[jen42]

I felt unprepared when I started, but I think everybody does. I avoided the general med-surg clinicals like the plague when I could... instead did cancer, GI, cardiology. Never inserted a Foley on a guy. Probably not the best idea... until I got into psych and school nursing, anyway. Now it's fine.

Any good hospital will give you an orientation that will fill in the gaps in your education. Everybody misses something and feels uncertain. For some people it's post-surgery stuff, for some it's Foleys, for some it's tele patients, for some it's dealing with the families of the dying. No program can cover everything without taking as long as medical school! Make sure you leave your orientation feeling ready- if not, ask for more...

[nsgstudentjen]

Thanks for this post! I am graduating from an Accelerated BSN program in 5 weeks, my first degree is in psychology.

I often feel clueless and feel that I missed out since my program was so fast.

thanks everyone for these tips!

[kc_jellybean]

1st degree = BA in Soc, just graduated in May w/ my BSN from a 1yr accelerated program. I felt like my clinical exp was lacking, but it was my own fault - I did not seek out experiences as agressively as I should have, b/c I felt insecure and, well, frankly, frightened!

As a result, I was drawn to an orientation program - "fellowship" - 6 months in length at my hosp. During this time, I have done pretty much every invasive procedure I avoided during clinicals - w/ the exception of dropping an NG. Additionally, my hosp provided all the orientees w/ 1 day in the GI lab to practice IVs.

While I still feel overwhelmed, and regularly second-guess my career choice, I have no doubt that the fellowship really helped to fill the gaps in my education. Like one of the previous posts stated, I wish I had worked as a CNA/tech while I was in school - I think this would've helped me develop my time management skills and helped me feel more comfortable in the hospital/clinical setting. (Previously I worked in a ofc for 8 years!)

Good luck!

[Yahaya]

HI
I have A B.S. already I was wondering what the benifits of a 2nd B.S. in nursing would be?

[alongbella]

It probably wouldn't hurt, however, it depends what you want to do with it. I have a BS and graduated with an ASN in May. I went to Virginia Commonwealth University to enquire about finishing the BSN, and they basically told me not to bother because of the BS. They told me I needed only 3 "prereqs"-their term, not mine before I could go into the MSN program. Some schools also have a untraditional BS to MS program also. Talk to some career advising people at some colleges or go online and research it. Talk to the human resources department of wher you want to work also. Good Luck!