iWish

Honestly, I think it's a mindset thing. Yes, this public and anon forum for nurses is a great place to vent and relate with others going through the trenches. I have honestly only had one job in my whole life that I would look forward to going to, and that was a haunted house I worked at in high school. Besides that, it's a little different to be "excited" to go to work. Work is hard, even if you love what you do. Nursing of course is pretty easy to burn out on if you're not in the right place. My current job is good. I don't hate it, don't love it. I'm ready for a change for sure. It's not all bad though.

Thank you for the advice! Steady watching for more tips and tricks as I start my new journey in the ED.

Hi everyone! I’m so nervous and excited typing this right now. I’m a new nurse in my 1st year of practice. I graduated in the middle of the COVID pandemic which means I didn’t get my last semester nursing clinical, and no nurse residency programs were taking graduate nurses at the time. I thankfully found a position as an infusion nurse at a private Dr office right after graduation. They have been so good to me but ever since I started there I’ve been beating myself up for not waiting for a residency program to open up. Well, a golden opportunity just fell right into my lap! I just landed a chance to interview with my local trauma 2 hospital in the ED for a nurse residency program. This is my DREAM POSITION. I have never wanted anything more in my life. This is my career GOAL! My interview is less than a week away and I will never forgive myself if I’m under prepared and let this slip through my fingers. Should I expect an exam for my interview? Would they quiz me on drugs or scenarios? I want to be over prepared. Please share any and all advice you have. This is my dream and they just cracked the door open for me I just have to get through that door! Thanks for reading.

Good Morning! Apologize for the length This has been on my brain for a couple of months now and I'm scared of the responses I'm going to get. So back story, I graduated in the Summer months of 2020 from my ADN program. Passed NCLEX and landed a sweet job as an Infusion Nurse at an office. I was hoping my first job would be in a hospital because my heart is in the ER. Like I feel the NEED to work ER. I feel like since I'm a new nurse and I didn't work on the floor when I first graduated nursing school I won't know anything, I'll forget everything I learned in nursing school, and no one will want to hire me in the hospital in the future. I love my job to be honest. It's a comfortable environment, my management couldn't be better, I make the amount I wanted to make, and I'm actually good at my job. I mainly chose this job because I knew I could do it and be comfortable since I was a medic before this, and so I could have the time to go back to school for my BSN. I figure I'll finish the BSN program I'm in by the end of 2021. My original plan was to work 1-2 years here in this office and then jump ship to the hospitals. I've been looking at PRN positions in hospitals, but what I've concluded after reading the advice from AN is that why would a hospital train me to work if it's only PRN and especially since I'm a new new nurse with no experience in hospitals. If I didn't feel a NEED to be working in a hospital/ER I would just stay at this job I'm at for my entire life tbh but I just can't do that and feel complete. I'm going to wait 1-2 years before I make any career changes for certain. My question is, is it going to be difficult for me to find a job in a hospital in a year or 2 from now? I never hear of nurses getting hired and being trained as a "new nurse" even though they've been a nurse for a couple years, just not in a hospital. Please Please share your experience if this was you. If you started off in a clinical setting and then switched to floor nursing, please tell me how the transition was for you and if you would do it again.

I don't know why I asked this question knowing dang well I was going to do it anyway. & y'all were right, I should have waited haha but oh well. I'm so busy & stressed all the time. I am determined to finish what I started here though. Literally just came back here to rant, ugh.

Thank you for the advice. This was my concern.

Hi everyone I'll be graduating from my ADN program in the near future. I want to get started on my BSN as soon as possible but I'm worried about starting to work as a new nurse and also balancing a RN-BSN program. I'm really excited to start working as a new nurse and I'm mentally preparing for the challenge. I know it'll be difficult adjusting to the life of a floor nurse. My question is for the ADN graduates, how long did you wait if at all to start a BSN bridge program after getting your first nursing job. Do you have any suggestions on good bridge programs? I've looked online at some already, and price is not an issue. My college is opening a new BSN program at my school but I'm not sure I want to do that.

