CorgiMom

The ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses provision 3.5 states: "...when errors do occur nurses are expected to follow institutional guidelines in reporting errors...and for assuring responsible disclosure of errors to patients." To withhold information about errors from the patient or family is an ethical issue. By all means, disclose the error.

It's important, as other have noted, that you know the requirements of schools you are interested in. A prerequisite is just that - a requirement that must be completed before starting a course or a program. Some students think courses are prereq. when in reality, they are support courses that may be taken with nursing courses.

My question is "Why would you be giving care to a friend"? In order to establish an objective and helpful therapeutic relationship with a client, nurses cannot approach that relationship like they would if the other person was a friend. Nurses provide care to people they don't like all the time. It's hard but that's how it is. To be therapeutic, we must set aside our judgment of clients and accept them just as they are. If you find a client that you know you just can't good care to, ask a colleague to switch with you.

While it sounds like the manager wasn't listening to your "truth" about what happened, it is reality that each of us perceives situations differently. How you perceive a situation is different than how another person may.

Does your State allow you to test for NCLEX-PN if you graduated from an RN program? I would check with the BON in your state to see what they require.

Google "centers of nursing". You will find several states have either conducted studies or cite studies about the shortage to support their work.

Exploring diseases is not really about nursing. You could research information about types of nursing jobs and then interview and videotape nurses about their experiences and what they like or dislike about their career choice. You would have to get their written permission to tape them. It might be very enlightening to discover more about nursing than what the media usually portrays.

I agree that many people are frightened by the stories they read in the popular press and react by being over involved whether it's helpful or not. However, I don't think there is one right answer to the question. Every person and family have different values and different perspectives. What is right for one family is not for another. This is not a black and white situation where one approach is right and another is wrong.

Over the leg.

There is no one scarier than someone who doesn't know what they don't know. Pretending to know something is dangerous. None of us knows everything. The ability to humble yourself and ask questions is a sign of a good critical thinker.

It would be pretty unusual to earn an initial nursing credential via an on-line program. While there are on-line BSN and MSN programs, they are generally for people who are already licensed as RNs.

And maybe acute care nursing is not for you. There are other environments that you might like better.

Another resource might be the nurse recruiter at the local hospitals.

What area of nursing did you enjoy while you were in school? Are there positions for new grads in those areas? If so, apply and see what happens. Best wishes for a rewarding career in nursing.

The nursing shortage is real. It is multifactorial. Nursing programs have been under fire for not producing enough nurses. But as one poster indicated, retention of new nurses is a problem. The solution must also be multifactorial. In addition to increasing access to nursing education, we must address the working conditions that force nurses out of the profession. We also need legislation to increase funding for health care and health care eduation. I believe the US health care system is broken and needs a major overhaul. Without that, we will never have enough health care workers.