4yrstogo

Glad to see a post like this one. What about working mom's though? I work Monday-Thursday and I'm going to start pre-reqs in the fall. My girls, age 3 and 4, are in preschool, but only while I'm working. So when I have a day off, they are home. I dont know how I will manage working 36 hours a week, school, kids, house, and other responsibilities. I'm considering putting off school for a year, which makes me sad, but I dont know if my family is ready. My family lives out of the area so my husband and I are pretty much on our own as far as help with the kids and we live in a two bedroom apartment, not much room to "get away" from everyone to study. Fortunately, the college I am going to is literally only two minutes away from my house so I can study there, but I know I will be giving up precious time with my kids and husband. I was wondering though... does anyone know if it's possible to get grants to do online classes? And... if you go to school only one class a semester, is that enough to qualify for the California BOG grant that waives the tuition? I know I can ask someone at the college, by my appt with them isn't for another couple of weeks. -lisa :)

This sure made me chuckle... as some say that it's only common sense to change before coming home, while at the same time, forgetting the above mentioned sitations. For those who come home from work and get undressed in the bathroom, in their garage, on the porch, or perhaps in the neighbor's back yard, as if they were going to infect and kill thousands of people, I wonder...when you're driving home do you drive home with the seats covered in plastic and once getting home do you rub all surfaces down with disinfectant? I tend to doubt it. Isn't that kind of an oxy moron? So then why the huge issue about going inside the house or say stopping to check the messages before changing. It just seems a little overkill to me. I feel sorry for the poor sucker RN who stops at the closest drive thru to get an iced tea before going home and risks infecting the entire restaurant, city, and world by handing over infected cash. But please, don't jump all over me because I'm just a nobody. I just had to add my two cents. -lisa :)

As someone starting pre-reqs next in the fall to join the nursing program in a couple of years, all I can say to this is, yikes! This is one of the posts that scares me. For all the dozen that you see that say it's the best profession they chose,... you see another dozen that hated it. But... Congrats to you for making the life change you found necessary. Other's would not have been so brave. I hope you find what comforts you like you comforted many others. :) - lisa

I realize that it has been a while since this post has been visited, but I thought I would offer my experience... I too am a Jehovah's Witness and my first daughter was born at 27 wks gestation and weight 1lb 9oz. I didn't go into preterm labor but, by chance, had a routine ultrasound that found that the fluid in my amniotic sac was low and during following tests they found that Kaylee's heart rate dropped substantially and was irratic and so they performed an emergency CS. My husband and I not only had to deal with her prematurity and adjusting to the situation but had to confront our beliefs of not accepting blood under any circumstances. The first hospital she was born at said they would transfuse at about 40 hematocrit level. She was tranferred to Sunset Kaiser in LA and they said they would let it drop to 30 before tranfusion was forced. We maintained hourly contact with her doctors and nurses and hand in hand with our liason committee kept track of her status. We did what we could to find alternative procedures and was even able to organize meetings between her doctors and other MD's who had dealt with the situation before. We assured the doctors that alternative treatments were acceptable to us and they proceeded with EPO, iron, and other blood boosters. We were able to get them to agree to minimize blood draws and focus on her status rather than just the numbers. She was then transferred to a bloodless unit in Encino/Tarzana Regional Medical Center where they assured us they would do what they could but if all else failed the only alternative was transfusion. We held firm to our stand, but realized the doctor's did not have a choice, for their own ethical reasons, and had her best interests at heart. She underwent a surgery to fix the PDA that medicine could not. It was during this surgery that we feared the worst. They came out and we breathed a sigh of relief when they said she made it through okay and again when they said they were able to do the surgury without blood loss. Her hematocrit dropped to 11 in that hospital... and then it started rising on it's own. The EPO and alternatives began working, along with her own body. She suffered no brain bleeds, no brain damage, no CP, no ROP... the only signs she has of being a preemie is the scar from her surgery and asthma. All without blood. We understand that we were very fortunate and that other families, JW or not, have had to face other circumstances. We encountered doctors that were kind... as well as those who chastized us for our beliefs. We endured threats of medical custody being taken away from us. But we will always be grateful to the doctors, nurses, administrative staff and others who were so willing to help us through the hard times. We have kept in touch with the hospital Kaylee was born at. Since that time, they were able to write new procedures for dealing with preemies of JW parents and even held a staff conference to educate them on what to do in the event they were faced with the situation again. We can be happy that our stand will help other families in this same situation in the future. I hope this helps... -Lisa :)

I'm not an RN yet, but I thought I would add something. I do work for an adoption agency and one thing that happens often in our area is that nurses and hospital staff have no idea what to do in the case of a birthmother asking for information on placing the baby for adoption. Many women have no plans for adoption until they go into labor. The problem in our area is that nurses take it upon themselves to find a friend or family member that "has been wanting to adopt". This is unethical and it shouldn't happen. My agency wrote a booklet to educate the hospitals on protocal and state regulations in the event a mother would like to initiate adoption plans. I just figured it would be good to mention this as something that nurses can educate themselves on as it would not only include helping the mother find resources, but also dealing with adoptive parents and rooming-in, etc. -lisa :)

Umm, you have to take a placement test for Math and English. I'm going to go to College of the Redwoods in Eureka, CA. I downloaded their information for their Nursing Program and it only has listed: "English 150, Math 106, Biology 2, 6, 7, and Chemistry 2" as pre-requisites. I'm new to the whole college thing.

Nathan, you remind me of myself. I too struggle with second-guessing myself. Will I be good enough? Can I really handle what it takes? Will I be nice to people when I'm having a bad day? Will I pass all my classes? Will I pass and still not know what the heck I'm doing? Or, what if I dont pass??!? I've been tossing these questions around and I still haven't found answers. The only advice anyone has given me so far is to just stop worrying, don't sell yourself short, and you'll never get anywhere until you try. I've decided that I'm tired of living... or rather, not living, because I'm always scared of failure. We all have to eventually take that leap of faith and see where it takes us. Just imagine, in another few years, we'll probably be here saying, "I Did It!!!" Best wishes, -lisa :)

Just curious.... I see people talking about General Ed classes. I've never done any college and I am trying to go for my pre-reqs to ADN in the Fall of this year. Do I have to complete General Ed classes as well?

1 dermatology 47 2 emergency med 43 3 radiology 43 4 pediatrics 42 5 gastroenterology 42 6 general internal med 41 7 colon & rectal surgery 41 8 pathology 41 9 ophthalmology 41 10 anesthesiology 40