OK...so I've pretty much got everything I need for school...and have had very little nervousness up until tonight!! I don't know whether I'm more nervous about the drive to and from school (commuting...an hour each direction...not bad til the Minnesota winter hits!), or the actual classes. I have waited sooo long to get into school...why am I so nervous??? I'm still excited about starting...and I think I'll get over it once I get a routine going. **BREATHE IN...BREATHE OUT** lol. Thanks for letting me vent!! Good luck to everyone starting school!! Lord Bless...
Hi there. That sounds like it could be a really great job advancement...go for it! With the things I've seen at the nursing home I work at, you've gotta like dealing with the same people you would normally if working on the floor (staff, family members, doctors, therapists, etc.), but I think there's also a lot of other stressors that you wouldn't normally encounter as a staff nurse. I think you have to be able to take a lot more complaints and grumbling...with a smile...no matter how irritated or short of time you are. If you're looking for 'normal' hours, without the huge paycuts you'd find working in a doctors office, this would be a good route to take!! I think with enough experience, I'd apply for that type of position. Lots of room for advancement in most nursing homes. The home I worked at in Wyoming...one of the staff nurses became the ADON, then DON, and now she's actually the Administrator!!! I say go for it. If it's something you really think you'd enjoy, it sounds like a positive change. It can't hurt to put in an application. Good luck!!! Lord Bless...
Hi there. Not a nurse yet, but I start the LPN program in Detroit Lakes at the end of the month. YAY!!! I'm still new to North Dakota...my family moved here from Wyoming so I could go to school. We're not quite sure which place we like better yet...we'll see once I'm done with school. Lord Bless...
Hi all. Starting the LPN program in Detroit Lakes this fall...19 days and counting(commuting from Fargo)!! I'm pretty psyched to be back in school!! Best of luck to all the nursing students out there!!! Lord Bless... Jen
LOL...Sorry!! Wasn't paying attention as I carelessly drifted through the many posts!! No...plain ol' nursing school at the moment...but planning on moving up in the world once I graduate. Congrats to everyone and good luck!!!!!
Hi there! I'm not going to Mt State, but I will start the program none the less! Minnesota State Community and Technical College, Detroit Lakes Campus. My long wait is just about over!!! Best of luck to you all...! Lord Bless
Finally!!! :hatparty: August 29!!! Minnesota State Community and Tech. College, DL. I'm excited about starting...but not so excited about commuting (1 hour drive there, and another back...grrr!). Good luck everyone!!!
I just purchased a laptop for school in January. I debated between the two as well, but the school made that decision for me...the nursing program here requires you to have one. I think I would've gone this route anyway...mainly because I find the computer easier to keep notes and such organized. Plus, I type much faster than I write, and there's a better chance I'll be able to read what I wrote if it's on a computer screen!!! As for the "tickity tick" sounds from the keyboard, mine makes very little noise.
Before buying ANY computer, make sure your school doesn't require you to have a laptop. If they do, get the specifics. You don't want to spend a bunch of money on a computer to find out the first day that you didn't get the right one or are missing certain programs. ~~ Best of luck!!
I too have my tongue pierced. I've had mine for almost 8 years and don't plan on taking it out any time soon(Don't get me wrong...I wouldn't choose it over a job...I'm crazy, not dumb!). In the 3 years I've worked in the hospital/LTC setting, it's been noticed maybe twice by patients. The charge nurse at the home didn't even realize I had it until I had been working there for 2 years. I don't play with it or click it against my teeth...and though they've got a bad reputation...I'm a good girl. :angel2:
[font=Book Antiqua]Am new on this site and am happy to have found it first of all i would like to start by saying hallo to everyone and thank all of you for all your messages they answer alot of my questions.Anyway Jeniffer i decided to post on your thread bcoz i find that we have alot in common except i havent yet been accepted into nursing school let alone applied.I too have a baby girl who turned 4in July and another lo who i had on july 2005 i have been admitted into ohio u as an undecided student for this coming winter quarter and i have made up my mind to do nursing but when i enquired i was told that there is a waiting list this really discouraged me as am wondering if i will ever be admitted and what i should be doing meanwhile as i wait then i also cleared high school back in 1995 and did not join college as i wasnt sure what i would do, ya..ya...I too regret but thats in the past amnd its good we both have made up our minds to change our situation.I wondered how i would make it with a little one and all am glad to know that you too are out there.ciao.
