ThatBigGuy

Latest Activity

1. OB/Maternal be an elective class for male nursing students

   ThatBigGuy replied to carti's topic in General Students

   Nursing school prepares you to take the NCLEX. L&D is a large part of the NCLEX, and therefore your nursing program spends a correspondingly large amount of time teaching it. That's really all there is to it. I struggled in my L&D class with...

2. Career Changing

   ThatBigGuy replied to TwinDaddy's topic in Men

   Go for the nursing degree. You're going to make $75k a year working ~36 hours a week. I'm in Texas, I made $91K last year, although I did grind out OT shifts when I was able. You'll work less, get paid more, and have higher upside potential, all whi...

3. Oh, my aching feet!!!!

   ThatBigGuy replied to GrammyCat066's topic in Uniform/Gear

   Many good specialty running stores will have equipment to measure your foot pattern and gait, and can help point you to a few shoes that will match with your feet. New Balance stores offer this service. If that doesn't work, ask your PCP for a referr...

4. 130k Student debt for Entry MSN worth it?

   ThatBigGuy replied to ns90's topic in General Students

   The average student loan carries a 7% interest rate and takes 20 years to pay off. That means your initial $130,000 debt will have cost you $240,000 once it's paid off. This degree will cost you $240,000. You will pay $1000 a month until 2038. I woul...

5. Safe Harbor and a Pedi/ICU harbor

   ThatBigGuy replied to RECOVERYPACU's topic in Safety

   Invoke Safe Harbor if you feel like an assignment is unsafe. Whether or not you should have the skills to care for this patient is irrelevant in the moment. You first give your license protection, then go give the patient the best care you can. If th...

6. Empolyment without Hepatitis B Vaccine

   ThatBigGuy replied to TheSuperDad's topic in General Nursing

   The first thing your son needs to do is make sure he has bulletproof documentation from his doctors, which you sound like you guys have. Might it be possible to add a third, perhaps some sort of specialist in immunology to have the most complete case...

7. What do you do with your wedding ring?

   ThatBigGuy replied to Nephron44's topic in General Nursing

   I'm a guy. I wear a cheap, narrow, stainless steel ring from Amazon while I work. Cheap (like $6 cheap) means it's easily replaceable. Stainless steel means I can bleach it if needed. Narrow means I can dry my finger off well, and have had zero derma...

8. Mid-Career Move to Nursing

   ThatBigGuy replied to laguy8's topic in Pre-Nursing

   Looks for second degree BSN programs. They will give you credit for some/most/all of the general core curriculum you have with your first degree (history, sociology, English, etc). You'll have to complete the nursing program pre-reqs before entry int...

9. Second thoughts about nursing school, seeking advice from RNs

   ThatBigGuy replied to Natalia#'s topic in General Students

   I would encourage you to finish the RN track you are on. This is the quickest way to earning a paycheck and eliminating your burden on your saint of a mother. Once you have become an RN, you can start working with children in 1 of 100 different ways...

10. 100 mile commute. Worth it?

    ThatBigGuy replied to indomie23's topic in General Nursing

    I would factor in the cost of your extra wear and tear on your car. A general rule of thumb is a mile costs approx. $0.55/mile, not including gas. This take into account tires, oil changes, general wear and tear, depreciation, etc. If you only work o...

11. New Grad 2 job offers

    ThatBigGuy replied to KanKanRN's topic in New Nurse

    Is the $10,000 contract prorated or to be paid in full should you not complete the two years? If it's prorated, I'd jump at that opportunity. An ICU residency is worth its weight in gold. I wouldn't worry about the OT pay as a new grad, because the I...

12. Move to Washington or New Mexico as new FNP graduate

    ThatBigGuy replied to Byna92's topic in NP

    My family looked at several places to live in our travels so far, both Seattle and NM were on the list. We chose NM. We lived in southern NM for 5 years. It's an amazing state, full of interesting culture and history. If you are outdoorsy people, yo...

13. Is it legal for your boss to dictate where you poop?

    ThatBigGuy replied to klone's topic in General Nursing

    As the only male on my unit, I often "take the charts back to PCU" around 3am. I think they're on to me.

14. Need your Advice! Becoming a competitive candidate for nursing

    ThatBigGuy replied to doulos1's topic in Pre-Nursing

    You need a higher GPA, because JHU requires at least a 3.0 and probably only accepts those with 4.0 GPAs due to the sheer number of applicants they receive. Just to get your GPA up to 3.0, you need another 50 hours of classes at a 4.0 GPA. You have ...

15. Online BSN or Not

    ThatBigGuy replied to prettykonvinced08's topic in Online Learning

    According to UT Arlington's website: If you live near one of the listed cities, you should be good to go. Being online and accelerated makes this a very difficult program to finish, but the reasonable program cost ($18,000) reduces the overall fina...