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Nurses General Nursing

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I just wanted to ask a few questions that have been on my mind lately regarding nursing.

1). If I were to take the N-clex exam in say Florida, would I be able to pratice nursing in say Indiana? Or would I have to take the N-clex exam again to practice in Indiana?

2). I am interested in possibly becoming an oncology nurse or a cardiac nurse. In nursing school, are students trained in specified areas,or just as general nurses? Or does the training for a specific area begin after one graduates and starts working at a medical facility?

3). I recently sent out various information requests to several nursing schools across the US. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a really great nursing school for second degree seekers like myself? I am open to going to any area, except, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Louisiana, or Mississippi.

Thanks so much for your help!

:) except

Specializes in SICU.

You take the NCLEX only once, in one state. That will be your original state of licensure. You then apply for reciprocity in the other states that you'd like to work in. (There's also the compact states agreement, you can read all about that on http://www.ncsbn.org).

Nurses are trained in "general". We all pretty much have the same curriculum. You specialize after graduation, and get your experience on the job. Unless, of course, you're in an advanced degree program, like a Master's, and then you can specialize in one particular area. For the general RN though, it's on the job.

I'm not aware of any particular school that caters to second degree seekers. I am very curious, however, to know your rationale for not being interested in Louisiana and Mississippi. I live in Mississippi, work in Louisiana, and was raised in Louisiana, and, while they have their share of problems, both states are great places to live and go to school.

Where are you from anyway, that you would pick out those five states to avoid? Just wondering...

Specializes in ICU, nutrition.

You can take the NCLEX in any state to be licensed in any state, you just have to tell them what state you want to be licensed in. For instance, I took the NCLEX in Arkansas (because my parents live there, a mini-vacation of sorts where they could look after my son while I did some last minute studying) to be licensed in Louisiana. One of my friends took a job in Tennessee after graduation, but came back to Louisiana to take the NCLEX but she is licensed in Tennessee.

Some schools offer either preceptorships in the last semester that are geared toward your specialization interest. My school is changing their curriculum to offer this in the final semester after hearing years of complaints that we are not in the hospital our final semester (doing psych and community). My school offered a three week elective clinical in the summer where you could work with a preceptor in one or two areas of your choice. I chose cardiac, and I spent a week in the hospital in ICU, a week working in surgery with an RNFA, and a week making rounds with the RNs who round with the cardiologists. I really learned a lot about the management of CV problems, and I got to follow a couple of patients from heart cath to CABG to ICU to telemetry. Very educational, and I got the opportunity to practice some skills that I had not gotten in clinical with 9 other students vying for the same skills (IV sticks!)

I too am curious about your list of states to avoid...I've lived in Louisiana for almost 4 years, and while it's not the place I dream of retiring to, it's not been bad. Tax rates are pretty low, although the politics are kind of dirty, and the food is AWESOME!

thanks for the information everyone. it was a wonderful help to me.

i lived in new orleans,louisiana,for nine months and i wasn't too fond of the place, great place for vacationing though! I have visited a friend of mine several times in mississippi, and i didn't like it there either. i have visited north dakota and there wasn't anything there besides corn fields, even though it's a very beautiful place. and alaska is a beautiful place, but it's just too far away.

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