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BeeZee142 posted:I'm currently a nursing student(woo!) but I was wondering what jobs would be good for me to get on nights/weekends/etc while I have the time(my spring semester classes are pretty easy, and I need to earn some money in the new year). I figure that experience in a hospital setting will be useful down the line over working at Starbucks. What can I do in a hospital considering I don't have a degree in anything, and am basically the same as a high school graduate? Are you doing lower-division work or your first semester of nursing school? As the previous student said, after your first semester of *nursing school* you can be hired on as a nurse's aide at most hospitals, but you get experience doing nurse's aide stuff during your clinicals. I have the upmost respect for the aides, but I'd honestly rather work standing at a register than busting my rear end wiping rear end and lifting on my free time from nursing school. The experience you would get from working as an aide is really negligible, if you really want to do something that would get you hired in a competitive market would be to learn spanish. Your best bet is to get a simple on campus job, something nonstress, as much of your other time (for the first year at least) is quite stressful. freshmex fucked around with this message at 05:47 on Dec 6, 2008 |
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Dec 6, 2008 05:45
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SprintingOnIce posted:Good god that seems ridiculous. Can you give a breakdown of how that works? It just makes no sense to me to jump through so many hoops just for an associate's (in nursing or otherwise) Six semesters for the whole degree. This includes summer school/winterim/May term if you want it in 2 years. Anyways, it works like this. You do your pre-reqs and some gen eds. Before you are allowed to start any clinicals, you need your CPR for professionals, and your CNA. Even the BSN programs around here require a CNA before clinicals. After a year of nursing related classes (and co-reqs/more gen ed), you have enough knowledge and experience to be an LPN. You can stop school there, if you wish. At the end of your LPN year, you take the LPN boards. (There is a logic to this, bear with me.) The second year is the RN classes. When you finish, you've got enough to take the RN boards. You also have an ASN. If you planned carefully, you also finished a lot of gen eds that will transfer to the 4 year school of your choosing. Many of them in the area send a list of what they accept, so that you can save money and time by taking your BSN classes at the associates level (For example during that first year of no clinicals). The reason we are required now to take the LPN boards is in the past, those who graduated from the entire program and FAILED the RN boards, requested to take the LPN ones and just leave it at that. This is not allowed. This way, you get practice, you get an additional certification, (and work opportunities), and if you fail the RN NCLEX, if you don't want to retake, you are still a nurse. (Or this is the excuse I was given.) I enjoyed the CNA class, by the way, and it did wonders for my confidence, as well as understanding healthcare more. Plus it let me figure out if I could handle it before I got too invested in the program. Our CC has the second highest NCLEX pass rate in the state, so their ladder seems to work for a lot of us. Oh, and the BSN at two other schools can be as little as one additional year more. AND some schools have a BSN that takes more than 4 years. It's a lot to squeeze in so I do know a number of students who don't have a 2 year ASN/ADN or 4 year BSN. Hope I didn't confuse it MORE!
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Dec 6, 2008 19:23
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Kibbles posted:
How interesting. I wonder how many nursing schools require a CNA prior to getting a BSN. Mine certainly doesn't, (thanks goodness) we don't really need any MORE requirements to get into the program. Anyways, I just started my nursing classes this semester (back in August) and will experience my first round of hospital clinicals in the spring (yay!) It took me quite a while to get to this point. I switched majors and transferred schools halfway through my sophmore year. I was then placed on a waitlist and stayed on that waitlist for 2.5 years. When I applied the requirements for transfers were pretty straightforward. You needed to have a good standing with your last school, have at least 30 credit hours already completed, and at least a 3.0 GPA. The waitlist at my school got so bad (upwards of 4 years) that they changed to requirements to a 3.3 GPA, 30 credit hours, and you have to take a preadmission exam. You can only take the exam twice...if you fail twice they won't even entertain your application anymore. So anyways...what's my point? I dunno, but I do know that nursing school is indeed difficult, but what's even more difficult sometimes is finding a school that is able to get you into the program in a timely manner and not stick you on a waitlist for 2.5 years which means it takes you 7 years to get your undergrad! RAWR! I tend to suggest a BSN program to anyone who asks simply because I firmly believe BSN programs open more doors to the nurse down the road. And also because there is a movement within the healthcare community for hospitals to only hire BSN educated nurses. It just seems to be a better option overall.