Hello and welcome! Nice to meet you. Yes, it seems we do have a lot in common...kinda nice to meet someone with such a similar situation. First off...congrats on the new baby!! Even with the lack of sleep and all the smelly diapers...we're having so much fun with our little guy!! He's smiling now and cooing a lot...it's too cute!!
I do start school in January, but I won't be starting the nursing program until Fall 06(hopefully). Until then I'll be working on the last of my pre-requisites. (I took care of a few of them in Wyoming before I moved.) There is a waiting list in Wyoming as well...I figured I'd be working at it for 4 or 5 years by the time I got done...yes, very, VERY discouraging. There's such a HUGE demand for nurses, but we have to wait FOREVER to get the degree! Before I decided to move here, my plan for school was to get my pre-requisites done, apply, get put on the waiting list, then work on getting everything but the nursing classes out of the way (anthro, nutrition, english, etc. etc. etc.). I wanted to be able to put all my energy towards the "important" stuff and not have to worry about english papers when I could be studying for labs and such. Don't let yourself get discouraged...it's probably a blessing that there's a waiting list. Yeah, it sucks that you know what you want to do and you can't get it done right this minute (I'm the same way...I know what I want...gotta have it NOW!), but I really think that, especially being a mommy, pacing yourelf is a good idea. You don't want to burn yourself out with too much school when you have kids and work and life happening at the same time. I took a shot at school back in '02 for pre-med...16 credit hours...yowza! Between school, my daughter, work, etc...I ended up very overwhelmed and it affected my grades. I ended up dropping all but 2 classes. I don't want to spend the next 5 or 6 years on an associate degree...but if it keeps me from getting that stressed out again...it would be well worth it. The demand for nurses will still be there when we finish school, it's just a matter of making it until then!!
Hang in there and keep in touch!! We'll get there...one step at a time. :wink2:
I worked in a nursing home for 2 years and had a few experiences during the night shift. I had probably been there for 5 or 6 months before seeing/feeling anything (heard lots of stories though)...it was about 3am and I was going from room to room emptying water pitchers and picking up misc dirty laundry left over from the evening shift. I always snuck into the rooms without turning on any lights so that I wouldn't disturb anyone as they slept. I went into one of the resident's bathrooms, grabbed a couple washcloths, and as I dumped the water into the sink, I got a chill. I looked up into the mirror to see if the window behind me was open...and there was a man's "face" just to the left of mine in the reflection. I bolted outa that room and up to the well-lit nurses station. Needless to say, from then on when emptying pitchers at night, the bathroom light was on BEFORE I stepped foot inside...especially that room.
I also had an experience at a house I lived in for a few years. My first night there I was sitting on my bed and the shower in the master bathroom turned on by itself. I didn't really think much about it at that time...I just got up to shut it off and as soon as I got to the door, it shut off. That's the only time it did that...but there were a few nights that the bathroom light turned off and on for an hour...not to mention LOTS of "seeing things out of the corner of my eye". There were also a few times while doing dishes that it felt like someone was tugging on my clothes...or playing with my hair. My mom and I believe it could've been our neighbor, my mom's best friend for many years, who died in my mom's arms a few years earlier. OH...lol...we also believe she "pushed" my mom's ex out of a tree...breaking his arm.
Hi, This is my 1st post on this board. I just had to reply. Although my most significant experiences did not happen as a "nursing ghost story" per se. Although some have.
