For those getting ready to go into a nursing program this fall...

studentNY · Jun 8, 2004

My nurses said I was crazy. I said "thanks". I am getting tired of hearing neg comments. Some people are great though. Good luck to you!:)

dixienurse2be · Jun 8, 2004

yeah when I told my nurse that she would tell me what she was writing on my chart and ask if I knew what the abbreviations meant. If I didn't she would tell me. She would be like "Do you have allergies? No? Ok, do you know what NKA means?" and if I didn't know somethin she'd explain it to me. It was really sweet. She went to nursing school at the same CC where I am applying. She was really sweet and gave me a lot of good advice.

jemommyRN · Jun 8, 2004

I had a good experience (I guess). The "lab tech" was drawing blood (or whoever it is that draws the blood, she wasn't a nurse) and I told her that I was going to nursing school. She sounded excited until I told her what school I was applying for. Turns out she applied to that school and didn't score high enough on the entrance exam (missed it by one point), but it still turned out good because we fell into instant conversation about the field of nursing. Usually, when I bring my daughter to the doctor, I (play around) and try and give him the diagnosis and tell him that i'm going into nursing school and i want to see if I was right. I love telling the doctor what meds she's been on and I try to talk in my best nursing/professional tone.

RedSox33RN · Jun 8, 2004

I had a good experience just recently. I saw my NP for a full physical, and gave her my health form from the nursing school I'll be attending. She was really sweet, answering all of my questions about the best dept's, and telling me her story of working up from an LPN to a NP. She asked me about my uniforms and what I got for a stethoscope. I told her I got a Littman Classic II SE, and just before I left, she came in and gave me a bunch of stethoscope covers. Granted she gets them free from a drug rep, but we had been talking about infection control, etc. and she told me she uses them all the time with her Littman.

I do hear the comments though about "Oh, WHY are you going into nursing?" - from nurses themselves. One of my sons' baseball coaches has a wife that is a non-practicing LPN, and when I told him I was going to nursing school in the fall, he proceeded to tell me I was a fool for doing it, that nurses are underpaid, over-utilized, in a thankless job, etc. - and he's not even a nurse! My reply was that there are so many opportunities now for nurses, that there is no reason to stay someplace where you're underpaid and not respected. His wife just didn't want to work any more, so used it as an excuse.

Anyway, let anything the nay-sayers say go in one ear and out the other. EVERY job has bad points, but I detest the ones IN the profession telling nurses-to-be how horrible it is.

Energizer Bunny · Jun 9, 2004

Mine have acted really interested and want to know what I am planning on doing when I get out, etc....I haven't had any "bad" experiences YET! LOL!

Saved_by_Grace · Jun 9, 2004

i actually kind of know the nurse that will be doing my exam at the health department from years of taking my kids up there to get there shots, well baby exams, etc. so i haven't had my physical yet but took my son up there last week and was making an appointment to get my physical and when i told her i was taking nursing she hugged me and started crying and told me how proud she was of me. i've been going there since i was pregnant with my first child ( i was 19) so she says she was so proud of the way i've grown and so forth. it meant a lot to me that she was so excited for me!!:)

Rhoresmith · Jun 9, 2004

My doctor who I have been going to for 20 years was great he started discussing all the different fields and encouraging me to get my masters. Told me that my cc turns out some of the best nurses in our area. The Health department were I got my shots all the nurses were great they were very encouraging. Best of all was that after my first semester when I move my neighbor is an RN that was the night supervisor when I worked RT and she hugged me and said I always knew that you were a nurse at heart and the you settled for being an RT. then she told me welcome to the club, you will make a great addition. She made me cry cause this lady is an excellant nurse and for her to say that to me was GREAT.... I have not had any really negative respones other than "OH I couldn't do that".

Rhonda

AmyLiz · Jun 10, 2004

I'm not starting this fall, but I had to get a physical for the CNA class I took last fall (as a prereq for the nursing program) and when my doctor found out, she told me to see her after I graduate cos she'll be looking for a new nurse by then (her current nurse is going to be retiring)! :chuckle We then chatted about different classes, etc.

When I was at my dentist's getting a cavity filled, I had brought my A&P book (since I always tend to have time to read/study when I'm at the dentist). He saw it & asked what I was majoring in, I told him & he told me that I should "go all the way" and go to medical school...and proceeded to tell me all about his A&P classes he took in college. :rotfl:

Everyone has been rather encouraging about it when they learn I'm going to go to nursing school. When my husband was having outpatient surgery last December, the nurses were telling me to come down & work there with them!

kats · Jun 10, 2004

Actually, today I went with my husband to his doctor appointment. The doctor was saying that my husband has an ear infection that needs drops. He was telling my husband what to do and my husband just looked at me and said that I would be the one to do it. I said that if I could deal with changing dressings after his surgery to remove a pilonidal cyst, then I am sure that I could handle ear drops. Then the doctor turned to me and said "Oh, are you medical?" Of course, then I had to explain that I have my AS in health sciences, but am still applying to nursing school and may start surgical tech school in the fall if I don't get accepted. Of course, if that happens then I will just start applying for the BSN program for next spring. I just thought it was kind of funny how he phrased the question.

Mandarella · Jun 11, 2004

Yes, today in fact. I needed the office nurse to fill out my physical sheet, and she went nuts. She was so happy for me she told everyone in the hall...

Too funny.

Do you ever mention that you are starting nursing school when you go in to get your immunizations, drug screen, etc.? And when you do that, do the nurse or nurses treat you different? I have had 2 different experiences, I won't go into detail, but one nurse had one of those "Oh you're all bright eyed and bushy tailed, eh? Not for long" attitudes. Then there was one, that once I mentioned it, she was trying to tell me EVERYTHING about what she was doing, using a ton of words I didn't understand(That's not the way she was talking to the girl who was in there before me)LOL,:chuckle I actually thought it was cute...she sounded excited for me. Well, I was just wondering if any of you had experienced anything like that so far. Have a good day!

etxgal · Oct 17, 2005

I guess I'm just lucky...my doctor is almost more excited about it than I am and his nurse is extremely supportive too. My doctor actually finds me when he comes to my workplace and takes the time to ask how I'm doing, what I'm studying, etc. Wouldn't trade him for the world ::