
l. Susan Moscato
m. Marie Napolitano
n. Mary Oakes
o. Chad O’lynn
p. Val Orton
q. Pamela Potter
r. Mary Beth Rosenstiel
s. Casey Shillam
t. Fran Simmons
u. Susie Stragnell
v. Linda Veltri
w. Diane Vines
x. Kaye Wilson-Anderson
y. Teri Woo
z. Elisa Majors
aa. Pat Alderman
bb. Barbara Bodine
cc. Kelly Margheim
dd. Emily Heuman
ee. Joanne Warner
ff. Carol Craig
gg. Anastatia Polyakov
5. HURST is doing a NCLEX review the week after graduation. The cost is $350 for a 4 day review. The class is interactive and taught by an RN with months of training in how to prep you for NCLEX. You can retake the class as many times as you need to and have full access to their resources and nurses to ask questions. Please email anna Vernon to RSVP and get details.
6. Video from Finance Workshop April 22nd 1800-2100 BC 310 The cost is $5. You will get to view the video and get a 6 pg outline of what we talked about. The Workshop was invaluable and comes HIGHLY Recommended--
“The financial workshop was great!! It was nice to go through the basics of finance and have the opportunity to ask questions. I really think that this should be offered every year. It's scary that we can graduate and get jobs without being aware of this information.” Kaylin Gaston
7. PINNING: We are wearing our graduation gowns with PROFESSIONAL attire underneath. Please go to the pinning website for information. http://nursing.up.edu/default.aspx?cid=9194&pid=209
I know this is a long email, but it’s ALL important information. Please send upsna@up.edu any questions comments or concerns.

Thank You, UPSNA