CamMc

Thanks! I've still been leaning more towards the EMT side. I just accepted a job as a behavioral health technician at a behavioral hospital that is a part of a large hospital network in my area, so I'm hoping that will give me a little more insight on where to go. I'm also considering now with this new job, I will be working directly under an RN and it seems to pay more than I've seen listed for any EMT jobs, so if I'm getting experience and working in a hospital setting, I may just stay in this position until I'm done with nursing school. I appreciate the input, that was exactly my thoughts working in either field at least gets some hands-on experience and nursing school will help me with the rest ?

At this point I have already accepted the position, I know enough about the position to believe it will work for me, just trying to mentally prepare for what else might need to change. From what I asked the interviewer/my new supervisor, there doesn't seem to be a set rotation for the days worked, just that we work one weekend a month. She said all of the techs are broken up into an A team and a B team and each team rotates picking first for the next month. I don't have any kids, spouse, or any relationships, I'm basically married to my work. I know the shifts are 12 hours 3 days a week. From what I asked there isn't a standard of whether people do 3 days in a row or a varied schedule. I feel like I'm already in that mindset of all I do is eat, sleep, go to work, so I'm not too worried about that. I think the biggest thing I'm struggling with mentally is I keep thinking that only working 3 days means I'm going to have so much free time during the day, forgetting that I do need to sleep sometime. I'm sure I will get it all figured out and at this point all I can do is wait and see what happens once I begin, but trying to get a feeling if there are any tips that will help me be prepared. Thanks for the input!! ?

That's awesome! I'm glad you are enjoying it!

Thanks, I feel like regardless of whether I'm a night owl or not, I think this is good practice because I know that often new nurses are offered night shifts, so I will likely end up working nights at some point, I think it's good to get a feel for it now. Yeah, I know that it can be hard to adjust the sleep schedule, I'm hoping the fact that I'm pretty easily able to fall asleep regardless of conditions around me (lights on, middle of the day, with noise, etc) that I should hopefully be able to adjust. I've been working at least two jobs for at least 5 years now, so I think I would be lost without having so much to do. It is just me, I have a dog, but I also have a roommate who is willing and able to help out if really needed, but my dog is pretty low maintenance. Luckily my third job of doing door dash isn't something anyone is making me do, it's solely for me to have peace of mind that I will have the means to cover all my bills and get food/gas and necessary items. Unfortunately, there isn't any room for me to slow down on paying off debt, at my current job, the one I'm leaving my monthly take-home pay doesn't cover all of my minimum balances and the necessities, I'm about $200 under the bare minimum and that's not counting food and gas budget. With my second job added in, I can make enough to cover all the minimums and my food/gas/other expenses, but that only gives me $100-200 extra to put to going over the minimum payments on any of my credit cards. I'm following a snowball method and have gotten my credit card usage to only the very rare usage, but I am working as hard as I can to have my credit card debt paid off before I begin or just as I begin nursing school, which should be in 2 years. I know that I will need to cut back working when I'm in nursing school so there is a big push from me to get this handled before then. Unfortunately, my new job pays a little over $1/hr less than my current job, so there is absolutely no room for me to cut back on hours from my second job without making it up somewhere else. Thanks, I appreciate your concern about the client I work with. He is in a safety bed that is zipped up so he can't get out if he should wake before I heard him. If I do nap, I am sleeping in the adjacent room. He is 7, but non-verbal and can be self-injurious (head-banging, hitting his head), the standing directions from his mom is to only enter his room if he is screaming/crying, otherwise, his mom is confident in his safety. When I do fall asleep I set alarms to wake myself about every 15 minutes so I don't fall into a deep sleep. I've been working with the family for 5 years now and there is a great deal of trust, so it would take something very major for his mom to come after me legally. I do see where your concern is coming from though, so again, I appreciate your concern. I will be sure to keep you all updated, I appreciate all the input! ?

