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Have any of you had experience as a critically ill patient before going into nursing? I was diagnosed with cancer in late 2009, less than a year after I finished undergrad. I have a BS in biology, focusing on evolution/ecology/behavior, and my plan was to go into animal behavior research. But I had to put my life on hold. I've been NED for the past year and a half, and I'm trying to figure out what I want to do now. I met so many nurses throughout the experience that I realized what a huge difference a good nurse or a bad nurse can make. My favorite nurse was also a breast cancer survivor, and she was amazing. She got it. I have the science background, and I think it'd be a really intensely fulfilling job, to help others as I was helped. The thing is, I'm not sure I'm cut out for it. I feel like I'd either make a good nurse, or just not be able to handle it at all. I don't know if I'd just be extra empathetic, or if it'd hit too close to home. I'm generally not fearful of medical procedures, and I've always been keen on learning about all my own treatments. My oncologist actually suggested I become a nurse practitioner. I'm still kind of emotionally damaged by my own experience, but slowly, as time passes, I'm distancing myself from the role of patient and going back to feeling human. I've seen some people say that if your goal is to be an RN, being a CNA isn't worth the time, because it's just buttwiping. But it's not a giant investment of time or money to get certified, and it'd put me in a hospital setting (or caretaking facility for a while, that's fine; I like the idea of working with the elderly). Does that seem like a good idea? I hate the idea of starting a second-degree BSN program only to find that I'm all "eee, hospital! sick people!" Also, my current degree doesn't really translate to anything useful, and I'm stuck living with my parents unemployed, so it'd be great to get a job wiping butts for a while just so I could move out.  Seriously, though, any input would be greatly appreciated.
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Jan 25, 2012 23:24
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If you work as a CNA all you'll learn is that you want to run screaming from medicine. It's physically very demanding as you're constantly shifting moving and lifting hundreds of pounds of dead weight, you deal on the most intimate level with a lot of patients with nightmarish drug resistant diseases, it has almost no intellectual rewards to it, and almost all starting positions start just barely above minimum wage. No one feels anything but the deepest kind of disgust when we see those videos of nursing home patients being abused by CNAs, but those of us who know what a CNA really faces on a day to day basis simultaneously understand how they got to that point. There's no easy way in to getting patient care experience that's related to medicine -- the closest is probably EMT but that role is really different from nursing and there only one in twenty or so of your patients will need more than a ride to the hospital, and that's assuming you start in a role that allows you quick access to 911 work rather than just hospital to home transports. Most new EMTs aren't that lucky. You know you can volunteer at many hospitals, right? You won't be allowed to put your hands on a patient in a meaningful way in that role either, but you will be able to scoot around in different parts of the hospital and get to know different nurses, nps, pas, medical students, administrative staff and maybe a doctor or two if you're lucky. raton fucked around with this message at 00:21 on Jan 26, 2012 |
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Jan 26, 2012 00:07
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Currawong posted:Have any of you had experience as a critically ill patient before going into nursing? I haven't, but I'm in an APRN program (one of those crazy second-career accelerated ones), and while I'm not onco, I know a bunch of the onco specialty group from carpooling. One of the women there is a survivor of childhood cancer (I think lymphoma or maybe leukemia.) Because it was more distant for her, she seems to have a good handle on the emotional components of survivorship. Right now, you're less than three years out and there might be things that are hard, but you have two things that may help you out - a degree that might make the ochem parts easy, and personal experience. The thing with being a CNA or PCA is that it's usually cheap (I think the Red Cross in my area is $1400 total, but I live in an expensive state) and you can get a job in a number of places. Because the hours are flexible, I know a bunch of people who have CNA jobs who can still work casually while they're in school. Yes, they're tired, but they have some practical experience with things like lifting patients and being aware of smells and different physical settings like hospitals or outpatient centers. It's a plausible idea given your current situation.
