futureOBnurse

Okay, as a nursing student who graduates in May (3 months!!) I will give it to ya straight. Nursing school DOES suck sometimes! It's incredibly time consuming and sucks the life out of you. BUT it's worth it! In a med/surg class I studied 15-20 hours A WEEK for tests. It goes with the territory. Of course a lot of it has to do with instructors, some are awesome and some would give Hitler a run for their money. The best advice I ever received regarding Natzi teachers was "play the game" and I have and I have done very well. Nursing classes and clinicals are WAY different than prereq classes! There's more reading, more studying and more of everything to do. With clinicals, you have to spend much of the night before prepping on your patients, learning their meds, studying their co-morbidities, and working on care plans. With that said, the first time you put an IV in or put an NG tube down a pt successfully, it feels GOOD!!! If you have a super nurturing teacher (I've had a few) who support you and want to see you succeed, it's even better. And I can't emphasize this enough, your nursing school friends will become your BEST friends because they know what you are going through and will support you 24/7. I won't lie, nursing school is the hardest thing I've ever done. But you have to look at it as a TEMPORARY thing with a lifetime of awards at the end. In the whole scheme of things what's 2 or 4 years out of your life? It may suck while you are going through it, but it goes fast and then it's on to the better paychecks! So keep your head up and go for it! Remember, not just anyone can be a nurse! It's something to be proud of!

i have been helping taking care of a woman with MS over the weekend while her husband and 2 girls have been playing softball out of town. they are the normal care givers for her. my friend has been helping me move her from her wheelchair to another wheelchair. we move her to her bedroom and then place her in her bed. the problem is we are trying to figure out the best way to do this. the steps she said to follow for her are: move her from her motorized wheelchair, pick her up in a bear hug. she can not stand on her own at all. have the other person slide the shorts and diaper down to knee level, then place her in the other wheelchair. cover her up and move her to her bedroom. then remove the dirty clothes and replace at ankle level the new clean clothes. bear hug her and hold her up again, the other person cleans her up and slides the clean clothes up all the way, then both help position her into the hospital bed. then when we are removing her the next morning from her bed, we move her to the edge of the bed, we stand her up and then pull off the dirty clothes from overnight to ankle level and get her into her wheelchair. then we move her back to her motorized wheelchair. remove the dirty clothes and replace with clean clothes. then we hold her up again and the other person cleans her up and pulls up the new clothes, then we both sit her into the motorized wheelchair and prop her legs up. my friend is strong enough to hold her if i hurry and clean her up. but if i take too long she starts getting shaky and we are both scared that she will let slip and the lady will get hurt or one of us will. the other issue is when we stand her up either time, she tends to dribble urine down the bear hugger's legs. any help is appreciated!

Two years ago I started my first ever CNA job and started at $9.22 an hour. Crappy but true. So yeah, it is possible. Nursing homes and other places pay way more, I just wanted to be a CNA on Peds and Labor and Delivery so I took the huge pay cut. It's hard to believe we make so little and work so much!

The many reasons given here are reasons I have experienced as well when people fail. Mostly in my school, it's because people don't want to buck down and study and read, they think you can read for a few hours a week and pass. Nope, not the case. If you aren't studying 20-30 hours a week in nursing school you aren't going to pass. I have also seen my Med/Surg instructor pick out people and pick on them. Although it can be mean and I'm sure very embarassing for those who are being singled out, the ones my instructor have singled out and hounded to death in pre conference before clinicals are the ones who aren't studying and don't know anything about their patients when you ask them. They are the ones who don't finish their prep sheets, can't even pronounce the name of their meds let alone know what they are used for and just generally don't act like they want to be there. In that instance, I think they should be weeded out. Unless you are dead serious about this profession and all of the hard work it takes, don't even bother. Nursing school is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. But it will all be worth it when it's over!!! (About 59 weeks and counting! :) )

Wow, I was a bit offended about the "leeching off the government" comment, am I the only one? I am a single mother (have been for 12 years now) and have always worked full-time. At times I even had 2 and 3 jobs. I never applied for food stamps, welfare, WIC, ADC or any other "government leeching" programs. I am now going part-time this semester and have not worked part-time since I was in high school. Rather than "leech" off the government, I chose to get a roommate to help with bills and help run my daughter around while I'm in school and still working. The one time I did ask the state for some help (during a financial crisis) I was turned down and told I made too much money. I do get Pell Grants, I admit it. But I don't consider it "leeching off the government" at all. I consider it getting some help to make my life better for myself and my child. Trust me, I'd love to still be married but I am not. I was just a bit offended by that statement. Not all single moms leech off the government. Not all single moms have other people pays their bills or daycare providers or for the groceries in their cupboards and I feel that was an unfair statement for those of us single moms out there who have never used welfare a day in their lives. Good luck to you and I hope you do find something to help out. Just like you, I have come up against dead ends when I needed some help financially. I truly believe if there's a will, there's a way. Best of luck to you.

I'm 37 and in nursing school. I was scared to death at first but now see there are many people my age and sometimes even older. Don't sweat the small stuff! Go in there and learn, just like everyone else. And you might be surprised to find out that us ole whippersnappers have something called "life experience" under our belts and can sometimes school a young kid or two :)

Well, Chem and A&P are two hard classes, but it is doable. You know yourself better than anyone and if you see yourself really having a hard time trying to balance it all then I wouldn't take them both. Good luck in whatever you choose to do. And hello, from one over-achiever to another :) :) :)

Hello. I'm a new member. I'm a 35 y/o mom who is in nursing school. My goal is to be an OB nurse. I'm very much considering being a traveling nurse when my daughter graduates from high school. I was wanting to hear from travel nurses or people who have done it in the past. How long are contracts? Is the pay better? Can you still work in L&D and travel? Just wanted to hear opinions from those who know. Thanks!