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I'm looking at a career change. I just got laid off, and have been exploring my options. Medical work has been the closest I felt I had to a calling, but I set it aside because I didn't feel like I was a good enough student to handle it. Eight years ago, when I picked a major, I was probably right about that. Fast forward to today and I've been living in San Francisco for eight years and would like to stay here. It's getting really weird with all the clueless tech yuppies who just got here, but it's also where I've lived my whole adult life, and have some semblance of roots. I also know that simply isn't realistic with nursing. I saw the person recently graduated in NYC getting told in so many words "go somewhere else for now and try to come back in a few years." I figure I have two options. There's a vocational school here, Bay Area Medical Academy, that has a nine-month program to get Medical Assistant, Phlebotomy, and EKG. This seems like my most realistic option to get into medical work without having to leave the Bay Area, even if I don't land something in SF initially. The labor market for EMTs is about the same as for nurses (i.e., "get ready to move when you graduate"), but there seems to be a decent amount of demand for medical and hospital assistants, especially ones qualified as phlebotomists. It's a decent living ($20-$30/h around here, from what I've been able to gather on Glassdoor and Indeed) and would let me work something more fulfilling than what I've been doing. I've got great people skills, built through ten years of jobs with direct customer/client interaction, and confirmed by my last job. It was phone support so constantly helping very angry people get positive results, and I did well at it as credited by managers, peers, and clients. The idea here would be to get on at a hospital, pay my dues for a while, and then try to get into a ASN or BSN program and use my traction and networking within that hospital to find myself a nursing position locally. My other option is to go for broke, try to get into an ASN or accelerated BSN program (I have a Bachelor's already in Hospitality Management), and be okay with leaving SF if that's what it takes. I've uprooted my life before, so I have some idea what that would be like. After I graduated in 09 I took my hospitality degree to a ski town in Colorado where I knew nobody and had nothing waiting for me, and did fine. Made friends, etc. After a year and a half, though, I left and came home to SF because I missed being near family (they're all in Sacramento), I missed the friendships I'd built here, and I missed the city. The plan here would probably be to return at some point, but I know if I take that step, with the insanity of housing in SF right now and no sign of it changing anytime soon, I have to be okay with never being able to come back. I know there isn't really a lot of useful input that can be given on the relocation option, that mostly just comes down to me deciding if I'm okay with leaving. What I'd like is some input on the first. Does anyone have experience as a CMA/Phlebotomist/Hospital Assistant? Is it a suitable way to "pay your dues" and try to move up to nursing? Even if it isn't, I may still do it since it's medical work that would give me a pretty good shot to be able to stay in SF. The program I'm considering is here. E: I should add that I would like to be able to volunteer someday with Doctors Without Borders or somewhere similar. Cactus Ghost fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Jul 21, 2014 |
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Jul 21, 2014 03:25
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I've read that drug addiction among nurses is a pretty big problem and has only recently gotten any attention, so maybe that has something to do with it. It makes sense. From what I've read people are saying there's literally no incentive to seek help if you're a nurse and addict. Speaking up and saying "I need some help" is literally no different from saying "Fire me and ruin my career" so nobody seeks help and instead just tries to make it through their day without killing anyone or running out of their junk of choice.
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Aug 16, 2014 04:48
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So I decided against the vocational school for medical assisting and am taking nurse prereqs instead. With the tech bedroom SF is rapidly becoming, I realized I really don't care if I have to move to find work. In the meantime, I have my rent controlled apartment so I don't need to go anywhere yet. I'm going to Skyline College for prereqs and going to try for Samuel Merritt's ABSN because I have a Bachelor's already. I'm also going to look into what other schools offer similar 2nd-bacc programs. I know University of Wyoming has one, and that supposedly they offer it remotely, which seems a little mind-boggling. I haven't found any other 2nd-bacc programs yet, but I haven't dug that deep either. I'm going off of SMU's prereq list since it's my first choice and they have pretty high standards. Any particular advice? I've heard "keep all of your syllabi" for transfer purposes.
