Wanderlust, RN

I would be so touched to receive this gift. I am an elementary school nurse and rarely receive a "thank you" much less an appreciation gift. It sounds like this nurse is making a difference in your son's life, and this would be a very kind, thoughtful way for you to show her that you appreciate it. :-)

Two sisters at 0730: Sister #1- "My nose is bleeding." No active bleeding; no blood in nasal passage. Me- "I think you will be fine. If it starts back, [insert nose bleed stoppage directions here] and come see me." Naturally, she will skip the directions and just come to my office with blood pouring... Sister #2- "I have pink eye!!!" No redness, swelling, or discharge noted. Me- "What makes you think you have pink eye? Sister #2- "My teacher said so..."

I am having a huge problem with this as well, particularly at one of my schools. From what I understand (as I am not there every day and do not attend staff meetings there since this is not my home school) the principals have instructed the teachers to send kids to my office when I am there no matter how minor the complaint as liability coverage. When I am not there I hear that the kids are allowed to come to the office and their parents are told, "I am sorry, we do not have a nurse today, you have to come pick up." So basically, I am being used as the "pass the buck" person at this school. I am perturbed about it. After all, I spend a reasonable amount of time educating the teachers and admin about emergency situations and legit reasons to see the nurse. It's like all common sense has completely gone out the window. For example: I overheard a teacher talking with a secretary about how she thought a child in her class who had "vomited" was faking. Then she said, "Oh she's fine, but that's not my call. That's the nurse's job."

HEADLICE, Teacher MD's, and rude parents... just to name a few!! But I would also use it to poof IN new phone numbers for the parent numbers that have been disconnected since the beginning of the year!!

In my district school nurses are like toilet paper... We catch all the crap and nobody appreciates us unless they are in a real bind!! I do feel rather left out and unappreciated during Christmas as the secretaries' (3) desks literally overflow with cards and gifts. It is also a bit awkward since my office is right in their space. Ahh... How I'm enjoying the break!

I have heard new salary amounts varying from $18.00-24.00 in and around NO. If you plan to become a school nurse, you would need to determine which type of degree you are interested in, Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), Associate Degree Registered Nurse (RN-ADN), or Bacellaureate Degree (RN-BSN). The largest difference between these educational levels is between the LPN & RN-BSN. The BSN is a four year degree whereas the LPN is more like a year (don't quote me on that), depending on your current educational level and the school. The payscale will increase with education. The ADN is a two year program in most cases. I'm sure you can find lots of threads on BSN vs ADN. Really, it depends on what you want to do in the future, IMHO. I graduated from a smaller school (BSN), and loved the family-type atmosphere that it provided. Most of the teachers really had our best interest at heart and went above and beyond in facilitating our education. Passed boards with flying colors too, like most of my other classmates. Good luck.Hope this helps some. :)

Are you a new grad or an experienced RN? With today's saturated market of new grads, I thought it best to make myself as marketable as possible. I included a cover letter, resume, copies of diplomas, certificates, documentation of experience, and letters of recommendation. I created a unique, professional-looking header to match my folder in MS Word for the cover letter/resume, and I printed all of my documents on matching "fine parchment paper," which I got from Wal-mart (just to make it look a little more professional). I bound the whole thing in a presentation folder. The interview was today, and the effect was great.

Thanks linnywho. Its always good to know that there are hospitals out there still willing to hire new grads. I will definately check that out.

And just think... a few years ago, hospitals were paying off student loans, sending RN's back to school, etc to get us to come work for them... We totally got the shaft. "Nursing shortage" my foot! I have had such a hard time getting an interview, I don't know if it would be better to swallow my pride & accept a degrading job like the "progege RN" job or just keep looking (possibly elsewhere). I sure hate to accept $10-12/hr. That would actually cost me after I paid my sitter & bought gas. On the other hand, I can't sit in the house forever, letting my knowledge go down the tubes...

