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I just got accepted into my school's nursing program and start my first block in august after waiting 1.5 years to get in. This thread has been a great read to drive home how hard it can be to get through the schoolin', but I've found the most interesting thing to be the suggestions that doing CNA work isn't really necessary or as valuable as some make it to be. This sort of relieves me because very few places are hiring CNA's around me right now anyways, and I feel overwhelmed as it is just reading about what I'm going to be going through with school alone. My question for the thread is: I understand the school portion is extremely involved and I'm prepared to focus on it, but as far as the career afterwards is; is it very life-consuming? I've been worrying about this for awhile and have tried to ask my father about it (Who is currently an ER nurse) but we don't speak much anymore. What I mean is, does one have to be overly resilient to put work behind them when they're at home so they can relax and enjoy hobbies? or is it more of a burnt-out feeling during time off in which you want to just be in an anti-social shell? I'm sorta interested to hear about that.
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Jul 14, 2009 00:43
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AquaVita posted:Getting a BSN is easier upfront because fewer people apply for it. It costs so much more, like 5 or 6 times as much easily, that for most people it's out of their range. where I live (Arizona) the community colleges have waiting lists of about 1.5 yrs. for the associates degree programs. each school's program in the district takes like 40 people at a time, with something like 2,000+ people in the waiting pool. I personally finished everything in October of 2007 and just now got in. Everyone in my class is nervous as hell because if you fail out of Block I they just stick you back at the bottom of that shuffle. The universities here did something recently, I think either raised tuition or requirements, and all the fall-out has come on the community college programs. Also thanks for the re-assurance.. I guess I just overthink it because all my jobs up until now have been mickey mouse poo poo like tech support or whatnot; things with little responsibility or liability on my part. Datsun Honeybee fucked around with this message at 07:04 on Jul 14, 2009 |
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Jul 14, 2009 06:56
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Well, getting into week 4 of my first semester of nursing school. I thought that all the material and studying would be a huge hurdle for me since I procrastinate a lot -- but I've really been surprised with myself at how naturally it's been coming to just sit down and study for hours and be able to answer NCLEX style review questions after the chapters. I've always had to force myself to do this poo poo in the past, but now I seem to really /want/ to. I think it's that I'm doing it for my future career, not just some random grade. And on top of that, soooo far.. I've been able to balance my time enough to still be able to loaf around now and then. I've had my first skill checkoff for vital sign takin's, passed on first attempt (not everyone in the class did.) First written exam is this coming monday, which I'm currently taking a break studying for. First day at clinicals is this coming wednesday -- I'll be going to a long-term care facility to choose an old person to take care of for the sem. Another thing I thought I'd mention -- I forgot the URL, but someone showed me a website that was dedicated to burnt out/pissed off nurses ranting on about how being a nurse is terrible and that they recommend no one does it, ever. it wasn't just venting, they were trying to lay out the idea that the field is, in general, a poor career choice. What I found strange was that a lot of the bitching was centered on being overworked -- yet these people struck me as the sort that would be very discouraging to listen to or follow with during a clinical. Point being they'd adversely affect something that'd solve that problem. The rest of it was mostly about co-worker or administrative/management drama. I don't know about these people who were complaining, but I've worked a ton of different jobs in different fields, and I don't think I've ever had one that was absent of incompetence, inefficiency, and drama. I'm hoping that people with these sorts of attitudes are the minority in the field, I've not had enough exposure to it yet to judge so. Datsun Honeybee fucked around with this message at 19:21 on Sep 11, 2009 |
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Sep 11, 2009 19:09
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I want to ask some peoples' thoughts on this... So far, this semester, I've found my experience at clinicals to be kinda awkward. Not sure how else to describe it. Our group is 10 students, and everyone else got divided up into pairs and one group with 3, to each take a hall. I was the odd one out and got placed in a hall all by myself with no other students, and to boot it's the hall where the nursing home has all the patients with severe dementia & alzheimers. I've been getting through the days OK and being there and working with the people doesn't so much bother me, but it just feels sorta odd being dumped off into water like that all alone, just me and 2 LPN's who don't really seem to like students. I feel like it wouldn't make me as nervous or hesitant if I had another student there with me. Is it unreasonable of me to think that as a brand new student I shoulda been partnered with someone -- or at the very least if I had to be alone, not on a floor like that? It just strikes me as odd, but maybe I just had a different idea of how it'd be. I want to stress that I'm not complaining, the situation just seems strange.. but maybe it's more common than I think.
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Oct 7, 2009 06:52
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Baby_Hippo posted:That sucks. Why couldn't they have two three person groups? I'm not sure... when I rotate off of that floor to the acute care side for 2 weeks, a group of 2 rotate in to my spot, so there's no way it is something logistical or facility related. HO WELL.
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Oct 11, 2009 23:49
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Hughmoris posted:Just finished my second semester of nursing school! I should be graduating this time next year. I am having to take OB/Pediatrics over the summer which should be interesting. As a male who has zero interest in the birthing process, I'm sure I'm in for quite the experience. That's how I felt going into OB when I was a that part of nursing school -- the thing you gotta remember is that if you ever want to work in a place like an ED you might just wind up delivering a baby somehow. It's good to at least get a little bit of exposure to the process I think. My group and I got lucky and were in an OB unit that had both nurses and patients who were pretty receptive to us and didn't treat male students any differently. I don't think any of us were asked by family not to be in the room for a birth either. It wasn't exactly the most fun I've ever had in my life or even in nursing school for that matter but it really wasn't all that bad.