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Dec 8, 2008 20:14
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This is a very fascinating thread, so thanks to all that are posting. While it's great that many of you are nurses, its also an attractive occupation because of its high demand. But how much of that demand is driven by the process of becoming a nurse? Those pre-reqs sound downright nasty, and while the process should be selective, it seems strange that the industry faces a huge shortage but makes the process to get your degree onerous at best. I mean, 7 years to get an undergrad degree in nursing? What could be done differently? Making the nursing profession more attractive would go a long way to helping deal with shortages.
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Dec 8, 2008 22:26
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Kimball_Ninja posted:This is a very fascinating thread, so thanks to all that are posting. While it's great that many of you are nurses, its also an attractive occupation because of its high demand. But how much of that demand is driven by the process of becoming a nurse? Those pre-reqs sound downright nasty, and while the process should be selective, it seems strange that the industry faces a huge shortage but makes the process to get your degree onerous at best. DISCLAIMER: IM NOT A NURSE. But I am a dirty medical student that has kept my mouth shut (including the OP's assertion of doctors' "appalling high" salaries  )Nurses are paid well. Nurses will always have a job. The Nursing unions have lobbied successfully for various increases in autonomy (and thus more pay along with the responsibility). Nursing allows a fast entry path in the form of a 4 year degree into the field, plus the ability to get paid while you work towards what is, in my state, a fully autonomous position in the Nurse practitioner. If the work isn't appealing to you, the nursing industry has done everything it can to make it more so. 2 year wait times stated earlier are an obvious indication of the interest in joining the industry. The same nursing unions do the same thing doctors unions do - lobby for a limit on the number of schools, extremely high requirements for accreditation, etc. to safe guard existing jobs, foreign graduates, and quality.Some of the shortage is for quality, some is protectionism. The Nurse practitioner was made to be a mid level provider to allow a more efficient system. In reality, nursing unions have pused the role into patch working the broken primary care role in many cases, which only exasperates the problem, but is very good for the nursing industry and nurses themselves. EDIT - I'm saying "unions" to describe the various levels of associations public/private that lobby on behalf of docs and nurses. Not necessarily unions.
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Dec 8, 2008 23:57
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Keep in mind that I'm a transfer student. I was originally a business major so my example of 7 years to get an undergrand isn't necessarily the norm. I know plenty of people in my classes who decided they wanted to be nurses early on and applied to nursing schools while they were still in high school. So they are sophmores in the sophmore classes...they are 19 instead of 22 or 25 or 28...they knew about wait lists and planned ahead. And for those who already have degrees and are going back to school for nursing, there is always the accelerated program. No wait list but it's quite competative and WAY more difficult than the standard curiculum. Imagine cramming 6 semesters of material into 18 months. Ugh. In my opinion the only way wait lists could be eliminated is to open more schools and hire more educators...but phatmonky is right, nurses do get paid well and most enjoy their job so why the heck would they want to take a major pay cut just to teach someone else to do the job the teachers really want to be doing? Besides, I'd go for quality over quantity any day when it comes to healthcare providers.
