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Good for you. I was a surg. Tech. Now I'm an LVN. Hands down the right decision.

I'm in corrections nursing. Make great money, and am very very happy. Hospitals pay too low. LTC's work you to death. I work 8 hour shifts. I have great benefits, and don't do half the work I would on a med surg floor or LTC. But I do have lots of work that I enjoy. You might want to look into it. By the way, I'm in California.

Hey Yawl, I'd like to chime in. I'm a prison nurse and I'm tellin' ya. Those guys act like they're at a five star hotel sometimes. It's truly amazing. Entitlement is the precise word that comes to mind. I don't care if they're a mass murderer, they still feel entitled. Geez

Unless you gut tells you to run for the hills, stay with it a while, if you'd like to try it. It might turn out to be the place for you, once you settle in. That's what I'm doing. I'm on a 1:00 pm to 9:30pm shift right now. I'm fluctuating between that and the the early early one. It seems that I won't be able to do a lot of things because I'll be working at night. Decisions, decisions.

I'm glad to hear that it went well. Yes, I started. It was a little overwhelming to begin with, but I'm getting it. It's a huge place (1650 acres, 8,000 inmates) minimum to maxium security. But I think it'll work out for me. Orientation is a little tough because I have to be there by 5 in the morning. The good part is that I get off at 1:30pm. However, I live an hour or so away, and have to get up mighty mighty early. Let's just say I ain't feeling that young and spry on day 4 :) Let me know if you start work there, and how you're doing ok?

I just got hired to one. If it's the state, they'll have you fill out some paperwork, and then you'll be interviewed with a panel. Mine was two people. They basically ask situational questions. What would you do in the case of...... Just remember your nursing process, the abc's. As far as asking, ask about mandatory overtime, shifts, exactly what section you'll work in, how long your orientation is, and anything else that comes to mind. I wish you the best. Let me know how it goes.

I agree, go for it. I'm 52 years old and just landed a job with the CDC. I graduated in March - on my birthday, no less. I had questions along the same line, but hey, I did it anyway, and I am not sorry. I think I might have been the oldest in my class, but others where close to where I was. We made the better students, FYI, because we were serious about it and didn't party (as much). So I say go for it. Nursing is a wonderful profession, and you'll be glad you did it. I wish you the best!

I would go with the one where my sister works. That's a huge plus as far as support and learning the ropes from someone who actually cares about you.

Mandi, The only thing I can recommend, taking all things into consideration, is that perhaps you can try working there and see how it goes. If you are not happy there, or taken seriously, you can always go somewhere else. Yes, it would be in a strange environment, but at least they won't see you as anything but a nurse. I can't speak to the intern situation, but here's my two cents.

A rousing amen to that. I don't know anybody who didn't feel the same. When I took mine, I walked in there fairly calm and confident. When I came out, I was shrugging my shoulders at the person who came down there with me for moral support. I had no idea whatsoever. I felt like I didn't know most of the questions. I wanted it to keep going past 85 so I could redeem myself. A couple of hours afterward, I was so upset that I didn't know what to do with that kind of mental anguish. I'm not a stranger to mental pain, but oh man, did I hurt beyond my wildest dreams. Had to waid for 3 weeks and two days for the result. A very dark time, folks. After all that, I passed. Out of all my former classmates, I don't know a single one that walked out of there thinking they aced it. Not one. Everyone to the man thought they bombed, woke up in the middle of the night petrified, running questions through their heads. It's awful, but hang in there. I've heard of someone actually passing when they ran out of time before they answered their questions and STILL passed. Go figure.

It's important that you realize that no two places are alike, just like two people arent. I understand why you feel the way that you do, but I had a similar experience. Everytime I looked around, I was called on the carpet. Finally, the person highest in charge said, as an aside, that the hospital was not designed for new grads in all fairness. Yet they hired me. I quit, by the way. But my confidence was shot too. I know exactly how you feel. My best advice to you is word of mouth. I would contact anybody I knew that was happy at their job, liked the way staff was treated, etc., and I would apply there. Word of mouth is a valuable thing. I wish you the best.

I love this country. But I saw that movie today. One of the things that made tears come down my face was seeing former Ground Zero workers who have contracted illnesses from breathing the air there, with no medical coverage for the illnesses they have. People just like you and me, while the terrorist prisoners at Guantanamo Bay who helped in causing 9/11, have the best health care there is to offer in this country. I'm not on MM's side or anybody else's except God's. But I hated seeing that. If people out there think that the drug companies and HMO's and insurance companies arent' making money off of us in an awful way, then perhaps this information needs to be given to us. America was not built on complacency. It was built on people speaking freely in order to fix that which is wrong in order to make America even better. Everything could always stand improvement, since nothing is perfect.

My understanding is that in California the Board insists on mailing it to you. Otherwise you look on the website & go to the link that says license verification, put in your name, and you can get you number that way, if your check has cleared.

Well for all you folks in california, I fed-exed the license money to the board in sacramento, and my name & number showed up on the website 5 days later. The lady on the phone told me it would take 3 weeks. I recommend overnight fed-exing that bad boy, for all those who have to wait forever in california.

This is really interesting to me. I'm a new graduate nurse that's 52. I'm not so naive as to think that there's not age discrimination out there. That's why I chose nursing as a second career. Does anybody have any advice for me about what would be a safe course for me? I'm thinking about becoming a prison nurse just because of the benefits. I'm not afraid of hard work, but I'm also trying to be realistic. Suggestions?

Thanks so much. It's such a rite of passage, isn't it? So now I'm off to looking for a job. I wonder if you can get one if you show them that you passed. I live in California, and you have to send them the license money after you found out you passed, and it can take a couple of weeks until you've got a license & actual number. Anybody out there have any ideas?

Diahni, At my school, they had us do ERI, our books were mostly Mosby's. I bought the Saunders 07 edition and used the disc also. I also took a 3 day class in L.A. Best to you. Study hard so you can give good educated guesses. Learn how to read the stem of questions, and narrow it down to 2. That at least gives you a 50/50. And if you walk out feeling that you never saw that stuff before, and surely you failed, welcome to the club. Most of us do, and don't.

At my SON, we studied ERI & Mosby's. On my own, I purchased Saunders and used their disc. I also took a three day class in Los Angeles. I wish you the best.

yes, i too wish the best to everyone going through this horrendous process. i passed!!!!!

Well folks, got the mail to day and guess what? I passed!!!!! Praise God Almighty!

I passed! Praise God Almighty. Got it in the mail today. 3 weeks and 2 days. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers.

Thank you everybody for your thoughts and prayers. I found out today that I passed!!!!!!!:monkeydance: :biggringi :smiley_aa :caduceus: :thankya: Glory to God!

Thanks emy. I'm doing my best over here. I'll be sure to let everybody know what happens. You keep on studying, and just remember, that almost all of us leave there thinking we failed, and most of us didn't. I found that if I knew enough, then I could give a really great educated guess. I also learned how to narrow the answers down to 50/50. I'll let ya know.

Well guys, it's been 22 days for me, and not a peep from the LVN board. I'm trying to keep my chin up, even though all this stress has resulted in illness this past week. This is so hard.

Indy, you're a rare creature. Others could learn from you. Thank you so much. As I've always said, encouragement is $1,000,000 a pound.