Thanks, that is what I figured, but wanted to see if there was any typical pattern for what weekends would be, I will reach out to the recruiter for clarification. Yeah, I asked the woman interviewing me, who will be my supervisor, if people typically try to do 3 in a row or varied and she said it varies. I know they also told me there are several techs who prefer to work the weekends, so there's a chance that even though we have the rotations I may be able to switch with someone. The recruiter implied that it should be easy for them to work around a conflict i have, I am on a dance company and we practice on Friday nights, I won't continue to do the company past our show at the beginning of December, but i'm hoping to be able to finish out this season, and the recruiter said they do really try to work with employees about the schedule and there are apparently an A group and B group and each takes turns picking first for days off for the next month. I know as a new person I'm likely not to get my first pick, however, I'm will do whatever I need to do to make this work. Just trying to work out what I can mentally prepare for now. I feel like I do pretty well adapting to an already hectic and not super consistent schedule, so I'm hoping I will be one who is fine. Thanks for the input! ?

So, I'm not a nurse yet, but I feel like this question applies to any level of nursing/healthcare, but please move if needed. I have just accepted a position as a behavior technician at a behavioral health hospital in my area. My shift will be 3 12's, overnights, from 7pm-7:30a. I am really looking forward to this, it will be my first job in the hospital setting and have always had a desire to work overnights. I wouldn't say that I'm really a morning or a night person. My current job that I will be leaving I start at various times, either 7am, 8am, 6am, or 9am typically waking up about 1.5-2hrs before my start time and I generally go to sleep around the same time most nights somewhere between 10pm if I'm being really good, but usually closer to 11 or 12pm. The full-time job I work 9 hour days except for Friday and then I typically do two hours of DoorDash (food delivery) a couple days a week right after work, then more hours on Saturday. My biggest concern is that we don't have a set schedule, we get to request what days we want off each month, so I know there's a good chance I won't always work the same days each week to get into a good pattern. We also rotate one weekend on. So one of my first questions, which I forgot to ask the recruiter, is there a standard for what is considered "weekends" for the night shift? Is it Friday and Saturday night or Saturday and Sunday night? My other concern, while I will be giving up my full-time job to take this position, I have a part-time position where I am a caregiver for a boy with multiple needs. I can't afford to have just my full-time job (I have way too much debt to just work one job). So I watch him on Sundays from 9am-6pm and Wednesdays from 4:30pm-7:30pm. I have let his mom know that I will do what I can to keep it so that I have Wednesdays or at least one night a week pretty regularly available to help out with dinner time for him and I figure the one weekend a month I have to work weekends I can either do a shortened Sunday shift or work the whole shift right after a night shift at the hospital and have the next day completely off. I typically have about 2 or three hours in the afternoon while I'm with him where he naps and his parents are ok with me napping during that time. Most advice I see about working nights is to go to your nights schedule across the board, but this would make it very hard to do my Sundays with him. Am I overthinking this? Do any others manage multiple jobs while working a night shift?

Because I was just doing Bio 156 as a review before taking 201, I think I would still take it online. Future science classes that are more challenging like A&P I'll be taking in person. My teacher's name is (PLEASE DO NOT POST NAMES OF THOSE IN YOUR PROGRAM PER THE TERMS OF SERVICE), I don't know if it was her or just a Rio policy, but there was no room for make-up work or extra credit, which was a little frustrating. Otherwise, I didn't have any complaints.

Haha, the super fast response was partly due to my using this to procrastinate actually doing my Bio work...oops! I'm so close to being done with this class though. I feel like it's manageable to do online, but I am going to take future science classes on campus. I had been really hoping to get an A, in case I decide to apply for CEP, but I'm past the point of being able to pull of an A, so a B will have to do for this class. Because of the way Rio sets up their classes, I was still finishing a 5 week nutrition course online through MCC, so I think that didn't help me get off to a good start either. Good luck!!

I'm just about done with the class, I have my last exam to take this week. I don't think the material was necessarily that hard, but I did find having to do the labs and fully understand the point of some of them doing them on my own. My grade took a hit really early on because I didn't give myself enough time to do all of the second or third lab and I only got about half the points. I also found the exams to be fairly challenging, but it was better once I started using the MindTap software to help with studying. I work a lot though (a 40 hr/week full-time job, a 15 hr/week part-time job, and doing door dash on the side as often as I can) so finding time to get school stuff done is difficult. It has also been 15 years since I graduated high school and about 12 years since the last time I took a science class.