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Aug 21, 2014 07:42
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Koivunen posted:Start looking for a different job ASAP. Discriminating against you in any way or implying your job could be on the line for being pro-union (or even not anti-union) is unfair labor practice and is illegal under federal labor law, FYI. Doesn't sound like that's what they were doing, but just so you know, everyone is protected under federal labor law, regardless of union status. I thing general anti-union campaigning is fair practice as long as it stays at campaigning and is directed at the workforce as a whole. Most restaurants I worked at that weren't union shops had some kind of video or pamphlets or whatever. Unions are a tool; they can, and usually do, do a lot of good things for workers. They can also be corrupt as hell. I've been on both sides of it; some of the poo poo I saw unions pull while I was working in HR at a union hotel was pretty shady. Billing workers twice for dues, targeting ESL speakers and sending them stacks of confusing legalese getting them to agree to higher dues, etc. All I'm saying is, if you're looking to organize, shop around. Don't just go with the first union to campaign at your workplace.
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May 20, 2015 09:57
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Ravenfood posted:I saw more, did more, and got paid more as an unlicensed nursing assistant than I ever did as an EMT-B. "Unlicensed nursing assistant" doesn't really sound like a job that'd be advertised... did you get that person-to-person?
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Jun 23, 2016 23:04
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Asking for general input on how I'm doing so far: The goal for now is to be an RN. What seems like the most sensible path for me is an ABSN, with the future possibility of going back to school for Nurse Practitioner or Nurse Anesthetist. A in Chemistry, B in Microbiology, A in Anatomy, Physiology in the fall. My overall recent GPA is around 3.6. I've got most of the normal prerequisites completed, except for nutrition and stats. Nutrition with physio in the fall, stats plus a psych and/or sociology class in the spring. That should leave all the standard prereqs completed, only reaching back into my Bachelor's for english classes. My GPA from my non-nursing bachelor's degree, completed years ago, was around 2.7. My grades in english were fine, my grades in nutrition and stats were not (which is why I'm going ahead and retaking them). Work ties up most of my time outside school, which has made it difficult to build volunteer time. I've got a few hours here and there, none of it with hospitals. I have a goodly amount of experience in kitchens and foodservice, so I've been volunteering with a charity that does grocery and prepped meals for the terminally ill and others too young for Meals On Wheels. It mostly just amounts to a shitload of chopping vegetables, but it's easy work, it's something I'm much more skilled at than the average volunteer, and it lets me apply my current skillset to something at least tangenitally related to my aspirations in healthcare. Other than that, I've got a few hours here and there with the local bicycle coalition, putting on events and such. My parents are able to occasionally help out with an emergency "oh poo poo help me not bounce checks please" at the end of the month, but it's not something I can (or really, want to) rely on. I should be able to qualify for ~$10,000 in loans this year, but based on experience with federal aid, I'll believe it when I see the direct deposit. I live in the SF Bay Area (for as long as I'm able to hold onto my rent-controlled apartment). It seems like there's a shitload of other people aspiring to be nurses clogging the normal channels. Volunteer positions at hospitals here seem very competitive, and most job postings I see for CNAs demand multiple years of experience, and some even explicitly state "no students". Anyone have experience paying the bills while trying to build pre-nursing-school experience living in a major metro area with a buttload of other nursing students trying to do the same? I've heard NYC and LA are also like this. edit: Oh, I'm also TAing a section of Anatomy this summer for the professor I took it with. Between the A and the TAing I figure he's good for a solid letter of recommendation. Cactus Ghost fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Jun 23, 2016 |
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Jun 23, 2016 23:30
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dumb stupid idiot posted:Hi I'm starting a 12 month accelerated BSN at the end of August. I'm feeling excited and optimistic, so I figured I'd better find a bunch of goons who'd want to put stop to all of that right away. right
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Jun 29, 2016 04:46
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Etrips posted:start figuring out where you want to be What does this mean? Which specific hospital, or what sort of nursing? Or both? how i figure out where you want to be
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Jul 1, 2016 07:42
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once i get that nursing money, im gonna buy plat AND archives. the good life here i come
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Jul 21, 2016 20:57
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What're people's thoughts about the shift away from ABSNs to Masters Entry Programs? Some of them, like UCSF's, sound like an ABSN and a Master's program crammed together, so you leave after three years with a MSN as an advanced practice nurse. Others though, like Columbia's, don't sound any different from ab ABSN program; you finish after 15 months with the NCLEX as an RN. Would it be weird to put MSN on your resume but not have any advanced practice study?
