RN-BSN online survival guide

Nurses with their BSN in Nursing have a responsibility to provide leadership in their workplace. This leadership may be formal or formal. Your online RN to BSN degree can help you with leadership skills. Nursing leaders offer a unique perspective of patient care AND cost effectiveness of that care. Whether your facility is a magnet designated facility, aspiring to become one, or not, as a nursing leader you are in a position to advocate for quality patient care. You have the patient care expertise, and a new cadre of leadership skills to positively affect health care and its associated outcomes. Key skills to put to use are: change management, conflict management, collaboration, and communication. The "BSN" behind your name wields power with the information you carry. Use these leadership skills, and nurses can make a difference!

"The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails." - John Maxwell.

For more information go to: http://sxu.edu/academics/colleges_schools/son/under_programs.asp

Dr. Maggie

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Updating Your Resume as an RN to BSN Online student

If you have not done so already, get your resume updated and formatted to handle the electronic recruiting tools now used by human resource departments everywhere. A resume is best at one page long regardless of your time in the nursing profession. The resume describes your education, work history, and other relevant experience in bullet points. Many large employers now have computers that scan resumes for keywords, and these computers do the screening of the numerous applicants before an actual person even sees the resumes.

Most positions require online applications or electronic submission of a resume. In order to keep your resume from being rejected by screening software, it must be one page long, with a lot of "white space". Use only plain sans serif font, no bold, italics or underlining.

Here is a Web site for samples. http://www.nursing.umich.edu/about-our-school/computing-technology/electronic-portfolios/nursing-resumes-portfolios Look at the overall template in these examples, but be sure to use plain font in your own resume.

Begin the resume with a one sentence statement of your career goal for a position. Next, develop a table of 3 or 4 columns and 2-3 rows that lists all of your skills, especially those related to the position for which you are applying. Work experience should be next. List your employer, position, and time frame in that position. Then, using bullet points, list your accomplishments during that position. The listing of accomplishments is different than listing job responsibilities so be sure to focus on what awards, projects, etc. occurred while in the position. If the accomplishment was basic patient care, try to include things like patient satisfaction scores related to the care provided. Next, list education, and include GPA if appropriate. For example, 3.74/4.0 tells prospective employers your grade point average out of the school maximum GPA. Most importantly: List your current online RN to BSN program with anticipated graduation date. Finally, list your nursing license(s) including the number for easy verification.

For more information go to: http://sxu.edu/academics/colleges_schools/son/under_programs.asp

Dr. Maggie

Monday, November 23, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving to all RN to BSN Online students!

For more information go to: http://sxu.edu/academics/colleges_schools/son/under_programs.asp

Dr. Maggie

Friday, November 20, 2015

Networking with your RN to BSN Online Nursing Degree

One of the most important things to remember as you near completion of your RN to BSN Online Nursing Degree is to network for future job opportunities upon graduation. If you had a practicum experience, be sure to leave with several contacts from that organization for future reference. Keep in touch with former professors in order to network for a job. The more people who know you are completing your Masters in Nursing degree, the better. The next priority item is an updated social networking profile, and I don’t mean Facebook! Start a professional profile on LinkedIn (see website below).

LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/

For pros and cons to using LinkedIn see the webpage below.

http://www.partnershipemployment.com/2013/03/15/staffing-services-chicago-il-the-pros-and-cons-of-linkedin-for-your-job-search/

LinkedIn has hundreds of job listings and recruiters are using LinkedIn as a type of initial screening for candidates. The other benefit of LinkedIn is getting in touch with colleagues you may have lost contact with to see if they have information about potential jobs. Getting your name and your new BSN degree out into the workforce for nursing is just as important as completing your online RN to BSN degree.

For more information go to: http://sxu.edu/academics/colleges_schools/son/under_programs.asp

Dr. Maggie

Monday, November 16, 2015

Dealing With Family, School, and Work Life Balance as an Online RN to BSN Student

Balancing family, school, and a job. is no easy feat. The balancing act can be done with some planning and organization. First, make sure you have a good electronic file system. Create a file for each course using the number and abbreviation for the name. You can file material by week or topic (recommended). Second, determine which social activities are priorities. Birthdays and anniversaries are probably more important than that book club where you haven’t even read the book.

Third, and most importantly WORK AHEAD! There is always going to be a crisis at work, or at home, it is a matter of when not “if”. By working ahead, this allows for the unexpected without putting you terribly behind in your RN to BSN Online course work. Working ahead means take a look at what is coming due in the week ahead, and doing that work on your computer to submit later when it is actually due in the online RN to BSN class. If you feel you are miraculously “caught up” with class work, find one small additional item to do ahead, such as the next week’s discussion. Again, save the work on your computer, and post when the work is due. This concept of working ahead will alleviate much of the stress that can be associated with an RN to BSN online program.

For more information go to: http://sxu.edu/academics/colleges_schools/son/under_programs.asp

Dr. Maggie

Friday, November 13, 2015

How to Get the Most Out of RN to BSN Online Nursing Faculty

The facilitation styles of online faculty vary greatly. Some faculty are in the online masters in nursing course daily, others only a few times a week. You will be able to tell what type of faculty you have in the first week of a class. Look at the pattern of dates for faculty posts in the introduction area of the course and the first week of discussions. If the dates of posting appear daily, then you know the pattern of the faculty to plan how far in advance you need to post questions or send emails. Think about the timing of faculty being in the course and time your questions appropriately.

Many online faculty do not go into their course during the weekend when course assignments are due, so be sure to ask any assignment questions by mid week. If you are anticipating a difficult week, be sure to request any needed extensions at least 24-48 hours before the work is due. This good communication will go a long way to working well with the online masters in nursing faculty. (Another good idea related to communication is providing faculty feedback.

We all like to hear we are doing a good job. If faculty are participative and responsive, let them know this in your communications with them. On the other side of the situation, save feedback for improvement for the course evaluation at the end of a course. Completing the course evaluation is key to providing your Online RN to BSN nursing program faculty and administration much needed feedback. The good news is that these evaluations are anonymous and faculty do not see any of the feedback until after final grades have been submitted. If you feel you had a particularly poor faculty and course experience, be sure to encourage your classmates to share their feedback as well so the evaluation does not look skewed by one or two students, but rather is a reflection of the class as a whole. The same holds true for positive faculty and course experiences. The goal for any organization is as close to 100% evaluation response rates as possible from students.

If you have a question regarding a grade you received, some good ways to phrase these types of questions are to start with: “I am somewhat confused…..” ; I was wondering about ……” and “I was looking for some help regarding….”. By acknowledging the fact that there may be a misunderstanding on your part with faculty feedback, a student can delicately approach the subject of questioning a grade. Remember, faculty are human too, and may make mistakes (although some faculty do not like to admit this). Appropriate communication with faculty is a vital part of success in an RN to BSN online program.

For more information go to: http://sxu.edu/academics/colleges_schools/son/under_programs.asp

Dr. Maggie