Which is better, being an EMT and getting healthcare experience or sitting in an office, staring at computer, being taunted by talking to students who are out there doing what I'm itching to do?

I know I mentioned having my masters degree, so I don't know if this was directed towards my comments which I realize is steering this thread away from the OP. I'm already barely getting by with my master's degree because I'm not working in my field. I currently work 3 jobs (1 full-time, 2 part-time) and because of all the debt I've accumulated in earning my previous degrees, it's just not enough. I get that being a CNA doesn't pay well and certainly doesn't pay what a CNA deserves. I come from working in education/social services so I'm very much used to not being paid well. I also know that for my sanity, staying in a slightly better paying job that is completely unfulfilling is not helping me either.

I don’t know if it’s your intent, but you are coming off as rather rude. I’m asking so if I would greatly benefit from being a CNA as opposed to an EMT I can know that before entering into a program for either of those.

I recently took a BLS class and the trainer is an EMT who told me that after getting her EMT she worked as an emergency room tech in the ED at the local children's hospital. I have also seen many postings for positions at my local hospitals that PCT's can be either CNA's or EMT's. It also seems to me that most often CNA's work in nursing homes. Aside from the difference of where one works, what difference in job functions would make one more useful for a career in nursing? What is missing from being exposed to "nursing" as you said?

Thanks, I think I started writing something more about my previous experience and got sidetracked. I definitely understand now that I need to be open to learning about all populations, regardless of my end goal. I guess I just wanted to clarify that I have somewhat been through this before and understand what I did wrong in the past. I have looked at the job postings in my area, most patient care tech or emergency room techs will use an EMT. I feel that the bigger issue is I'd rather not work for low wages at a nursing home when my ultimate goal is working in a hospital and getting my EMT would on paper appear to get me into a position like that and seems to pay better. What I'm really trying to gather is if the experience gained by being a CNA would benefit more than the experience gained as an EMT, given that I'm leaning towards working in an emergency room or more urgent setting and would prefer to work with kids, although I'm fine with working as a general EMT on an ambulance and getting a large variety of cases. I think the last part of your response is really what I need to keep in mind, I think I'm worrying about something that I will get the proper training. I just want to make sure I'm on the right track or at least going about this in a way that I'm taking small steps in the right direction because I wasted so much time already trying to figure out what I want to do with my life.

@e_monpepper I'm in a very similar boat, I have a bachelors and a masters in unrelated fields (social work and applied behavioral analysis respectively) and am now in the process of going back to nursing school. For me, I'm going with an ADN program (unless I come into some money), but I am very strongly leaning towards the EMT route. @Crash_Cart I wonder if you could expand on the EMT not exposing one to nursing, as I think for me I have previously been through 3 semesters of nursing school (over 10 years ago) and had also obtained my CNA certificate although I never actually worked as a CNA and I have spent close to 7 or 8 years working with children with severe cognitive and physical challenges. The only reasoning for why CNA vs EMT that I've heard in the past is the EMT route has less focus on the caring/bedside aspect of nursing, but I feel my previous experience covers that. My weak area is feeling confident about the quick decision making and the more technical side of nursing, which I feel is well covered by being an EMT. Additionally, I have been told by another EMT in the area that the local children's hospital will often hire EMT's as emergency room tech's which is exactly where I want to end up. Also, it seems as if EMT's in my area get paid slightly more than CNA's and while I get money isn't everything, while I wait to be accepted into my program I am trying as hard as I can to pay off a good portion of my debt, so I can work minimally while in nursing school Any other reasons for me to reconsider the CNA route?

I'm on the 2-year wait-list to be accepted into my CC's ADN program. I have about 7-8 years of experience working with kids with special needs and was in a nursing program over 10 years ago, but didn't make it through, partly because I was so focused on only wanting to be a peds or school nurse. I am fairly certain now that I would like to work in the Peds ER. I had originally planned on working my current non-nursing but better paying job until I started the nursing program in about 2 years and then at that point try to work as a CNA or tech in a hospital, but have been really frustrated by not getting any satisfaction out of my current position. I have been strongly considering going to become an EMT, I recently took a BLS class just to increase my chances I might get some kind of position at the local children's hospital and the instructor told me that she was an EMT and got a position fairly easily as an ER tech at the children's hospital. I feel like doing this is on the right track to getting me the knowledge and experience to work quickly on my feet. I'm worried though despite the fact that I feel like I have handled somewhat emergent situations with the boy I am a caretaker for as a side job and the experiences I have had working with other children with special needs, that I am not confident enough to actually work in an ER. Is this a normal thing, being nervous about reality and not just imagining what it would be like to be in an ER? I feel like working as an ER tech will definitely help build confidence to eventually work as an RN in the ER, but how do I get the confidence to be a tech?