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Jan 26, 2012 00:18
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Some states will also allow nursing students to work as a patient tech without having a CNA certification. This is what I do. I'm in the final semester of my nursing program, and I've been a patient tech for about 6 months. Sheep-Goats posted:If you work as a CNA all you'll learn is that you want to run screaming from medicine. It's physically very demanding as you're constantly shifting moving and lifting hundreds of pounds of dead weight, you deal on the most intimate level with a lot of patients with nightmarish drug resistant diseases, it has almost no intellectual rewards to it, and almost all starting positions start just barely above minimum wage. No one feels anything but the deepest kind of disgust when we see those videos of nursing home patients being abused by CNAs, but those of us who know what a CNA really faces on a day to day basis simultaneously understand how they got to that point. Sheep pretty much nails it on the head. I barely make above minimum wage and the work itself is not rewarding even in the least bit. I've also found that since working as a Tech, my sense of humor has become darker and darker which probably isn't a good thing (this can probably be said of any lowly medical job). The only good thing I can take away from the job is that all the lovely work has made me much more comfortable being around patients, and it also gets my foot in the door at the local hospital. These will both help me when it comes time to apply for an RN job. If anyone wishes to know more about the daily life of a PT/CNA at a major regional hospital, I'd be happy to share. Hughmoris fucked around with this message at 01:57 on Jan 26, 2012 |
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Jan 26, 2012 01:52
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Currawong posted:Have any of you had experience as a critically ill patient before going into nursing? I spent a few days in the local children's hospital when I was in high school from 2nd and 3rd degree burns (black powder for a musket rifle went off about a foot from my face). I have no scaring, required no grafting, and I'm the only one in my family who doesn't have to wear corrective lenses. Go figure. That being said, it didn't really make me want to go into nursing. I was bio/pre-med before I switched to computer science the first time around, and while I appreciated my job in IT, I wanted something that didn't make me hate myself and my job when I went to work each day. I like the gory fast paced stuff, so I went trauma and critical care with my electives, and I'm currently a new grad in a critical care fellowship and loving it. Regarding the CNA/STNA/PCA (whatever licensing or education required named assistant position is in your area) stuff - while it may be primarily grunt work with a hefty amount of rear end wiping, it's also networking. Nearly everyone who graduated with me who was a PCA got a job on the floor as an RN after school. The unit managers know you, they know how you work, how you work within their unit's personality, and that's a huge thing. I can't tell you the number of people I heard say, "yeah, I have a job waiting for me on my unit when I graduate and take my boards." On the flip side, those that were stay-at-home moms/dads, unemployed to focus on school, or worked in other fields during school are having a much harder time finding nursing employment now that we're done with school. I've said it before in this thread, and I'll say it again because it's very true: healthcare is a lot more "who you know" than "what you know." Now, to counter that argument, there are other things you can do to network besides be a professional rear end wiper. You can work registration, or scheduling for a department within a hospital, you can be a unit clerk, or a number of other things that will both expose you to the inner-workings of healthcare and let you network without the back strain and playing in C. diff-filled poop day in and day out that comes with CNA/PCA/STNA work. I worked as an STNA at a long term care and rehab facility every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through school for the experience while not interfering with my clinicals or lectures. I did it for two years, and I think it will make me a better nurse in the long run because I can very easily empathize with those I now delegate to. At the same time, it was physically exhausting, frequently putting 12-15000 steps on a pedometer in an 8 hour shift while lifting, pivoting, transferring, rolling, cleaning, changing 15 people who weighed an average of 250 pounds. All for under $10/hour. It's one of the most under-paid, demanding jobs I've had, and I'm glad I didn't do it for a day more than I did. Then again, I know people who have done it for 10+ years and come to work every day with a smile on their face. So, it takes all sorts. . . TheFarSide fucked around with this message at 02:50 on Jan 26, 2012 |
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Jan 26, 2012 01:59
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TheFarSide posted:
We have a patient tech on my floor who has been doing it for 32 years. I poo poo you not.
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Jan 26, 2012 02:14
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TheFarSide posted:Regarding the CNA/STNA/PCA (whatever licensing or education required named assistant position is in your area) stuff - while it may be primarily grunt work with a hefty amount of rear end wiping, it's also networking. Nearly everyone who graduated with me who was a PCA got a job on the floor as an RN after school. This, this a hundred times; I knew I was forgetting something in my response. I went to a forum at my hospital just last week for 'preferred hires', which is their term for 'internal applicants'. In some places this automatically puts you in a 'hire first' category.
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Jan 26, 2012 02:49
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I actually enjoy being a tech...it's a very stressful job, sure, and I sort of feel like I'm underpaid ($13/hr doesn't feel like enough for all the bullshit I put up with) but I've learned so much about nursing in the year I've done it, and like a previous poster noted I'll most likely get an RN position here as soon as I graduate. I'm also cross trained as a monitor tech (watching and analyzing heart rhythms) so I'm gonna rock cardiology in RN school. It's good experience even if you hate the job.
