Nurseintraining77

Hi, I started Alverno Spring 2007, but had to take some time off due to illness. From my experience the teachers were much more helpful than I expected. I fell extremely ill half way into the semester and my teachers gave me more than enough time to catch up with classwork I had missed. Not to mention before my illness there was always extra help available and teachers were willing to help you if you were not understanding something. The atmosphere at Alverno was much more friendly and supportive than any other school I have attended. I am looking forward to returning once my health has improved. About the grading...As you know Alverno doesn't give grades but feedback on whether or not you've met certain "abilities". It seems very unusual when you first start, but on the whole I feel it gives a more adaquate description of how capable you are in different courses. They really don't like to convert this to grades, but will for the purpose of applying for scholarships where a GPA is needed. However once you're used to the feedback, you'll be much happier with that than just a number.

Hi, I agree with the previous poster. Get into the program that will allow you to get started quickly. I chose Alverno and will be starting next month. Of all the programs I looked at, Alverno was one of the few that didn't have a waitlist and since I have a BA in another field I was able to transfer some of my credits. Good luck and let us know which school you'll be going to!! Naima

Keli By now I'm sure you've already had the interview, and I really hope you did well. I hate interviews even if I'm well prepared. FYI Monster has a really good interview prep section that I've used on many occasions. Job Interview Advice - Interview Tips, Questions, & Etiquette from Monster.com Hopefully it will help others who may be passing through this section. Naima

I think this is exactly the point. Besides the OP only asked about where should could find a decent book to help her help her patients. I've only been on this forum a few short months, but I find a lot of people to be very negative and self-righteous. I find it hard to believe that patients don't catch on to this no matter how hard someone tries to fake it And to Maralenn, I find it interesting that you obviously took offense to my post as it was never my intent to point at anyone in particular. I simply was making a general statement based on the tone of the thread which was veering from the OP's original question. You are most certainly entitled to your opinion just as I am entitled to mine.

I'm not going to debate whether or not they should be here and learn the language or not. However the fact of the matter is many don't/can't speak the language for whatever reason. Learning a second language isn't that easy for many people no matter how hard they try....trust me, I've been studying my husband's native language for about 5 years now with very little success, lol. Now my daughter can pick up things in a heartbeat, but for me it takes forever just to learn to ask for a cup of coffee :smilecoffeecup: The way I see it is you have two options here. Either avoid areas with large Spanish speaking populations, or have fun learning another language in order to help your patients. Besides you may find you learn a little something new about yourself in the process. Not to mention the fact that aquiring a language skilll may prove useful to you and open up additional doors in your career. Naima

My alma mater offers a 7 week Spanish for healthcare workers course in their continuing education program. Perhaps a local public university or community college in your area does the same? For what it's worth the program here uses this book: "Medical Spanish: A Conversational Approach." and it has a corresponding audio CD. ISBN: 0030311063. My city has a large Spanish speaking population as well and I plan to also take a course if I can fit it into my schedule :) Hope that helps!!

I appreciate all the honest comments by nurses here. I previously worked as a HIV Case Manager in an HIV Clinic and have seen my share of seriously ill mothers to be. It's actually one of the reasons I have been interested in L&D although I haven't even started my first year of school yet, lol. I will definitely heed the advice of nurses here of taking the opportunity to do an externship if possible to get experience and determine if L&D is really the speciality for me. I am very greatful that I've found this forum! Naima

This is a really great post and is seriously giving me something to think about as I start my first semester of nursing school come Janurary. I am switching careers and have about $16,000 worth of debt from my first BA. That doesn't sound too bad, but considering my salary wasn't much and I was a struggling single mom at the start I barely had enough to make ends meet much less pay off my loans. It would've been less since I was attending state university, but the last 2 years I took out a bit extra to help with living expenses during my divorce. Now that I'm starting school again at an expensive private college (~$16,000/yr) I worry much more about money and how I'll pay for it after leaving school. I've made it a point to apply for scholarships, and have so far only been awarded one for $3,100. I'm married now and while my husband doesn't make a ton he makes enough to cover our living expenses so I won't have to take out any more than I need to cover tution. I plan to pay for books and any other essentials out of the part-time job I have. I encourage those who already have some debt to pay whatever you can towards it while you're in school. I made the mistake of not doing this last time around, and really regret it. I plan to take advantage of every opportunity I can to keep my debt as low as possible because you never know what will happen down the line. Naima

I've only read the first page, but I'm really interested in what everyone here has to say. I've got a sorta long story so bear with me. When I first went to college about 11 years ago (gosh I'm getting old) I was pre-med and wanted to be an Ob-Gyn. But life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. In that time I became a wife and a mom, then a single mom. So I took the quick road and graduated with my BA in psychology and decided not to go any further at that time and risk missing more time with my daughter. I got married again and was planning to move to the middle east. Again life got in the way and hubby and I settled here in my hometown instead. I continued to feel dissatisified with my current career and somehow knew I needed to get back into the health care field. I decided to focus on nursing as opposed to becoming a doctor because I really valued the talks I've had with the NP and some of the midwives I've been fortunate to work with in my current job. Not to mention of course the money will be a definite plus and it's a job that is demand in the gulf region where my hubby and I plan to eventually settle. So that's me in a nutshell..... Naima

Hi!! I haven't yet started Nursing school (going to alverno Jan 2007), but try checking out http://www.discovernursing.com If you do a search in their scholarship section you will see jobs willing to provide financial assistance if you commit to a desiginated number of years service to their hospital. Although I'm not sure if there are any Wisconsin hospitals listed there it's worth a try. There was another website but through the federal gov't that would forgive your loans if you agreed to work in areas with nursing shortages and many urban clinics in Milwaukee as well as rural parts of Wisconsin were listed. I'll try to look up the other link and post it later. **EDITED TO ADD ADDITIONAL LINKS** I found the links I was looking for. However they are geared towards those pursuing advanced practice nursing (NP or Nurse Midwife) http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov/join_us/students.asp http://nhsc.bhpr.hrsa.gov/join_us/lrp.asp I've been checking out scholarships to help me get started because I already owe a sizeable amount in loans due to my previous degree. Naima

Hi, I just joined today and this thread caught my attention. I'm a 28 yr mom and wife. I originally graduated with a BA in Psychology and have been doing social service work for nearly 10 years (started in the field part-time straight outta higschool). I'll be starting the BSN program at a local college this spring semester. I currently work as a housing specialist for people with HIV/AIDS. I've always wanted to be in the medical field but settled for psych when I got pregnant. Now that my daughter's older I'm ready to start a new career path. I have an 18 yr old cousin who's also starting nursing school this spring so it'll be nice to talk to someone in the family about all the work I have :) We both want to go on to the master's program and eventually become NPs.