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May 5, 2011 07:01
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Taima posted:My girlfriend wants to do a nursing degree at University of Phoenix. I've heard a lot of bad things about for-profit schools in general so I'm wondering if this is a good option? Thanks. As a recent graduate of a nursing program in Phoenix (but not at PC) I've heard plenty about a lot of the local programs over the years. PC's is not that great (some say it's notoriously bad, actually) -- there were a few students in my program who left it in favor of a community college program. The private school of choice seems to be Grand Canyon...which is very expensive however. The wait lists for Maricopa district's community college programs are very, very long indeed (I think it's up to over 2 calendar years now). I myself waited 2 years to get in. However, I heard so much about how bad it is to try and get through an awful program. Nursing school isn't easy to begin with, and it's hard to justify going through it in a terrible program that just wants your money and couldn't give a poo poo about making sure you're going to be a safe practitioner. So, I have two points to make about it -- first, I think it's worth it to wait--if nursing is really something you want to do-- to get into a good program where they actually try to teach you. Second, with the way the job market is right now the additional wait may not be so bad in the end! Part of me kinda wishes I had an excuse to futz around some more on student loan money instead of braving the world of cold-calling and accosting unit directors in person. Datsun Honeybee fucked around with this message at 09:13 on May 17, 2011 |
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May 17, 2011 07:21
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I passed the NCLEX without paying for a class (at 75 questions), but I didn't mess around either -- I studied 6 days a week after graduating (well, after graduation parties were all done anyways... :P) for hours -- I started by reading the review chapters in the Saunders book in all the areas the pre-test said I was weak. Then for 3 weeks prior to the test I just did practice questions as much as I could stomach. Exposure to questions is what I think the consensus is for helping you prepare the most. I /did/ however, sit through a free class offered through my school and found it to be a giant waste of time since it was just someone reading powerpoint slides about quick med/surg review...granted, this wasn't a Hurst class but I have a hard time imagining just what they could possibly go over in classes that NCLEX books don't explain. (How NCLEX questions are formatted, how to deduce what is being asked, etc.) I think the selling point for the classes is that they are structured. If you don't think you can come up with your own study structure and studying schedule then I guess they might have useful guidance for you. Then again, a lot of the new software that comes with NCLEX review books generates study schedules based on a pre-test! As for myself, I thought I'd drop in and do 1-2 sentences of venting on how hard job hunting has been as a new-grad RN. Especially as one who was foolish enough to not volunteer or do any pre-graduation networking. If you're in school right now, volunteer or something... network. I'm looking heavily into rural areas and small towns now though... utilizing my gooniness (single, don't own a house) to my advantage by being able to easily pack up and move! Datsun Honeybee fucked around with this message at 09:27 on Oct 14, 2011 |
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Oct 14, 2011 09:25
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Koivunen posted:stuff That is lovely. I had to play a part in something similar, giving an honest eval working with a guy who had very questionable judgment--and nearly gave someone a large, extra dose of warfarin based on totally overlooking some pretty obvious charting, and at no time getting a doctor involved. It was the last thing in a long string of bizarre calls. He was easily the most interesting, cool nurse I've ever worked with and it tore me up to have to say that about him knowing it was all they needed to hear to finalize a decision to terminate. I still feel sorta crappy about it, but it's better than trying to live with not calling attention to something before someone got hurt. I would not feel like I deserved to keep working as a nurse if I let that happen.
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Dec 21, 2012 18:09
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Man, I wish my take-home was that much. My gross pay comes fairly close as a night-shifter who does 40 hrs/wk with 1 extra shift a month. We get the living hell taxed out of us for our state pension system, though! That pension is supposed to make me feel great about working in public health, but somehow I have this dreadful feeling it'll be all turned upside-down or converted to a 401-k anyways by the time I'm even thinking about tapping into it. Uhhh anyways, yeah, my take-home in AZ as a nurse working in the public system (at a hospital) is $3600/mo usually. I keep forgetting to check in on this thread. If any new nurses are thinking about doing psych for whatever reason (desperation included) feel free to PM me or ask here. I've been working in involuntary psych for 2 years now and could probably field some questions.
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May 28, 2013 23:51
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GuidoApopolis posted:So, I've successfully passed the NCLEX-RN and I've been looking for gainful employment for about a month. I've been extensively applying on USAJobs.gov, and with the IHS and haven't managed even an interview yet Not as an affront, but did you make sure to read how those fed jobs work? Don't expect to hear back about most if any fed jobs for like 6 months at least if they are new posts. They describe on the website how it works, but basically (if I recall) they collect apps for 6-8 months or something (it varies for each listing), and only when that window is closed do they leaf through things and start setting up interviews. Someone I was hired with at my current job didn't hear back about an IHS job until well after we'd both been there nearly a year. So, they're great to keep on the backburner just incase, but don't focus on them too exclusively. Look into your county/state health systems maybe? At any rate, keep your chin up.. it's only been a month. Took me (and several people I know) around 6.
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May 30, 2013 16:20
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It's really starting to wear me down, any ideas for recent grad jobs that involve serving one's community? I'm ideally looking for jobs in either Oregon, Pennsylvania, or New York ( family/ friends in all 3) but at this point I'll go anywhere. Recent grad ADN in Ohio if that helps. I have an excellent resume and letters of recommendation yet, even applying to local hospitals and for jobs in Ohio I can't seem to even get an interview....