Freshman in college, nursing?

Nurses Career Support

Published

I'm 18, and I'm going to a community college in MS. I'm considering taking the 2 year program to be an RN. I've only read about nursing and the different things you have to do. I am not to sure about needles and catheters...but I would like to push myself. I wanted to get feedback from other nurses that were afraid to go into nursing at first. I plan to get my RN, then use it on the mission field, as I have devoted my life to God's ministry. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Keely, don't say hopefully. you will definitely make it. It took me 5 years to get my associates degree. Gen ed was 1 class at a time while I worked part time and raised my then younger children. My sisters-in-law are twins. They are both nurses. so is my cousin and another sister-in-law. What is your sister interested in doing? I always wanted twins, but my husband who is the oldest of 6 kids and a brother to the twins was so glad we didn't. What class are you in now? And nursing school and graduation will come before you know it. Enjoy your time now, nursing school is tough and time consuming. Hope to talk to you soon. p.s. There is a problem with my profile right now, and even though it says hotlips, this is bikerchic. God Bless

My sister wants to be an art major. I love ceramics so I might get a minor in it but I'm not sure. I definitely know that I want to be a nurse. Right now I am taking pottery (fun and it counts towards your fine arts credit), statistics, and biology. Sadly they are not going as well as I had hoped. Statistics and biology are very hard and I might have to repeat them! :eek: This is my first semester and it's kind of a shock because in high school I was in the B+ to A range and now I'm getting really bad ones. :eek: I think I'm going to be doing a LOT of studying for finals coming up. Next semester I am scheduled for chemistry, math, and writing but I don't know if I can handle that load. I am thinking of cutting my work hours (I work full time) so maybe that would help. We have about a month break between semesters so I want to get my CNA certification from the red cross so maybe I can work in a hospital and get a little more insight on what nurses really do. I love being a twin. We are identical and always used to play pranks on teachers. At one point, we were both waitresses at the same restaurant and people always got us confused. We both attend the same college and everyday someone will come up to me and say "Hey Kirsi! How's it going? " I just carry out the conversation because I get it so often. :chuckle

Hi Keely,

sounds like growing up was fun. My sisters-in-law still get mistake and they are not identical, different haircuts, and one is thinner than the other. but I guess if you don't tell anyone you have a twin it is easy to get mistaken for the other.

Are you in a BSN program? sounds like it with statistics and all. Didn't have to take it so can't help you there. I love biology, don't know what I remember though. wish I could help but it's hard being far away. you can email me at [ save this as it's not posted on the board, until now that is.

Why did you choose nursing. I love helping people, but I hate every other weekend and holiday, and the lack of appreciation from those higher up. And I tell you, working in a large nicu with lots of women is tough, some are great, more are nice to your face and then talk about you behind your back. Guess they don't make mistakes and know everything. I was on the nurse entreprenuer site, sounds good, maybe someday. Or I would like to try a different job, but I don't have any other special interests. I would like to open a Christian bookstore, but that's just a dream. Definitely take a minor in something you like, it might be something to fall back on someday when you need it, or want to stay home with kids. Easier to do now, than later. And you won't regret it. The idea of going back to school right now makes me queasy.

Maybe you should pair up an easier class with one that is harder so you won't have such a hard time. Or work less if that's doable.

And depending on the college and the teacher a "b" or even"c" in some classes is considered good. Are there others in your class doing better? And if so, what are they doing on the side. And remember to take time for fun after study. life is more than school and life isn't over if you get a bad grade.

I didn't have to take chemistry or math. and I hate writing. sounds like that might be a heavy work load. Can you drop one and take an elective instead? Schools hard, but you'll get the hang of it.

Taking a cna course sounds good. But you'll definitely want to check out the place well and the hours. Don't take on more than you can handle with work and all.

