jmckeith

Hey Jamie, I read all the previous post and a lot of good wisdom was shared. I graduated last May, and found all the nearby Hospitals now wanted a year's experience. I did my precepting in an Oncology unit in a big nearby Hospital and just knew I would get a job there because many of the staff were pulling for me to get the next open position. Anyway, an experienced nurse wanting to make a move took the position I was hoping to get. I pulled myself together and pursued the reason I went into nursing in the first place; and that was as a Hospice case manager. The reason the hospital thing appealed to me was the benefits and number of days off you supposedly got. Long story short, I got the case manager job I was meant to have. I don't have the benefits the big hospital offer or the days off they get but, I do get to work with each patient one-at-a-time, I travel and get paid for mileage, and for the most part, I'm my own boss. It's not all hunky dory because things can turn hairy real fast if you have a lot of patients turn south on you around the same time. In cases like that, I get good team support and company support; I'm not by myself. This is the part that I hope encourages you to pursue what your heart tells you. I graduated at the age of 54, I'm a male, and I used to be a supervisor for UPS. What I'm telling you is, I had a great job, good benefits, but BROWN just wasn't doing it for me. Hope this helps, Cheers

You say it in a nutshell. Problem is, RN's, people in general, are scared of change. I don't know what it will take to wake this country up and get fed up with the status quo. As a single payer nation, all the incentives for profit leechs is gone and dollars really go to health care. If there are problems with this sytem after activated, then lets by God fix them! At least let us try to do something different, bold, and about dang time! All of us need to take control of our own and our childrens destiny and DO something. As for unions for nursing, why not? Charters can also be changed and union leaders voted out. Again, try something, don't be scared to make a change. Doing nothing means your hiding, hoping it get better without you.

well said chihmom8. you hit the nail on the head with this quote “well, i do know why, they have a huge lobby in dc and contribute a lot of money to our politicians' campaigns”. this is perhaps the biggest problem we have in getting effective legislation passed by our government. it was reported on a pass lou dobbs show (cnn), that the drug industry has two (2) lobbyist, per company, for every member of congress. that is scary.

As for motivation, this should dispel any doubts.

Hey Suzy, I'm right there with ya. I am 51 and start nursing clinicals this fall. As long as you have all your marbles, I don't see an issue with age. My goal is to work in Hospice and help in any way that I can before I leave this rock. Cheers

I finished A&P I last semester and I too have been away from the class room for a long time. What I did was to make lots of flash cards on muscles, bones, etc. Another thing that helped me was, I used a program I beleive comes with all window opersting systems. It's called the sound recorder and can be found by clicking start, all programs, accessories, entertainment, sound recorder. Once you go through this process you can save a link to your desktop. Anyway, to make a long story short, I made sound files and saved them in my documents. I made a file in my documents called "A&P I". I would make sound study notes for each test unit, ie chapter, save them in my file, and when ready, burn these to a CD. I have a long comute to work; 40 minutes or so and I would listen to the cd's. It was like having free study time to me. PS, Got a 98 for the semester. PSS, I dropped out in the 9th grade. (late bloomer thang I guess)

Wow, has anyone noticed how many post has been placed by all the respondants to this post? On average, they are fairly low numbers which has me wondering, are we mostly newbies concerned with this post? My wife, a nurse of 30 years, has done and seen alot in nursing. She is a Hospice case load manager now and she loves the autonomy. My point being, there are good jobs out there.

I'm 51 so you don't have to worry about age being a factor. I work and just finished A&P I. Basically, I found for myself and most of the students who attended with me is, you get out what you put in. This isn't a course where you study when you feel like it. For me I found you need to stay on top of your studying and try not to get behind. Hope this helps. Cheers

I agree, it was kinda funny though because most of the younger students are the ones that struggled. I just don't think the commitment was there with some.

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I have the study guide and believe me, I'm studying. How does the time allowed for each segment breakdown?

Studying for the TEAS test due by JAN. 20th. Do you need to know conversions on the math part or are they supplied? Also, are there alot of spelling questions? My spelling sucs...er, sucks. hehehe:lol2:

WoW, good questions. I need the answers also since I have A&P II and CNA next semester. T

Ditto, Same thing happened in the A&P I class I just finished. Makes me wonder how many will be present for A&P II.

Just study, you'll do fine in A&P. So, how was the TEAS test? I have to take it by Jan 20th. Does anyone else have any advice on the TEAS?

I think you misunderstood me. As you said gossip may be human nature, I'm not sure. I do not point the finger at all management. I have seen some work environments with very good management. What I am referring to is management that listens to and encourages the poison of gossip to proliferate.

Bottom line it comes down to work environment. If management is allowing gossip to permeate then it will flourish regardless of gender. It would be great if all reasonable people could avoid "poisoned" work environments. This way, the employer is forced into changing their management style or, be stuck with a bunch of misfit employees.

First, I do not claim to know it all or have all the answers. I have read every post on this topic and have formulated an opinion. Being a supervisor in a huge Fortune 200 company, I have learned a golden rule; do not listen to gossipers; they only fuel discontent. Try not to say anything behind someone's back that you could not or would not say to their face. IMHO, all the energy going into backstabbing would be better served to lifting the profession of nursing, including better pay and benefits. All of us who have read this post are acutely aware of the problems. We can go from here and continue to contribute to the problem or use that energy and contribute to the profession. By the way, I'm a male for what it's worth.:uhoh21: Be careful of the feet you step on today for they may be attached to the buttocks you kiss tomorrow.

I agree with stpauligirl. Hey, I started bck to school at 50. I'm 51 now and work at UPS. Right now it's peak (puke) season at UPS at things are totally crazy. Tommorrow (Thur), I will take my lecture exam in A&P 1. I will do ok because I prepared. I guess the point I'm trying to make is, not to look at this thing in the big picture but to break it down into steps and take one step at a time. I'm registured for A&P II and CNA for the Spring semester. I wish the best for you. Cheers

Yeah, I have to take the TEAS test before Jan 20th. Interesting acronym isn't it? Grammer is my weak spot so I did order the study manual. As soon as finals in A&P are over this week, I'll sink myself into the manual.

Thanks Jax, I'll just take my thermos and study notes with me while I wait.

A&P lab finals Tues., Lecture Thurs. Also CNA registration Tues. After A&P II and CNA training, it's down to the nitty gritty.

Ditto, thats what I do a little at a time. I have A&P finals Tues and Thur. Tuesday morning is registration for CNA. They will have 6 lines accepting 20 people per line for different class schedules. To be able to take A&P II, I have to be in a certain line. Registration starts at 8 am and I have heard that some students will be camping out in their cars. How crazy is that?