KiwiKatt

A lot has happened since starting, believe me. It's just as fast paced as an E.R. I've been left alone to work and they have turnover times. You need to switch equipment out, make sure you sterilize everything properly and make sure you move quick enough to get to the next room. If a case gets messy it takes more time to clean and deal with but if there are 2 cases back to back it gets so hard to keep up with it. Some days are slower than others but I'm working long hours with little to no help and I'm in school. A lot of the hospitals near me are community and public. They all seem to have similar issues. Slower paced and higher rated hospitals are farther out, almost an hour or more away. I'm supposed to work less hours but I've been doing full time and nearly every day of the week. It's only this week that I've started doing less days, but it still is hard to build a routine. As for nursing, I was hoping to get more time with patients and actually feel like I'm helping someone. I want to play an active role in someone's life and this position doesn't fit it. I took this just to gain experience and network. As a nurse I was hoping to accomplish many more things, grow and help others grow and I know that can still happen, but things like this put me off. I'm not one to quit so I'm going to stick with this position until I finish school, but it's just overwhelming and I'm concerned that I might never adjust to this. If this is a "basic job" I'm worried that I won't adjust to being a nurse. I've heard mixed things, that it isn't too bad and that it is the worst. I know my own work ethic and I can learn things quickly but I feel as if I went into this blind and that I was deceived a little.

Hi everyone. I'm feeling very negative as of recently when it comes to pursuing nursing. Is it even worth it? I'm employed as a surgical services aide and I absolutely HATE it. We're understaffed and I'm undertrained. I've barely been working 2 weeks and I'm being called left and right, I don't really know what some things are equipment wise and I'm about to start working alone. We are supposed to be a team of 6 and it's only 2 of us. I'm only working 2 days a week starting next week but full time shifts and it's insane. Everyone tells me nursing will be like this, where I'm taken advantage of constantly. Overworked and under paid. I live in Chicago, Il and I'm aware it's different in every state. Is there any advice you can give? It isn't that I can't handle this work but because I'm not well trained yet it all feels so overwhelming and I'm really doubting pursuing nursing as a career. I come home in tears some days because it feels so bad.

I've been told W's aren't too important as long as you did well when you actually took the course. With your GPA I see no reason why they would even look at those in your transcripts.

Hi! This is all personal opinion coming up lol. I know of schools who have taken students with the bare minimum for GPA. Some students have gotten lower on the GPA but did well on the entrance exam and were accepted so don't let your low GPA discourage you. I think that you should maybe persue the LPN route for now as you start working after a year of schooling and you can get it done at a CC. I believe that hospitals (depending on where you end up) will be willing to work with you in furthering your education. They want their employees to better themselves. They may reimburse you or pay for your schooling. That's something you would need to discuss with your employer. I think getting your LPNand working as one for a while will definitely help you as you get your RN. You'll be exposed to a lot of stuff that would be taught in a BSN program so it wouldn't be or at least shouldn't be as difficult as it would for someone with no experience. Again, all personal opinion, what works for one person might not work for you! Best of luck with everything and I hope I kind of helped!

How soon after getting your LPN do you plan on going back to school for your RN? If you're going to go right after then I think you should just stick to the RN program. It will take longer if you bridge over. I have read from others who have done a bridge found that working as an LPN for a while has benefited them when they went to become an RN but this was after gaining work experience.

Hi, I recently took the TEAS. I saw a good mix of things. The math was very basic algebra and a little bit of statistics. I had some scatter plots and charts that I had to decipher. There was some geometry, maybe 2 to 3 questions. There was some anatomy, some biology and I saw maybe 2 chemistry questions on there. McGraw Hill does seem to follow along with the actual TEAS test pretty well. I believe every test is different so you don't actually know what you're getting. For me, it was a lot like a test you'd take in high school, very basic knowledge which a lot of people forget over time such as I did.

I'm not a nurse yet, but I know from reading on the forums and seeing comments around a lot seem to struggle doing classes while working. You could work but I think that alone has your plate full. I had to do my nursing pre-requisites part time (because some were just really time consuming) and I'm unemployed. Everyone is different though. You could start working as a home health care aide again, I feel that would be more beneficial to you than teaching would if the medical field is the way you're going to go. I wish you the best of luck on your journey!

Hi everyone, I want to know what you all think of becoming an LPN before an RN. Schools for getting a BSN are really expensive, even with loans I still can't afford it all. I've been in school for about 3 and a half years doing pre-requisites at a CC and I am kind of in a slump. I really want to start getting experience and working as a nurse. This is my last semester doing the pre-requisites and I'm hoping to start an LPN program next semester. I'm not too sure where to go from here or if it's worth it. If I do pursue my LPN, I expect to work for a few years at least before going back to school to get my BSN. What are your comments or opinions about this? Any input is appreciated!

I'm in the same position right now actually, so I understand! Good luck in your remaining classes!

Never have I encountered a nurse who did it for the money say that they enjoyed it. Every single one I've met ended up finding something else to do or just stayed miserable. From this post I see many are successful and enjoy it so great for them!

