Packing my bag to leave the medical field for good.

Published

This is it. Over the past +4 months I have struggled to get myself into a private LVN to RN program in my home town. In a nutshell, the program is in California, costs half way to 6 digits, and graduates LVN candidates as newly grad RNs in a matter of 10 months.

To make it happen, I had to move from an area with cheap cost of living where I made nearly 45K a year, had my own apartment, and I ended up making way more than my standard salary with all the overtime. I just started making wonderful friends and I was accepted into a prestigious university where I could finish my non nursing bachelor's degree and get a decent job instead.

However, I valued my education as well as my material wealth. I also wanted to move back to my hometown. Everything about the RN school looked reasonable at a glance, and whenever the school asked me to put in extra money or effort I complied like a mamma's boy. When I was told the prerequisite course from my community college was 0.5 semester units short, I happily paid out of pocket to retake the same class again from University of Phoenix. When I was told that I had to study hard for the TEAS 5 exam, I took their advice happily and scored an 87 overall way past the minimal score of 62.

Now, everything went south after the fact that I don't have my IV certification. Being new to California, I underestimated the lengthy process of applying for a state license. And no California license means no IV certification class. I called the LVN board and found out that they are still processing the applications that were submitted 2 months before mine was.

I explained my situation to the school and described all the effort I had taken to overcome the difficulties like I am writing an incident report at work. The school rep still acted like they have zero flexibility. They keep on making up excuses about how flexibility could get both the school and myself fined and locked up as if all the state and federal prisons have a high priority of locking up nurses and nursing educators.

I have the money to pay for the tuition, and they have the degree I need. There are many worse rules to break in life, but they are too racist or sexist to trust a male minority nurse to stay silent when an individual holding my lifeline could look the other way processing my application. At the same time, they feel so self righteous about being law enforcement volunteers who vigilantly protect the community from hard working nurses who are having bad luck furthering their education.

Until now, I planned on becoming a nurse practitioner or a bachelor's degree holding RN who specializes in a high technology/skill setting. If I can't even obtain my associate's degree in nursing, why should I believe in what my LVN instructors back in the day told me? The education process today just gets more and more expensive to afford, and harder and harder to apply for admission. The longer the schools I work with stall me, the more money I would pay due to the inflation. There is only a bigger obstacle after another, and I simply don't have 1000 years as my lifetime to complete my educational goals. The private school loses its value by denying me of the guaranteed admission and the early start. They believe that I would remain interested no matter how long they stall me, to them they see me as a lousy student who will never be accepted at a community college or university with a bridge option.

It is true that I could obtain a license from another state with more staffing and faster licensing process and apply at that state, but I just gave up so much to be closer to my family. Without my family I would never have came back to California where the high cost of living makes my LVN salary unqualified even for a one bedroom apartment. I am not a lousy student, but there is no community college or state university that would guarantee admission solely based on work experience or decent grades. One can only go so far to apply for admission and compete against hundreds of other applicants who have have equal or more science courses or work experiences.

As a matter of fact, having completed my general education up to a bachelor's degree only means that I could finish any associate's degree besides in a term or two. Right now, any non medical career is much more rewarding with progression opportunities for anyone who keep their noses clean and work hard. As long as I have an academic interest and reasonable occupational potential for a career field outside of nursing, I would excel and still bring home a paycheck to keep a roof over my head.

As I research about my career change, I do wish the rest of the nursing and medical community the best to take care of the patients I will always care about.

A young and frustrated nurse with a brief 1 year of full time work, signing out.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I can feel your frustration just after reading a few lines of your post! I am sorry that this experience has made you look into other careers..... If you have really thought it over and think that this choice is the right one for you, then I will wish you goodluck. But I will first say this.. I have been an LVN (or LPN) for 4 1/2 years and recently graduated from an RN program. It has taken me 10 years to get to this point in my career... and it was not without challenges, setbacks and huge sacrifices. And it was all worth it. So if there is any part of you that still wants it... then dont give up!