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Dec 9, 2008 01:03
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phatmonky posted:He's on to us. He must be destroyed. quote:The same nursing unions do the same thing doctors unions do - lobby for a limit on the number of schools, extremely high requirements for accreditation, etc. to safe guard existing jobs, foreign graduates, and quality.Some of the shortage is for quality, some is protectionism. The Nurse practitioner was made to be a mid level provider to allow a more efficient system. In reality, nursing unions have fused the role into patch working the broken primary care role in many cases, which only exasperates the problem, but is very good for the nursing industry and nurses themselves. We learned it all from you guys.  The NP thing is actually pretty frustrating from our side. Many states put inane restrictions on what we can do, and many hospitals shuffle us into uninteresting jobs. Acute Care Nurse Practitioner sounds really fun until you realize you're going to be in the ED getting every case of "my kid has had this cough for two days now..." The much vaunted autonomy of the NP is often the autonomy to do the jobs the MDs don't really want to do. We also made the crucial mistake of loosening the experience requirements and over saturating the market with inexperienced prescribers no one really wants to hire. There are happy and incredibly successful NPs who have challenging and interesting jobs but most I've talked to went in thinking they'd found a shortcut to being a doctor and found out that really wasn't the case. Oh, and while you guys do have appallingly high salaries, I never said you didn't earn them. I'm pretty sure our critical care fellow's active/on call schedule guarantees that he hasn't slept more than three hours straight in the last month. Whatever he gets paid, it can't be enough. Mangue posted:In my opinion the only way wait lists could be eliminated is to open more schools and hire more educators...but phatmonky is right, nurses do get paid well and most enjoy their job so why the heck would they want to take a major pay cut just to teach someone else to do the job the teachers really want to be doing? It amazes me that I make significantly more starting than any of my instructors did teaching me. How the hell can anyone run a decent school when the system you create sends the ambitious people fleeing from academia?
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Dec 9, 2008 02:33
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Ohthehugemanatee posted:We learned it all from you guys. By NO MEANS, was anything I said meant to be a slight at nurses. poo poo, right now I can tell you pathway after pathway for drug usage, diagnose things by symptoms despite never seeing the disease in person, and tell you the physics behind all kinds of imaging. And I've got some very long time before I get near as much exposure to patients as you do I was simply describing a lot of the benefits of nursing and that the idea of "making the industry more attractive" to fill the shortage is going to be pretty hard to do. It's already pretty damned attractive if you are interested in the work. As for the politics of wedging in NP's into a slot originally expected for PA's, followed by that of MD's...no one said it wasn't an awkward one for the NP's involved. Just that the ability to reach a higher education level after your RN results in one more attractive option in the industry. Also, NP's in my state can open their own practice (there is more to it than just that) and are doing so. It's not that no docs want to do primary care (I really do!), its that you'll find a lot more NP's willing to do that job due to training path and the reimbursement than you will MD's up to their eyes in debt for close to the same pay. It's not fixing anything here, just driving more US grads into specialties that we won't need in 10 years and leaving a gap filled by PA's, NP's, and FMG's. ER practioners/PA's on the other hand....Well, I couldn't agree more. But that is what the mid-level provider is supposed to do, right? Remove some load from the over-educated doctor so that patients and the system isn't wasting money for the same thing? I guess you could say the same thing is sort of happening with the NPs now, but SOMEONE has to do it. Thanks for this thread regardless. Very informative. I'll go back to lurking in the shadows now
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Dec 9, 2008 02:57
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phatmonky posted:
I agree with this, but I think that it'd be a better move to get your CRNA or something, if a nurse wanted higher education. NP just seems like so much more work, for what's not a very consistant job market.
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Dec 9, 2008 03:09
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So are the shortages for nurses that I've read about because there aren't enough nurses, or not enough GP's out there to handle the usual mid level cases? It's something I should ask my father, as he's an orthopedic surgeon. Regardless, for anyone reading this thread, the title, in my mind, doesn't do nurses justice. When I volunteered in the ER in high school, I learned a tremendous amount about what happens, and nurses make that place go. While it may seem obvious, the treatment people received was from nurses, and whenever I meet a nurse, I thank them for everything they do. I come from a family of doctors, maybe I should re-evaluate what I'm doing with my life! In conclusion, thank you!
