What does your nursing career repair bill say about you?

Nurses General Nursing

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The title just asks those about their experiences and what they learned they could have done better..

Question for those in nursing school or who graduated nursing school.

No sassiness, please! This post is for educational purposes only!

If you guys could go back in time when you failed or graduated nursing school, what advice would you give yourself that could have helped you be a little bit better? What would you change? What would you have said to yourself that you could say to those who are new in school? Those that graduated, I'm sure there are things you still would have gone back and changed a little bit.

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I would have just done a BSN from the get-go. The ADN I earned took just as long as a BSN. That's really the only thing I would change. Well, that and I'd have gotten my RN at a younger age (I was 42 when I got my license).

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Specializes in NICU.

I cruised through my ABSN program, passed NCLEX at 75 questions, and got my dream job as a new grad. I was older when I went back to school, so I have had many screw ups in my life. I knew what it took to remained focused for 15 months and reach my goals.

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Not changed a thing.

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I cruised through my ABSN program, passed NCLEX at 75 questions, and got my dream job as a new grad. I was older when I went back to school, so I have had many screw ups in my life. I knew what it took to remained focused for 15 months and reach my goals.

How old were you? Isn't that associates to BSN? I'm 28 and almost done with pre-reqs. I'm so ******* tired of school and bored and burned out. I'll have a different attitude about school once I get into nursing. If I can't get in through entrance exams, I'll probably give up and let GI bill go to waste. I'm so tired of school and feeling like I'm not going anywhere with the pissass direction I've been given all these years from my family I trusted.

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Specializes in ED, psych.

To *relax* a bit more.

Taking and passing the prerequisites for nursing school, entering and completing nursing school, and passing the NCLEX ... they are all just blips in our lives. Really. It might seem the end all or the most stressful time. It might feel like it's taking for-e-ver. And I say this as someone who is a second degree nurse, entering mid-life, who started her prerequisites back in 2011.

It's really not.

Here I am, one month into my career in a new grad residency. Truly, it goes by fast.

You don't have to enjoy the journey every step of the way, but definitely stop and take a breath.

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This is a great thread!

*following*

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

I would have gone for a BSN or MSN from the get go. Most of the things that made getting a job so hard after graduation couldn't be helped (like the economic collapse and my mother's​ cancer diagnosis 2 weeks after I graduated), but having something higher than an ASN might have helped. I also would have started a BSN program the fall after I graduated. I'll need one to stay employed, but I'm still so burnt out on school that I keep putting it off. My employer doesn't offer tuition reimbursement, and even public schools are very expensive here.

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I would tell myself the following: Remember that coworkers are coworkers and nothing more, nothing less. Learn how to take nothing personally and not have to be liked by everybody. Learn to be okay with not being everybody's friend. Not everyone will like you, and that's okay. Realize that when management and the system is broken and corrupt, you cannot fix it from within, and it is best to move on instead of beating your head against a wall trying to change things. Trust your gut, because it is rarely wrong. Speak less and listen more: to patients, to coworkers, and especially at the nurses' station when you are "charting" and everyone around you is chatting. You learn a lot about the unit culture that way. Keep your ears open and your mouth shut, this is a very valuable skill. Lastly, for the love of God, AVOID THE VENDING MACHINES. Especially after midnight.

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I believe that The A in ABSN stands for accelerated. Accelerated bachelors of science in nursing.

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Specializes in Cardiac, Transplant, Intermediate Care.

What quazar so eloquently said- ditto.

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Would not change a thing. I went from CNA to LPN to ADN to BSN. I'm done. Been a nurse for 8 years and I'm loving it . No regrets.

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