A Pre-nursing student that needs help

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Oct 25, 2007

1) I became a nurse so I could support 3 children during a divorce. A big final event dictated that, I let him help me pay for nursing school and didn't devulge my intentions at the time.

2) I went to my local community college, worked full time during my pre-reqs and then part time while going to nursing school.

3) Some of the classes I had to take pre-nursing were anatomy and physiology I & II, engish I & II, micro biology, chemistry, college math, psychology, and an elective.

4) School itself was not difficult, my big problem was trying to get enough sleep. I had 2 kids and was pregnant with my 3rd during my first year.

5) A typical day on the unit I work on right now is fast paced, I get my assignment and hit the floor running. I usually get a lunch break but no others. I work on a telemetry unit right now

6) After helping patients I feel as though I have addressed their concerns and passed on informtion to other health care providers involved in their care. I usually feel as though I have done adequate teaching.

7) My stress from work varies, right now we have a lot of new nurses working on our unit. The new nurses need a lot of support from the experienced staff. I am admant in supporting my co-workers so this can be stressful as I am a senior nurse so I get the worse patients plus a lot of questions and requests for assistance from the new nurses. The unit I work on will give a newer nurse a bad patient if there is an experienced nurse to help and that can be extra work too. Usually the experienced nurse will have a lighter assignment as they can then help with the whole assignment of the newer nurse. Everyone has to learn how to manage an overwhelming assignment sometime and this seems to work here.

Hope this helps and good luck in nursing

bopps · Oct 25, 2007

1. I became a nurse so that I could use my brains and heart to help people and get payed at the same time!

2. My education was an excelerated RN program that I finished in a little over two years. It was very stressful for me. I took at least 17 credits every semester, did clinicals, and worked evenings and weekends to pay my way through school. However it was worth it!

3. Classes included A&P, Chem, Microbiology, Psychology, and varied and sundry nursing classes including but not limited to Fundimentals of Nursing, Peds, OB, and critical care.

4. Yes , yes and yes! But again it was worth it. You need to be very dedicated to finishing and staying focused since all nursing programs have GPA requirements.

5. I'm an ER nurse so every day is different. Exciting and very challenging.

6. I feel good, but there is frusteration involved too. People aren't always very nice especially when they don't feel good. And people die!

7. Yes life is stressful. Stress is a part of life though!

fultzymom · Oct 26, 2007

1.) why did you want to become a nurse? i have always been interested in the health field. health classes was always my best in school.

2.) what type of education did you go through? i went for my lpn and then my rn. it took about 3 1/2 years with one quarter off and two quarters to take generals only for my rn.

3.) what were some of the classes that you had to take? i took nutrition, pharm math, human organisms, a & p i & ii, community health, all my nursing classes, clinicals, and lab work, i took a speech class, intro to psych, abnormal psych, sociology. probably more i can't remember.

4.) was school and clinical difficult when studying nursing? it was difficult in the sense that i always felt that i had so much to do with so little time, but i had a husband and a child while in lpn, then two kids while in rn school.

5.) what is a typical day at work? i work in ltc. when i worked the floor (i now have an office job) i worked the skilled/therapy unit. day starts with report, then starting all of my achckecks and passing meds. i would finshish that up, help with breakfast if needed, start working on my assessments and treatments, then the labs would come across. i would fill out labs and faxes to be sent to the pcp. all in the mean time, patients are going to therapy and any dr. appointments that they might have, then it is about time for your noon med pass. i would pass my noons and do the acuckecks before lunch. then after lunch it is time to finish up any assessments/treatments not done and about that time faxes will be starting to come back from the docs so you have to take off the orders and implement them, notify family/patients of any new orders. also in the middle of all of this you have admissions comming in and discharges to be completed because they want out of here now!! all day long you are giving prn medications for pain, anxiety, ect. then it is time for your afternoon med pass and getting your acuchecks done before supper. after that you are tying up any loose ends and getting things ready for the next shift. and you are hoping to get it done so you can leave on time. i was also the rn supervisor. my facility has 150 beds total so i also had to help the other nurses if they needed anything.

6.) how do you feel after helping patients? i like knowing that it maybe the most stressful part of their lives i have mad it a little better because of the help/care that i have given.

7.) do you have a lot of stress because of work? yes. it is very stressful and busy. i always felt like there was so much to do with so little time (kind of like while i was in school). :lol2:

hope this helps some.

leslie

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Oct 26, 2007

I became a nurse to support myself. Also, I had been working in MD offices for years and was somewhat familiar with the world of medicine.

I got an associates degree for my license, then worked while I finished the baccalaureate degree and, later, graduate school. I had scholarships throughout all three.

I recommend you go online to your state's board of nursing (or higher education board) to search for the required courses for nursing school. Might even search on a local school of nursing website. The state decides what you have to take.

School was hard for me but also very rewarding. I was 45 when I started and thought I was not smart enough. What a relief to learn I had a brain after all and was not afraid to use it!

Caring for patients is rewarding. Nursing changes daily. You can never be bored. You MUST be flexible. There are so many ways to practice that the discipline has something for everyone.

Good luck with the essay