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Dec 9, 2008 04:46
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Kimball_Ninja posted:So are the shortages for nurses that I've read about because there aren't enough nurses, or not enough GP's out there to handle the usual mid level cases? It's something I should ask my father, as he's an orthopedic surgeon. There are two shortages that are unrelated. First, we're losing GPs because any physician in his right mind doesn't want to be one. The money, respect and babes all go to the specialists. While many people start out wanting to go into primary care, by the time they finish med school they look at their debt vs their salaries and do what anyone else would. The shortage of RNs come from heightened requirements, the fact that hospital based RNs require a lot more training than a 2 year degree can give, and the massive attrition that has always defined our field. A lot of people go to school, start work and leave the profession forever within six months. It doesn't help that there aren't enough schools and few qualified teachers. The teacher problem is compounded by internal weirdness as to what our Masters/PhD candidates actually do. If they're doctoral level they need to be researching something, and that's the rub. Their research has to be "nursing" related which leads to highly educated people researching what is essentially meaningless fluff. I have zero interest in models of caring or therapeutic communication. Neither do they, to be honest. Yet we're way too hesitant about letting our research cross over into "medical" territory and as a result, no one, least of all nurses, cares about nursing research. It's also one of the problems of nursing school in general. 25% of it is "nursing theory" which everyone ignores. The other 75% is Med School: The Abridged Version. That's what actually matters, and it's what we actually use when we work. No one really wants to admit that though, and it's why our post graduate programs are so screwed up. The result is that if you're a nurse who wants to learn things, you go play in whatever specialty interests you and learn while you work. With a few notable exceptions, there are no reasons to go for Masters or PhD unless you want to teach since the research options are incredibly limited. You're also guaranteed a lovely pay cut. Hence why no one does it, hence the shortage of teachers, hence the shortage of schools and thus graduates. Ohthehugemanatee fucked around with this message at 06:07 on Dec 9, 2008 |
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Dec 9, 2008 05:51
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This may be a weird question, but is it common/possible for someone who has worked as an RN for, lets say 10 years, to attend medical school? My guess is this probably reflects that I am very ignorant about how the medical industry works, more than anything, but I, for some strange reason have thought that their should programs which would allow a nurse to work toward an MD over time (if the nurse's hospital had an MD program of course). side_burned fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Dec 9, 2008 |
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Dec 9, 2008 05:57
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side_burned posted:This may be a weird question, but is it common/possible for some one who has worked as an RN for lets say 10 to got medical school and become an MD? Possible, not incredibly common. Once I finish my third year in the ICU I'm going to probably either go for Flight Nurse or, failing that, MD. It'll mean starting out just like anyone else in med school, but I'm young enough to get away with it. What you describe in your second paragraph is what the Nurse Practitioner was supposed to be. It tacks on 1-2 years of education and gives an RN the ability to prescribe and act as a quasi-MD. Depending on your area of interest, the "quasi" can mean no functional difference (family practice) or a complete deal breaker (critical care).
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Dec 9, 2008 06:12
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Ohthehugemanatee posted:Possible, not incredibly common. Once I finish my third year in the ICU I'm going to probably either go for Flight Nurse or, failing that, MD. It'll mean starting out just like anyone else in med school, but I'm young enough to get away with it. Just out of curiosity will any of your nursing school class be transferable to Med school program?
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Dec 9, 2008 06:54
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side_burned posted:I guess I just thought if someone where to work as nurse for a while that they should be able to substitute that experience for portions of med school. Sorta like giving nurses the option to go into some kind of pseudo apprenticeship to get their MD. No not at all. Med School is post graduate. Nursing school is undergrad. The best it would do is make some of the courses easier since you already should have pathophysiology down pretty well and have probably seen and treated half the poo poo they talk about in school. You'd also be a lot more confident shoving tubes and needles into people once you got into your clinicals. Other than that it wouldn't help in getting in or shortening the load.
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Dec 9, 2008 07:20
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Bum the Sad posted:No not at all. Med School is post graduate. Nursing school is undergrad. Not to get too far astray, but just chiming in that many nursing pre-reqs (at schools I have attended and my current science center) do not qualify for pre-reqs for medical school, and someone attempting the process may very well have to go back to undergrad to finish those before attending medical school as well. Of course, based on state, etc. YMMV.
