RNillini14

Thanks for the replies. It just makes me nervous since it was so recently. If this was years down the road, that would be another issue. I really wasn't emailing with the intention of explaining anything away but I understand what you're saying. It was more I made a hard decision, the other offer was not as I was informed, and I still believe I could be a good fit for for the hospital if given another opportunity to apply. I wouldn't mention more than that about the other job. I just don't want to seem sneaky and dishonest, along the lines of thinking I could apply without them noticing. Surely they write these things in our application files?

Back in December I interviewed at a hospital for a staff nurse position on unit. At the same time my potential dream job fell out of the sky. I was called by an IT recruiter that saw my resume on Monster. She was looking for nurses interested in getting into healthcare informatics for a big hospital system that was going to be going live in the next year with Epic. They were going to certify me to be an Epic trainer. It sounded like a great opportunity to get my foot in the door in informatics. I made the hard decision to turn down the hospital offer. If this other job had not come up I certainly would have taken the offer as it was also a great opportunity. In the end though, the IT recruiter strung me along, lead me on with false information, and kept delaying for almost 2 months. Long story short, the informatics job did not pan out as they decided only to use in-house nurses. I was upset to say the least. It was a hard life but valuable lesson. Today I noticed the original hospital was hiring for positions I would be interested in. I would like to apply but was wondering if first I should write an email to the HR manager I interviewed with apologizing for previously declining and let them know I would still be interested in working for them? Is there an etiquette for this sort of thing? I just don't want my application immediately trashed though maybe I deserve that for turning them down. At the time I declined I did say I would be taking another offer.

Thanks so much carolinapooh, that was a big help. I've read alot of your other posts in this forum and you've been very helpful and informative. I'm going to call the recruiter on Monday in my area to get started. I've thought about this for almost a year now since I graduated and really think it's what I want to do. I'm excited and hope I get in but scared also I won't. My dad was in the army and my grandpa was in the navy and I felt like trying something different. From what I've read about the air force I feel like it will be the right fit for me, that there a family feel and they take care of their people, of course not to say the others don't! I respect every branch, I'm actually still thinking about the navy too. :)

I have a question about this Air Force Active Duty Health Professions Loan Repayment Program. I have gathered from previous posts that the 90 slots have already been filled for this fiscal year. Am I right in thinking that this means the Air Force only repays loans for 90(or whatever amount they decide that year) officers each year? What happens when you are an officer and need repayment but there are no funds that year? Do you have to apply for payment each year? The max amount for 2010 is 40,000 grand if I've read correct. Or is it 40,000 in repayment one time only ever? Or can you get repayment more than one year? I am seriously considering joining the Air Force and loan repayment is a major incentive for me as I have close to $60,000 in nursing school loans and want to know for sure that this will be covered if I do choose to join. I am also confused by active duty obligation. Say for instance, I need 2 years of repayment (if there is such a thing), so that is 2 years of ADO right? But what would be my initial agreement? 3 years? For a total of 5? I got the impression from another site it was 8 but they did not explain how they got to this number. Sorry for all the questions.

Thanks for all the feedback, this has been great. I like the excel idea, maybe I'll test that out for a day and see how it goes. I also think i'm going to do a sheet with teachers and write tallies next to them for office visits because I'm starting to get a little fishy

I think it may be a school district thing to keep track of every visit for the child, it's also nice to look and see the child's track record, but I see what you're saying. That's awesome you have electronic charting!! I am sooo jealous! Wish I could get that implemented here. They do use a system called panther, but daily logs are not kept there.

Hi! I'm a new school nurse that is getting in the grind of things and just have some questions for you other school nurses out there. This may sound silly, but I was wondering what sort of organization system do you utilize. Each student at my school has a log sheet for their nurse visits. These are keep in a crate in hanging folders separated by grade level. Every time a student comes in, I have to ask for their last name, grade level, and then locate their sheet, fill it out, and later when I get a chance refile it. I am super organized person and I know there is more a time efficient way to do this. At the end of the day I can spend 15 minutes refiling the log sheets if I had a busy day, which may not sound like a lot but it gets old fast haha Does anyone use similar style logs and have a better, more time efficient way of managing them? Maybe something as simple as putting all logs in a binder? Maybe it's just me, but I cannot wait for electronic medical charting to reach schools but I have a feeling that will be awhile.