I'm also on the 2 year waitlist to go to MCC for the ADN program, for me it works out great because I need to pay off my credit card debt (which 2 years is about how long it will take me to do so unless I win the lotto ?) and even though I have all my prereqs completed I'm using the next two years to retake the science classes because I took those over 10 years ago. But I agree with MiladyMalarkey, the CEP program will get you in much faster and you finish with both your RN and your BSN.

Thanks for the input, Emergency Dept is something I am definitely considering. I would love to work in a PED's ER at our local children's hospital. I pro-actively took a BLS CPR class this weekend, even though I already have a general CPR card and the instructor told me she was an EMT and she was able to easily get hired as an ER tech in the local children's hospital, which is ideally what I would hope to do with my EMT.

I know you didn't specifically state that you are transgender, so I apologize if I'm miss understand. I am a trans man and understand the discomfort of gender dysphoria and feel that some use dysmorphia to mean the same, so I definitely understand. I'm not in nursing school yet, I had been in nursing school about 10 years ago before I realized I am trans, so then I just figured my discomfort with people seeing my body was just typical body image issues. As it was many years ago, I don't remember ever actually having anyone see my chest, but I would suggest talking with an instructor to let them know and perhaps they can help you come up with a solution that will keep you more comfortable but still be able to fully participate. I also would say that your classmates are likely to be just as nervous about assessing you that they aren't paying much attention to your body as you, but more as just the body they are assessing if that makes any sense. I understand though how uncomfortable it is though just to think of people looking at your body. In regards to your BP, does it usually run high? If you go to the doctors would that be what it is or perhaps was it because you were already anxious that it was higher? It looks like you're new on this site so you have to have posted a set number of posts before you can send private messages, but feel free to reach out ?

You could also start out doing a CNA program, the pay will definitely be less, but gets you experience, then whether you do the LPN route or ADN/BSN route you can be working even if it's just part-time so you're not completely without an income. The CNA programs can often be completed in just 4-6 weeks. I'm 33 and making a career change, but I had been in nursing school and gotten my CNA so I'm confident in making the switch, I loved the clinical aspect of nursing school, I just didn't have my head in the game with the studying aspect back then.

I had posted this on a different thread here, so sorry for the repeat, but hoping maybe it might get some replies in this thread. I tried searching, but there weren't any recent threads on this topic. I am currently on a two-year waitlist for my local community college's ADN program and retaking some prereqs from my first experience with nursing school over 10 years ago. While I'm currently employed as an academic support coach for an online college program, I'm not very fulfilled by this. I'm trying to stay in this job for as long as possible because it pays pretty well and I have a fairly large sum of debt that I'm trying to get as much paid off as possible before starting nursing school. With the fact that I'm not happy with my current position (love the students I help, just not all the policies I have to stick to and that I'm not more hands-on helping), I'm considering my original plan of becoming a CNA and doing that sooner than I had originally intended to do right before starting the nursing program so I could work part-time as a CNA while in nursing school. Recently, I thought it would be very interesting to be an EMT and from what I can tell from job postings, they seem to get paid a bit more in my area and have a wider variety of places that I can work. The CNA program would definitely be faster, but as I had gone through CNA training before nursing school the first time around and I've spent a large portion of my adult life caring for adults and children with developmental disabilities, I think I have enough experience in the patient care side of things that I would like some more technical skills and to improve my confidence in acting quickly in medical situations. The downside to an EMT program is it's longer, but I think in the long run it feels more appealing to me. Any advice on which would be more helpful for my future ability to get into working at a hospital?