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Jan 26, 2012 04:40
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Hughmoris posted:Some states will also allow nursing students to work as a patient tech without having a CNA certification. This is what I do. I'm in the final semester of my nursing program, and I've been a patient tech for about 6 months. I was a patient care tech at my local hospital while I was in nursing school, and made about $18.00 an hour, not bad at all considering my friends in retail jobs were making minimum wage. Orientation was quick, and while it started as a summer thing they kept us all on through the year if we wanted. It was %99 grunt work but I did learn some fun skills- how to preform an EKG and things like that. And while the dirty work can be pretty awful, sometimes having a cute little old person look up at you smiling and say "I feel like a human being again!" after I spent a lot of time and energy giving them a good thorough bed bath would just light up my while day  When it came time to graduate nursing school and find a job I had multiple RNs that I worked with for years give me glowing recommendations. It was also satisfying to hear one of the nurses comment that having me as the tech for their patients was like having an extra nurse on board.
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Jan 26, 2012 14:35
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Even though I'm a RN now the job market is awful so I still work as a home health care aid. I started during the summer before my last year of nursing school and I think it kept me sane during that time, even though I was exhausted from school school school work work. The reason I chose the company I work for is because they didn't require you have a CNA license, as long as you have EXPERIENCE. I've definitely learned a lot through this job, like how to not be shy around people and transferring - one of my first long term clients was 98% immobile and she did a great job teaching me how to move her around without hurting myself or her. Now I can safely transfer pretty much anyone.
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Jan 26, 2012 15:40
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So what is everyone's opinion on their hardest class during the nursing program? I'm currently taking my prerequisites to get into the program after being out of school for about 10 years and so far NAS162 (A&P II / Micro crammed into one class) is just completely overwhelming with the sheer amount of information that is being thrown at us. How much harder can I except future classes to be? Also any advise on learning methods? I found that in 161 it was mostly facts that had to be learned which I could plop down onto a flash card and study that method. But in 162 it seems to be more of learning parts different arteries, veins, etc which is a bit harder to put onto a flash card.
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Feb 1, 2012 15:32
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Etrips posted:So what is everyone's opinion on their hardest class during the nursing program? I'm currently taking my prerequisites to get into the program after being out of school for about 10 years and so far NAS162 (A&P II / Micro crammed into one class) is just completely overwhelming with the sheer amount of information that is being thrown at us. How much harder can I except future classes to be? From what I'm experiencing now in nursing school, I feel that med/surg is the hardest. It's basically like A&P, except slightly deeper and then you apply the nursing process/interventions to that knowledge. You will need to memorize things, but it's mainly about really understanding what you are memorizing, and how it relates to everything else. Flash cards don't work for me, so I stick to a combination of studying the book/powerpoint lectures/occasional youtube videos to help me visualize what i'm reading.
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Feb 1, 2012 18:27
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Etrips posted:Also any advise on learning methods? I found that in 161 it was mostly facts that had to be learned which I could plop down onto a flash card and study that method. But in 162 it seems to be more of learning parts different arteries, veins, etc which is a bit harder to put onto a flash card. All depends on your style of learning. I will say that flash cards, in general, are poor study tools in nursing school because it's more application based testing than it is memorization and regurgitation. Things that worked for me were case studies and concept/mind mapping. With case studies, you look at what you're talking about in class and apply a fake patient to the scenario and ask yourself questions. For example, let's say you're looking at cardiac, so your patient is Mrs. Jones, a 73 year old widow who lives alone, who came to the hospital because she's having syncopal episodes from minor exertion at home. The medical diagnosis is AFib, but you need to approach this from the role of a nurse. Knowing what AFib is and why it's causing her to faint is, of course, important. Now think of what that patient would look like, and what you'd expect their assessment to be. How would AFib have been diagnosed? What kind of difficulties might Mrs. Jones have with her ADLs? Think about what tests would be ordered, what teaching would be required for those tests, what prep might be required? What labs would be run? What are the complications of AFib? What nursing interventions can you do to better monitor and catch early or prevent these complications? What medications would be ordered? Why? What teaching would be required for those medications? What kind of follow-up might be required (weekly blood tests to check for therapeutic levels