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 After seeing a few nursing threads around here with people asking about the job and school itself, I figured we should have our own thread. I myself am still finishing up clinicals, but my sister is a nurse, and my two closest friends are nurses so I've got quite a bit of experience in the actual field, plus clinicals have put me right in the action for a few years now. I know a good bit about what you can expect in this field, but of course, anyone with experience is encouraged to join in. We could use your perspective! I'll put a brief FAQ here and try to add to it as time allows. What does it take to be a nurse? The two most common routes are an ADN, or BSN. You will more or less make the same amount of money (at least at first) for both degrees, but a BSN opens up more opportunity later on down the road. Bear in mind, a lot of people think 'oh wow, I can get an associates degree and make 60K?' but in reality, there are a lot of prerequisite class required, and most are very difficult. It's not a degree you can just 'get'. You have to finish your prereqs with a very good GPA, take some sort of entrance exam, and prove you are, more or less, not an idiot. (some do still get through) Only after all that, will you even start the 2 year program. Plan accordingly. What different types of nurses are there? Mostly you will see LVN's(or LPN's in some states) and RN's. The above mentioned degree plans are for the RN program. LPN's a are lesser educated 'tier' of nurses whose tasks are often delegated to them by the RN's. Most LPN programs require only a year of school, with no prereqs. The pay difference is pretty substantial, and you may get bored quickly as an LPN. Of course, everyone is different, and all levels of patient care staff are critical to a smooth environment. Are any guys nurses? Sure, lots! Men are very much needed in the nursing field, and you'd be a welcome addition to any staff. Areas of particular need are ER and mental health. Nursing School isn't really that hard. People just say that because nurses don't know any better... I went to nursing school with a previous degree in bacteriology from probably the most renowned public university in the field. Before that, I switched out of mechanical engineering because I thought it was too easy and I was getting bored. In micro bio we did all that lovely O-chem and genetics work that everyone enjoys so much. It wasn't that hard, but it wasn't something you could just wing either. A few years later I went to nursing school. It was the hardest thing I've ever done academically. The courses were brutal - they involved more hours both in and out of the classroom than any program I'd been in before. The expectations were higher and more immediate. You had to know lungs by Tuesday, and you had to know the physiologic effects of the antidysrhythmics by Thursday. Classmates dropped like flies, and those who stuck around were as bright a group of people as I've ever been around. That's not to scare anyone away - if you work hard and want it, you can do it. I'm just amazed that people are meh about my nursing degree and wowza about my infinitely easier BS in a hard science. It's like being in the marine corps and having people gloss over that to swoon over your collection of boy scout badges. Nursing school is as hard as any hard science, and it tops that off by also demanding practicality and an ability to adapt. You don't get to walk away from things with a fuzzy understanding of them. A fuzzy understanding of anaerobes will screw up your experiments. A fuzzy understanding of the effects of ACE inhibitors can cripple or kill a fetus. But your job sucks! You just do what the doctors tell you! In a word, no. I can't speak for all, but I'm in ICU. We have a close working relationship with the doctors because we're at the bedside and they aren't. Our patients are in critical and often declining states, and if the MDs didn't trust us, they'd be in every fifteen minutes to fiddle around with things. When I see a troubling cluster of new symptoms, I page some poor bastard and explain what I see and what I want to do about it. The poor bastard gives me his code and either backs me up on what I want to do or decides to go with something different. So far my "yeah what you just said" rate is about 99% and I get overruled about 1% of the time. The job of the MDs in the hospital setting is to devise a plan. They diagnose and establish a list of meds to use regularly and a list of meds to use if the situation arises. My job is to get the patient through my shift. If the plan is good, my job is easy. If something comes up and the plan is no longer good, it's my job to recognize that and act accordingly. That may mean bending the rules a little bit, or it may mean going the direct route and paging some poor guy at 3am and telling him I now need a central line and an order for pressors. Things are very different from the TV shows. Our medical system has its eyes focused squarely on the dollar sign, and MDs appallingly high salaries mean they are rushed through absolutely everything they do. The good news for nurses is that it means we get a lot more autonomy than we probably did before. The bad news is that with that autonomy comes a lot more responsibility. But I could never do that, it's ICKY! Hah, I remember when things used to disgust me. Those were happy days. To be honest, you get desensitized quickly. The human mind adapts wonderfully, and whatever you might think holds you back from entering health care isn't nearly as important as you might think. I've seen vaginas that would drive legions of heterosexual men straight into frenzied buggery. I've seen mucus, blood, feces and vomit, and as many as three of those at the same time. They aren't the fun part of my job, but they're a small price to pay for the cool things we get to do. thanks, hugemanatee! ____________________________________________________________________________________________ Any more questions? Again I'd just like to keep this thread a positive place for people to ask questions and get information on what I think is a pretty cool field. If there are any questions I myself cannot answer, I will ask any of the RN's I know already to help us out. Sir Fontlebottom fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Nov 26, 2008 |
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Nov 24, 2008 05:17
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Lost Downtown posted:I'm a male nurse, work in an ICU, and graduated from an accelerated program. If you guys don't mind, I'll answer whatever I can. Awesome, thanks! quote:I've seen vaginas that would drive legions of heterosexual men straight into frenzied buggery. This is true, and why it cracks me up when a patient is bothered by having a male/female nurse. We're medical professionals, trust me...we don't even see the usual "sexy" stuff as sexy in a clinical setting. quote:Nursing School isn't really that hard. People just say that because nurses don't know any better... Yeah I can't believe anyone ever thinks this. It's probably the most complete combination of rote memorization, practical application, and critical thinking of just about any job out there.
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Nov 26, 2008 00:41
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Ohthehugemanatee posted:
From what I understand this is pretty common almost regardless of whatever else happens. I've come to think that it's a good thing, at least for a little while. It's tough to start out there, but you really will learn a whole lot, and in the end be better for it. Also, hope you don't mind but I put some of what you said in the OP. It was very helpful!
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Nov 26, 2008 18:28
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