Thanks Metry. I've seen a couple of these listed & wondered if they were similiar to nurse extern positions or more geared toward graduate nurses. You've helped answer my questions. :-)

I feel your pain, Jobless. I graduated in Dec & passed the NCLEX Friday, but I have gotten 2 callbacks from the MANY applications & resumes I have sent out... Maybe you will have better luck than me. Do you know anything about "Protege RN" positions?

nursing school can be challenging during the best of circumstances, but i have found that the best students are those who are older with children (myself included). the added responsibility gives us an edge that the younger, easily destracted students can't compete with. when something is meant to be, you would be amazed at the odds that can be overcome. i graduate in december with my bsn, and i have made it through ns with perfect attendance so far with a 7 & 9 y/o ( they were 3 & 5 when i started). when i started i had just moved to a new town (small southern town), didn't know anybody, had no family or friends here to help out, and my husband works a schedule that requires him to be away three weeks out of the month. i have one babysitter that i was blessed by the grace of god to meet. without her, i literally would not be graduating this december. you need to find a babysitter like mine. i started talking to everyone that i met about my need for a sitter. chances are, if there is someone like you who needs a sitter, there is a sitter out there somewhere that needs you. my bsn department head told me to "start networking," and that's what i did. as a nurse, you will often have to deal with adversity, & "roll with the punches." use this situation as a learning experience to find strenght within yourself that you didn't know existed. best of luck to you! you can do it!

First of all, I am 28 & I do not think that I am old. I will finish my BSN in Dec 09 & I can tell you that, based on my experience, I would use every little second to absorb every bit of knowledge & experience they will throw your way. I feel that (even in a four yr program) the course information is presented so rapidly that after learning it, I have to WORK to retain it. Being a nurse is about more than getting in & getting out of school, it's about patients' lives. And having a degree is absolutely WORTHLESS if you fail your NCLEX. When you start combining a body system with diagnostics, patho, labs, meds, ets..... you need a whole lotta knowledge that will stick. Don't rush it! You may be one of those folks that absorb info like a sponge & learn completely different than me; every person is different. I just want you to realize what kind of commitment you are signing up for. That's just my opinion, take it for what its worth. Good luck to you!

Yes, I agree. They do have a very solid program. Their instructors are excellent (knowledgable, friendly, approachable; yet still drive students to do better). There have been very few complaints about the actual program that I could possibly make. My post was not a complaint about Nicholls BSN program!!! My complaints above were directed at the lack of information available to pre- Nursing majors. It was very frustrating to have spent a large amount of time & money planning for one situation, when I could have been planning for another. But as one poster kindly pointed out, I need to learn to "roll with the punches," which I am working on. I must be doing OK since I have gotten through the toughest part... And as another poster noted: this problem for some students of my demographic (non-trad, parent) is NOT limited to Nicholls program alone (I simply posted it here due to the fact that this is a regional board & Nicholls is a LA school). I would have love to hear more actual tips from Moms/ Dads (that could help other parents) as to how they managed to get through nursing school with kids. This post was meant to inform, not start an anti- Nicholls campaign. I guess I failed in that regard... I must be the only person to ever experience this type of problem. I had a heckuva time getting it together pre-Clinicals & would have really appreciated this info before I ever started working on my five semesters of pre/ co- reqs! I feel that any student listed as a "pre-nursing major" should be fully informed of this information by their counselor & NSU is not doing that... That's all I'm sayin. Just wanted to clear that up... for anyone interested...

I think that a significant problem is the nature of nursing programs in general combined with certain types of students, that make up a huge population of people who are interested in being a nurse. Many students interested in nursing are second career, older students who have families. In my personal experience, it has been really hard to work out the logistics in order to make it happen. Finding childcare at 5:30am is really hard for those who don't have family/spouse to help out, plus the limited absences (2) is unrealistic for mothers with children IMHO. I have tried to voice my opinion/ concerns to a few people (including a very passionate thread on this board), & have been met with the general attitude that "I did it with 5 kids two of which were still crawling, no spouse, & made straight A's the whole time; so shut the heck up & either accept it or get out" (this is an exageration people, but not by much). I have also found that either schools do not realize that information about potentialy problematic issues/policies for mothers is important for us to know beforehand, or they simply do not care. I believe that schools have tried to combat the shortage by getting more students out in a shorter amount of time; however, they have not considered the idea that making it more accessible to non-traditional students would allow many more people to even apply. Being a mother is not the only hardship for non-trads, it is my problem, so that is why I use my situation as a example. Being a student doesn't pay well, so many non-trads also must have a full-time job to pay the bills, since many of our parents are just beginning to enjoy life without children to feed. Job hrs are also very hard to negotiate, so when forced to choose between school hrs & job hrs, many have to choose their job in order to survive. These are just my observations, I do not intend to offend anyone. I do believe it is a significant problem that could easily be fixed. I also think that many programs spend too much time enhancing their "military like" technique in order to "weed out" weak students, rather than being an encouraging examples of the profession. How can one learn to be compassionate or empathetic while not being shown any? Just my thoughts.