of drugs)? Would Mrs. Jones have difficulties complying with this treatment because of her widowed status, age, and disease process? By doing this, you don't just have a flash card with "Atrial Fibrillation" on one side and "Dysrhythmia with irregular ventricular rate and no P wave where the atria quiver instead of producing a strong pumping action" on the other. While that flash card would teach you what AFib is, it's not allowing you to critically think and apply the nursing process to the disease. By using a case study, you now have a complete picture of what that patient would look like, as well as how they would be treated in a hospital setting. This gives you the big picture and allows you to relate Mrs. Jones to any of your questions related to AFib diagnosis, treatment modalities, teaching, and safety. Concept mapping, or mind mapping, is something that we visual learners like. Start in the middle of a page with your topic. We'll use AFib again. From there, you have branches leading to basic topics, such as "Assessment," "Etiology and Pathology," "Diagnosis," "Treatment," and "Education." From assessment, you can branch off to what things you'd expect to find, what sort of subjective data might the patient tell you about what brought them to the hospital, etc. You do this with each of your main branches, branching off as detailed as you'd like for each basic topic. It's a very organic way of linking things to help you remember and apply information. A good example can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlabrWv25qQ
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Feb 2, 2012 02:31
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So I currently work in insurance doing medical evaluations. My BA was in History, and this is basically the only decent work I could find. The good thing has been gaining lots of knowledge of anatomy/physiology, pharmacology, and medicine. The soul sucking part is having to do nothing but read medical documentation and deny claims  I want to be the person that says "We're getting you the help you need" rather than the person that sends the denial letter. I'm considering going into nursing now. I have 3 options where I live (that aren't lovely for-profit scam schools): http://www.jtcc.edu/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=658&Itemid=255 http://www.jsr.vccs.edu/curriculum/programs/NursingAAS.html http://www.nursing.vcu.edu/education/bachelors/accelerated.html Obviously the AAS programs will be cheaper, but will there be that much better opportunities if I get the BS? All 3 programs have relationships with good hospitals, with the JSR and VCU programs located close to the Medical College of Virginia.
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Feb 2, 2012 03:53
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Disclaimer: I am only a tech (still doing prereqs) but getting your BSN seems like the better option in the long run. I know that hospitals in my area, and probably the nation, are increasingly preferring BSNs over ADNs when hiring. If you already have an undergrad you could do a second Bachelor's program and get your BSN in a year.
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Feb 2, 2012 12:05
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Etrips posted:So what is everyone's opinion on their hardest class during the nursing program? I'm currently taking my prerequisites to get into the program after being out of school for about 10 years and so far NAS162 (A&P II / Micro crammed into one class) is just completely overwhelming with the sheer amount of information that is being thrown at us. How much harder can I except future classes to be? For me the hardest was maternity because the textbook was AWFUL - absolutely no pictures or diagrams or little boxes with side info, just columns and columns of text. Also it was uncomfortably racist. I looked up a lot of stuff on Wikipedia or watched videos.
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Feb 2, 2012 15:56
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Baby_Hippo posted:For me the hardest was maternity because the textbook was AWFUL - absolutely no pictures or diagrams or little boxes with side info, just columns and columns of text. Also it was uncomfortably racist. I looked up a lot of stuff on Wikipedia or watched videos. OB was the hardest for me as well. It didn't help that the teachers were completely unorganized, were having power struggles and basically hated each other. I think we lost 15 students that semester and most of us went into the final failing or barely passing. Most graduates I talked to say OB was the hardest because you go from med/surg to something completely different and your whole thought process has to change. As far as learning, flash cards only helped me with basic medications the first semester. After that I just used a mixture of reading over the notes, visualizing patients, and trying to come up with situations. Having a strong base knowledge in patho really helps put the pieces together (atleast for me), so pay attention in A&P!I was also the person that would come up with rhymes and hand movements and would be doing them in the middle of a test not even realizing it.
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Feb 3, 2012 00:06
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Jobs in my area are starting to require 1-2 years' experience and a BSN. I would say go for the BSN if it just costs a little more, because it will open more doors. I really wonder about that requirement, though. I went to an associate-degree program that had 2 years of prerequisites, so I really spent 4 years in school to be a nurse and passed the same test the BSN nurses take. I just did it through a community college so it would cost $3,000 a year and not $20,000 a year.
