ER Nurses in Parkland/Dallas area

teeituptom, BSN, RN · Apr 29, 2005

Im one of those old AD RNs and have been working ER for the last 18 yrs

and have been a nurse for over a 1/4 of a century now. I think the pay is decent. Pays for all the golf I want anyway.

pedi-RN · May 1, 2005

i am not an er nurse, but i may be able to give you some info. i am graduating next weekend and i just finished my last semester of clinicals at parkland.

i spent a day in their er, as did all of my classmates. it was really cool. the speed and the acuity of the patients was really a rush to me. i started the day with a stabbing trauma, chest cracked, blood going everywhere (i was just observing, of course). the rest of the day was centered around care of 20+ patients - yes, all for one nurse to cover.

the hours are mostly 12 hour shifts, usually 7-7. the pay is average, but you will definately earn it. the days are crazy busy, and you may go hours (or an entire shift) without sitting, eating, drinking, or peeing. this is, of course, at parkland and major er's. there are many other er's in smaller hospitals where the pace is a little slower and the days a little calmer (but i like the adrenaline rush!)

as for nursing school, basically it $ucks! there are "two" year programs at dcccd, nctc, collin county community college, and i think maybe one at tarrant county community college, that require an additional year (at least) worth of pre-req's. or, there are 4 year programs at twu (nursing portion at dallas campus), unt, or tcu, and maybe others. nursing school is hard. the content has not been that difficult to me, but just the vast amount of time required for classes, clinicals, studying, preparing, etc. i would strongly suggest doing it before having a family, and while living at home (if possible).

i am giong into peds, don't particularily like working with adults. however, if i ever had to work with adults, a major er like parkland is the only place i would want to be.

holli

graduating may 7th!

edited for typos

Csunkis · May 5, 2005

i am not an er nurse, but i may be able to give you some info. i am graduating next weekend and i just finished my last semester of clinicals at parkland.
i spent a day in their er, as did all of my classmates. it was really cool. the speed and the acuity of the patients was really a rush to me. i started the day with a stabbing trauma, chest cracked, blood going everywhere (i was just observing, of course). the rest of the day was centered around care of 20+ patients - yes, all for one nurse to cover.
the hours are mostly 12 hour shifts, usually 7-7. the pay is average, but you will definately earn it. the days are crazy busy, and you may go hours (or an entire shift) without sitting, eating, drinking, or peeing. this is, of course, at parkland and major er's. there are many other er's in smaller hospitals where the pace is a little slower and the days a little calmer (but i like the adrenaline rush!)
as for nursing school, basically it $ucks! there are "two" year programs at dcccd, nctc, collin county community college, and i think maybe one at tarrant county community college, that require an additional year (at least) worth of pre-req's. or, there are 4 year programs at twu (nursing portion at dallas campus), unt, or tcu, and maybe others. nursing school is hard. the content has not been that difficult to me, but just the vast amount of time required for classes, clinicals, studying, preparing, etc. i would strongly suggest doing it before having a family, and while living at home (if possible).
i am giong into peds, don't particularily like working with adults. however, if i ever had to work with adults, a major er like parkland is the only place i would want to be.
holli
graduating may 7th!
edited for typos

wow all that in one day?! see that is what i think i would love about parkland is that it always keeps you on your toes. i mean right now i'm working up at centennial hospital ( in frisco ) and it just opened up a year ago so the patient ratio is very small. i mean 5 patients in the er is considered very busy.

yea i have heard that nursing school is very hard. i actually heard that to get into the program you have to have a 3.8 gpa. right now there is no way that i can get my gpa up that high. of course i heard that there is a way around that, i heard that you can get lvn certified for a year, then enter in the rn program and become a nurse in 2 years. and if that is correct then thats the route i'm going to take. do you think i could get in seeing as i would have more clinical experience than the other students?

thats really awesome that your going into peds, i actually thought about that, but its too soon to tell which area i would want to go in for sure. thanks for the reply!

by the way which school are you going to?

well g2g, i have my history ap exam tom. that i have to study for!

cori c.

gauge14iv, MSN, APRN, NP · May 8, 2005

Going the LVN route is no guarantee of admission to an RN program. Your GPA still needs to be pretty high.

The biggest thing is your classes like micro, A&P, stats - some schools (not TWU tho) base their admissions on more than just GPA alone. For the ones that base it solely on GPA like TWU, yes you need about a 3.8 overall. That isnt their cutoff, but it is the low end of the GPA's among the applicant pool.

If you are high school - dont worry about your GPA - it is the 2 years of college AFTER high school where the GPA matters - your high school GPA will not matter when you apply to nursing school!!!!!

sjt9721, BSN, RN · May 10, 2005

Csunkis,

Centennial's ED staff is made up of mostly old Parkland people. (I say 'old' cause I'm one too!). Have a conversation with the manager or some of the other staff nurses. Stories are usually best heard live & in person!

foxyhill21 · May 13, 2005

is it hard to get a job at parkland as a RN? also do NP or PA work in the ER units

grapejuice01 · May 13, 2005

I just finished my first semester in TWUs BSN program. Just to clarify, admission is based on GPA alone, however, it is only your GPA on specific classes (ie- I changed my major from veterinary medicine to nursing so the vet med courses that Ive taken dont count towards it...its mostly to "basic" courses-- history, english, government, A&P, micro, etc.

The cut off for my class was 3.76-- I heard that the cut off for the class starting in the fall was 3.83.

Its a very competitive program, but I think its well worth it. Ive learned SO MUCH from my instructors and they are always willing to help or answer any questions. Its an outstanding program, in my opinion.

Good luck with your decision and admissions!

~~Rachel