wazeout

Congrats to all of you for passing the 1st test. I just had my very first test this past tues. and I received a 92% grade average. I was surprised, because I thought that I would be in the low 80's. I missed two lecture classes, and was still acclimating myself to the whole programs online portion (it is so confusing at first, but a great tool and idea once your familiar with it), which gives us handouts and other useful info. that is essential to this high paced program. This school has a consistently high nclex pass rate, so getting anything under an 82 is failing. Good luck to all future test!!

Can you validate your suspicions, because right now you only sound paranoid. Besides, a person has to graduate from an approved, accredited program before they can take the nclex, and they have to pass that exam before becomming an RN. So, your above (highlighted) comment makes no sense at all.

You know, I was originally upset about the whole ban on smoking in public places thing--not the hospitals and stores and offices etc., but mostly about the ban in bars and casinos. I still feel that an owner of a place should and could if they wanted, create a seperate smoking area that is totally isolated from the rest of the building. I use to smoke and no longer do so, but even when I did, I couldn't believe how people would smoke in laundry mats and other places (god forbid a hospital) without regard for anybody else. Smoking in a hospital is just stupid and just plan wrong. But, some people don't have common sense, and will do stupid things because they can, which then causes a law to mad for these stupid people to obey without being discriminatory.

I thought you said that the VA and your employer pays for your college. Which is it? Donyou have money and pay for your own college or do you use the financial aid/educational benefits (which of course you've earned if a veteran) of the VA to pay for your college?

I can understand what you're saying from a "dip your toe in the water" approach to see if you can deal with the environment of healthcare, but saying that YOU know people "with little to no patient care experience" will not be a good fit for a nursing career is just your unproven opinion--anecdotes aside. Working as a CNA before going to nursing school doesn't make you a more experienced registered nurse once you finish school and pass the nclex. In fact it doesn't even count as RN experience at all. It's not like you can negotiate a higher starting wage based on that experience, let alone even get an RN job based off it. I mean really, you never hear people say this about PT's, OT's or MD's only RN's. The truth is that once you've finished school and become licensed in whatever healthcare postition you've been trained in, then you can practice what you've learned in school, and continuously build upon that knowledge in real (life) time, which will always present something new and challenging.

That was a really good explanation. Thank you for that.

take Movakel for A&P, he's a good teacher.

Not to sound snarky, but if you just graduated high school, then you probably haven't lived long enough to know the difference between passion and desire. However, deciding on a career path at a young age is a good thing and should be applauded, but now you are getting a taste of the real world where everybody in these times are desperate to make and keep a standard of living, so the competition is stiff for nursing school and nursing jobs. Heck, teenagers at McDonalds are fighting senior citizens that have had to come out of retirement for them positions. Good luck to you. I'm sure you will get into a program.

I hear where your coming from OP, but would like to encourage you to, and all others, to take a look at PBS FRONTLINE: The Plea. It's an eye opener! IMHO, I think, besides sexual predators, the worst criminals to healthcare are the greedy finacial criminals, because they affect groups of people, instead of one or two here and there, and they most often do not have a criminal background, but even if they do, it's usually over-looked.

Although I can understand where you're coming from, I disagree with this statement, because we all can and have felt frustrated with the bureaucracy of organizations, which feel exactly like the "man is hold'n you down," and in many cases that is exactly what's going on, because often times, especially with government agencies, there is an "if it ain't broke don't fix" attitude, that can hinder progressive thinking. Unfortunately, most people's behavior reflect this attitude and go along with the status quo, that is until something drastic happens, which will cause the bureaucrates to finally look at and fix the problem, but that is only reactionary without the benefit of forethought.

The math for nursing is so easy. The only math you will ever really need for dosage calculations is very basic elementary algebra, and that is basically fractions and multiplications in the form of dimensional analysis. K,H,D,U,D,C,M can be used without doing math at all and is much quicker when converting btwn metric units, because all you need to do is move the decimal from right to left to get the required metric equivalent.

I believe it, and its probably why Washington state doesn't recognize LVN's from California.

You should look at PBS Frontline's report online about for-profit schools called "College Inc." and then check out the other report called "Educating Sergeant Pantke." These two investigative reports are a must see for anybody considering taking this route. Very informative!!!

Why not do both, that is get your RN and work and go back to school to become a physician. The hospital you work at may even help you out.

I think you make some good points, and I would hope hospitals that are seeking Magnus status by pushing all nurses to become BSN's would take a page from your essay.