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Feb 3, 2012 04:56
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leb388 posted:Jobs in my area are starting to require 1-2 years' experience and a BSN. I would say go for the BSN if it just costs a little more, because it will open more doors. Alot of hospitals are trying to get magnet status. From what I've gathered they get more funding. One of the requirements is to have a certain percentage of nurses with BSN. The only difference between ADN and BSN is nursing management classes and some programs require higher level sciences (atleast in the areas I have looked in). I just recently graduated with my ADN and in august start a RN-BSN program. After all is said and done I will still spend less in tuition then if I went straight for my BSN.
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Feb 3, 2012 05:18
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I may as well hamfist some of my experiences in this topic. I'm currently filing off my third year of a BScN here in Canada. I don't know if this interests any of you, but this particular story happened in my second year of the program. I wrote it up pretty much after it happened so if it seems sloppy that's why. ** Short version: I held a heart and I liked it. The procedure I saw was a CABG x3 (triple bypass) with ESVH (endoscopic vein harvesting). They cut out veins from your leg via a camera and graft them to your heart to circumvent blockages. Initially I just watched the endoscopic part because it was easier to stay out of the way. A surgeon has a big monitor that shows what the camera sees and does his job while looking at that. To the untrained eye, it basically looked like he was just mashing about in there, clamping random bits of the body while pushing aside layers of fat and whatever else we keep in our legs. The camera quality was quite high (obviously) and the doctor did a good job of keeping it clean when he saw any haemorrhages due to his work. Oh, and there is something creepy about seeing light under a person’s skin (for the camera). The most unsettling part was when he pulled the vein out with his fingers from the most proximal incision. It was just a weird sight. Following that he sewed up any remaining lacerations to the vein, so it would work for the procedure. Bottom line – endoscope work is amazingly advanced, but it looks like you just blast through layers of whatever. Heart part: Let me start by saying bone saws are awesome. They also had some sort of cauterizing iron that arced a spark to stop bleeding and instantly scar tissue to keep it from bleeding. Oh, and those vice clamps they use to keep the chest cavity open? Straight out of Saw. This part of the procedure was immensely complex, and was difficult to see at some points because it was three surgeons working on a hole a bit larger than a deck of cards. They had to arrest the heart and run it through the machine, which they helped slow down quite literally with ice slush. The bypass is quite brilliant, it essentially is placing an artery into a new passage and then closing it shut like a drawstring bag. Suction was also a major part as the pericardial cavity often had started to fill thanks to the proximity and nature of the procedure. Oh and seeing arterial blood is weird, it’s like... Candy red. Defining moment: When I scrubbed in and poked around inside that guy. After the grafts were in place and VS were stable, I got the experience of my life. Holy poo poo, there is nothing like holding a man’s beating heart in your hand. The surgeon also placed my hand on the aorta – if only it were always that easy to feel a pulse. Thoughts of Mortal Kombat ran through my mind to close my hand around his heart and scream ‘fatality’ but of course that was in jest. In closing, if you can ever see a surgery, go on and do it. ** If anyone wants to hear some other stories I could type a few up. Not sure how much has been talked about in this topic about Canadians but we're in at least one placement every year (at least my university). We also joke about the RNs vs RPNs as they're called but we're all a good lot. Uhm, as I said I'm only in my 3rd year but I can answer a couple questions maybe. DeadMansSuspenders fucked around with this message at 22:50 on Feb 3, 2012 |
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Feb 3, 2012 22:37
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DeadMansSuspenders posted:CABG Please, please type up more.  I fuckin love the OR and how technical it is. The only exposure I've managed to sneak into are a couple of C-sections which are magical and all, but can't compare to HOLDING A BEATING HEART. It was my anatomy lab with all the cadavers and organs that convinced me I wanted to go to nursing school and mess with the insides of people.
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Feb 4, 2012 21:12
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Joellypie posted:Alot of hospitals are trying to get magnet status. From what I've gathered they get more funding. One of the requirements is to have a certain percentage of nurses with BSN. The only difference between ADN and BSN is nursing management classes and some programs require higher level sciences (atleast in the areas I have looked in). I just recently graduated with my ADN and in august start a RN-BSN program. After all is said and done I will still spend less in tuition then if I went straight for my BSN. That makes sense. It's just frustrating because I'm in a BSN program but jobs are like "Nope, ADN is no good, you must have the BSN now." For the OR: I got to hold a kidney. It was cool.
