Many people fall at the hands of Nursing School....I think we all underestimate it going in....but most importantly we all undervalue the importance of the cumulative aspect of Nursing school.....the stuff you learn, you can never forget!! If you dont use it you lose it....it's all true!
Most importantly I underestimated the asset that expeirence can be.....I would like to think Nursing would be even harder without some sort of Hospital Based background? The more you see the better
I failed my second semester by 1 point and could have repeated but I backed out once I saw that I was taking a major risk.....keep going, repeat and risk failing a second time which does happen, or backtrack, start over and do what I like to call "rebuild" my foundation.
I decided to find something else to backtrack and give me a major asset for a background to achieve the long term goal of being an RN......
So I found Respiratory Care.....And man let me tell you.....you could NOT ask for a better background than RT. Prior to Nursing, I never would have thought of it, but when I looked into it, it seemed like a solid choice.
Anytime you can be an expert in the Cardiopulmonary System and when get expierence with Respiratory driven protocols and automomy and critical decision making....it is a huge asset to have that I wish I would have had the first time around.
Ive grown to really love what I do in this field with RT and even like it better than Nursing......but at the end of the day, eventhough I do like RT better than RN work....I know I wouldnt want to be in Respiratory for the long haul, but this field is plagued with issues:
Lack of Advancement, Tremendous Lack of Respect, lack of job security, being tied to a sketchy $$$ hungry organinzation like the NBRC and did I say lack of Respect?? I'll say that one again.... and it's a very underutilized profession....but at the same time...my area is a good one for RT's...there's only one school which prevents us from flooding the field and the pay is great...in my area some hospitals start at around $25-26 an hr.
Not only but in some parts of the country, RT is Flooded in the Southwest (CA, AZ) and anywhere in the Sun Belt South of the Mason Dixon Line....if you live in the South...RT definetly might not be a good idea thanks in part to being home to many For Profit Schools like Pima, Concorde, and ATI which pump out graduates like there is No Tommorrow ....some schools pump out 60+ graduates.....there is No need for that many RT's what so ever.....Up North, RT's here aren't as flooded in my area and same is true for a lot of surrounding states because there are fewer schools and they admit fewer graduates...
At the end of the day.....I still want to be an RN f..... Advancement and Career Mobility....Eventually I want to have opportunities and Nursing has though....Respiratory is NOT alone....same is true for OT, SLP, X-Ray, and Labs....Nurses have opportunities others do not....which makes it even more rewarding.
I personally am finding RT School cake compared to Nursing School.....Nursing School just had so much volume of material and when you lack expierence, it only makes it tougher..... it's funny because ive been looking back at Practice NCLEX Questions just for fun.....and its amazing how much more sense this stuff all makes with the background im getting...and not just the Respiratory Stuff...but Med-Surg, Pain Management, Electrolytes, etc...
I plan on Enrolling in Excelsior when im done, or doing an Accelerated BSN .....and i'll certainly be ready this time around....I know what my mistakes were.....I am eliminating them more ever and have become a much better clinican in this process and thats what this is all really about
