ats

Marie, I went through this countless times in nursing school as well, and it fried my butt no end. The last group project we were assigned was different though -- the instructor included a form to be turned in by every member of the group, rating the participants on a 0-4 scale for essential parts of the presentation (i.e., research, organization, preparing presentation materials, etc.). It removed the onus of carrying those few people who just couldn't be bothered, and everyone's grades were adjusted according to their work. (One girl even told me that she was "way busy" and had no time to participate; she showed up for the presentation, grabbed part of the prepared notes, and had the guts to get up and present. She got a big ZERO from the other three members for all of her trouble.) Maybe you could suggest such a form to your instructor? Edited to add: By the way, welcome to HOG!!

Hi, Grace. I'll be starting an OR internship in the middle of July, it will be a 9-month program. I'm totally looking forward to it! :)

I took the NCLEX on Wednesday, May 25th. Didn't even bother with Pearson, because the MN BON had posted that I passed when I happened to blip by their website at 7:30 am THE VERY NEXT DAY. I just endorsed my license to TX for a job that starts next month. Despite all the (many) horror stories about the TX BNE, they assigned my temp RN license the day after they received it (via FedEx, wasn't gonna chance having it lost in the mail). Good luck to you, hope you get your results quickly! :)

I'm sure it may vary from state to state, but I FedEx'd my paperwork to TX last Wednesday, they received it Thursday, and on Friday they had assigned my temporary TX RN license (which I checked out on their website this morning). I'm slated to move down there at the end of the month and start an OR internship in mid-July, so that's one headache out of the way, at least. Not bad, after all the horror stories out there about the TX BNE... I sure have no complaints, though! :) Hope things go as smoothly for you too.

I'm not a male, so sorry if this response is inappropriate on this forum, but I love finding information on the other perspective and really appreciate your posts and insights, Thunderwolf. Just as reason and critical thinking are not solely male traits, caring and nurturing don't exist only in the world of women. The struggle for everyone, women included, is recognizing that it's not the one or the other that makes us unique, but the blend. You men don't bring something brand spanking new to the mix -- but your presence gives us an opportunity to integrate everything we already are in new and valuable ways and bring that to our practice. How do you react to different situations that have some of us stumped? How do you communicate and make yourself heard? How do you relate to patients and co-workers? It's called modeling, and I'm thankful for every person, man or woman, who has shown me a new way of thinking and acting. Two of the people who were instrumental in my choice of a nursing career were, not surprisingly, nurses. One had advanced degrees in theology and microbiology and would admit to being more of a "thinker" than a "feeler," yet was dedicated to serving a very marginalized population. The other was an ICU nurse who cared for me several years back when I landed in the hospital after travelling far to attend my dear mother's funeral. When I wanted to leave AMA rather than miss a chance to say my farewell (I could barely move at this point), the nurse looked me in the eye and calmly said there'd be *two* funerals if I didn't stop to think -- and then sat with me for a bit and really helped me make sense of everything that was happening and what was truly important. These two nurses were men, and they are and will always be two of the best role models I could want. And now I shall tip-toe on out of the room... :) Take care Char