Well, gotta go. I have tomorrow off and am going shopping with my long lost mother and sister. And then I am thinking about checking out Pierce Brosnan in the new James Bond movie if it's out in my neighborhood. I think he is so handsome! :)

Oh yeah! I forgot that it comes out today. I saw The Ring on Friday and I thought it was scary! :eek: We first sat in the front and were practically staring straight up at the screen so we decided to move back. When we went through the small hall to get to our seats, some guy was running in the hall and I totally freaked out and jumped (because I was thinking of the part where the psyco girl kills the first girl who watches the movie). Anyway, it was really embarrassing so that is my funny story for the day. I don't know if you've seen it yet but I give you my word of caution. ;)

I am not in the BSN program yet. I am doing the prerequisites right now. Thankfully, statistics is the only math class that is required to enter nursing school (even though college requires you take at least 2 math classes). I have to take two different chemistry courses which are also required. I am thinking that I should take a different class and save my other math class for later. That way, I will be a little more experienced w/ college and might do better. I might try something new other than pottery because I really like it but it is very time consuming.

That would be so cool to open a christian bookstore! I would come over and buy some if you ever opened one. You should try it! It is good to find something new every once in a while because it keeps life refreshing. :cool:

I am going to try to take the CNA class during christmas break because then I wouldn't have to worry about school at the same time. I will have to check the times again because last time I tried to get in, it was pretty full. They had the 2 week crash course but I don't know if I want to take that one because I wouldn't want to be so rushed that I don't absorb all of the information.

I really want to be a nurse to help people. I want to be active and engaged in what I'm doing, rather than sitting behind a desk. Nursing makes a difference and is essential so it would be a good career to get into. From reading a lot of other people's posts, I know that there are a lot of problems with being poorly treated, but I think that it shouldn't get in the way of how you take care of patients, but we should do something about it.

So you work in the nicu? How do you like it (other than the mean nurses)? I think it would be harder to work in that area of nursing because of loosing such small patients, but then it would also be hard to lose adult patients.

Well, I better stop writing before this gets any longer. :p I am going to finish glazing my pottery because we are firing tomorrow and everyone tries to get their pieces in as quick as possible (first come first serve basis). I made a set of cups yesterday. I make a lot of things towards the holidays so I can give them as presents and save some money. ;) We are also having a holiday sale so I want to try to sell some of it also. It isn't that good since I am only in the adv. class (not intermediate) , but when I become a famous artist, I will send you something you can take to The Antique Road Show and sell for thousands. :chuckle Talk to you later!

Oh, and last night (friday) I went and saw the new harry potter movie with my little sister. It was okay but I think the book was better (I've read all of them :) ) I looked at CNA courses but they don't have openings until January so I guess that's when I'll take it. I might look around at the different hospitals to see if I could get trained that way, but if not then I'll just take it from the red cross. :cool:

Keely

Hi Keely,

I did see James Bond, movie was real good. Pierce was as handsome as ever.

Some hospitals and nursing homes around here train you for free, but you have to work for them for awhile. My sister did at the hospital, and then left before starting work,but after finishing training and they were ok with that. what about an agency, do they train for free in your area?

I'll hold you to sending me a piece of potter should you become famous. Am looking for a vase, like the odd shaped ones with multi color at Pier 1, if you have a store like that in your area.

Hope school and work are going well. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving if I don't hear from you.

Bikerchic,

No, I have not found anyone to train me yet. I sent in my money to the red cross so hopefully I will be able to get in. I tried to get in in December but the classes fill up really fast so I didn't get in. I am excited for it though, I am going to take the weekend classes in January.

I will have to check out Pier 1, I don't go there alot so I'll have to check out those vases. Guess what! I am finally going to be able to buy my very own pottery wheel this month! Now I'll be able to make stuff even when I'm not enrolled in a pottery class in college. There is a pottery shop a few blocks away from my house so I am going to see if we could work something out so they could fire my stuff. Firing it at 2300 degrees for a couple days makes the pot less brittle and pulls the moisture from it. That way, when you glaze it, it won't break as easily when your handling it. When you fire it the second time, you can put glaze on it which melts into a glass coating on your pot. I might be able to use their glazes but if not, then I will just bring all my un-glazed work back to college when I re-enroll in another pottery class and glaze them there because they have 17 different kinds of glazes and 4 kinds of oxides. Well, I should stop talking about pottey now. :chuckle

Have a happy thanksgiving too! I will be at pottery (again) helping with a wood firing and studying for finals (fun :rolleyes: ) but it will be a nice break to stay at home w/ my family. Talk to you later! :D

Hi---good luck to you! You have a good person on your side already if you have God. I started off as an LPN, then ASN, then BSN, then MSN and still going... I was able to do some missionary work this summer in South America. It was one of the highlights of my careers. We just think we have it bad in the US...My advice is to go for it...pray for courage, strenght, and understanding and study hard. It is worth it.