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Feb 4, 2012 22:42
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Oh god, stories. I'm still a new grad and already have ED stories out the wazoo. I'd almost blog about them daily if there weren't a million ED related nursing blogs out there already.
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Feb 5, 2012 00:31
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leb388 posted:That makes sense. It's just frustrating because I'm in a BSN program but jobs are like "Nope, ADN is no good, you must have the BSN now." Where are you located where you're having that issue? They won't let your experience as an RN count for anything while you work towards your BSN?
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Feb 5, 2012 05:41
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It's fun slapping a removed heart and making it twitch. Only works for a few minutes though.
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Feb 7, 2012 07:00
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Hughmoris posted:Where are you located where you're having that issue? They won't let your experience as an RN count for anything while you work towards your BSN? Massachusetts. I've seen many hospitals and some clinics that will apparently only take a BSN nurse.
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Feb 7, 2012 10:17
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leb388 posted:Massachusetts. I've seen many hospitals and some clinics that will apparently only take a BSN nurse. My wife spent a year in Mass trying to get a job as an RN with an ADN. She worked as an ER tech for about 6 months with BSN grads that couldn't get nursing jobs there. She applied back here in Florida and within a week had an interview and a job offer.
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Feb 7, 2012 13:09
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Hello everyone! Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but: I'm a last year nursing student and for my bachelor paper i have choosen the topic "How can the nurse prevent anxiety in patients with COPD". Do anyone have some tips to what i should include? I have some ideas but im not sure if they will cover enough. English is not my native language, so sorry if this don't make sense. Thanks!
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Feb 8, 2012 16:04
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Inject fluid posted:Hello everyone! Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but: Increase ventilation with medications like low levels of O2, mucolytics, bronchodilators, and antiinflammatories (increasing ease of breathing and ventilation will increase oxygenation and decrease anxiety), teach patient about medication regimen and administration (similar concept to PCA pumps for opioids, the patient knowing they have control over medication administration decreases anxiety), teach purse-lip breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, energy conservation, positioning (all increase ventilation, decreasing anxiety), administer prophylactic antianxiety medications (oh Ativan shortage, I curse you). With severe exacerbation, end game treatment is going to end up being sedation and an artificial airway/mechanical ventilation anyway, which will certainly make their lungs happy and remove/prevent anxiety. However, most protocols include daily wake-from-the-nap time to monitor for over-sedation, during which time they may end up bucking the vent (unless it's on something spiffy like BiLevel during that time, but COPD lung compliance and elasticity is fairly poor). Antianxiety meds during this time as well as during ventilator liberation protocols are also pretty common (though carefully dosed and monitored because of sedation/re-sedation).
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Feb 9, 2012 02:55
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Thanks a bunch TheFarside for your very good reply!
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Feb 9, 2012 13:06
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So... I'm going to be on graveyard for my final preceptorship.  After waiting almost 3 weeks to hear whether my initial final preceptorship placement was going to happen or not (ICU), got word last night that it was canceled and we were being moved to a different hospital. Today, I find out that I'm doing my 120 hours on the night shift of a stroke/cardiovascular/telemetry unit. This means that I'll either be doing 11p-7a or 7p-7a, depending on what schedule my preceptor has. It's going to be odd doing a few nights a week, then having to go back to being active during the day for classes and work. Anybody who works nights have any tips? I figure that I might as well get used to it, because it'll probably what I'll get if I get hired as a newbie. I've never even done an all-nighter for school.
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Feb 10, 2012 04:11
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It sucks and there's no way to fix that, especially for someone who normally isn't up nights. Get an eye mask and some earplugs and try to sleep at the same time every day including on your days off. A bottle of melatonin might help too, take 3mg about a half hour before your bed time and be in bed ready to sleep when that time comes. Don't eat anything heavy before you sleep.
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Feb 10, 2012 12:56
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Hellacopter posted:So... I'm going to be on graveyard for my final preceptorship. What will your schedule look like, exactly? How many nights do you have to work each week? If you're going to be doing a lot of hours each week, you might want to consider quitting your job, or at least cutting way back on the hours, especially since you'll be doing school as well. Also, not everyone starts out on night shifts. My first job was day/evening rotating. To be honest, I kind of wish it was day/nights, because at least then I'm never at work from 4pm to 11pm. Working day/evening really kills your opportunities for getting involved with community activities, like a yoga class or something with a weekly schedule. If you only have one job, working nights isn't that bad if you can regulate your sleep schedule.