In 1984, I was preparing to be a bridesmaid in a friends wedding and I was expecting at the time. My friend was having another friend alter our dresses. Well, my dress came back and it was about 3 sizes too big and too long, so my Gram, whom I was very close to, as I was her 1st Grandchild, said, "I'll do the alterations for you honey". During my many fittings, we would always talk about my having her 1st Great Grandchild and how she was also making the netting for the bassinet too. She swore it would be a girl, and made a pink one. As we were getting close to my last fitting, she told me to stand up on the chair with my heels on carefully, as she could not bend over and wanted to check the length. She was 74 yrs young at the time. God I loved her. Well, I put my heel right through the back of the gown, tearing a huge hole in it at the bottom! She calmly told me, "Get down off the chair now Emilee and please go home, I will fix it". I couldn't apologize enough as I walked out the door, she had worked so hard on it for me and I know she was a bit perturbed about it and just didn't want me to see her frustration.
A few nights later, I was sound asleep in bed, when I felt the hair on my forehead being brushed aside and felt a very distinct kiss on it and a very warm embrace. I sat straight up and looked over at my husband at the time, thinking it was him, and he was over on the other side of the bed snoring away. I sat there with an odd feeling I couldn't understand and looked at the clock, it said 10:02pm. I just couldn't shake what I know I felt and had not dreamt.
I got up to get a water and sat on my couch for about 45 mins trying to rationalize what I felt, when my phone rang. It was my Mom and she said, "Em, can you come to the house, Gram passed away about 45 mins ago. She was sitting in her rocking chair around 10pm, said to my Grampa, "Al, I love you, please hold my hand, I'm leaving now", he took her hand confused, and she closed her eyes and passed away". OMG! She came to me while I slept, her final goodbye and kissed me before she moved on. I told my Dad and my Grampa and they both started to cry, as I was her favorite and it comforted them very much. For me, I'll be honest, I was afraid to look in the mirror and see her looking back at me for days. Really. I think I would have had a heart attack myself!
Later on, I took the rocking chair she died in, for when I had my baby. Everyone was too freaked out to sit in it or touch it, but I wasn't. When I had my Son, it was not a girl like she thought, I would rock him in that chair and I felt her there with me. Many times when I was sooo tired doing night feedings, I felt my hair being stroked and such a sense of calm. A few times, I'd see that chair rocking on its own while my son slept. I knew she was there watching over her 1st Great Grandchild and I would see it and say, "Hi Gram, he's beautiful isn't he"? I still when in distress or stressed out, talk to her. I feel her there always. I'll sit in her rocking chair and talk to her. I always feel better afterward and somehow the troubles I had, I found a way to work through them after my "session" with Gram.
Now my Grampa, he didn't do well after she passed. She was his life, being married well over 50 yrs. He would cry every night for her. He replaced every name in his bible with her name, painstakenly handwritting it in! I don't know why, but he did. It gave him comfort. He had developed Alzheimer's and would call only *ME* by my Grams name everytime he saw me, he said, "I see you there". Later on, he developed pneumonia, and lapsed into a coma, and was not given long to live. We would visit him and I can't explain how he looked. It was just not him anymore. He was a shell of a person, who did not come out of his coma. My Dad and I were with him one night, I was talking to him, hoping he heard me when I looked upward and saw a flash of light. I asked my Dad if he saw it and he just looked at me stunned. I knew my Gram had come to take him home. We both took his hand and I said, "Grampa, its okay, take Grams hand now, she's here waiting" and my Dad said, "Its okay Dad, go to Mom now, let go, we love you". No lie, in a coma, unresponsive, he sat straight up in the bed(scared me, I didn't expect that, he was in a coma after all), extended his right arm and hand upward towards the ceiling as if reaching for something, lied back down and he was gone. He took her hand. :angel2:
I have many more experiences I could post about, even from family pets that have gone to other experiences I have witnessed, but didn't want my 1st post to be too long, as it is already! :wink2: Sorry. Just sharing.