What you described sounds AMAZING. I don't think you should worry at all because I know people who have gotten into very competitive schools with minimal extra curricular and a 2.75 GPA. You sound like the PERFECT candidate. Schools look for people with grades like yours and with a background like yours. It puts you ahead of the game compared to others because of experience and it shows dedication as well. That's something the school will definitely focus on. If you're still worried you can call up an adviser and discuss your fears because they will tell you what I just told you. Best of luck on getting into the nursing program!

I think those classes for hybrid aren't too bad. The material can be learned easily because it gets clarified during the labs if there's confusion. I don't think it's more than you can bite off and I only say this because I'm someone who struggles a lot with classes and they weren't too bad for me.

I took anatomy with micro and it wasn't too difficult but it was very time consuming. You have A LOT of studying to do. I had to take 6 hours for each class to study and it was hard to balance at times. I don't recommend taking micro over the summer, I think stats would be better for the summer than micro.

Taking a medical terminology class will definitely help! You could take that along with your Microbio class. A&P can be taken alone because for some people they can be very difficult classes. It'll take longer, but it'll benefit you more because you can really focus on that class.

My immediate reaction to this post was to tell you to NOT PURSUE NURSING if you're in it only for the money. You will be miserable. This is something you have to figure out on your own. I recommend shadowing a nurse for a day or ask some nurses what it's like before you start the program. Nursing is a difficult path and overtime you will hate your job if this isn't what you really want to do. Nursing can be really stressful (just like any other job). Everyone is anxious about getting into school or getting good grades. No one ever goes in or tries for anything without having some worry.

You could take a lighter load of classes or try hybrid classes. I had to go part time so I'm behind by 2 semesters but it's worth it because you can focus better and get the higher grades. I hope everything works out for you!

I don't recommend becoming an LPN. It sets you back time wise and a lot of these classes will need to be retaken basically. You'll have to do all your clinicals all over again. If RN is your goal, you shoild get the pre-rews done and then transfer or just go strsight into a university to get your BSN. You don't need a degree prior to starting your BSN program.

Have you tried talking to your professors, tutoring? If you're taking pre-reqs, I recommend taking the rest at a CC and transfer over. If you want it nad enough, you should go for it! I understand how you feel though. You might be taking on too much at one time so maybe try to lighten your load?

Hi! If nursing is something you think you'll enjoy, go for it. No one enjoys hurting other people or working such long shifts! Only you know what you can handle and can't handle. If you want it bad enough, you CAN do it. I recommend at least trying it. See if you can shadow a nurse for a day and you can kind of get an idea from that. As for hurting people, @FutureNurseInfo made a valid point. It is inevitable when it comes to making mistakes. Even the most experienced nurse can and probably does mess up. You're a human being and you'll learn. No one is perfect. I'm really bad at math too, but a little practice with medical math become a easier over time. You eventually come to memorize the information because you'll be applying it. When I first started taking classes invloving math I panicked. It was so difficult at first because it takes me longer to solve problems. If you really want to do nursing, you'll find ways to overcome your habit of freezing. You have to fail to learn sometimes and that's okay! I wish you the best of luck with everything and I hope it all turns out well for you!

I've had this issue before! I don't recommend dropping the class because you paid and you aren't failing. I recommend going over the material prior to class. Are the powerpoints online? You can go off of the syllabus and try to teach yourself so that you're a little more prepared. As for the W on your transcript, it won't really effect how schools look at you. This is based off persinal experience. If you retake the class, do well. If it really does concern them, they will ask you why you dropped it. Usually no one asks about it unless you get a failing grade then they'll probably start asking questions.

Yodapup, thanks for all your advice! The pay isn't too concerning for me, it's more the experience and benefits I get from the hands on work. You brought up some really good points that I wasn't thinking about before.

I can't take out any private loans because the ones I've seen require good credit scores or co-signers. I haven't built up my credit score and I don't have anyone willing to cosign a loan for me so I have to go off of scholarships and whatever public loans I can get. The public loans I can get are a max of 2500. The scholarships are more difficult to get because it's so competitive. The school I'd like to attend is private so the scholarships they offer are limited from 1-5 students so that leaves a lot of students out.

In response to the classes expiring, they've changed the limit from 5 to 7 years before the expire so I have some time. My oldest class that the schools require was taken in 2016.

I do have about 6 months before starting nursing school because the school has stopped taking applications for the next term so I could get my EMT-B done in 4 months and begin working before I even start nursing school. I'm not overly concerned about the salary or time it'll take. I'm still fairly young so I have some time to get all of this done. I am looking for these benefits of gaining experience, but I also don't want this experience to hinder me because I know that nurses works a differently than an EMT. I'm trying to get as much knowledge and experience as I can without it slowing me down too much.

Thanks for your input! I'm not currently an EMT, but it takes less than a year to become a paramedic. I think if I choose being a paramedic that it would be a short term thing, maybe 5 years? Just to gain experience and savings.