Maybe all you need is a break. Time to regroup... etc. There are many other colleges out there. You never know. :yes:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I can understand your frustration, but I'm not clear on why you think the established BRN rules and regulations don't apply to you, or what your being male or a minority has to do with that. You need the LVN license/IV certification, and you don't have it. I've been in and out of nursing education for a long time, and I've never heard of an LPN-to-RN program that accepted people who didn't have an active, valid LPN license in that state. You want the school to "look the other way" when processing your application? Wow. That's pretty scary, coming from a nurse. What inconvenient rules and regulations are you willing to overlook in your practice?

I hope you'll find something more satisfying and that suits you better. Best wishes for your journey.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psychiatry, Mental Health.

I hear your frustration, but wow! I also hear your sense of entitlement, I'm sorry to say. Being a minority male does not figure into this. Laws are laws. Quite frankly, I would be very concerned about a nurse who thinks "looking the other way" is a legitimate approach to getting things done. The laws apply to everyone.

Nurses hold positions of trust in society and in the workplace. When one nurse betrays the trust, we all suffer.

I strongly suggest that if you want to be an RN that you take a deep, honest look at your attitude. However, it well may be that this is not profession for you.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Well, people like APRN and Elk are exactly reason I am high tailing out of this dead end career. This is exactly why nurses eat their young, and the people with dominant racial and/or gender backgrounds are once again getting away with what people did before the Civil Rights Movement.

Some nurses with veterancy are simply against younger nurses to have decent job positions or higher educations. With fewer younger nurses reaching or getting close to their potential, the longer they can stay in the job market and monopolize the workforce. I just happened to be born at the wrong time to witness so many of them spewing out so much hatred to keep younger nurses grounded at entry level work positions/education by getting them fired from their jobs or unqualified for their education goals.

And just because you guys are calling me out for using the "race card" or the "gender card", it doesn't mean you can get away with your racist or sexist altitudes. People today are simply dismissing the claims of discrimination solely based on the improvement the society slowly achieved from the days of enslavement and segregation. Just because a geographical region has fewer incidences of racial or gender discrimination, it doesn't mean every resident of the geographical region is incapable of practicing racial or gender discrimination.

I would love to check back daily for simply entertainment purposes, but I have a life to live besides trying to be an accomplished nurse. Hopefully next time when I check back in this thread I will be finished with my new educational plan and finding very successful employment. Once again I will leave the health and well being of the people in your capable hands.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Did you not realize that this is a discussion board? where you post a message and other people comment? Obviously not.

Good luck in your next career. It seems you will need it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Psychiatry, Mental Health.

Just one more comment. Forlorn Healer, what makes you think that none of the commenters are male and/or minority? Could you possibly be making unwarranted, prejudiced assumptions?

I do sincerely wish you success in your future endeavors, whatever you may think.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
This is it. Over the past +4 months I have struggled to get myself into a private LVN to RN program in my home town. In a nutshell, the program is in California, costs half way to 6 digits, and graduates LVN candidates as newly grad RNs in a matter of 10 months.

To make it happen, I had to move from an area with cheap cost of living where I made nearly 45K a year, had my own apartment, and I ended up making way more than my standard salary with all the overtime. I just started making wonderful friends and I was accepted into a prestigious university where I could finish my non nursing bachelor's degree and get a decent job instead.

However, I valued my education as well as my material wealth. I also wanted to move back to my hometown. Everything about the RN school looked reasonable at a glance, and whenever the school asked me to put in extra money or effort I complied like a mamma's boy. When I was told the prerequisite course from my community college was 0.5 semester units short, I happily paid out of pocket to retake the same class again from University of Phoenix. When I was told that I had to study hard for the TEAS 5 exam, I took their advice happily and scored an 87 overall way past the minimal score of 62.

Now, everything went south after the fact that I don't have my IV certification. Being new to California, I underestimated the lengthy process of applying for a state license. And no California license means no IV certification class. I called the LVN board and found out that they are still processing the applications that were submitted 2 months before mine was.

I explained my situation to the school and described all the effort I had taken to overcome the difficulties like I am writing an incident report at work. The school rep still acted like they have zero flexibility. They keep on making up excuses about how flexibility could get both the school and myself fined and locked up as if all the state and federal prisons have a high priority of locking up nurses and nursing educators.

I have the money to pay for the tuition, and they have the degree I need. There are many worse rules to break in life, but they are too racist or sexist to trust a male minority nurse to stay silent when an individual holding my lifeline could look the other way processing my application. At the same time, they feel so self righteous about being law enforcement volunteers who vigilantly protect the community from hard working nurses who are having bad luck furthering their education.