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Dec 9, 2008 14:28
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side_burned posted:I guess I just thought if someone where to work as nurse for a while that they should be able to substitute that experience for portions of med school. Sorta like giving nurses the option to go into some kind of pseudo apprenticeship to get their MD. To help illustrate this a bit further, let me tell you about a PA I know. He is in his early 60s, rode through undergrad and PA school on affirmative action, and settled in with a group of cardiac intensivists in an extraordinarily successful/profitable practice in a very well known hospital (WBRO). In 1975, he took a part-time teaching position at a nearby medical school (Wayne State) and has remained there, primarily teaching cardiac Fellows. FYI, a Fellow is a Doc who super-specializes, sort of like supersizing a residency. Let me say this again: for more than 3 decades he has been teaching the MDs how to be cardiac specialists. What does this get him, should he choose to pursue an MD? Absolutely nothing. He will have to go to Medical School, and will end up calling phatmonkey his senior. The integrity of the process of educating physicians is sacrosanct. In this regard, nursing is not so different. I worked with an NP last night who chooses to work as an RN because of the pay and the hours. According to her, as an RN with 22 years, she makes 97% of the salary as an NP with 1 year (at our hospital) and being an NP would require her to work 5 days/week, versus the 3 she works as an RN. Something about a 76 mile commute one-way between work and home. /shrug The only benefit for RNs choosing to pursue education appears to be the hours and the lack of patient contact. Every once in a while I see an internal job posting that reads something like "RN, weekdays only, no call lights, no poop" which ends up being for the legal dept or some similar office-ish job. A career in education could offer something similar.
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Dec 9, 2008 14:50
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Ohthehugemanatee posted:There are two shortages that are unrelated. First, we're losing GPs because any physician in his right mind doesn't want to be one. The money, respect and babes all go to the specialists. While many people start out wanting to go into primary care, by the time they finish med school they look at their debt vs their salaries and do what anyone else would. I dunno...in most ways I agree with you about Masters and PhD programs for nursing. But I do know that more and more schools are offering a PhD in "nursing practice" and not "nursing theory". What that means exactly, I'm not really sure, but I do know it means there are programs out there for nurses that offer higher education in the field of actual practice. Because you're right, nursing theory is a load and most people couldn't care less. Plus there are a number of nursing practice fields that require a Masters. Like nurse anesthetists and NPs. (Oh what I would give to be a nurse anesthetist. Talk about money!) But yeah, you're right. Most teaching postitions require at least a masters, more often a PhD. And who the hell cares when you get better money actually practicing?
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Dec 9, 2008 17:05
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I'm back for more on my errant sister's behalf. Now that I'm learning more about it, I think an LPN program would be a great idea for her. However, I don't know much at all about what the work is like aside from the occupational descriptions and my infrequent encounters with them during hospital stays. How would you all characterize the work life of LPN's? Is it a thankless, back-breakingly difficult job with few benefits? Is there high attrition, and if so, do most try to pursue becoming RN's or just abandon the field entirely? What are the best and worst things about being an LPN?
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Dec 14, 2008 07:04
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dividebyzero posted:I'm back for more on my errant sister's behalf. LPN is basically a dead end unless you want to make 14 bucks an hour for the rest of your life. I really hate to say, but most people do LPN because they couldn't get into an RN program, and most of them generally stay at LPN and never bridge. A lot say they will one day, but rarely do. When people think of nurses as rear end wiping, vomit cleaning etc, what they're usually thinking of is CNA, or LPN work. RNs have to do that stuff too, but not nearly to the same degree. All levels of care are important in caring for patients, but if what she wants is some level of autonomy and a livable wage, it's really worth holding out for an RN program.
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Dec 14, 2008 08:34
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Nostalgia4Dogges fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Jul 19, 2016 |
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Dec 14, 2008 09:20
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Christoff posted:I know LPN can be a dead end. But how practical is it to become an LPN, work, and while working do a program into an RN? It's as practical as far as you are able to do it. It depends on the person. Nursing school is very tough, there's a ton of material to go over, not to mention pre-requisite courses. Some local schools have a bridge program that would be worth checking out, attend an information seminar if you're able, it will answer any and all questions you have.
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Dec 14, 2008 09:23
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As an 18 year old who has not yet begun school but is interested in being a RN what quick pro-tips would anyone give me? I know it's broad but I feel totally lost. I will be going to a community college that has a CNA program. I figure if I start earlier the better. I also heard from a friend that I would not have to take any mathematics course if I was positive about my route because I would be taking general dosages.
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Dec 14, 2008 10:49
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Burzum posted:As an 18 year old who has not yet begun school but is interested in being a RN what quick pro-tips would anyone give me? I know it's broad but I feel totally lost. You wouldn't need math for the CNA, but you will later on. Dosage calculation is a math class, and even if you go to a school that doesn't give it as a stand alone class, you'll need to be competent in math to do it. In my school, at least, it's something they do not fool around with. Even after the class, you are constantly given dosage calculation quizzes to keep your skills up and to make sure you understand it. Dosage mistakes kill. (Like the hypothetical patients I almost killed when I carelessly multiplied pounds by 2.2 to get kilos to figure out the safe dosage range. Ooops. Good thing I caught it before I handed it in.)
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Dec 14, 2008 11:37
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phatmonky posted:By NO MEANS, was anything I said meant to be a slight at nurses. poo poo, right now I can tell you pathway after pathway for drug usage, diagnose things by symptoms despite never seeing the disease in person, and tell you the physics behind all kinds of imaging. As an aside, this is a good reason to consider if you want to work in a teaching hospital once you have your RN. Especially in the ER and ICUs, you'll spend a lot of time babysitting interns for their first year or two. Even new nurses are expected to be able to do this because, well, that's what you signed up for. More autonomy = more responsibility. This is why a lot of people recommend that one year of general med/surg floor to get your bearings, but if your hospital has a good precepting program and you'll be working in a tight unit, gently caress it, go for it. He's right, we do get a lot more exposure to patients, even as students, than fresh MDs see before they walk out into the unit that first July in their new white jackets. Their heads are bursting with knowledge and diagnoses that are practically useless since the real world functions nothing like a textbook, the human body is squishy and unreliable, and the drugs they know may or may not be the drugs that hospital or attending physicians favor. They'll see muddled radiology images that they won't be ready to interpret, patients riddled with multiple diseases that can seem to create conflicting diagnoses or just make one big clusterfuck of signs and symptoms, and have to actually go through the daunting (no sarcasm) task of assessing a patient on their own with their own instruments and their own senses to guide them. They'll be working ridiculous hours with their residents and attendings constantly kicking them in the rear end. It sucks to be a new MD and at that point in their career they're not being paid poo poo for all the grief they have to go through. But they're still going to be giving orders and it'll be part of your job to keep them from loving up. Honestly, most of them will be really cool and ready to bust their asses, some will be terrified and drag their feet, and some will be pompous dicks who will wear that white jacket like a superhero cape and try to get someone killed. Whatever, they're new and you will be too. Know your poo poo, rely on your fellow nurses for advice, and trust your gut if it tells you something seems wrong. A lot of it will be pretty obvious stuff that they're overlooking because they're focusing so hard on something else anyway. Anyway, sorry for bringing some gloom n' doom into the thread, but I never had a clue about this and realizing it scared the poo poo out of me when I started as a new grad in an ICU. I'd still recommend it to any new grad though, ICU rocks.
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Dec 14, 2008 15:00
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Nostalgia4Dogges fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Jul 19, 2016 |
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Jan 23, 2009 06:08
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SprintingOnIce posted:
In my years of being a CNA (going on 9 years off and on of being a professional butt-wiper), the best nurses (both lpn and rn) are those who've been a cna first. Could just be the places I've worked at. But the nurses who've only been nurses seem to only want to pass meds, finish the paperwork and go home. Those who were aids first seem to show more empathy to the patients and get more involved in the care. They also seem to treat the aids *and* patients with more respect. Most places in this area (whether hospital or long-term care facility) are trying to do away with lpn hiring. They want aids or rn's. Suprisingly this hasn't lowered the wait time to get into the lpn program. Yeah I know the benefits of going straight to RN, but I'm paying my own way for at least the first year..and with CNA wages, I'm really stretching it to even get back into school at all.