If there's any way you can enroll in a course this summer, do it, and knock the gen bio out of the way. If you can't this is how I'd lay out the semesters. Fall: Gen Bio, Gen chem, and Phil. Spring: Anatomy 1, statistics, and nutrition Summer: Anatomy 2 and micro This would leave you to apply for the fall 20' start if you were successful in these courses. Taking A2 and micro in the summer together will be rough but it's doable and it would help slightly prepare you for the amount of studying that nursing courses require. Main tip: take "mini" courses for the less intense courses if you can. It helped me in the long run to do it this way so I had most of my time dedicated to the more difficult science courses near the end in preparation for nursing school. Don't underestimate statistics and nutrition. I took a mathematical statistics course and in a 5 week course. It was very difficult to maintain an A in the course. Also, with nutrition.. some may say it's one of the easier courses to take for a pre-req and blow through it for an easy A. I took mine online in a "at your own pace" course and I wish I had spent more time on it really learning and memorizing it. It came back to bite me because nutrition is a large part of nursing/exams (for us it was in the first semester,) and it will show up on the NCLEX. Best of luck.

This is common grading criteria for nursing courses. In my program 75% is passing. 74.9% is failing. If you score anything lower than a 77% on an exam, you have to remediate with the professor and the academic advisor plus filing out paperwork. There is no rounding at all in my program.

Think small and take one day at a time. Literally, one day. This is how I manage. Make small family goals to accomplish weekly and incorporate them into your schedule. Ex: Tuesday nights I will take my family out to eat. It may be only for an hour a night, but they'll have your undivided attention for that hour. If you take one hour each night to put the books and phone down and to socialize one on one with them it'll make the guilty feeling of not being around as often less. (current nursing student with 3 young kiddos)

In my personal experience, the ADN program is more flexible time wise than the BSN. I was previously enrolled in an extensive BSN program. It was hectic and basically impossible with my family life. I switched to an ADN program and it's much more manageable, plus, if you need to work while attending school it's an option whereas the BSN program wouldn't allow that to be possible due to the schedule. This ADN program I'm in is a fraction of the price I paid for the BSN program. It's funny, I'm taking the same classes and relearning the same things I learned in the BSN program but at a cheaper price. Fortunately, my school will be offering a BSN program next year so that I can continue my education right after graduating. I hope this insight helped some. Best of luck with your decision and future education.

YES! It's doable. Single mom of 3 right here (6, 4, 2.) It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and I was a single mom in the Army before this (active duty.) My biggest hurdle was getting over the feeling of guilt when repeatedly having to ask for help from my mom to watch my kids so that I could study even if I wasn't in class. My first program (BSN program) was impossible for me. I went through half the program just to withdraw. It was a hectic schedule, 5 days a week, 8-5, 1-2 clinical shifts (12 hrs each) per week on top of the full day classes. I was commuting an hour each way and I couldn't handle it. I withdrew and found a closer ADN program that I'm succeeding in. It's half the time in class compared to the previous program which means more study time and that I could still have my kids in soccer and baseball. If you want it bad enough, anything is possible. I have zero option to fail and that remains my mentality. Best wishes!!

Ours is this way too, but it could change with each clinical since it is up to our clinical instructors. My CI last semester was by the book, care plan for every clinical day, due 72 hrs after clinical ends, etc. I had classmates that had 7 days to complete theirs. I hated the 72 hour due date at times, but it was sort of a blessing because it forced me to get it done and not procrastinate.

This! The detailed care plans are tedious but I remember things I've learned so much more than doing the shorter care plans.

Thank you! What I did was I took about 8 weeks to "be sad" and not think about school. After that I started doing my research for other schools. Just keep in mind, it's May and there could be application deadlines approaching soon. Not to rush you, but it wouldn't hurt to look at the date of deadlines even if you don't want to apply to programs right now. The date will stay in the back of your mind. Don't give up if you want this!!! There is another way, I'm proof of that. It's not a race either, and it'll be that much more special when we reach our goal. Best of luck friend!