jedv#1

Hello everyone! I just graduated last April from my BSN, and just took the NLE for the local boards last June 6-7. What should I take next, CGFNS or NCLEX? What are the qualifications for both to be able to take the exams? What are the procedures? Should I take IELTS first? I have also heard that if you would be taking the NCLEX exam for some particular states in the U.S., it would be eligible for other U.S. states as well. Which states are they? Thank you very much for your advice.:bowingpur:yeah:

I agree with the others. You have to be proficient on both sexes. In the real hospital setting, you can't choose which gender to assess. :)

hello everyone! does anybody know of a website where you can download nursing skills videos for free? all of the websites i've browsed are asking for fees. thanks in advance!:wink2::bowingpur

bsn junior here! a second courser and wishing that i should have decided on taking nursing sooner!! good luck and God Bless!!!:xmas_smilies_daz:

hi there! i'm 42 and a bsn junior. so, i'd be graduating at 43. in between my store, two kids (ages 10 and 14), and nursing school, i still was able to get an average of 1.75 for this semester (that's between 90-94 GPA). age doesn't stop you from doing anything, i know of some graduates from my school who is over 50 and the last time i've heard she's in u.k. good luck! you can make it! just set your heart and mind to it!

:biere:i'm a bsn junior and i'm 42 years old. most of my classmates are half my age. its really not that hard as i thought it would be. the person who is at the top of my batch is a 40 year old single mother (she's juggling her bsn studies with her business and two kids!). i agree with happydays252, if you wan something very hard, go for it!! you can do it!!!

:angryfirepressure, pressure, pressure!!! it's what makes or breaks a man!! behind all these, just remember .... "a diamond is just a chunk of coal that made good under pressure!!!"

some think that it is a weakness or not masculine for men to cry. i totally disagree with this premise, being human, we are capable of emotion. it is just culture or our upbringing which dictates or has inculcated into our minds that men (specially the grown ups) should not cry. being sentient or capable of feeling is what separates us humans from animals. still, some argue that even animals have feelings too. so if man is not capable of showing grief, despair, sadness ... shall we call him not "human"?

yes this was also the instruction given to us by our clinical instructors, once the patient gets to know that you are counting their respiration, they do try to regulate their breathing pattern.

i agree with NurseguyFL. most of the registered straight guy nurses i know thrive on pressure at er and icu. probably because guys have more knack on the technical side with the use of all the medical equipment than females. some guy nurses i know enjoy working in dialysis. i also am looking forward in being assigned at the er once i graduate.

a second courser here and it will take me 2 years to finish BSN. welcome to the club!:biere:

:caduceus:i'm 41, a father of 2 kids, and now a junior BSN. you are never too old to learn. learning is a continuous process. GO FOR IT!!

:smokin:i'm 41, a father of two, previously worked as a pharmaceutical representative for a multinational company and now a 3rd year BSN student. learning is a continuous process, it doesn't stop or slow down with age!!!:pumpiron:

i worked as a pharmaceutical representative for 15 years. i was exposed to clinics and hospitals mainly for pharmaceutical promotions. never in my life did i have in mind of actually becoming a frontline healthcare worker. 4 years ago i rushed my mom to the hospital for severe asthma. the hospital was a 45 minute drive from our home. by the time we got there my mom was no longer breathing and the e.r. staff had to resuscitate her. i really didn't know what else happened there that night. probably i was overwhelmed at the sight of all the e.r. staff frantically moving to revive my mom. a guy from the staff escorted me and told me to wait outside. after several hours (it seemed as such) one of the staff told me that my mom was transferred to the icu. much as i wanted to to help my mom and make her well again, i didn't know how. i also couldn't bear the sight of her being stuck in a mechanical ventilator along with all the other tubing. after 5 days in the icu, my mom died. a year later, my wife was complaining of severe abdominal pains (ruq radiating to the back). after a thorough examination from her obgyne and after a confirmatory ultrasound, she was diagnosed with cholelithiasis and with uterine myoma. she was scheduled for cholecystectomy and hysterectomy. the operation went through successfully but, during her recovery, still groggy with anesthesia, she had a delayed allergic reaction to morphine and had generalized rashes and pruritus. it was dejavu for me of again seeing someone very dear to you needing of your help but unable to do so because of ignorance of actual nursing/medical intervention. she was administered with antamine and finally was discharged 1 week later. it was when my wife was still in the hospital when a one of her friends visited and said that she was about to go to nursing school. i don't know if it was just a matter of chance or fate that she mentioned her intention of taking up nursing. i enrolled along with the friend for a bsn course and i currently am at my third year.