As someone who has been there, I agree with the advice given above to maybe take some time to just work or explore options at a community college. I was in nursing school back in 2007, to be fair it hadn't been my original goal to go through nursing school, at the time it was something I found interesting because I had been working as a teacher's aide for a student with epilepsy and it was a relatively quick way to finish school because it was already my third try at a major. I went into nursing school with the end game of just getting done and wanting to become a school nurse, so when we learned about subjects that didn't interest me as much, I didn't apply myself. I also went through my first major break-up at the very beginning of nursing school, so I had a lot of cards stacked against me. I made it through the first two semesters getting C's and ended up failing in my 3rd semester by two points. I had previously been a consistent A/B student, so I remember being so terrified and ashamed to tell my mom I had failed. I considered fighting it, but at that point, like you, I felt my heart wasn't into it. I finished up my associates in arts the following semester, taken just general classes, then transferred to a state university to get my bachelor's in social work. Now, more than 10 years later after thinking over and over about how I would really like to work in a hospital and how much I enjoy the medical aspect of caring for others, I'm back to trying to go through nursing school again. So take some time and think about what went wrong now, what made you want to do nursing in the first place, and consider other careers that are related that you can use your skills/experience with to switch to.

I tried searching, but there weren't any recent threads on this topic. I am currently on a two-year waitlist for my local community college's ADN program and retaking some prereqs from my first experience with nursing school over 10 years ago. While I'm currently employed as an academic support coach for an online college program, I'm not very fulfilled by this. I'm trying to stay in this job for as long as possible because it pays pretty well and I have a fairly large sum of debt that I'm trying to get as much paid off as possible before starting nursing school. With the fact that I'm not happy with my current position (love the students I help, just not all the policies I have to stick to and that I'm not more hands-on helping), I'm considering my original plan of becoming a CNA and doing that sooner than I had originally intended to do right before starting the nursing program so I could work part-time as a CNA while in nursing school. Recently, I thought it would be very interesting to be an EMT and from what I can tell from job postings, they seem to get paid a bit more in my area and have a wider variety of places that I can work. The CNA program would definitely be faster, but as I had gone through CNA training before nursing school the first time around and I've spent a large portion of my adult life caring for adults and children with developmental disabilities, I think I have enough experience in the patient care side of things that I would like some more technical skills and to improve my confidence in acting quickly in medical situations. The downside to an EMT program is it's longer, but I think in the long run it feels more appealing to me. Any advice on which would be more helpful for my future ability to get into working at a hospital?

I've been in the process of trying to go back to nursing school. I was in the program at Harper back in 2007, made it through the first 2 semesters, failed in the third and decided to move onto something else. I went on to get my bachelors in Social Work and a Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis, but have found myself wanting to return to nursing. Along the way I moved out to Arizona, I'm currently re-taking prereqs at the community college by me and on the 2-year waitlist to get into their ADN program. I'm fine with the wait because it gives me time to pay off a good portion of the debt I've accrued over the last decade. With the way things are currently headed with the economy and the fact that I'm barely staying above water with what I'm doing now, I'm debating moving back home and living either with my parents in the Northwest suburbs (lake-cook county border) or living with my sister and her boyfriend who live in Chicago. From what I've read on here it looks like I'm better off getting a BSN or maybe even a Masters Entry into Nursing program. Any advice on what programs are in those general areas and what admissions criteria are like? I had a 3.8 in my masters and ended my bachelor's with a 3.9, but a lot of the prereq science classes I took I didn't do as well on (mostly B's) and will be retaking before going back to nursing school. I took the Hesi entrance exam and got a 96 average of the reading, grammar, vocab, and math sections. Thanks in advance for any advice!

I'm taking Bio 156 at Rio Salado, the 16 week course. I think at this point it will be a miracle if I end up with an A. I started out on a bad note because one of the first labs I didn't have enough time to complete so I only got half the points and then I didn't do so hot on the first major exam. I realized I should have been using the supplemental materials that came with the book to study, but didn't for the 1 st test. I feel like I have a better grasp now, but it's frustrating. I was going to try and take Chem 130 on campus (Mesa) in the fall, but I realized it would be overlapping with Bio still, so I decided to hold off. So now I probably won't end up taking Bio 201 until the summer.