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Aug 21, 2016 11:10
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amethystbliss posted:The specialties at UCSF all expect a significant amount of work history in the field at the time of application--I was accepted to all of the other well-respected masters entry programs and they all had the same expectation (Yale, Vanderbilt, Columbia, and the likes). In my cohort, psych students have years of experience as doing psych research, working as psych techs, prior careers in social work or counseling, etc. All of the midwifery students have spent years working as lactation consultants, doulas, or managing community clinics. A large percentage of my cohort have masters degrees in other fields, mostly in public health, and most have been working with nurses or NPs in other roles. well good to know i shouldn't waste my application fee applying at ucsf this spring
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Aug 22, 2016 10:56
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Nine of Eight posted:This is a warning to all mursing students: no mater how outrageously goony you act, volunteering to be a frosh leader will lead to uncomfortable amounts of being groped by your fellow students. That is all. i cant tell if this post is filled with typos or unfamiliar jargon
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Aug 27, 2016 20:34
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Nine of Eight posted:The mursing thing was a joke, I hate the word too. im 30
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Aug 28, 2016 22:33
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im in the first month of a 12-month ABSN program and jesus fuvking hell
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Jan 15, 2019 07:34
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im in recovery and also just quit smoking
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Jan 16, 2019 00:55
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hobbez posted:Hey me too. You trying to work some throughout or nah? I have an occasional gig doing event EMS but it’s all by signup so I can take it or leave it. I figured I’d take one day a month or so, since there’s no ED clinical in our program. That’s it though, and just to keep that relationship open and on my resume; not for money. I’m on that fafsa and food stamps gravy train baby. makin it rain rice beans and frozen veggies Cactus Ghost fucked around with this message at 08:30 on Jan 17, 2019 |
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Jan 17, 2019 08:28
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Does HIPAA prevent video surveillance of vulnerable adults? If I had a family member unable to care for themselves I’d be wanting it in light of... recent events
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Jan 24, 2019 02:15
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well i did my first pericare and brief change today in clinicals and was unfazed, to my relief. the clear gratitude in the patient’s voice + not having been the least bit grossed out by wiping poop off another dude’s rear end and balls were both pretty great affirmations that I’m on a good path for myself.
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Feb 25, 2019 01:23
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god drat i am getting my rear end whypped but good. if I make it out of this class block alive and still in my cohort i’m going to kiss the loving ground and make some serious changes to my study habits. i’ve been making this a lot harder on myself than it needs to be. getting poo poo done ahead of time and getting up earlier than i need to would make like 50% of my problems evaporate. oof.
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Mar 10, 2019 02:17
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is there not a single goddamn brick and mortar store in the united states that still sells cheap quartz watches? I lost my scrub watch and i'd like to not wait a week to get one from amazon nor blow $100 because my room's a mess
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Mar 17, 2019 21:07
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California's the only state with mandatory minimum ratios, all the others leave it up to management for some incomprehensible reason.
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Apr 1, 2019 22:45
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god dammit i just got my clinical assignment and they gave my group the worst time in the cohort for the third rotation in a row. now we not only don't have a day off to study between clinical and lecture like the last two rotations (the only clinical group in our cohort who doesn't), we don't even have enough time to sleep. it's seriously going to be like 6 hours between the two after accounting for commuting and hygiene. There's a shower at school and I'm seriously considering just sleeping in my car there to get the extra 2 hours of sleep. I've heard it's like this all over California right now, to the point that the state might put a freeze on new nursing programs because it's so hard to get clinical time that there's lots of students getting stuck choosing between sleep and getting access to a clinical rotation.
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Apr 27, 2019 03:25
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i hope to someday be one of those travelers working in a toxic work environment
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May 10, 2019 03:11
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any men want to share their experience with Maternity & Pediatrics rotations? I just had my first cycle of maternity; postpartum + nicu were great but L&D was just nonstop casual sexism from the nurses we were shadowing. all the patients I interacted with were perfectly pleasant but everyone but my shadow nurse was just waving the two men in our group off from everything. even my shadow nurse tried to wave me off from a patient she was covering for a nurse on break until I introduced myself in Spanish to the patient and confirmed she was ok with me being there. I felt like I was getting roadblocked to the maximum extent I contractually could be. this was a complete 180 from NICU, where every single nurse was enthusiastic about teaching and offering me tasks like daiper changes, swaddling, feeding, and doing assessments. e: oh and twice I got comments about how I wasn't going to work maternity and I should work ED instead.
