Toots71506

Thank you all for your responses. I thought I was right on with this and I'm still amazed at how many of my classmates still think there is a shortage. It will be a rude awakening for many once we graduate. The reason I'm in nursing school is because I want to help people and IT is not where I see myself long term. Yes, nursing will be a pay cut for me but I'm considering a few different options. One being to keep my current job for awhile and work part-time as a nurse to make sure changing fields entirely is really what I want to do. I think many people have the field of nursing glamorized (me being one of them) and I want to know for sure before making any permanent moves.

I'm currently in a 2nd degree BSN program and I was told last night by a classmate that we can demand more pay since we have work experience. I don't believe this and wanted to post here to find out the truth. I can't imagine that my 15 years of IT experience gives me the ability to negotiate to get $10 more an hour as a new RN. Does it work this way? The way I understand it is that if you are a nurse for a year in a union then you get x amount, 5 years gets x amount, etc. Thanks in advance for your responses.

Does anyone work or know anyone that works at the new hospital in Maple Grove? They always have tons of openings for nurses and it looked like they did even when other hospitals didn't have many openings. Is it a good place to work? I know they're non-union and from what I've heard about unions that isn't a horrible thing!?!? Just curious if anyone has any feedback on the hospital...thanks!

I apologize if there is already a thread on this but I didn't see one. I'm in nursing school and have been trying to get an understanding of the differences between the union and non-union positions. Here are 2 things I'd like to know more about: 1 - In the union, is it true that every nurse with lets say 5 years of experience makes the same wage? So, you're not going to experience new nurses coming in making 10 times what current nurses w/ experience are making. (I'm experiencing this now in my IT corporate job and it drives me nuts) 2 - In the union, will the new nurses see any sort of pension? I understand that the nurses who have been there for a long time will have a pension but are the pensions for the new nurses going away or being drastically reduced even though they are in the union too? Thanks in advance for any info you can give me on this!

I'm currently in nursing school and I'm really drawn to working with people who struggle with eating disorders. The question I have is what does a nurse exactly do in this area? I watched the Thin Documentary and this didn't give me any sort of idea except that they do daily weights but I know there has to be more. There is an eating disorder facility close to my house but they don't let the volunteers work with the patients or even go on the floor. I'm not sure about job shadowing but will look into that. Does anyone have feedback in this area? To be honest, after I watched the Thin Documentary I was really turned off to working in this area because it was made out to be a very unstructured environment where I could find it very frustrating to be helping those that struggle but them not really wanting help. I know it was a documentary but there has to be some truth to what I was seeing. Any thoughts on this are greatly appreciated!

Hi - Here's my situation... I'm currently a mom of 3, work a full time job and am in nursing school. I'd love to quit my day job and become a CNA but I just can't right now. So, I was thinking volunteering might be a good route to take in the meantime. From those of you that are nurses and/or nursing managers, would volunteering on the floor I want to work on when I graduate help me get a job there or would they prefer I have actual CNA or other hospital experience? The area I have a passion for is eating disorders and at this point I think that's where I want to work once I graduate. The job postings I've seen require a year or so experience and I'm wondering if being a volunteer would help me at least get my foot in the door. I have 3 more years of school and since I can't go the CNA route right now, I feel that being a volunteer might be the very best thing for me to do what I think I'll love. Any thoughts/advice on this? Thanks in advance for your posts!

Hi - I'm currently in the course and can't believe how much time I'm committing to studying. Is this course the one that requires the most study time are are all nursing courses this way? thanks in advance for your posts...

Fortunately, I am one of the higher grades. Our prof sent around the grade list so we are all well aware of how horrible 90% of the class is doing. I honestly thought this class would be fairly easy and it's not. I get the whole freshman weeding out thing but a great deal of our class has degrees and are going back to school (myself included). It's just unfortunate that the prof doesn't make the course interesting...I guess he has the right to teach however he wants to though.

Hi - I'm in a Sociology level 100 class at North Hennipen CC and out of 50 students, the majority are getting D's and F's.... Anyone else experience this? The prof is extremely difficult in his testing. We're graded only on 4 exams with each one covering 4 chapters (100 pages each) and we basically guess what is going to be on the test and if you're wrong, then you could fail the whole test! Thoughts?

Thanks for the information. The exams are take home? Interesting! I'll be curious to find out once you have an exam how hard it is. I'll probably email you in a month or so... The nutrition class is online so I'm thinking that would be manageable then! Thanks a bunch!

Hi - has anyone taken this course at St. Kate's? I'm just curious to know if it is a challenge and what's all involved. I'm thinking of taking it with nutrition this spring but I'm not sure if I should take nutrition at the same time...any thoughts? Thanks in advance for your response!

Hi everyone - Does anyone know what it means at St. Kate's to be put on an alternate list? I understand that I didn't get a for sure spot for 2009 or 2010 but I have more questions around it all... I am put on the list for 2010 so if no one gives up their spot, what happens to those on the list? Do we have to reapply for 2011 or do we automatically get a spot in 2011? How many are one these "alternate" lists? Also, does anyone know why they filled the 2010 spots too? If anyone has any information about this I'd be greatly appreciated!

Hi - thanks for the msg! I will sit tight but I'm very anxious and a wee bit stressed about it! Did you apply last year? Also, to answer your previous post, it's my understanding that a previous degree along with this certificate does qualify as an equivalent to a BSN so I would think you can get a masters after this. I think I asked the counselor about this.

Thank you so much for all your feedback! I agree with all of you!!!

I'm very confused - I have a degree, am not a nurse but want to be and I'm currently researching schools and programs. The school I'm considering has a BSN program offered for the next year and then they're switching it to an MSN program. Both programs require students to have a previous degree. I just don't understand why I should get an MSN when I don't have any experience in nursing and don't want to work in management or teaching positions when I graduate. How could I even do that? I won't have a clue what truly being a nurse is like if I just got out of college and have no work experience. Why are schools doing this? Please offer your thoughts and advice! Thanks everyone!