Emilee
WOW...! This is the first post that actually gave me the chills! (Not in a "scary" way...) Thank you for sharing your stories!!
I work in a ltc facility and we have had numerous reports from pts that they have seen a little boy. This boy comes in their rooms, turns their call lights on and off, throw things on the floor. This facility used to be an orphanage!! Also there are stories of a oldfashioned nurse in the whole white dress and hat, would be seen going down the hall late at night doing her bed check and would go into someones room and stay there for a couple minutes if they were really sick or about to die. Well I guess one aide seen her awhile back and refused to go down that hall for a week, the persons room she went in just came back from the hospital still really sick.:uhoh21:
This wouldn't happen to be a ltc facility in Wyoming...would it???? Darn near identical story to where I used to work...
I just got home from a terrible day at work. Nothing went right, everything went wrong...not only for me, but for everyone. The charge nurse ended up crying...twice, I felt like leaving...and never coming back, and everyone else was having just as bad a day as me. I am WAY too tired to go into details right now, but I sure could use some hugs!
Sorry to hear you had such a bad night!! I'm not yet a nurse...but have worked with many...and have had a few of those crappy nights myself! Hang in there...*HUGS* :icon_hug:
OK...so I've pretty much got everything I need for school...and have had very little nervousness up until tonight!! I don't know whether I'm more nervous about the drive to and from school (commuting...an hour each direction...not bad til the Minnesota winter hits!), or the actual classes. I have waited sooo long to get into school...why am I so nervous??? I'm still excited about starting...and I think I'll get over it once I get a routine going. **BREATHE IN...BREATHE OUT** lol. Thanks for letting me vent!!
Good luck to everyone starting school!! Lord Bless...
Jenn
Hi there. That sounds like it could be a really great job advancement...go for it! With the things I've seen at the nursing home I work at, you've gotta like dealing with the same people you would normally if working on the floor (staff, family members, doctors, therapists, etc.), but I think there's also a lot of other stressors that you wouldn't normally encounter as a staff nurse. I think you have to be able to take a lot more complaints and grumbling...with a smile...no matter how irritated or short of time you are. If you're looking for 'normal' hours, without the huge paycuts you'd find working in a doctors office, this would be a good route to take!! I think with enough experience, I'd apply for that type of position. Lots of room for advancement in most nursing homes. The home I worked at in Wyoming...one of the staff nurses became the ADON, then DON, and now she's actually the Administrator!!! I say go for it. If it's something you really think you'd enjoy, it sounds like a positive change. It can't hurt to put in an application. Good luck!!! Lord Bless...
Hi there. Not a nurse yet, but I start the LPN program in Detroit Lakes at the end of the month. YAY!!!
I'm still new to North Dakota...my family moved here from Wyoming so I could go to school. We're not quite sure which place we like better yet...we'll see once I'm done with school. 
Lord Bless...
Hi all. Starting the LPN program in Detroit Lakes this fall...19 days and counting(commuting from Fargo)!! I'm pretty psyched to be back in school!! Best of luck to all the nursing students out there!!! Lord Bless... Jen
LOL...Sorry!! Wasn't paying attention as I carelessly drifted through the many posts!! No...plain ol' nursing school at the moment...but planning on moving up in the world once I graduate.
Congrats to everyone and good luck!!!!!
Hi there! I'm not going to Mt State, but I will start the program none the less!
Minnesota State Community and Technical College, Detroit Lakes Campus. My long wait is just about over!!! Best of luck to you all...! Lord Bless
Finally!!! :hatparty: August 29!!! Minnesota State Community and Tech. College, DL. I'm excited about starting...but not so excited about commuting (1 hour drive there, and another back...grrr!). Good luck everyone!!!
Ditto...! Gotta get 2 classes outa the way in January, then it's the big time! Best of luck to everyone!!