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May 20, 2019 06:14
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Marathanes posted:I absolutely got more than a few "most men don't go into this area" sorts of conversations from preceptors, but once I told them that while that may be true, I was still very interested as I wanted to have the broadest possible knowledge base moving forward. Once I said that, the vast majority of them loosened up and were happy to teach me. I just tried to engage them as much as possible, and explain why it was important to me to learn as much as I could if they weren't engaging me right out of the gate. That seems like a good way to handle it; I'll give that a try this week. Last week I was kinda blindsided by it all after having such a great experience with patients and nurses both in NICU and Postpartum, so i just kept my mouth shut, focused on the patients and my learning and didn't react to any of it. I'm glad too; after cooling off I realize I also may have been reading more bias into at least some of the nurses' behavior than there actually was after I got the weird comments.
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May 20, 2019 20:13
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why arent the chud states as unionized is it just the standard chud-state anti-union laws or is there more to it
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May 23, 2019 04:38
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first exam in the last med-surg class and i don't feel remotely prepared. fuckin
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Jul 22, 2019 12:21
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oof. exam 3 of 4 in the last of the med-surg classes and it's not looking good for passing. i'm not sunk yet but i'm struggling
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Aug 5, 2019 20:50
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shirunei posted:Been thinking about getting out of my awful call center job and pursuing a RN program. Would I be wasting my time with a six year old DUI and ten year old trespassing/reckless conduct charges? even if your board of nursing tells you "hard no, don't bother trying, you'll be categorically disqualified", healthcare is a huge, very complex, highly labor-divided and labor-intensive industry, with many kinds of work needing to be done, all of which would likely be an improvement on job satisfaction and pay over an awful call center job, if it's anything like my old awful call center job
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Oct 14, 2019 09:02
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during my emt class one of the students misread a scrip to assist the patient with their 0.4mg nitroglycerin tablet as "4mg nitro". the nurse saw him dumping nitro tabs into his hand and was like "hoookay pump the brakes, what's going on". he said afterword that it was surreal to know those dosages and procedures from the classroom but then for his brain to just turn to mush when a doctor was giving the orders. he was pretty freaked out. thankfully the nurse he was working with was actually paying attention to his student and caught it. it turned out to be just a powerful and sobering learning experience, instead of a tragic and pointless death.
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Nov 15, 2019 23:14
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Cacafuego posted:Critical thinking is truly a lost art. ehh... i'm inclined to think critical thinking is naturally impaired when you're overwhelmed and following directions. the doctor in the above anecdote contributed to the situation by writing 4.0; you don't decimal-zero on written scrips for this exact reason
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Nov 20, 2019 00:19
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Good ball by Dixon posted:The kid survived this was a really good read
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Dec 1, 2019 23:06
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i'm resuming school in two weeks, after a leave of absence of about six months. my head feels screwed on straight this time. it fuckin better be
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Dec 27, 2019 18:26
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i think older masters-entry programs had you sit for the nclex after the "more or less an absn" first phase, before moving on to the "more or less an msn" phase, but i did hear some newer programs don't have as sharp a divide. i didn't know any were putting the nclex off until the end. that could be better; more flexibility for scheduling and personal preference about how long to study
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Jan 14, 2020 21:08
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i'm on my second trip through acute care and it's still kicking my rear end. I study so much, I work up from the patho so i know the rationales, I feel like I have a great understanding of the material, and then the exam comes and it just feels like it was for nothing because i blank on lab values or misunderstand what the question is asking sigh. last time I ended up in a death spiral of anxiety. I guess priority one is take steps to avoid that happening again and step two is to try to figure out what I can do to study more effectively. several people have recommended transcribing the prof's lectures since she writes her own questions. i am loving the clinical for this class but i loving hate the lecture exams
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Jan 24, 2020 01:29
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i hate online classes so goddamn much
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Jan 29, 2021 00:43
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i have experience with remote nursing school
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Feb 25, 2021 10:06
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checked the op but didn't see anything: hit me with your recommendations for nclex test prep. Free materials preferred (study guides, youtube lectures, etc) but I'm open to anything. bout to take the spoopiest test ever
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May 29, 2021 17:03
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i'm not particularly worried, but i figure studying is a good thing to do thanks yall!
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May 30, 2021 06:13
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I'm working for the most highly regarded SNFs in my area, one good enough that employees bring their relatives there, and even past employees have chosen to be admitted there, and it's still so much corner-cutting and penny pinching that it's been shocking. god help anyone working for or being cared for in some private-equity-owned hellhole in a "pro business" state
Cactus Ghost fucked around with this message at 15:12 on Sep 13, 2022 |
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Sep 13, 2022 15:10
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