Hi Keely, How are you? How was your thanksgiving? I hope it was better than mine. I spent it in the hospital. I am home now and am taking a leave of absence from work until the beginning of Feb. I think I will apply to other places, so I can work normal hours and get my life straightened out. I'll have to update my resume, which I hate doing. I paid someone last time from the net and the experience was horrible, I'll never do that again!

I used to paint ceramics when I was 14 yrs old. A lifetime ago it seems. And a lady at church used to bring her kiln in during our craft fair and we would make things. In fact, my daughter painted an apple when she was 6, now she's 12 and they found it last week going through the attic. It was neat to find it. It is a flat, not round piece, and she painted an apple on it and put a scripture verse on it using a mold and it was glazed. Hope you can use the pottery place close to home, that would be perfect.

Hope you have a Merry and Blessed Christmas. Remember, Jesus is the reason for the season! and he loves you. Talk to you soon.

Bikerchic-

Sorry I haven't written in a while. I didn't know that we started a new page so I didn't receive your new post. Anyway, how are you? Poor thing, in the hospital? Take care of yourself! :kiss It is good that you are taking some time off to re-group. Yes, I have a mini resume of all the cheezy high school jobs I've had. One good thing about re-doing it is you can look back on all the stuff you've accomplished (even if it was flipping burgers at McDonalds).

I am so glad that finals are over! I tried as hard as I could in math but I will probably end up re-taking it. I think I passed with flying colors in biology though. I don't know for sure since grades haven't been posted yet. My final art critique went well. Everyone was in a mad frenzy to glaze and fire their pieces. I did mine early so I wouldn't be caught in the rush. I even got to fire one of the kilns myself! Some of my work turned out really cool and 2 more of my pieces are in the display case! Yay! The bad thing is that they either turned out really cool or really ugly. That's okay though because when I took ceramics in high school, we only had two glazes (blue and brown) so when I came to college and there were 17 glazes, I went kind of crazy with them. :chuckle I think that next semester I will not take such a big load. I am going to take the CNA class, writing, and the other math class I'm supposed to take. I am scheduled for chemistry but I think I will need to push that back until the summer because I heard that it's really hard. I am also going to wait to take another art class until the summer and just throw at home with my new wheel.

Thanksgiving was okay, I mainly cleaned the house all morning because we were having 12 guests. My little sister and mom cooked in the kitchen ( yes, I live at home). My other sister doesn't live with us and when she left than it was a bad break up between my mom and her so she doesn't come visit us or anything so she didn't come for thanksgiving and I don't think she'll come for christmas. It was mainly hard for my mom but the house didn't seem that empty with 12 people.

I went shopping over the weekend and got all these cute tops and things. I was trying to buy for other people but I just kept seeing all this cute stuff that was perfect for me! :chuckle I have to go out again this coming weekend. :cool: I don't know if I am going to give my ceramics as presents because alot of them didn't turn out like I anticipated so I dont know if they would be good to give. Some of them did turn out but they are still at school. If you want I will send you one. you can give me your address at my e-mail [email protected]. If you don't want to than I totally understand with all the internet weirdo's and everything. ;)

I gave blood yesterday for the christmas blood drive at the red cross. And I got to see the new Lord of the Ring movie too! I was really excited because it came out yesterday and I didn't think I was going to get tickets. I won't tell you about it but it was one of the best movie's I've ever seen! You should definitely see it.:cool:

Oh, I almost got into a car accident on tuesday! It was snowing and the roads are REALLY slick and I made a turn too fast and my car spun out a little. Luckily it stopped and it didn't hit anything so thank goodness for that!

Well, that's all I can think of that is new. Have a happy holiday season and I'll talk to you soon!

Keely

+ Add a Comment