salimom

Myself and another nurse were helping a very needy long term patient in our acute care hospital. She looked at the other nurse and said,"You are just so pretty." Then looked at me and added, "You're pretty too.... In your own way." Ouch! That one stung.

I was on the list for a year and a half. It was the only program I had selected because of my schedule.

Thanks so much for all of the responses! I went ahead and got my BLS, and was able to get hired on at a great hospital. I'm sure I will pursue other certifications in the future.

No problem! I agree, there should be much more part time options for nursing school. Good luck!

I just graduated from Gateway's part-time RN program. The majority of my class worked full time, and almost everyone had family. It is do-able, but I have to say that only about half of our original class graduated without having to repeat a block, or two. I agree that it is not really part time, but more like flex scheduling. We did two nights a week, 5:30-9:30, which days depend on the instructors, and 12 hour clinicals on Fridays or Saturdays. You can do whatever you set your mind too, the part-time program was a blessing for me because I could not have done any other program. Good luck!

Thanks so much for your responses, saved me a couple of hundred dollars! I was CPR/BLS certified at the beginning of school, but it expired last month and I figured if I needed to upgrade to ACLS I would do it now. Thanks again!

Hi all you nurses out there. I just graduated nursing school, and I want to be adequately certified to apply for any jobs that may miraculously pop up. I am somewhat confused as to whether or not I need BLS certification for health care provider, or ACLS (I'm not interested in ER, ICU or CCU, as if I even have any options but you get what I mean). The BLS I believe is about $55.00, but the ACLS is over $250.00, so I don't want to take it if the place I eventually get hired at will pay for me to take it. Also, does anyone know of a good company/organization that does the BLS and/or ACLS certifications? I'm having a hard time finding one. Please and thank you

I'm starting that program too! See you soon :wink2:

I start Gateway's part time program next Wednesday so I will let you know. I did a lot of online pre-reqs and I know for me, that I prefer in person classes and that is why I didn't choose Rio Salado. But Gateway only admits to their part time program once a year and I think Rio Salado is every semester.

I think the fact that hospitals are not hiring as much has to do with a number of factors. Firstly, illegal immigrants used to be able to apply for free health insurance from the state (AHCCCS), but prop 202 passing several years ago took that away (not saying it's good or bad, I'm just saying). Also, health insurance is getting more expensive, so people are opting for cheaper insurance plans that have high deductibles and co-insurance. So simply put, in this bad economy, people cannot afford to go to the doctor/hospital. Illegal immigrants have no insurance, other people can't afford their deductible or co-insurance. They are opting to tough it out, or go to a minute clinic instead of the emergency room. Also I think people are moving out of Arizona because it's housing prices are forecast to keep going down and I've read several articles saying that immigrants are choosing to move to states with laws that are less tough, and/or they are moving back to Mexico because there is no work for them here. I'm interested to see how Barack Obama's health insurance reform will affect jobs in healthcare and the nursing market. From how it reads, everyone is supposedly going to have good/affordable healthcare, and that itself would create a need for more healthcare jobs. I think by New Years 2010 we will have a better idea of the future of healthcare jobs. And we thought we were all going to school for jobs that were a sure thing. I guess nothing is certain.

Anybody else starting in January? I'm getting nervous and excited at the same time. I just went and bought my scrubs and got the last pink 'nice' Littman stethescope. The salesman called it 'Save the Tatas' pink because money from it's purchase goes toward breast cancer research. I had to laugh afterward.

Yay indeed! I got into the Gateway part time program, and my date stamp was June 23 2007. It was my only choice, the only one I could do actually, and I feel really blessed to have finally got in. Congratulations to everyone else, and don't lose hope for the rest. The wait has to end sometime, and when it does it feels GREAT!

AZSamantha, you can always add MCC as one of your choices and give yourself a higher probability of getting in on the next defferal placement. You're so close I'm sure you will be in one of the next placements.

I definitely know how you guys feel, I got into the Gateway Part time program and my time stamp was June of 07, so AZSamantha I would still keep hope alive for a deferral placement spot.

It's 2:00 on the dot, and they still aren't done with the placement. I haven't watched the clock this much since I was a kid on Christmas morning.