I just purchased a laptop for school in January. I debated between the two as well, but the school made that decision for me...the nursing program here requires you to have one. I think I would've gone this route anyway...mainly because I find the computer easier to keep notes and such organized. Plus, I type much faster than I write, and there's a better chance I'll be able to read what I wrote if it's on a computer screen!!! As for the "tickity tick" sounds from the keyboard, mine makes very little noise.
Before buying ANY computer, make sure your school doesn't require you to have a laptop. If they do, get the specifics. You don't want to spend a bunch of money on a computer to find out the first day that you didn't get the right one or are missing certain programs. ~~ Best of luck!!
I too have my tongue pierced. I've had mine for almost 8 years and don't plan on taking it out any time soon(Don't get me wrong...I wouldn't choose it over a job...I'm crazy, not dumb!). In the 3 years I've worked in the hospital/LTC setting, it's been noticed maybe twice by patients. The charge nurse at the home didn't even realize I had it until I had been working there for 2 years. I don't play with it or click it against my teeth...and though they've got a bad reputation...I'm a good girl. :angel2:
I do start school in January, but I won't be starting the nursing program until Fall 06(hopefully). Until then I'll be working on the last of my pre-requisites. (I took care of a few of them in Wyoming before I moved.) There is a waiting list in Wyoming as well...I figured I'd be working at it for 4 or 5 years by the time I got done...yes, very, VERY discouraging. There's such a HUGE demand for nurses, but we have to wait FOREVER to get the degree! Before I decided to move here, my plan for school was to get my pre-requisites done, apply, get put on the waiting list, then work on getting everything but the nursing classes out of the way (anthro, nutrition, english, etc. etc. etc.). I wanted to be able to put all my energy towards the "important" stuff and not have to worry about english papers when I could be studying for labs and such. Don't let yourself get discouraged...it's probably a blessing that there's a waiting list. Yeah, it sucks that you know what you want to do and you can't get it done right this minute (I'm the same way...I know what I want...gotta have it NOW!), but I really think that, especially being a mommy, pacing yourelf is a good idea. You don't want to burn yourself out with too much school when you have kids and work and life happening at the same time. I took a shot at school back in '02 for pre-med...16 credit hours...yowza! Between school, my daughter, work, etc...I ended up very overwhelmed and it affected my grades. I ended up dropping all but 2 classes. I don't want to spend the next 5 or 6 years on an associate degree...but if it keeps me from getting that stressed out again...it would be well worth it. The demand for nurses will still be there when we finish school, it's just a matter of making it until then!!
Hang in there and keep in touch!! We'll get there...one step at a time. :wink2:
I worked in a nursing home for 2 years and had a few experiences during the night shift. I had probably been there for 5 or 6 months before seeing/feeling anything (heard lots of stories though)...it was about 3am and I was going from room to room emptying water pitchers and picking up misc dirty laundry left over from the evening shift. I always snuck into the rooms without turning on any lights so that I wouldn't disturb anyone as they slept. I went into one of the resident's bathrooms, grabbed a couple washcloths, and as I dumped the water into the sink, I got a chill. I looked up into the mirror to see if the window behind me was open...and there was a man's "face" just to the left of mine in the reflection. I bolted outa that room and up to the well-lit nurses station. Needless to say, from then on when emptying pitchers at night, the bathroom light was on BEFORE I stepped foot inside...especially that room.
I also had an experience at a house I lived in for a few years. My first night there I was sitting on my bed and the shower in the master bathroom turned on by itself. I didn't really think much about it at that time...I just got up to shut it off and as soon as I got to the door, it shut off. That's the only time it did that...but there were a few nights that the bathroom light turned off and on for an hour...not to mention LOTS of "seeing things out of the corner of my eye". There were also a few times while doing dishes that it felt like someone was tugging on my clothes...or playing with my hair. My mom and I believe it could've been our neighbor, my mom's best friend for many years, who died in my mom's arms a few years earlier. OH...lol...we also believe she "pushed" my mom's ex out of a tree...breaking his arm.
Keep the stories coming...they're so much fun!!