shanyone

You can definitely get both (I hold two). Have your school license you in FL and then apply to IL after you get your FL license. You can always do the opposite too. But you have to get your license in one state before you can get it in all the rest. Then you just have to jump through the hoops the individual state requires to gain their license :)

Love my Skechers Shape Ups! No more foot pain :)

This is a question for all of you who have started nursing as a second career. 1. What was career #1? Administrative Assistant 2. Are you happier with nursing as a career than you were with career #1? Yes, generally I am much happier because I've wanted to be a nurse for a very long time. Some days I still walk away shell shocked and think "what have a done?", but those days don't overshadow the good things that nursing has brought to my life. I love people and I knew I wanted to work with them even if it can be trying at times. 3. Did you get into nursing because you had a dead end job? Because you were unhappy with career #1 (although you had a good job)? I had a really good job during nursing school and I was making only a little less than I'm making as a nurse with a LOT less responsibility and a LOT more flexibility of schedule on work days. I absolutely HATED sitting at a desk for 40-50 hours a week though and I didn't get nearly enough interaction with people as I'd like. I also love the medical field and I love to try to put the puzzle together and give great care in my new profession. 4. Was/Is nursing as good as, better than, or worse than you thought it would be? Nursing is about what I thought it would be. Thankfully I knew what I was getting into from reading here on the forum. I think I had rose tinted glasses before I found this forum during nursing school. But even with any downsides like bad nurse/patient ratios and the occasional rude doc or horrible family member/patient I'd rather be nursing. I love moving around all day and working with the public. I love to care for people and to be rewarded with thank yous from patients and family members who've been touched. 5. Have you ever thought that you should have stayed with your original career? Was the change in career worth it? Glad I made the move. I still do keep up with the old company and do a bit for them each month. It works for both of us. 6. Are you higher up the career ladder in nursing or were you higher with career #1? About the same, I guess. 7. I don't want to start a discussion on nursing pay again, but are you happier with your nursing paycheck or was it better before? Yes, it's a little better than the last one. 8. How has your benefits been affected by your change in career, better or worse? Or not much change? Benefits at this job are similar to the last job. I thought that hospital benefits would be a lot better than they are. But they are adequate and I am thankful for them all the same. 9. What did your family think about your career change? Family supported me and wants me to be happy.

I usually only work out on my days off. I figure I'm walking an awful lot on my days at work. I lift weights pretty heavy and I do some type of cardio on most days off. This, combined with healthy eating, makes it easier to stay in shape. I find that the easiest meal to make is chicken in the crock pot with a little water, a chopped up onion, and some type of seasoning or half a bottle of marinade thrown in. I then slow cook it until it's tender and make either brown rice or quinoa to go with it. I usually add in a fruit, yogurt, diet soda (my vice), dessert and I'm good to go. This is such an easy meal to throw together and I'm not hungry for a long time due to the protein. I should eat more veggies but I'm not good at adding them in there. I try to make sure I get some veggies in throughout the rest of the week and I'll sometimes add frozen mixed veggies to the mix of chicken and rice/quinoa. Good luck to you :)

Your last line "I can't imagine how I can continue providing the same level of care to my patients when I will be responsible for twice as many" is a legitimate concern. I work at a facility that practices team nursing. Every once in a while I get a primary and I love it. Both styles have their positives and negatives but you definitely don't spend as much time with your patients on a team as you would on a primary. Thankfully, your team members also spend time with them, so the patients usually feel that they received good care. Sometimes your team makes you and sometimes they break you, depending on who you're working with. I believe your concerns are justified, but it looks like you'll have to suck it up and make the best of it. I'm actually surprised that your facility is going to utilize this practice as I believe our facility plans to do away with it. They are pushing all LVNs to obtain their RN, etc. Teams really can be good and bad depending on who's on your team (both the employees and the patients). Thankfully I work with a bunch of great staff and it isn't often that my team is a problem. Good luck to you! Try hard to keep an open mind as you go through this. Just remember that life is all about change and try to roll with the punches.

I was able to remain positive because I kept my old job throughout nursing school and until I found a nursing job that I wanted. I'm not sure how I would have remained positive otherwise, since bills would have been eating me alive. Maybe you can pick up a part or full time job outside of the field that would pay the bills in the interim? That might help you to maintain a positive attitude :) Good luck to you!

