I need help!!!! Someone... anyone.....plzzz...

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Dec 27, 2006

Hey everyone,
This might sound silly but i just want a clear picture of what to expect once i start nursing school. Im currently taking the pre-reqs and hopefully starting the professional phase of the program toward my bsn in fall 07.
How and what goes on in clinicals??

You will have a section of your program devoted to classroom and a section devoted to the clinical setting. At clinicals, you get to practice the hands-on part of nursing. You will actually take temperatures, pass meds, and do dressings and things like that. All under close supervision of your instructor, of course.

Do you get rotated to different settings in the hospital???

I believe most schools try to give you some clinical experience in every area. For instance, you will do a section on L&D and that section will have a clinical requirement.

Is it possible to find a decent paying job and go to school?? ( if so any ideas??)

A lot of people want to get nurse's aide jobs that will help to familiarize them with the hospital environment and help them get their foot in the door. You might try to get a job as an aide on an L&D unit at a hospital as it'll help your chances of getting a job there after you complete your program.

However, it's very grueling to try to work and go to school at the same time. Nursing school is especially demanding. I would have to recommend not working at all through school, if you can.

Once ou graduated and are licensed how do you become specialized in an area ex: (i would like to work on L&D )

I would definitely see if any local hospitals have a "shadow" program, in which you can follow a nurse around for a few hours to get the drift of what they actually do all day before you make any commitment to any particular area.

As you can see from my screen name, I don't work L&D, and I don't claim to know much about it, so maybe an L&D nurse can help you out better with this one.

On avg. what is the typical schedule of a nurse ( how many days a week?
what is better night or day shifts???

Typical schedule for a nurse? It depends on the unit. I know some units work only 8-hour shifts/40 hour weeks, and some work 12-hour shifts/72 hour weeks. The beauty of nursing is that you can work whatever shift suits you, but I've seen new grads get stuck with night shift because that's obviously not a preferred shift, so there are more openings there. The key is to get your foot in the door.

You might want to try a few months of med-surg before moving to a specialized unit, but I'm not sure that's necessary any more.

I hope I helped, and please keep us posted on your progress! and Happy New Year to you also!

~AngieO