the school i'm in gives recognition for academic excellence for garnering the highest averages in the major subjects (PHC I & II along with their respective RLEs, Anatomy & Physiology, N100, STS, MedTerm, Nutri & MicroPara).

BSN is actually my third course (AB Sociology at UST and took up Masters in Management Technology at DLSU Lipa). well... the school i'm in also require us to attend sportsfests and acquaintance parties with the same threat of 1-7 ( 1 absence equivalent to 7 duties). scheduling here is also a mess, specially for us "second coursers" (because there are some minor subjects that get into conflict on duty days!). our CIs are very professional though and treat us as such (professionals). second coursers here are doing well... in fact, the gold, silver and bronze medalists for our pinning and capping held last month were all second coursers.

:wink2: i'm on my third year at Calayan Educational Foundation (BSN). finished AB Sociology at the University of Santo Tomas. took up Masters in Management Technology at De la Salle Lipa.

i agree with seno on "There are more nursing schools now and so many nursing graduates. These schools have become mere diploma mills," Seno said. ever since there was an increase in demand for nurses in the States and in other countries abroad, there has been the proliferation of nursing schools in the Philippines. even other schools and universities which previously do not offer nursing in their curriculum suddenly turns up with a BSN course. they are just taking advantage for this increase in demand for their own financial gain and sacrifice the quality of their graduates.

i currently am a third year nursing student... but a "third courser. i have finished A.B. Sociology and took up Master in Mnagement Technology. When it was time for our first day at clinicals, i thought that my age, experience of having been in marketing as a pharmaceuticall representative for 15 years (already familiar with clinical and pharmaceutical terminologies), that i would be able to go through with it effortlessly. I WAS WRONG!!! i had the jitters!!! my clinical instructor noticed my nervousness (as well as my groupmates for that particular shift) and instructed us to review and practice all the basic nursing procedures one by one several times. her rationale was that these nursing procedures should be learned by heart... thus bringing confidence and less margin for error. Constant practice brings in mastery and confidence. Our group is now currently assigned at the e.r. A week ago we had 2 v.a.'s with 1 d.o.a. and 2 critical (1 a.k.a. and 1 with head trauma). if it weren't for constant exposure, review and practice, we would have messed up. the first days at clinical practice really are scary and at times self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy creeps in. but as time goes by and you get more exposure and competence, what you'll get is the feeling of acomplishment in doing your best in trying to help a sick or ijured person.

i was on duty at the e.r. once when we received a 2 year old female child with hematomas and cigarrette burns on her legs, back and forearms. having two kids myself, my heart really went for that child. she was brought in by her grandmother. having learned from thoroughly interviewing her grandmother that the lesions were inflicted by the victim's own father, my first impulse was to rush out of the hospital and go directly to their house and do the same thing to her father. what wrong thing did the child do no matter how grave to deserve such a thing? i was one of the happiest persons when the police arrested her father for child abuse!!! compassion in the workplace is, in my opininon part of a nurse's job. isn't it what caring is all about? and isn't CARING FOR PATIENTS what nursing is all about? so please don't put yourself down by calling yourself a dork.

:pumpiron:yeah, some may think that having a beard may be somewhat unprofessional; some say it doesn't. i think what matters most are your competencies in doing your duties, bearded or not. still... in a profession comprised predominantly by women, having a beard sends out a message of masculinity.