Graduated May, 2009. I sent out so many resumes and applied for so many jobs (at least 75) before I got a great job in a great hospital in October, 2009. This is in Ohio. Just keep trying. Perserverance is the only thing that will get you where you want to go. Good luck to anyone trying to find a job now!

I swear by the Skechers Shape Ups. I can't say enough about them now that I've been wearing them for almost four months. I was a new nurse in October and within the first month of work my feet were hurting so bad that it was affecting me both at work and at home. I bought these for myself in December and I haven't had any foot pain since. My pain was in my arches. It has disappeared and I am grateful. I can run and walk again with my dogs outside of work and I don't even think about my feet at work anymore!

You're not alone. I am also a relatively new nurse (October, 2009). I have been lucky enough to have only one patient of mine who needed rapid response so far. No codes for my patients yet but last week I ran into a room of another nurse's patient when a family member was screaming for help and the pt. was pulseless and blue. I helped initiate the code call with the button on the wall and I grabbed the cart and suction, etc. but I wish I would have hopped right up there on the bed and started compressions (someone else did) but you can see how some folks are "good" at it and how I was a step behind. I figure we'll get better with time in regard to moving fast and doing what we need to do quickly. I think I'm already getting better at it just from experiencing the rapid response and this code. Don't beat yourself up, just continue learning! You are smart to ask about running drills. If it isn't a DNR pt. then you don't want to waste any time thinking about responding next time. I'm sure you did fine and it's totally normal to be a bit slower during your initial codes. It's a difficult thing to experience. I can still see the blue dude and think about the intubation, compressions, suction, vomit, etc.

My husband was lovely enough to buy me a flat band with diamonds specifically for work. I have my regular engagement ring and band (attached after we were married) and this other ring that I love and wear to work. http://www.heartsonfire.com/#/us/en-us/diamond-collection/view-details.php?item_id=3292&item_name=Duets%20Two-Tone%20Milgrain%20Band%20Mens&style_name=MnChB&type_id=undefined&type_name=by%20jewelry%20type&subtype_id=6&subtype_name=Men's&type=1 I'm not sure where you are financially, but some day this might work. Until then you can always go bare handed if you find your larger engagement ring too cumbersome like I did. I got it stuck on gloves and I was afraid of getting it stuck on a patient's skin or losing the diamond, etc. This was an unexpected surprise and I am very happy having the beautiful band to wear. In hindsight I suppose I could have just left my wedding band separate from my engagement ring, but they really do wear better as one single unit. I wear each of my rings about 50% of my time. It all works out. No matter what ring (if any) you are wearing, congratulations! and be sure to treat each other well!! Shanyone

I bought an itouch when I landed a job and I love the Davis Drug guide. I have several other applications from Skyskape as well but this is the one I utilize the most. I also love to have my calendar handy no matter where I am. I bring my itouch with me to work in my pocket and I use it during med pass and to look up side effects and other drug information to answer pt. questions at the bedside if I don't know them. It's been a good tool for me and I do recommend it. I'd like to purchase another app that has diagnosis and disease information but I'm unsure which are good. Any recommendations from others would be helpful!

I believe Casi is right. You'll want to be sure that you have access to NCLEX type questions for studying. Doing hundreds of questions prior to exams was how I learned to answer nursing school exam questions. The rationale is presented to you after you answer and this too helped me learn about the disease process, etc. I wish you well in class!

You are all so very right....thanks for helping me understand that I did what I could with what I had. Thank you even more for helping me to learn to think strategically if I run into this type of pathological individual or family in the future. I WILL set boundaries and not go in the room each time they tell one of the staff they want to talk to me. I will certainly take all that I've learned here and it will make me a better nurse (hopefully). I really appreciate all the advice and helpful hints! And homicidal/suicidal....lol, I got them mixed up. I totally talked about the family needing to be thrown out the window and teased that this would be therapeutic in nature! So I get the homicidal feelings.....then I go home and get on the elliptical or go for a run to get those homicidal feelings out of my head. I'll prevail and maybe some day I'll be more adept at dealing with these dysfunctional folks.

Thank you for your ideas. Number 6 and number 8 are especially helpful and I will implement them the next time I have a family like this! Clearly I need to learn to set limits with this type of family. I definitely maintain a professional relationship with ALL pts. and families. That is a must. I guess I'm too worried about a family like this and the Press Gainey type stuff that all the hospitals bow to. The two don't mix and I need to just accept that this family will not like the "care" they received. Because no amount of caring was going to make these folks happy, I don't believe. I didn't tell them that I had other pts., I was just thinking it :). I would never say to a family that I'm too busy to deal with them because I have nine other patients! lol. (even if it is true sometimes!) I really need to learn to be firmer with these types of people but my customer service skills are not up to this level yet, I guess. Not sure how/where to set those limits, but I really like the idea of telling them that I'll be back in xyz timeframe and I will answer their questions then. Thanks for your ideas! Never in a million years will I be homicidal. Nothing they could do would make me want to hurt me, but it does make me wonder what I was thinking with my career change....lol....but only for a second. Then I'm back to realizing that most folks aren't like these folks and I do love my job most days. Thanks again for your reply!

I am a first year nurse on a busy med/surg floor. I have had a few families and sometimes a patient or two who were overall just a bit difficult to deal with but up until this week I've never experienced something so entirely frustrating. Over the last week we've had a family that has been especially trying for me (and several other staff members) to deal with. I'm trying to determine the best way to deal with folks like this for the next time. I feel like I dealt with any and all concerns/complaints from this family in a very mature, helpful manner but they were never satisfied with the answers or teaching we gave them. The last day I cared for the patient was the worst of all. The family claimed that they were very upset because they believed the pt. was "sedated so that we didn't have to deal with him/her". These were their words. The pt. had a knee replaced three days prior to this day and that morning the pt. had received two percocets. Overnight the pt. had received an IM of morphine and phenergan. These were the only instances of medication administration that the family was upset about and they claimed that this was putting him/her to sleep all day long essentially so that we didn't have to deal with him/her. Both the LPN and I spent a lot of time talking to them but they failed to believe that we weren't trying to sedate the pt. so I had the charge nurse get involved and she called the house supervisor. The family still didn't believe that we hadn't "sedated" the pt. but they didn't bring it up too much more after that. There were two other things that this family was also upset about and in general they just sucked the life right out of me this week. I broke down in tears twice in the supply room this week (and I'm not a crier). I'm a pretty strong person with a great way of dealing with almost everyone, but this family was impossible for me. Each time you went in the room they were asking question after question and telling you that they wanted this information because two of the daughters were almost done with nursing school and they had all these questions, etc. Unfortunately, I have nine or ten other patients on our team to deal with and I can't be spending 10 minutes each and every time I come in the room. I'm always happy to answer questions and help with anything I can and I hear a lot from pts. and their families that I am very caring and take time to answer their question, but this one family took is far beyond normal questions. I was told that I need to just let it go but I find myself still thinking about how I could have dealt with it better. These folks sucked sooooo much time out of me this week and it's just frustrating to think that it could happen again. I fully expect this pt. to be gone when I return (thank goodness) but I want to know if anyone has any other alternatives or ideas for dealing with truly irrational people. I know I need to let it go, but I've been hashing it over in my mind and I'm just upset that they believed that we would sedate the pt. so as to not have to deal with them. That is an accusation that I don't ever want to have to hear again. I love caring for my patients and I take a lot of pride in it. Anyone have anything to share with me on how to let it go or how to deal with it better when I have a family or pt. like this in the future?

Loan payments really do vary a great deal and there are many options. For instance, I too have a Stafford loan of 15,000 and instead of choosing to pay it back in equal payments I have opted for lower payments for the first two years and higher payments for the rest of the life of the loan. The difference in interest payments was so little that I didn't even bat an eyelash at doing it this way. I chose to pay it back this way because I am paying for my son's private high school education for the next year and a half and this made it easy on me. I believe the payments were going to be 189.00 for the life of the loan. I chose the option that allowed the first two years to be 92.50 monthly and the rest of the years on the loan will be 241.00 monthly. I know I can afford to pay more than that once my son graduates because his tuition is more than that each month. So I'll be happily paying that loan down early once my son graduates. Then maybe I can help him with college :). What you have to do is continue to live within your means so that when you make a nurse's wage you can pay back your loans. It sounds like you may want to plan to be paying a good chunk of change. Just be sure you can. That means no high priced cars and homes, etc. until your loan is pain. Just be smart and you will be fine. Where there's a will there's a way! Good luck to you!

I loved Saunders during school and also to study for the NCLEX. I think it's an excellent text and I passed on the first try! Good luck to you.

Sadly I never had any luck with the 62 applications (resume with cover letter) I submitted online. It's just SO impersonal. It truly is still about who you know (it's always been this way with the world and it's why networking is sooooo important!). It wasn't until I started being pushier and calling HR and specific managers of the floors where I was applying that I got anywhere. Thankfully I had a teeny "in" as the company I had worked for a few years ago used to do some work with HR in the hospital I was applying. It took me two months of emailing and calling HR to land an interview within HR. After that successful interview it took me another couple of weeks to get an interview with the manager on the floor. As soon as I landed that interview I got the job offer! Just keep your chin up and definitely go into the hospitals and facilities where you've applied dressed in your business suit with your resume and cover letter in hand. Try to get the name of someone in recruiting/HR and call or email that individual. Also, be sure that you are hitting your family, friends, and associates up to find out who they know in the industry. You never know how you might come to know someone on a floor or in HR and that could be your ticket to a great job! Best of luck to you!

Agrippa, How would you rate a degree from a wonderful brick and mortar institution's online program? Many (if not most) of the great brick and mortar schools now offer online degrees as well. Their curriculum hasn't changed (except maybe the format). They still have to prove that their online program is meeting the requirements it's supposed to meet. I'm very curious how you feel about a school with brick and mortar presence offering an online degree option. Also, are you aware that a degree obtained from an institution with a brick and mortar presence does not specifically state "online" or "ground", etc. You cannot tell from a diploma how you obtained this degree. The reason this is the case is that the Accrediting bodies that have accredited these programs have stated that they are equivalent to ground courses and the knowledge you gain IS equivalent (from my own experience in both online and ground courses in three different universities that I've attended throughout the years). I also know a little about the accreditation program from a previous job and it's no picnic for a university to get through. They have to prove how their program meets many, many requirements. It's not just a "given" that an online option will meet these requirements, the university has to prove it. To the original poster: Best of luck to you in whatever route you choose to obtain further education. As long as the school is accredited by the correct bodies that the state board of nursing recognizes then you will be good. Online education can be a great way to get to where you want to go if you are self-driven and motivated. There are many crappy schools out there (both ground and online) and there are many wonderful schools (both ground and online). Be sure you check out your school well before starting and I don't think you'll have any problems!

I just had to add that when I read the original post I thought for sure you were going to say that when the 15 year old wasn't home your cousin had to put the 8 year old in her car and take her to school with her. Now THAT would have been the only responsible thing to do in this situation if she really needed to make it to class. But when you said that she left her alone I thought, "Well, duh! No wonder she can't find a nursing position!". At the least she's clearly got some personal growth to go through before she should parent or nurse. That's just my opinion, of course. Good luck to her.

To Peytonsmom, Yes, that's the class I graduated with! It really was intense but I'm so happy I hung in there. I made some great friends and have a great basis from which I'm currently growing. Best of luck to you in your journey at Mercy and beyond! Hang in there!

Hello! I am a Michigan native but I've lived in Toledo for 15 years. I am a Mercy College of NW Ohio grad (May 2009) and I'm very happy I made the decision to go there. I attended partly because they offered a weekend and evening program and partly because they have such a good reputation. I believe the program has a strong core of great science and nursing and I am very pleased with my choice. Good luck to you!

Mercy is a fantastic school with a great reputation in the community. It was a VERY difficult program that many failed out of, but there was definitely support and caring if you wanted/needed it. I graduated with an ADN from Mercy in May 2009 and I am currently working here in NW Ohio at a great hospital benefitting from the wonderful education I gained at Mercy. They are thorough and tough. That was a good thing in my book. Many (actually most) in our program failed out though, so don't start there unless you are truly committed to studying and eventually graduating. It's no picnic, but their pass rate for NCLEX is very high and they really have a great reputation with area hospitals so getting a job after graduation is a little bit easier. Good luck picking a school!

Well, I certainly understand your concerns about being overweight in nursing. It's really hard on your body if you're overweight and nursing is already tough on a person's body. I've only been about 40 pounds overweight and I used a very restricted diet and exercise (lifting real weights and cardio) to lose it. Good luck losing the weight (no matter what you decide to do to lose it). I don't know about being looked down upon though....most of the nurses (heck, most of the adult population) is overweight. Not sure where you live/work, but in NW Ohio, many of the staff in the hospitals is overweight including doctors, nurses, housekeeping, etc.