Until now, I planned on becoming a nurse practitioner or a bachelor's degree holding RN who specializes in a high technology/skill setting. If I can't even obtain my associate's degree in nursing, why should I believe in what my LVN instructors back in the day told me? The education process today just gets more and more expensive to afford, and harder and harder to apply for admission. The longer the schools I work with stall me, the more money I would pay due to the inflation. There is only a bigger obstacle after another, and I simply don't have 1000 years as my lifetime to complete my educational goals. The private school loses its value by denying me of the guaranteed admission and the early start. They believe that I would remain interested no matter how long they stall me, to them they see me as a lousy student who will never be accepted at a community college or university with a bridge option.

It is true that I could obtain a license from another state with more staffing and faster licensing process and apply at that state, but I just gave up so much to be closer to my family. Without my family I would never have came back to California where the high cost of living makes my LVN salary unqualified even for a one bedroom apartment. I am not a lousy student, but there is no community college or state university that would guarantee admission solely based on work experience or decent grades. One can only go so far to apply for admission and compete against hundreds of other applicants who have have equal or more science courses or work experiences.

As a matter of fact, having completed my general education up to a bachelor's degree only means that I could finish any associate's degree besides in a term or two. Right now, any non medical career is much more rewarding with progression opportunities for anyone who keep their noses clean and work hard. As long as I have an academic interest and reasonable occupational potential for a career field outside of nursing, I would excel and still bring home a paycheck to keep a roof over my head.

As I research about my career change, I do wish the rest of the nursing and medical community the best to take care of the patients I will always care about.

A young and frustrated nurse with a brief 1 year of full time work, signing out.

I feel bad for you. I can feel your frustration through your words. Going to California may not have been your best choice.

Nursing has become very competitive especially in this economy. EVERYONE is flocking to the profession in search of the yellow brick road and the gold at the end of the rainbow. Especially in California where nurses salaries are the highest.

There is NO NURSING SHORTAGE. Gone are those days of guaranteed work. I am surprised that with your qualifications that you haven't looked into online programs like Excelsior or Chamberlain.

I don't think it is fair to say that your denial or acceptance should be based on race or sex....or that you were discriminated against. But your frustration is palpable. California is notorious for their lengthy wait times, difficulty in licensure, and expense. No entry nursing degree should be six figures. That is just my honest opinion.

California has as high as a 47% unemployment rate amongst nurse especially new grads. It isn't you it's the economy.

Check out this site for the numbers. Nurses Schools, Salaries, and Job Data

Good luck on your future endeavors.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in home health, LTC, assisted living.

I agree, please look into Excelsior, I would not give up yet

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in med-surg,sa,breast & cervical ca.

I feel your frustration, but I am still not understanding why you feel the BON or school should look the other way regarding your lack of IV certification? And I am also not understanding what those rules have to do with your sex or race?

I am a LPN with 26 years of experience currently in a LPN to RN program and there are lots of classes I have to repeat because my credits are over ten years old. I don't feel I should be excused from the requirements because of my age, race or sex. The rules and regulations are what they are. I'm sorry but I don't see the connection to discrimination just unfortunate circumstances.

Best of luck to you whichever route you choose to take.

Ms. P

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Complex pedi to LTC/SA & now a manager.
I agree please look into Excelsior, I would not give up yet[/quote']

Excelsior would not be useful for someone who wishes to be licensed in/work in CA as Excelsior's ASN is not accepted for license by exam or endorsement by CABRN.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Using the race and gender card is bogus. If you are unqualified you are unqualified. It's like me who took an emt class, passed the practical but never took the written asking ambulance services to look the other way and employ me anyway even though I'm not licensed. Yes, nursing has always had a female majority, but for the rest of the careers out there, men are paid more than women. There are a lot of male, minority nurses that were able to meet their requirements. Until you do there is nothing anyone can do for you. Maybe wait for your license to be processed and then get iv certified? It's not ideal but it would allow you to continue on your path. Or finish your bachelors and go for an ABSN while working. There are options, but none of them will work if you continue to blame others for your issues.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion