buddhak0n

Just a novel concept.... Let's make the Nursing and medical profession the same as like any other "business" profession.. you know like one where if you don't complete the project, or close the sale, or build the boat, or roof the condo... you don't get paid..... and then we'll see how many frivolous lawsuits pelter us daily in the newspapers. "Discrimination" is much too harsh a word. I have worked as a male in a female dominated environment and I took notice of the fact that most of the other people working were women and that numerous things which I previously had not taken notice had to be accounted for... Other than that , I experienced absolutely no "discrimination" ... Most people are what they are... If they are going to be unhelpful, they'll do so regardless of gender... If they are going to be obtuse, they'll do so even if you're a genderless carrot... Frankly I've found people in the "nursing" field radiate a sort of impending doom complacency as if they are always concerned about liability which considering the legal climate the last 20 years.. they probably are... I'm planning on enrolling in my actual RN licensure course of study soon.. My prior experience was as a Lab Tech in a major public health care facility with which I had a daily interaction with the nursing staff during rounds and blood collection.. Never had a problem with anyone regardless of gender. Did notice some excessively "other people's business" interested parties who happened to be female at THIS facility but I'm sure that's not a personality trait exclusive to women.... Go around enough places and you'll find plenty of men who just have to know what EVERYONE else is doing regardless of whether they are actually doing their own task at hand

Hey it's just my two cents but take the FASTEST path to a RN which would be the ADN program and THEN after you get yourself in the door of a Hospital or whatever facility you wish to work.. MOST of them have continuing Education programs whereby if you work there they will PAY to complete your education.. So the question is do you want to go back to school and just study for two more years , in which case you'll probably never want to actually work in the field .... or do you want to get a job and WORK? Just my two cents not meant to be anything but what it is... an opinion

I say this with 100% certainty, there is not a true "nursing" shortage... if there were why would there be "Per Diem" nurses and Nurse managers and "agency" nurses.. If there truly were not enough nurses to care for a community or any private hospital's patient necessities, why wouldn't all these people be fully employed? Sorry it's the business person in me that sets off this glowing Neon sign .. There is however a burgeoning Nurse "reeducation" business ... LOL.. Hey maybe it's me but my mama and papa told me a long time ago, when you see a Horse you don't call it a Pig because you think it's cute... It's still a Horse lol. And as far as the overwhelming compassion part, I realize that much of this comes from being terribly overworked but there's a group out there and we all know they exist who are anything BUT ... . I think I should become a Brain Surgeon and then try to operate on my own brain for even considering doing something like this... LOL .. sorry I had to throw that in there for the person you wanted to tell me they were a Navy Captain who thought I was intellectually too big for my britches.. Which I am, but everybody has their faults.... Excuse me, I'm really good at taking tests... it's got nothing to do with patient care but I could test out of all kinds of things and that would cut down on some of this and I MOST Certainly am not retaking my basic core Pre Req's.. And I most certainly would consider about 70% of the course work to be remedial reading... sorry that's the truth. Never in a million years am I retaking basic Chem or anything of that Ilk... lol .

See that's what I COMPLETELY Do not get...... How can any course be TOO OLD? They should have to under federal law give you the opportunity to test your proficiency in any subject area before uniformly declaring a prerequisite as "too old" ... Under the current rules a Molecular Biologist who worked for Wyeth for the past 20 years would have a hard time proving that he passed Anatomy and Phys... It's ludicrous.

I'm not lacking compassion for those that are sick or injured. I'm questioning more the "necessity" of certain educational requirements as barriers to entry into the field. The two are quite distinct. Sorry you felt it was disrespectful but seriously from strictly an "educational" requirement standpoint.. some of the reactions are laughable. I'm not saying you shouldn't have to receive training to become a RN. I'm saying that some of the "classroom" training, if you have prior experience in those subject areas, should have an alternative method for receiving credit because after all any of your true patient care skills are MOST likely to be developed during your time with patients.... Not to say that there aren't certain BASICS you should possess before being allowed in... there are but I'm sorry somebody telling me I have to retake a Chemistry 101 course when I could pass any final administered by any Chem Prof in any undergrad college in this state including Princeton with a two to three hour review is downright laughable. Sorry but the two are completely unrelated... how someone treats their patients and their intellectual prowess have nothing to do with one another.. Sorry there's nothing wrong with someone thinking that somebody telling you to retake your basic science courses in order to get a degree in another field does not smell like a thorough education designed to ensure the highest quality patient care.. It smells like another reason to rechurn more credit fees into the local school which is EXACTLY what it is.... I stayed at my old job for the past 4 years before making this type of move because they tried to tell me I had to do the same thing and , Excuse me I wasn't willing to give up a given 200 + k , for a oh let's send you back to school where you're broke so you can retake the same stuff you memorized at 16... And I'm most definitely not considering entering the profession for fiscal or monetary reasons... I don't need the money and I don't need the heartaches or stress... I'm sorry if I flamed a bit too much and came off way off base which it was because at the time.. I was laughing at what someone at the local Community college had told me; Sorry it spilled over ... I think I've got a way to get this done without having to do it "THAT" way exactly so I'm all better now.. Please excuse my mild psychosis whilst I figured out a way to get the "papers" that will let me get on with what I'd like to do. Yes it was disrespectful in some ways, but telling me that I have to retake certain basic chem and biology courses is ludicrous.

LOL someone after my own heart

originally posted by waques1984 i heard this story from a friend of mine, who is also a fellow nursing student but from another university. one night, while they were on a night shift, a 9-year-old female child unfortunately died in the pedia ward. my friend was the one assigned to perform post-mortem care to the said patient. so there he was, cleaning the patient's body and all. he placed a red bracelet in the patient's right hand, as it was the policy of the hospital to place a red tag on the right hand of all patients who are pronounced dead. after performing his tasks, he was on his way to the elevator when suddenly, the little girl came running after him! terrified, he quickly pushed the close button so that the elevator would close right away and bring him to safety down to the lower floor. while inside the elevator, an old woman in hospital gown asked him why he closed the elevator door right away when a child wanted to board in. still overwhelmed with fear, he explained to the old lady "that was the child that i just performed post-mortem care a while ago. she is already dead. did you saw the red tag on her right arm? that is the mark for all dead patients here in this hospital..." the old woman raised her right arm and replied... "similar to this?" my friend was found unconcious inside the elevator a few moments later. he never stepped inside the said hospital again. ever. no honking way!!!!!!!! now that's a good one..... you'll make quite an author some day

This is one of my favorites... LOL.. sorry too many of these stories seem "concocted" for their shock value.. I'm sure there's one or two that have some basis other than the overworked, impressionable brain here or there but not many.

Wow I wonder why they call you "scarymary" ... I could never GUESS why ... LOL

Okie dokie and the Okiefenokie.... Do the Hippa Hippie shake and catch me on the down low with lingo Jay Ko......

I believe they call them Generation "Y" but I think the Disciples of "Tattoo" is more appropriate. Sorry but WAY off topic is my speicality... I'm sure they have better names than that but there's a couple.

Sometimes that's just one personality... I'm doing a clinical at the local County Hospital hoping to work there at the end of the "trial" or "training" period... and during that time I get to meet everyone I could be working alongside... Some people will explain things slowly and be as helpful as possible... Other people will try to mess with your head and point out things that are terminable offenses.. Heck I've even had someone be both people all in the span of a few days... It's the same thing when you start working somewhere... Some people will have tunnel vision and concentrate only on the task at hand.. Other people will be all over the place and still get the job done. Some people will only care about doing their work. Others will only care about what "EVERYBODY" else's work IS and not worry about what THEY should be doing.. You never know who you are dealing with on what day...... I wouldn't judge a job off of how the person was during that short period but if it was that offensive.. that's your call.. It's like anything... it's your choice... But meeting someone who behaved like that in a hospital or health care facility to me wasn't all that surprising especially in a place that tends to have high turnover.. They probably dont' "invest" anything friendly in new hires until they see whether or not you'll be sticking around for longer than the 2 day orientation .. Just my two cents.

I would ask for a Short term or if necessary a LONGER term Leave of Absence.... Be upfront about what your issues may or may not be.. If it's something you'd rather not discuss then say so.. H.R. at most places will be accomodating so long as you are upfront and honest with THEM.

I'm not trying to "attack" you just let you know what I think and I just thought you were wasting a whole lot of time on what everybody ELSE thinks about YOU. I would support you in whatever you do.. sure... but you've got to move beyond what other people's stereotypes may or may not be about a situation.... To me, sure things in life can be competitive but it's really not about competing or one upmanship in this arena... It's about caring for your patients... Hey I'm a guy too and I guess all I'm saying is don't sweat what you perceive to be other people's respect or disrespect... most of the time it's just misperception... other times it doesn't really matter so long AS YOU are happy.

I actually completely AGREE with you although you may not think so. What I'm saying is that the educational REQUIREMENTS are simply a bare minimum to entry into the profession. The true test of whether a nurse or any practitioner for that matter is any good comes from actual practice... I would be the last person to say that a "nurse" who has 25 years of actual bedside experience who lacks a Bachelor's degree does not know just a LITTLE bit more than a college kid with a shiny piece of paper. I don't think new "nurses" can be truly educated in the classroom at ALL.. And for that reason I find some of the circuitous "waiting" list programs with some of their supposed necessary "training" silly... I would think the best training anyone could receive would be facility based with real patients and real doctors in real medicine... Sure unfortunately practical matters don't allow that EVERY single person who wants to pursue a degree of some sort ACTUALLY train with a live case... But without hands on training, working in a health care facility solely on the basis of what I read in my book, would be akin to somebody trying to fix leer jets with the product owner's manual. I guess what I'm saying is the doctors and experienced nurses are there for a reason and if there were a true Nursing Shortage as opposed to a burgeoning Nurse education business.... why would hospitals routinely have a long list of Per diem on call nurses .. Oh and as far as "nurse's aides" go don't even waste your time with some of these agencies if you actually need somebody to show up regularly... I've been bouncing around with one of these agencies for about 3 months now trying to get somebody to show up for something as simple as checking on an elderly woman who recently broke her hip. But if I went by my local county hospital, it would be overflowing with station after station of people who feel disrespected and are tremendously conscious of legal matters... --- And it's not their fault.. It's a horrible state of affairs in some ways. Some of the nursing shortage storyline is just a bit "exaggerated" in my not so humble opinion. If the basic educational components were so important, how come state boards of nursing routinely allow foreign students to simply test into certification? Just my two cents... Everyone has opinions.. we know how that goes.

My "point" exactly........ And it's not like there isn't a place for people who are more talented at the theoretical facets of the "craft". But at the same time, making a prospective "2nd" Degree candidate feel like current nurses actually BELIEVE that they are nuclear physicists gets a bit tiring on the eyes as well

Can you please "elaborate" on the "Own set of Politics" discussion for our reading pleasure ? Lol

I agree it's not a "nursing" degree but it's also when you get out of "nursing" school IT'S NOT a medical Degree........ Hey I just happen to be in a great state when it comes to the HealthCare Profession as a whole. So some of this just cracks me up. See www.umdnj.edu if you need further information. Rolling on the floor laughing at this point. Seriously, I went to graduate school as well and there's a ton of "nurses" out there that wouldn't have passed some of the "core" classes in my junior year of High School. And I'm sure that in my field they would struggle with certain coursework just as anyone would not be able to digest and interpret usefully a Physicians Desk Reference within 48 hours. Come on folks .. Who are we kidding with some of this stuff? And I'm not being belittling OR disrespectful but at SOME point somebody has to call a HORSE a horse.

I'm currently finishing up just a local Community college course program that's affilliated with the county hospital in Phlebotomy.. This would "qualify" me to work as a CPT or Lab tech and don't get me wrong .... It's not like I believe that I would be able to walk out within a few months and be qualified to be a responsible, experienced caregiver..... But in the same breath, I would venture to guess that with a bit of study and the opportunity to take a few exams, I'd be able to test out of quite a bit of what a local community college considers to be CORE requirements for any associates nursing program... Would that mean that I would be "qualified" to be a working , experienced ER or other nurse capable of leading and treating in a hospital setting? Absolutely NOT ... but at that point, I would believe that a majority of your actually skill building would begin. Repeating basic Chemistry and Biology courses that I qualified for AP Credit at the age of 15 in prep school is certainly not going to make a better qualifed "nurse" in a crisis situation in any ER... Completing my base level education requirements that would get me "in the front door" coupled with years of experience working alongside qualified personnel would be just about the ONLY way you would gain that type of experience...... And I would venture to guess as in any field, some people go that route, other people go a completely different route... Some people have talents in one field, other people have talents in another... A tremendous physician who excels at pediatric treatment may be a completely lost case when it comes to ER medicine and vice versa.. An Accelerated BSN program would be what I would be looking for, however due to my geographic location, I'm a bit limited in my options should I wish to stay in this area..... Don't get me wrong... I think that the educational portion of any school would be significantly challenging, but at the same time... some of the material regardless of what you may be led to believe is NOT exactly advanced theoretical physics . Anyone ever heard of this program for people looking to just get certified at the most basic level? www.college-net.com Sounds a bit fishy to me...... But seriously I've known plenty of nurses who went to all different nursing schools and a good percentage of the shortage has to do with they thought they were getting into ONE thing and the Reality was completely different so they leave.. So what you have is a Thriving NETWORK of organizations looking to SELL you Education but few producing Problem solving WORKERS ....... Hey just my two cents being just a plain ole Business person .

OK great... I'd love to do it in a SINGLE year and I'd expect it to be highly intellectually challenging... I Live in 08260 and don't intend to drive 2 hours each way each day to do it at Jefferson or the U Of Penn... What do I do ? LOL... Seriously the only program I've found around here is Stockton and I don't even think they HAVE a Second Degree BSN let alone an ACCELERATED BSN... Sorry but I guess the only way I'd ever get this done will be to go spend thousands of dollars (Again) without any guarantee or inkling that it will result in dollar one of income... sorry without a job offer I wouldn't even waste my time.. Nursing Shortage? Yeah so they say but everytime I walk by a nursing station I can't rightly say that I see any dramatic shortage of people hanging around.. sorry I know that's probably not fair but my wife has been in health care for years and years and years... and I've been around and some of it is TRUE and some of it is " FICTION"

I couldn't agree more... If you don't have any interest in actually becoming a Phlebotomist .. then it's not something that you have to do. I want to get some exposure to the entire health care setting prior to making any decision to go further and pursue anything as far as becoming a Nurse and find that Phlebotomy may be something I want to do for a bit before moving on to something else. My main interest is in the ER and would like to be trained as an ER nurse but I would like to have some actual exposure to the ER and what it is like to be in that type of setting prior to embarking on a second degree path which to me I just absolutely dread the entire concept..... having to go COMPLETELY back to school all over again.... Don't know if that's for me ... I'd be so much happier if I could be admitted to a program and simply complete my educatational requirements on a piece by piece basis but frankly don't see any program admitting me that way.. I guess i'll keep praying they bring back facility sponsored training programs .. LOL

Hi Heather... I'm currently taking a Phlebotomy class and hope to be working at a local facility as a phlebotomist. Then I'll decide where to go or what to do to reach my "educational" goals. The needles and blood part of it are not as bad as you may fear. Try not to concentrate so much on that part of it and you'll find that over time it becomes much less of an obstacle. I'm in my second week of clinical and I am by no means proficient at it yet but I'm getting much better... I've found that within the facility everybody is just about as helpful as could be ... Once you actually are THERE and working it's just a whole different ball game... Everybody works together to get the job done... I, like you don't know what I'll do as far as getting my actual Nursing licensure but just thought I'd let you know that the phlebotomy path for me has been great so far.

I realize that a majority of people out there probably entered the profession the normal way... .. But I'd like some suggestions from anyone who has been through the nursing as a second career path........ First off, what did you "do" for a living while you reattended the classes you needed to have an income again? Secondly, is the day when Facilities actually either instruct and or sponsor people in exchange for service to the facility a thing of the past? Because frankly to me, someone asking somebody who already possesses a degree in whatever field it might be to pay once again for a college education seems a bit absurd to me... What are the situations and under what circumstances can certain requirements towards obtaining R.N. licensure be "challenged" by examination? Why on earth would someone at a Community college try to tell someone that basic chem or other courses would be Nontransferrable? ( That part gave me a chuckle.. I'd still do better on any generalized Advanced Chem course than a large majority of people )... Frankly what I've done is just get myself in the door and hope to be working at an ACTUAL health care facility as a lab tech but the idea of having to go back to being a full time student seems absolutely odd to me and many of the hurdles thrown up seem a bit absurd.... Sorry but I'm a bit frustrated but only from an intellectual perspective... I would think that anything you would truly LEARN would come in actual clinical practice but perhaps I discount the value of certain "class" work. :o

Oh yeah sure... Good Luck with that... I've been kicking around for a couple of years the idea of going back and getting a second degree in "nursing" due to the supposed "shortage" and frankly I've never met a larger group of more unhelpful people in my entire life. Trying to tell me that I can't transfer my basic Chem courses or any other courses from my undergrad degree? hilarious. Let me take a test. I'm sorry but I've been around plenty of hospitals and frankly I'd put my test scores against 80% of the people sitting behind those tables as far as your most BASIC scientific knowledge goes. As far as "NURSING" and specified practice well of course but to be honest I've never even bothered to pursue it as a second degree because when you talk to the local community college program, you'd think we were talking about taking courses in advanced algorithmic calculus and I moved years ago from a big city so any local university program would require that I drive like an hour and a half to take some relatively simple classes. Sorry just like to vent because for some odd reason it's nearly impossible in South Jersey to get any straight answers from any supposed "nursing" programs .... Wow Imagine that coming from a state where the major university in charge of educating health care professionals finds a large majority of their STAFF under indictment for fraud... ROFL

Oh and if you haven't noticed people aren't exactly BOWING down to Doctor's nowadays either.. So if your goal in life was to somehow be revered and respected perhaps you should consider a career change. Maybe you can become a cardinal someday and maybe after that .. why not even the POPE.