naturalcuriosity

Hello everyone! I am an RN from Jacksonville, FL. I graduated in December of 2007 and have been working since February. I have decided to move to New Orleans in the next couple of months. I have an interview with Ochsner and Tulane both on Monday. I am soo excited about moving to a new city. I have always loved New Orleans. I still need to get my license for Louisiana and am sort of confused about that. I don't know whether I should go ahead and apply for my temporary license or try to get my Florida one endorsed. I was told that to get it endorsed I had to have a permanent Louisiana address, which I dont have yet. Anyway, I am doing this all myself, so I probably need some advice on choosing a hospital, housing, starting a new nursing job...and everything. :) Basically, I just need some moral support and need to know that others out there have been through the same things. Sarah

I am 5'11", so I feel your pain! No advice on scrubs, though! Sorry!

I don't agree. Being a doula means knowing about the process of birth and is all about communication with child-bearing women. I don't see how improving your communication skills and knowledge would ever be a hinderance. The nurse managers in OB that I have spoken to see it as an asset. It shows your interest in birth and dedication.

I think that anyone wanting to work in OB should have doula training. I got a job interview in OB and was the top candidate out of 30 others specifically because of my doula training. Good luck!

I am in 3rd term now. I would say that classes are more intense because it is Pediatrics and OB (8 weeks each) where everything is taught very quickly, but not necessarily more difficult. I personally thought Adult Health I was more difficult. As far as schedule, I am in OB first. You have 5 clinical days that are 12 hours. Some sections have 1 a week for 5 weeks. I chose a section that had clinicals every other Thursday and Friday. Which means I have had two weeks where I was in a clinical two days in a row (which is very tiring), but then a week with no clinicals. Class and test are on the same day. So it is at the most 3 days a week. Pediatrics is pretty much the same 12 hour clinical days and class/test on the same day. So that is only 2 days a week. There are projects/journal presentations, but the work outside class is really just studying. I find this semester to be much less stressful than 1st term and Adult Health. (Psych was great) Anyway, if you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Congratulations on your pregnancy. Do you have a doula? :) (I am one.)

Definitely NOT too old to start! I am in nursing school now and there are quite a few people (probably 30% of the people in the program where I am) that are over 40. I am sure many others here can attest to the fact that many nurses are starting older now. If you feel it is really your calling, go for it! :)

Nope. I don't think I fit. I would say my mom with some clinical depression wouldn't be in the same category as alcoholics and abuse. I have heard that about a lot of nurses, though. Especially children of alcoholics/drug addicts. That they have grown accustomed to taking care of their parents and end up doing that as their profession.

Good luck! Ask lots of questions while you can!

Mine was the same semester you were applying for (Fall Term) and they said the same thing. 6-8 weeks from June 1st. I got my letter on July 7th, so it was really 5 weeks! Keep holding on! I know it is excruciating! :)

I disagree about the study thing. I bought the ARCO book also and I felt it really helped me. It will also get you prepared for the types of questions that you will be asked in nursing school and help you think critically. The timed part of the NAT was really tough for me. I got 98th & 99th percentile on all the sections except the math (which I got 94), but you really had to think fast with the types of questions it asked. (Particularly the nonverbal.)

Congratulations on your graduation!! I will be there myself in December. Woohoo! Good luck with being a non-smoker. I am sure it will be hard, but you can do it!

A friends daughter (5 years old) took a couple beads off of a decorated pillow and stuck them up her nose. She got one of them out. The other was stuck so high it was whistiling when she would breathe! She went to the doctor for that one and he covered one nostril and told her to blow and it went acrossed the room. When we were kids my sister stuck a pen cap up her nose once and several peas another time. Eww.

I am an INFJ. Very intuitive. I think this will be a good thing for a nurse to have lots of. (I am a nursing student, now)

As a birth doula, I have seen these types of couples as well. The people with the "plan" (The ones who usually have the day care picked out already as well...) are usually the type that basically think they can buy their way out of labor. I don't know if that makes sense, but they have the attitude that if they get everything ahead of time labor will be easy. Several times I have turned down clients like this and told them that I do not think that I can meet their expectations. However, not all people who hire a doula or have a detailed birth plan are like this. But, you are right there are some and it can be hard to work with them because of their high expectations. They leave no room for any deviation from the "plan".