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Jan 23, 2009 15:28
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Christoff posted:Is it school dependent? Yes, every institution sets their own limits, and the nursing school may further limit. You'll have to contact a counselor in your chosen school's nursing administration.
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Jan 23, 2009 16:29
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Absolute Evil posted:Most places in this area (whether hospital or long-term care facility) are trying to do away with lpn hiring. They want aids or rn's. Suprisingly this hasn't lowered the wait time to get into the lpn program. Yeah I know the benefits of going straight to RN, but I'm paying my own way for at least the first year..and with CNA wages, I'm really stretching it to even get back into school at all. Are there any hospital programs in your area? For example, Bridgeport Hospital in CT has a RN diploma program that they offer free of charge... in return for a 3-5 (I forget exactly) year contract with them post-grad. Free degree + guaranteed job placement in a major hospital (they're also part of the Yale network) ain't a bad deal. Hospital diploma programs are becoming increasingly rare, though. Bridgeport's the only one left in the state at this point and I have no idea about other states.
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Jan 23, 2009 21:05
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I heard some guy mention something about a 1 year nursing program offered at the University of Michigan (sorry if someone already mentioned this). Has anyone heard of this? I heard him mention it was a BSN program.
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Jan 24, 2009 08:26
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Many universities in my area (SE Michigan) that have nursing schools will offer this. It is an accelerated program for people who already have a Baccalaureate degree and have fulfilled the pre-reqs. It is often a much shorter period of training (from pre-req completion to graduation) than the traditional route. My "traditional" BSN came from 6 semesters of nursing school (3 years). My SO's BSN took 11 months (with fulltime classes and clinicals during summer). U of M, Wayne State, and Oakland University all have similar accelerated programs; I'm sure there are others nearby.
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Jan 24, 2009 14:14
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Lost Downtown posted:Are there any hospital programs in your area? For example, Bridgeport Hospital in CT has a RN diploma program that they offer free of charge... in return for a 3-5 (I forget exactly) year contract with them post-grad. Free degree + guaranteed job placement in a major hospital (they're also part of the Yale network) ain't a bad deal. At the nursing home I work at, after I've been there for a year, the nursing home will cover half of the costs for me to go to nursing school. *IF* I sign an agreement to work for them as a nurse for 2 years when I pass the course/state test. The problem with that is you don't work as a nurse in the same facility you did as an aid,usually. They can send you to any nursing home they own (something like 14 within the IL/IA/MO area), you have no say in the matter. If you refuse your placement (say because you get placed in the nursing home that's 3 hours away and are unable to move), the money they paid you to go to school immediately becomes due...you have 30 days to pay it in full or they take you to court. An aid I used to work with had this happen to her..she had to come up with close to 5 grand within 30 days because she couldn't move to Chicago to work and the 3 hour each way commute would have ate up her whole paycheck and then some. The hospitals around here will (partially)pay for an aids tuition/books/etc if they sign a contract to work a certain amount of time after they become nurses. This is only after an aid has already worked for them for 2 years, fulltime. However, the aids in hospitals make a little more than a dollar less an hour than I do. The nurses make less at the hospital and those at the nursing home as well. I'd rather just pay my way and slowly get through the classes, on my own terms. I'd hate to feel overwhelmed/trapped because I signed a piece of paper. *shrugs*
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Jan 24, 2009 16:56
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mason likes onions posted:U of M, Wayne State, and Oakland University all have similar accelerated programs; I'm sure there are others nearby. I have been working full-time in HR and taking pre-req's since Jan 2007. I finally was able to apply to an ADN program in SE Michigan this December. This particular program admits by pre-req GPA, rather than a waitlist, so I should be able to start in either May or Sept. It has been a long road, but I know it's going to be worth it. I chose the ADN program over the BSN program because #1 cost (5K vs 25K) and #2 I am not sure I want to go into advanced practice nursing. I will most likely use tuition reimbursement and do a RN-BSN bridge program....very slowly.