Seriously, I would save money and do a ADN. I wish I had now, just because of my loan situation. I think I have close to $50,000 in loans. And I have to start repaying in March. I'm freaking out. Loyola gave great financial aid. Almost wished is wasn't so great now hahaha. I've been looking for a job since June about but more aggressively since end of August. Hospitals pay the same to ADN as BSN's. There in no difference there. Most of the older nurses I've met that are still floor nurses have ADN's because that was more common during that time. It's the administrative nurses/nurse managers that have advanced degrees (and of course professors). I've noticed on some applications that they "prefer" BSN's but these are mostly for jobs in offices, not sure why. Harper College in Palatine has an excellent nursing program, but I know there is also a wait to get in it and they require you first to become a CNA. I'd check out COD (college of dupage) or ECC (elgin community college) too. Another reason I think ADN is a great way besides that we get the same pay and it's CHEAPER, is that there are MILLIONS of those ADN-BSN or ADN-MSN programs, including online. I think UIC and Rush even have one. So while it may seem to be the longer route, really it isn't. Seriously give it a thought if money is an issue.

I would definitely take the job. I held off for a while in applying to LTC's, but I finally did and still have YET to hear from anyone. WTH. I think at this point, any experience is better than sitting here losing my nursing skills, ya know? I have applied EVERYWHERE. Name it, I applied. And the longer I'm out from nursing school and not working, the worse I feel it looks to potential employers. I'm starting to seriously consider moving out of state (Texas and Florida seem like the only places hiring new grads) or joining military. My loan repayments start in March and I am freaking out. Can I ask what LTC this is? A nurse recruiter called me the other day from an agency and asked how much experience I had, and I was like, "Uh entry level, I'm a new nurse grad." And she was like, "Oh, yea, we don't have any hospitals ANYWHERE in the country for those, but you might want to try this ONE hospital I know of in Texas." I was like "Great, thanks." Anyway, good luck!! Hope everything pans out.

Hi weezbug123, all said and done, tho the program was not the most well run of nursing programs, I did feel I got good teaching and an excellent clinical experience. It was also wonderful to be done in 13 months. Not that that is helping since I can't seem to get a job, but that's another story. I think the majority of the professors were excellent and did a great job. But just like any school, there are going to be certain professors that you think don't teach in the way you like to be taught or are a little harebrained. By politics, I was referring to administration. While there, they underwent a series of changes to different administrative roles. Deans and such. The transitions were not very smooth. I'm not sure if this was the reason but often there seemed to be a lag in relaying information to the students. Such as info on clinicals or simulations. It often seemed we were not told until last minute things we should have been given more a warning to or that everyone we asked had a different answer for things that should have been nailed out. It was frustrating. They received a lot of flack from students on it so I would assume by now things will run much smoother. Hopefully. They have also extended the program to 16 months which will most likely make a big difference. By atmosphere, I'm not sure what you mean, but if you're talking about the students, and the general camaraderie of the school, I think that was by far the best part. Since all the students are previous bachelor degree holders and many have already worked in a career for some time, they are serious students really interested in nursing and learning. They came from all different backgrounds and you will really meet some of the most interesting people. They are team-players and you will grow to have this unique bond with the class because no one else can understand everything you are going through besides them. In that way, I believe they did do a very good job at selecting the students. Also, everyone is in the same boat and wanted their fellow classmates to succeed. It was really a supportive group of people. Interestingly, I was probably one of the younger classmates (24 at the time) as I had only been out of undergrad for 1 year prior. Average age is probably 26-29, most recently married women with no kids. I think we had 5 guys total out of 70-ish. Hope I answered some of your questions. If you have more feel free to message me, sorry for the long post! Best of luck to all you future nursing students!

AWESOME IDEA!! I actually want to be a school nurse in the future but I figured I would need experience first, never thought to be a substitute. There are vacancies in my area right now that I'm gonna apply for. Wish me luck!

Like I said in previous post, I got the pop-up multiple times after I tried after my test on Monday. And today I got my quick results (I live in Illinois) and I passed. Soo while I can't say it works for everyone, it at least worked for me! WOOOOO!

I graduated from the ABSN prog in 2009 and there was no interview for us. I hadn't heard that the incoming students had one either. But with the politics of that place, who knows. Best of luck to your friend. He'll need it to survive that program.

I feel all you. Been on the lookout since May. Have applied to dozens of jobs and received dozens of rejections. And all have the same general reason "You do not fit our clinical requirements for this job" i.e. we want some with experience or "We have found someone that better suits our job requirements" i.e. we found someone with experience. Well great, GIVE ME THE EXPERIENCE and I promise you won't regret it!! It's very frustrating. I've started looking at PCT/CNA jobs just because I see so many of those out there, but I have a feeling they wouldn't want to hire me just because they'd be afraid I'd leave as soon as I get a nursing job. But I don't know what else to do to get my foot in the door!

Took my test yesterday at 2 pm and tried the trick as soon as I got home and got the pop-up. Have tried it at least 3 more times since then and still get the pop-up. So I'm hoping that the trick does work! Will get my quick results tomorrow and post the results! Good luck to everyone else!