Any nurses out there? Or, I'm thinking about nursing school

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Millions,

Been going through one of those “Oh good God, what am I doing with my life?” phases and have been trying to work it out. Everytime I think on it, I come back to nursing. It feels right to me, I honestly enjoy caring for sick people, to the extent that I’ll bring some matzo soup to a friend of a friend, and I feel like I could go through the rest of my life enjoying the job, as opposed to what I have now which may or may not be fossilizing my brain.

But, you know, it’s daunting. I don’t really know what I’m getting myself into. So I was hoping for some feedback from folks who’ve done it before (especially recently). Just describe your experience: how long it takes, if it gives you satisfaction, what the course load was like—I’d love to bounce questions off some folks as they come up.

I’m definitely serious about this, but starting from square zero, I feel a little overwhelmed.

Oh, and I’m in the Bay Area and would like to stay here, so any knowhow from anyone from my neighborhood (or who went to school here) would be doubly useful.

2

Well, my experience isn’t recent. I’ve been retired for a few years, after 40 years in the biz. I loved it until I didn’t, then I got out.

Nursing school has changed since I graduated, so I can’t speak to that.

Because of the recent shortage, jobs are easier to find than in some other areas.
It’s hard, dirty work but worth it if you love it.

3

I generally enjoy hard, dirty work. Certainly prefer it over pushing papers.

And do you mean there’s a shortage of nurses? Due to, what, exactly? More patients? More nurses retiring? A little from column A, little from column B?

4

My aunt just finished up her RN certification. The two years before that, she got her LPN. Seems to me that school is very hard even though it’s “only a two year certification.” Lots of memorization and also many different types of classes. Seems like it is harder the further you are from previous education (it was easier on my younger cousin than my older aunt). You have to get very high marks just to pass - although I think everyone in her classes passed.

That being said, it was not hard for her to get a job once she was out. Through all of this she never seemed to be swayed from wanting to be a nurse, either. I think it’s well worth it!

5

I’m about 6, 7 years removed from college so I’m sure those first few classes would be a little intense. Pretty sure I’d have to bang out some pre-reqs too.

Any thoughts as to why your auntie got both her LPN and RN certs? Or was in just a case of trying one and wanting to go full tilt?

6

All I know is that I’ve got two friends who are just about done nursing school and neither is concerned about this whole recession thing. One’s going into elder care (I’m sure there’s a more official name) and right now she’s deciding where she would like to work – state, city, hospital or residence. I know she worked her ass off, and I have no idea what her salary will be, but as far as I know she wasn’t top of her class or anything. It really does seem like a good bet as far as job openings go (again, I have less idea about the stability, safety or salaries of these jobs).

7

I hope this will be changed in another couple years but right now here in Wisconsin there are entire graduating clases of nursing students who can’t find jobs.

8

I was sort of surprised that she went for RN, but I guess the pay hike over LPN was enough to make her want to do it. Or perhaps the duties and schedule of an RN were more of what she wanted.

In her final semester of RN school she was approached by a group that offered to pay her entire tuition plus relocation fees and a living stipend if she agreed to go to another state (Arizona, Texas and…I forget) and be placed in a hospital there for three years. And yes, she gets a salary there. Other than being incredibly homesick, that is working out well for her.

9

I’m not a nurse but I work for nursing instructors at the community college. It’s a two-year program. There are students of all ages, from 18 to 60. It’s hard work. Every semester at least a couple of students drop out, mainly because they tried to juggle work, family, and school, and without help, it can be too much to handle. Flunk-outs are rare though, maybe because it’s not easy to get into the program in the first place. I can think of only two in the five years I’ve been there.

10

Hey AuntiePam: Thanks. I’m assuming there are different requirements by state and school, but how many pre-reqs do you guys require before entry? I’m failing at google in every possible way this afternoon and can’t find the info I need to get started really researching this.