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Feb 12, 2012 03:32
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I posted in this thread like 20 pages and a couple years ago and now things are finally in place and I wanted to get some advice. Obviously things have changed a bit and the job market (for new grads) is nothing like it used to be so i want to try to give myself any advantage i can. So my situation is this. I am accepted into an Accel BSN program (WOOO!!!)that starts in a couple months and at this point I have no medical experience at all and essentially no real contacts at any of the major hospitals in the area. I do not expect there will be a ll that much time to work as a tech during this program just based on the descriptions and tales I have heard. To cap it off the program is at a school in a different city so I may not even be doing any clinicals in at these hospitals either. What I do have is a friend (more like acquaintance/friend of a friend) that works as an ED/Flight nurse that would get me in to shadow some people if I asked. My questions is is that work my time? I have a decent amount of it that I can afford to use for this but i don;t want to do it if it is not going to make a difference when it comes time to get a job in 16 mos. Second question is that I am currently taking classes in and somewhat proficient in spanish. If I bust my rear end to get even better at it, hopefully attaining some level of fluency by the time I am done with nursing school is that going to be an advantage to me finding some place that will hire me as a new grad? This is something that I would like to do eventually anyway but if it is not going to help me get a job then it would probably behoove me to focus on my nursing studies rather than divide my time between that and spanish. Spanish is the primary 2nd language in my area like it is basically everywhere in the states) but by no means a majority of people speak it... I am in Colorado not texas/california/arizona and etc Thanks for the replies and for all the insights up t this point. I read the whole tread and found it to be amazingly helpful in solidifying my decision that this is the right career for me.
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Feb 15, 2012 05:44
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Hellacopter posted:So... I'm going to be on graveyard for my final preceptorship. It does suck but doable. I was doing clinicals during the day on Monday and Tuesday, had class on Thursday and Friday, and worked as a tech Friday night and Saturday night. I'm lucky in the fact that I have the ability to fall asleep at just about any time, and for the most part lived off 4-5 hour naps. Also, good luck with your preceptorship. I started mine 3 weeks ago, I've primarily been in the ICU but have floated a little to the floor.
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Feb 15, 2012 06:25
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Coming here looking for a little advice... I have my BS in Plant Biology and couldn't find a job in my field (shocker) and now work in medical records at a small hospital in Colorado. I'm getting the spare classes I need to get all my prereqs done for the ADN program at the local community college. I thought really hard about getting my BSN straight away, but I am already pretty deep in student debt, so I can't justify the cost of the programs in the area. I will do a ADN to BSN program at some point, but I will take my chances with the ADN right now. Anyway, I'll be done with all my prereqs at the end of the semester, and I really am sick of working in my current position. I'm hoping to go through a CNA program and get my hands dirty before I come off the waitlist for the RN program. I'm looking at the programs and it looks like you need to do clinicals to qualify for the CNA test. Is this something that varies from program to program, or is it a pretty average requirement? For all of you who were once CNAs or are still CNAs, what did your schooling look like as far as classroom vs clinicals and the hours? The class listings are pretty vague, and I haven't gotten in to see an adviser yet (I will!). I don't mind at all doing clinicals, I am just worried about gracefully leaving my position in med rec if I want to come back to work at the hospital later as a CNA or RN. The official policy is that they only talk to HR, but I know I've heard the HIT director talking to other directors about ex-employees transferring elsewhere in the hospital. I don't want to just up and leave without having another job lined up, so if I could keep working through my clinicals, that would be ideal. I know it's just a couple of weeks, but I'd rather not have to quit without a safety net, do school full time for a few weeks, and then be stuck not being able to find work. Am I just being crazy?
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Feb 17, 2012 03:11
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Passed NCLEX with 75 questions.  Now I have to get a job. 
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Feb 19, 2012 22:09
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Dr. Capco posted:Passed NCLEX with 75 questions. Try the hospital in Eagle Pass, TX.. $24000 sign on bonus for a couple year committment.
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Feb 20, 2012 13:03
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fathertod posted:Try the hospital in Eagle Pass, TX.. $24000 sign on bonus for a couple year committment. Holy poo poo, seriously? 24 thousand dollar bonus?? What the gently caress- do the nurses have a patient ratio of 30 or something? How can they be that desperate for nurses?
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Feb 20, 2012 14:20
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Welcome to the rez buddy.
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Feb 20, 2012 19:13
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