midcom

I spoke about nurses being knowledgeable, skilled, compassionate, patient, and advocates. I gave examples of nurses I knew in my life who had these attributes, the LPNs who cared for my Mom during the last days of her life in LTC, the super nurses w...

Patrick, As someone who also was in IT for several years prior to nursing, if you did well in IT, you have nothing to worry about, as far as this test goes. Good luck! Dixie

I suspect each school is different. I had to take the NET on my first day of orientation. Theyused the results, not as an entrance qualification, but to show the teachers just which students may need extra help. In my opinion, the NET is a very easy ...

$22,000 seems like a lot of money but it is probably a private school, not a state school & that makes all the difference as far as costs go. I paid $18,000 for an 11 month LPN program. I looked at it this way. That school had no waiting list so...

I work in a clinic & theres lots of skills I learned in school that I'll never use there. However, I'm not worrried as I don't expect to ever work in acute care or LTC ever again. I do a lot of assessments, vaccinations (didn't learn the names &...

Hon, you really need to learn to do your own homework. I looked and almost every one of your posts are homework questions. You even admitted it when other questioned you after you asked about a fairly simple calculation question. Remember this one? ...

You may be trained to work as a tech or an aid on the job but I really doubt if you can get a nursing license that way. There's much more to nursing than just the hands on part. You need to know the theory of it, the "why" part. Dixie

I wouldn't spend much money on it. I've found that some people are just not as honest as I am & things tend to just disappear, probaby to be used by someone's child at school. A plastic bag works fine for me. I don't have to worry about hauling i...

Way back in the 1960's, I took just one year of Latin because I planned to go to nursing school right out of HS. Unfortunately, life threw me a few curve balls & I didn't go until a couple years ago. However, I have never regretted taking Latin, ...

Where I work, high school kids & older individuals (I was 56!) can shadow. When you shadow, basically, all you do is watch & ask questions. You don't work. Some places make you jump through lots of hoops to be able to shadow. At one of the p...

I was privileged to be asked to speak at my pinning. It was a real honor as the faculty decides who they ask. I was also asked to be one of the 2 student speakers at graduation for our college. Cool! I got to sit on stage with the faculty. I'm sure t...

You do know that working in a clinic is probably the lowest paying job for nurses, don't you? Eleven sounds low but they can offer that knowing that there are nurses who are willing to trade pay for the hours & the less stressful work. I live in ...

I just had my second one & frankly, after watching my Mom die of colon cancer, I'd do it yearly, happily, if I knew it would save me from that kind of death. Puking feces is not fun! Drinking that much laxative is unbelievable. I had to drink 2 d...

When I had my drug screen, I don't recall being asked what drugs I was taking. I wasn't doing chemo yet but I think they only look for narcotics & the illegal drugs. I know that if I had been taking a pain med that did show up, all I'd have had t...

Soon after graduating, I learned I had breast cancer. I still wanted to work but knew with chemo & such, fulltime would not work for me. I took a job that I love as a float nurse at a clinic working with around 20 providers. I work 2 days a week ...

At the school I attended, if you already were a CNA, they gave you the skills test & if you passed it, you didn't have to take one of the first term classes. It was nice for the ones who passed as it lowered their tuition expenses considerably an...

Here's another good one. http://www.flashcardexchange.com/ It's also free to use but if you pay the membership fee, you can even print out your cards & others. I used it lots in school. Dixie

I'm up in the Cedar Falls area. The downtown survived the flood but only because thousands of people came out to sandbag. Lots of homes flooded though. The films & photos of the CR & Iowa City areas are heartbreaking. Our area hospitals rece...

I can only say that the students in my class who were working as CNAs had a much easier time in clinicals doing the routine stuff and seemed to be more organized. Those of us who never worked as a CNA struggled, at least I sure did. I still, for the...

It sounds like your previous experience will be very helpful during your training. You already know how to do so much. A couple words of warning though. Since you have been doing these things for quite awhile, you've probably adapted how to do them e...

I can't tell you what to do; only you know what's best for you. As far as the skills go, understand that most of us have trouble learning them & that no matter where you start working, you won't be expected to know everything. You'll do most of y...

OK, I wasn't going to be the one who admitted it but if you look back to my first post, I mentioned that my state had the lowest paid nurses in the nation. I am a new LPN & I started last January at $11.89 an hour. I don't like that pay but stil...

I believe that the BON sends you the ATT & that is the confirmation number you need when you schedule your test. The BON sent it to me by e-mail & I was immediately able to go on Pearson's website & submit the number. That allowed me to...

Not sure if all states handle it the same way but I suspect they do. Pearson Vue has to receive a confirmation number that is supplied by your state BON. That number proves that you have completed your nursing program successfully. The only way they ...

As mentioned before, pay rates depend on the part of the country you live in. Yes, there are parts of the country where clinic nurses only get $12 unfortunately. There is a lot of competition for them so the employer has the upper hand. You have to ...