11

If you’re in the Bay Area and looking at nursing programs, the one at Chabot College is pretty representative of the ones available. Should note that they aren’t accepting new students until Fall, 2010, but that should give you ample time to get all of your prerequisite courses completed.

12

Send 'em all down here to Tennessee. I have to exclude keyword “nurse” from Careerbuilder or go pages deep to find anything else.

13

Here’s ours.

Admissions uses a point system, assigning points for everything from GPA to community service.

14

RN here. I’ve been a nurse for 10 years and its given me a lot of opportunities. I went back to school at age 27 after too many years pissing around in Libera Arts… (ooh if its Thursday I must be a creative writing major… ooh no, what I really want to do is be a history prof…)

My criteria were I wanted to study something that would give me a piece of paper that qualified for me for a certain job, I wanted a good income, and a profession I could grow and change with.

Nursing has given me all this.

I have worked as a nurse in three provinces, in a big teaching hospital, a smaller suburban hospital, a private nursing home, a homecare agency, taught in a career college, and currently am working in a Psychiatric Hospital.

When my marriage fell apart and my maternity benefits ran out, I collected welfare for two months until I got another nursing job. (I moved across country while pregnant). 15 months later I bought my first home, on my own.

Now, do I love my job, every day?
No.
Am I enamoured of shift work, cleaning up body fluids, getting hit or worse by my patients ( I work with agressive late stage Alzhiemer patients, and yes, have had lost time injuries).
NO.

But do I regret becoming a nurse? Not for a minute.

For the record, in nursing school, the strongest students were the adult students. Much more focused and had enough life experience to get some of the concepts, the family interactions, and in general had the maturity to sit through an entire class talking about the consistancy and frequency of “bowel movements” without completely losing either their lunch or their composure.

:slight_smile:

If you want to ask more questions, my email is in my profile… drop me a line.

15

Let’s see, 12 years out of school for me and I’ve never looked back. I’m not someone who ever thought of nursing right up until a coworker mentioned it and I had an aha moment. Went back to school at 33. It was a 4 year 2 year degree for me. I was a high school grad, and needed college level math/eng, plus anatomy/phys, microbiology, psych/soc, chem, + misc to get in and then 2 years of nursing to get out. I’m skeptical that a bachelors program works you any harder or teaches you any more, but they do give you a bachelors, so it’s worth checking into.

Some days suck, of course, but that’s true of every job I ever had.
On the other hand, some days the world just fuckin’ sparkles, and that is not true of any other job I’ve had.

Of course, I’m an ER nurse, so I don’t think it’s a good day unless I’ve got blood on one shoe and vomit on the other, YMMV

Feel free to email me

16

I once said to my brother… you can’t gross me out, I get more gross things on me before breakfast than you do all year.

I once had 7 different body secretions on me… can anyone guess them all?

17

And this, commeraderie about really nasty stuff, Birdmonster, is why you want to be a nurse, and also why you may not be allowed to talk about work at dinner with non nurses.

18

:rolleyes:I became a nurse 30 years ago because the university I went to did not require math or chemistry, which I did not want to take, and get an associate degree, and you could take the registered nurse examination and obtain the same registration as those that took either a bachelor’s degree program or a master’s degree program. I absolutely did not go into this field to “take care of people”. I highly recommend you watch the new “Showtime” program, “Nurse Jackie”. Go for it.

19

bloodvomiturinestoolphlegmpussandtears?

This reminds me of my favorite nursing joke,
what’s the worst thing about a lung transplant?

You’ll be hawking up someone else’s phlegm :smiley:

20

I am certainly running out of fart jokes.

And oulierrn, if you don’t mind me asking, what state do you live in? Juliefoolie has been kind enough to answer a few questions but I’d also like to hit you up, perhaps compare her (Canadian) experiences with schooling to yours.

For the record, I can’t even think of another bodily secretion. Wait! Did you say spit? I’m going to say spit instead of tears. Let’s make it a true daily double.