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Jan 25, 2009 05:30
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Lost Downtown posted:Are there any hospital programs in your area? For example, Bridgeport Hospital in CT has a RN diploma program that they offer free of charge... in return for a 3-5 (I forget exactly) year contract with them post-grad. Free degree + guaranteed job placement in a major hospital (they're also part of the Yale network) ain't a bad deal. The major hospital system where I live offers this too, it's a 2 year work agreement after them paying for nursing school 100%. It's an insane offer to pass up really, especially since there are three more large hospitals being built by them in the vicinity over the coming years. So not only do you have a guaranteed job, you have a lot of different places to work at within their cover. I don't know why people don't take more advantage of these things.
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Jan 25, 2009 18:07
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I'm looking at a career change, and a friend who is a Nurse Practitioner suggested nursing - after listening to her advice and stories, and reading this thread, it sounds like a good match for my skills and personality. Questions are these; 1) I have a BS in Biology and am interested in a BS -> BSN program. Know of any of these in the Philly/PA/MD regions? I'm not unable to search, but it's like a damned egg hunt and I don't have the vocabulary to search for the right program. 2) How the hell can I afford it? I'm 38, have my own house, and have a dog I love dearly that I won't give up for apartment living. Can I get a student loan that covers housing and the basics (as well as my education) since I won't be able to work in an accelerated program? 3) I hear that a lot of places will pay off your student loans, but don't know where they are or how the conditions might be. There were some examples up above... are they typical? I am 3 classes into a MLS, but Librarianship is a vast wasteland of no-pay jobs in the public sector, and a metric fuckton of people graduating without chance of jobs because many of the old bats have ossified into their jobs are are not going anywhere. Ears fucked around with this message at 21:12 on Jan 25, 2009 |
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Jan 25, 2009 21:05
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Ears posted:I'm looking at a career change, and a friend who is a Nurse Practitioner suggested nursing - after listening to her advice and stories, and reading this thread, it sounds like a good match for my skills and personality. http://www.allnursingschools.com/featured/accelerated-msn/
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Jan 25, 2009 23:53
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welp
kuf fucked around with this message at 06:26 on Jan 20, 2015 |
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Jan 27, 2009 02:26
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I'm in my 3rd semester of nursing school. Only 7 more months to go! I love it. I absolutely love nursing. I never ever considered it when I was in high school and I kind of just fell into it but as soon as I started school I knew it was for me. Nursing school can be very difficult but it's not impossible. And it is worth it.
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Jan 27, 2009 04:40
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This might sound silly, but I am interested in becoming a nurse. I am in college now going for my BS in biology and I already have a nursing school in mind. My question is, if nursing school is so intensive, did you have time to work? If so, where? If not, how did you survive?
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Jan 28, 2009 02:51
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krazynuts posted:This might sound silly, but I am interested in becoming a nurse. I am in college now going for my BS in biology and I already have a nursing school in mind. I worked contingent as a glorified buttwiper in a very large hospital. Working contingent gave me the freedom to assign my own schedule. I usually worked 32-40 hours per week, but had the freedom to give myself less work when I anticipated the need. I was occasionally assigned as a patient sitter (one on one with a patient who was at risk for harming themself or interfering with their care) which occasionally enabled me to read a textbook or work on my laptop. I had some money reserved from a legal settlement, the GI Bill paid me between $750 and $1100 per month while I was enrolled, I was at a smaller state school where Pell Grants, small scholarships and federal loans covered tuition and nearly all other costs, and I lived in a cheap townhouse in a semi-ghetto; probably a fairly average story for adults starting school in their 20s.
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Jan 28, 2009 03:43
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