Okhotneek

In our school we have tons. Every semester there are at least 3 big presentations we have to do. One was in front of a group of 100+ and that one was actually the most fun! And guess what, I'm terrified of speaking in public too. Don't think about it right now or you'll talk yourself out of doing this. Don't let something as silly as talking in front of people keep you from your dream. I think pretty much EVERY school you go to will require public speaking. It's impossible to bypass. My anatomy class even required a presentation :-( Most of the presentations are with a group and after a while they aren't so bad because you know most of the people in the class. Also, you will have to perform in front of your instructor and other people under pressure all the time. There are groups like toastmasters that can help with your fear of public speaking. Nursing school seems to be getting me over my fear though, hopefully I'll be a decent speaker before I graduate :-)

I don't know about everyone else, but I would probably have to work my butt off (50+ hr every week) for 3 years to be able to afford 1 semester. And that's if tuition, gas and living expenses don't go up I don't find my loans to be stupid investments. Great if you have people to help you, don't make minimum wage and don't have 80% of your paycheck going to daycare. When I graduate, if I work at it, I know I can have my loans paid off in a year.....that really doesn't seem dumb to me.

So I'm in my second semester, family nursing and have been spending a lot of time in couplet care and newborn nursery.... I'm actually loving it! This semester has been a HUGE relief. I hated my first semester and seriously questioned if this was what I really wanted to do. If this semester turned out to be torture like the first, I really think I would have dropped out. Now, I'm sure I want to be an RN... just in time, cause I hear med-surg really sucks Anyone else ever unsure if this is what you really want to do?

Did anybody else's "Under Review" status disapear?

I honestly wouldn't worry about it. With being in school fulltime, a hubby that works at least 50 hours a week and a 3 year old...I honestly have no time for volunteer work/prt time job. If I graduate and have trouble finding a job, well then it's not meant to be at the moment and I'll focus on getting my BSN. If I have trouble after that then I'll have more time for a graduate program :-) Don't stress about this right now. The facts that we're being fed are saying nurses are in demand....if they're misleading us there isn't much we can do about it. You'll stress yourself out over problems that haven't happened yet. Focus on making it through school and try to see the upside of everything. Life is so full of opportunites, you just have to notice them when they are there. I promise things will work out in the end.

Low wages might have to do with cost of living in the area... However, where I'm from (Louisiana) wages just suck for everything. It doesn't really have much to do with demand of anything, the economy has always been horrible there. If you're not experienced in the oil field, working offshore or in another country then you're not going to get paid (obviously I'm excluding careers like Dr's, lawyers, etc). There are just so many factors going into wages and the economy in different areas. If you're worried, maybe you could try getting a job as a patient assistant or CNA for a hospital you're interested in. You would have a leg up on the competition. You would get a chance to experience the company culture and decide if you like it or if you want to move on. I wouldn't worry about finding a job. In almost every career, people have trouble finding a decent job. One of my friends graduated school with a bachelors in behavioral science in 2006 and still hasn't found a job. She's had to work as a temp while job searching :-( So cheer up, if your heart is in to nursing then I wouldn't worry about problems until they happen.

What part of Pa and what exactly are you going in to? I live in Lancaster county....I think most start out in the 40's around here....lol...would definitely be up for a move though :-)

That's what I thought too....that most hospitals would qualify, but I called and asked about a few hospitals that I would want to work for and they do not qualify. It's hospitals that are in a shortage area.... http://hpsafind.hrsa.gov/HPSASearch.aspx in this county, only a small part of the city qualifies and I have no clue what places they are thinking are there that need nurses....it's all low income housing there, definitely no hospitals. And then there are extremely rural areas that I could work for, which would mean an hour drive from where I live. :-( So that's what I gathered from it.....if I'm wrong please tell me. I would really like to be wrong about it.

Maybe because there is already a large older population? If they just wanted the 90-100 degree, insanely humid weather then why not Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas? I don't think it's for the beach...lol....you only see maybe 5 or 6 really leathery old people in their bikinis on the beach. As far a being good for you...I think it's worse for everything? Especially breathing problems. I've had days in Louisiana where it took me a few tries to go outside cause it was so hot and humid, I couldn't get any air in....I felt like I was suffocating (I didn't have allergies or any other prob). For some reason though, here in Pa it seems to be the thing to do....retire to Fl. I lived there for as long as I could stand it (1yr), and I have no clue why anyone would want to live there. If I wanted tropical, I think my dream would be Hawaii, Magarita Island, Indonesia, Micronesia....etc etc...lol...tons of places better than Fl...

