plowboy911

At this point, 5 years in or whatever it is for me, I miss my days at a desk living a normal life. Many of the people I know in other careers complain about their drive or someone drinking the last cup of coffee. Oh well, we have job security. I thin...

Has anyone recently taken chem II through edukan? If so, how did it go? Any thoughts good or bad appreciated.

I am really interested to know this as well. Completely different tracks. Money??? Where I work the CRNAs are no more "independent" than a PA would be.

Whatever area you go in to just remember some days are diamonds, some days are stones. Good points made above. Certainly each area is different. ER you need to be ready to run and know that you are not going to be able to focus on any area for too l...

Coming out of nursing school I did not believe this, but I think a year of med-surg / tele / step down is invaluable. You will gain confidence and have some credibility when both applying to and starting an ICU position. This isn't a hard and fast ru...

Just needed to take that next step and get additional experience. Seems like, depending on one's goals, you need a year or more of ICU experience to be credible. Not sure what my goals are, but I felt I needed to get some ICU experience under my belt...

I think you will really like PACU. I know I love it, my favorite place to be. Having worked in the SICU you will be light years ahead of most, however, you will need to realize quickly that you are not going to fix everything wrong with a person and ...

I went through an accelerated program. Had to have a bachelors and many prereqs to be accepted. Was very competitive to get in and hard work once there. It is MUCH more than going to "regular" college. In addition to 15+ hours of course work per seme...

I certainly do not think you are too old. That being said, can you see yourself pushing carts around, transferring pts from cart to bed, starting IVs, etc., when you are 60+? In reality, going back to school at this point, you will need to work well ...

I recommend you check out radiology tech program or even a pharmacy tech program. No blood or gore there, at least not what you have to deal with all the time. Yeah, you will have to xray a trauma or something now and then, but might be a better fit ...

1) Is there a really bad Social stigma when you say oh I'm a nurse at XYZ? No, not really. Most people are surprised i'm doing it. 2) What do you love/hate about nursing? Be brutally honest. Your rate/expense, whatever you want to call it, that the h...

Good thread. Might I suggest looking to the docs for role models / testosterone? Ha, joking. I felt the same way all through nursing school and still feel that 3 years out. I get through it by keeping the end goal in mind. Also, I do not engage in th...

Sure being a male opens doors - there is always a need for someone to take the combative or heavy patients. Don't believe the hype about more opportunities for males...

AMEN. I cannot imagine going from bean counter, waiter or whatever to a NP via direct entry. The experience gained on the floor is a MUST. I'm light years from where i was coming out of school as an RN and still not ready to jump in as a NP. I think ...

I went through a BSN program. I hated it at the time, but looking back it was not the worst thing I've ever done. - Stay organized - Expect to do a lot of busy work (eg. papers, writing and more writing). I went through with an attorney and he said h...

Whatever you do, and I don't know how many times i have to repeat this, shadow, talk to real nurses, spend time with them, work as a CNA, etc, etc. You may think you want to be a nurse, but nursing school is a long haul to find out it's not for you. ...

I do not think anyone speaking out regarding new nurses and those wanting to become a nurse is "eating their young". That comes at the hospital when you are working your tail off and do not have time to take a sip of water let alone answer questions....

You need it. You will see psych on any floor, especially ER. Is the rotation in place of med/surg, or in place of a 2nd/3rd rotation?

I'm sorry, but why would one want to?? I do not think either NP or PA education is substantial enough to warrant going solo. I'm a nurse and hope to be either an NP or PA someday, but you can bet that I want that MD/DO knowledge to fall back on. Just...

Interesting. Will you work as a masters prepared nurse (NP) out of the gate or an entry-level nurse? And how is supply/demand?

I am curious why you want to get an MSN now, without experience? Like most masters degrees I believe you are best served by gaining some experience and then working towards an advanced degree. But what do i know...

Is there any advantage to being a male NP? Many told me along the way to becoming an RN that advantages exist [being male], but they never materialized. Instead I get called for the heavy work and get the combative patients.

Funny, I am a male, was/am an accountant and went through an accelerated program. I went to nursing school for exactly the reasons you listed... I HIGHLY recommend you do some shadowing because it's not for everyone. I can speak from experience in th...

I know in my particular area of the midwest all of the schools have greatly expanded their slots, some in the neighborhood of doubling enrollment, and new schools have opened. It's somewhat humorous in that the new schools are not at all new, rather ...

danger zone for sure. most of the women i work with are crazy. i would not want to date them nor do they want to date you. it's much more fun for them to flirt with docs that make a minimum of 4x what you do.