Video Transcript – Scott’s Life After Graduation
Play Scott’s Life After Graduation
Video Transcript
[music]
Boise State University Adult Gerontology Nurse Practitioner Alumni Testimonials
AGNP Class of 2017, Scott Belnap, AG-ACNP
I graduated in December of 2017, it took me about six months to find a job I ended up working at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. I learned a lot there and really enjoyed it but it wasn’t a critical care job it was kind of an out patient job so I spent about a year there and then now currently I’m working in the Neuro-ICU at the University of Utah. I’m really enjoying it there and learned a lot and work with a lot of good people.
So typical day is we arrive at five thirty, do rounds with the neurosurgeons before they go in to do surgery, then go start- do exams on patients make sure that everything is going well and nothing’s changed kind of start the notes for the day, then at nine we will do rounds with the intensivists who just manage the patients in the ICU and answer any questions for the nurses, manage any problems, put in any lines that need done or any procedures that need done then finish out notes for the rest of the day.
It’s a, it’s kind of a little bit of everything we do a fair amount of procedures. Central lines, arterial lines, those kind of things. We do intubations, we do a lot of answering nursing questions, addressing you know, pain issues or changes in mental status or infections or you know whatever comes up along the way. And then honestly the way it seems to work out is the neurosurgeons want to do surgery and they want somebody to manage the patients once they’re done, and while they’re in the ICU and that’s really what the team of nurse practitioners and PA’s does is we manage the patients.
Once they’re out of surgery and while they’re in the ICU. We have a 25 bed ICU, it’s divided between two of the advanced practice practitioners so either two nurse practitioners or two
PA’s, so we usually have between ten and 12 patients a bay. This was exactly what I had in mind with the exception of I didn’t expect it to be neuro-critical care. Other than that it was exactly what I wanted. So I have a lot to learn as far as neuro goes but other than that it’s exactly where I wanted to be.
Well, two reasons, I did the distance as a bachelor’s degree and really had a good experience the teachers were good and I figured why not continue with what I already had a good thing. The second reason I was here in Salt Lake and compared the prices of University of Utah and BYU, and Westminster and they were a good $50,000 cheaper, so. Between the two it was like I had a good experience last time and it’s much much cheaper so. I was very pleased with how I was prepared and very pleased at how well I was able to pick things up and move forward and my orientation was shorter than average and, and.
When I started it was a new program there was a lot of brand new nurse practioners and PA’s. And it was really easy to gauge as to how well you were prepared, especially when you were compared to people who were trained at other schools and how quickly you were able to succeed compared to them. And I feel like I did as well or better than most, so I was very well prepared and did well. My advice for them is to absorb as much as you can, there’s a lot of information you’re going to need and you’re going to use on a daily basis, don’t memorize it and then discard it as you test.
You know, really try to retain as much as you can. The other piece of advice is you’re under a lot of stress at the moment and it’s easy to be frustrated, it’s easy to be emotional it’s easy to, you know. Try to be aware of that and try to be patient with those around you, the school, you’re family member, those kind of things. It’s a stressful program there’s a lot of demands. Just, you know realize that everybody’s trying- has your best interest in mind, is trying to prepare you for what you are going to need when you get out there.
I guess the other last piece of advice I would give anybody is I’ve found that the world of healthcare is an incredibly small world. Treat everybody with respect and don’t burn any bridges because in the three years that I’ve been down here There’s been people that I’ve run into on a casual basis that have helped me get my new job in the neuro-critical care and because I was polite with them and courteous with them they were like oh yeah I remember him, and so it’s a small, tight-knit world and people talk and people interact on a regular basis.
I’ve just- was very pleased with the program and very please with where I ended up and how things have turned out. No problem, bye bye.
[music]