Mine says under review... Ok, I'm having second thoughts on accepting the scholarship.. When I applied, I was under the impression that most hospitals would qualify the service obligation. I find their website useless...the whole process is confusing to me and they didn't do a very good job of explaining anything, especially the service obligation. Well....thanks to allnurses, I found a website that gave you a list of shortage areas... All of which are in areas I do not really want to work (imagine gas prices in a few years). My hubby has an awesome job, so we can't relocate and I had my heart set on working for a certain hospital which doesn't qualify :-( So now I'm depressed and don't know what to do. The money would most definitely help...my hubby has been working 60+ hours a week so we can survive and it will get worse when my 3 yr old has to go back to daycare (another $400 a month). I can't really work when I'm in school....I have classes every day and rarely have enough time to get everything done when I'm off. My family is tired of spending time with me while I'm studying flashcards and listening to lectures as it is. I had a part time job last semester that I had to quit...I have so much respect for you guys that are able to do it. So anyway, if I get this scholarship (EFC is 0) should I just bite the bullet for 2 years? Has anyone else had this problem? I'm not totally against driving and working in a more rural area...it's just I've never heard of any decent hospitals or places to work in the particular area and so I have no idea how hard it will be to find a decent job there. To top it off, where I live is VERY cliquey...if you're native to this area, you will be taken care of....especially in the rural communities. It's also very white...and I look hispanic, so that really worries me (this area was on national news recently cause of all the racists problems). Any suggestions on what I should do? Turn it down and struggle to avoid homelessness? or Take it and worry about the cosequences in a year and a half?

I'm currently in Lancaster General College's nusing program. I love it there. There is a good mix of older students and most of the kids coming out of high school are decent people. I'm 24, haven't lived with my parents since I was 17, have a kid....so I usually feel bored when I talk to teens still living at home. I get along with almost everyone at LGC though, it's a great mix of people and all the students I know are very suppotive of each other. Most of the clinical instuctors seem to really care about their jobs and are very supportive and understanding. The class sizes are pretty small...so you can get to know a lot of people. Of course it's stressful and they put TONS of work on you. This past semester, a week before finals, I had 3 presentations due and tests everyday....it's just how it worked out for me. I would definitely suggest getting as many prereqs out of the way as possible. A&P is a monster class that takes tons of study time and it's hard when you have 5 hours of nursing paperwork, plus tests in both classes. Psych, Soc (I'm told), clinical math, nutrition, eng (a lot of writing though) are really easy. There are online classes for nutrition and soc if you want to do that. The online nutrition course was very easy and a godsend cause I really needed to be able to work on that on my own time schedule. As far as evening/weekend, LPN-Rn....I don't know much about. I'm attending fulltime and it'll take me 5 semesters. As far as tuition...this semester for 13 credits is $6,230. 10 of those credits are for nursing, which is $505 per credit. So for Nur 101 &111 it is 7 credits, that would be $3535. General Ed courses are $335 per credit. So your A&P's (4 credits) would be $1340 plus the $175 lab fee ($1515). So just nursing 101&111 and A&P I would be $5050. Right now, for me, my total charges add up to $18,000 for a total of 40 credits and I have 2 more semesters to go after that. Total, I guess I'm looking at $30,785 if tuition doesn't get raised again (HA...nice dream). Also there is the enrollment fee when you first enter...$300. For 1st year nursing books, 8 are required, 2 optional and 1 recommended. If you get them at the school bookstore (mbsdirect.net) then it's about $817....but everywhere else is cheaper. There is also a student community on black board where you can buy/sell used books. lol...well, I'm tired of typing....if you have any questions feel free to ask...

I've heard many also, just ignore them. Negative thoughts will get you down. Just take everything 1 day, 1 assignment at a time. I wrote everything I had to do out, in order of importance and would just go down the list. lol...and yeah, some days you have 3 tests, and multiple assignments/presentations due. I just focus on getting through the week. I think you will find that the instructors are more nurturing than you think. I don't know how I would gotten through the semester without the encouragement of my clinical instructors. My fellow students are awesome too, everyone kinda leans on each other when needed. It might seem hard when you're doing it, but when the semester is over you're like, whew that wasn't so bad.

I thought I was the only one that did this It definitely makes a big difference. I'm so bad about shaking especially when doing presentations. If I start feeling shaky, I just concentrate more on my toes...something about it just helps me relax.

I wouldn't really say A&P was hard....just a lot of info to digest. Don't wait until the last minute to study. The info will be jibberish on the first day but as you study all week long, you'll finally get it. My psych teacher use to try to tell us that the brain processes things during sleep... When I could, I used index cards....I learned best that way. Recording the lecture helped tremendously also. A lot of people don't like recorders b/c they say they can barely hear it, but with mine I grabbed a seat at the front of the class and used ear buds and it worked great. With regular headphones I couldn't hear a thing but with ear buds I could hear her voice wonderfully. I'd listen to the lecture when I was jogging....wonderful combination...while I was freaking out about A&P tests, I was releasing stress. I hear A&P II is pretty much the same when it comes to difficulty, you just cover different things.

I had a terrible high school GPA and didn't even send in my SAT scores....I didn't know how to get them (I graduated in 02). My school is really competitive (even for just general education), I have no idea how I got in. I did have to send 3 references and an essay, which would have to be the only thing that set me apart from the other candidates. I only had to do 1 semester of gen ed and I was accepted into nursing this next semester. My GPA was 3.8 but I know some of the girls that were let in weren't A students. I know my school looks for more than just the ability to make an A. They ask for references for everything.....which leads me to believe they would like to know more about your character rather than just going by intelligence. Stay positive and try applying to other schools. If you think you'll never make it then you won't.