Salamanda NP

You remind me of how I felt when getting my first degree - in Sociology. I was always an English and history girl, too - and terrible at math (which intimidated the heck out of me)! About halfway through college I decided I wanted to be a nurse, and even applied for a program and was accepted, but I was intimidated by the field and not sure if I was making the right decision. So, I finished my Soc degree and worked for a few years. Well, needless to say, I went back to nursing and am now a RN! In many ways it was one of the best decisions I have made. I also didn't really want the nights, weekends, holidays hospital schedule, nor did I want to do Med-Surg. I am working at a homecare agency as a Community Health Nurse and spend half of my time out visiting clients and half at my desk doing mounds of paperwork. I love my job (even though I just started a month ago!) and work M-F 8:30-4:30 with no nights, weekends or holidays. If nursing is truly your calling then follow it - you'll be surprised where it takes you. Good luck!

I know you said you made your decision, but I wanted to weigh in, too. I took A&P II, Micro and Pathopysiology together two years ago and it was a rough semester. I basically did nothing but write papers, make flashcards, study said flashcards, eat and sleep. It was all consuming and the hardest semester I had ever had up until that point (nursing school was harder!). BUT, it was doable and I managed to do well. Good luck in whatever decision you made.

Just a suggestion, but are there any stay at home moms on bas who can help you out? It sounds like you really only need help two days - I'm sure one of the women on base would be willing to do that. Good luck and congrats!

Reply emailed to you.

INFJ here! "I am an INFJ and I am actually really surprised to see so many INFJs in the thread. Obviously the sample size is too small to say there are a lot of INFJ nurses overall, but I always thought the I and the N portions were not that conducive to something like nursing, where you have to interact with so many people and where accumulating and assessing data is so important. I guess I was wrong! I am curious how the INFJ nurses feel about how their type influences their practice." I agree. I'm surprised as well. For me I know that I am very good at socializing with my patients but it does tire me out.

That sounds really incorrect to me. I would call someone else at the school and ask. I am pretty sure that you will still have to complete courses like A&P, Microbiology, etc. Also, have you done all of your gen ed classes? Because if you are going for a BSN you absolutely have to have completed those courses too. Good luck.

how long have you been a nurse? 7 months Age? 29 gender? f What was your previous career? human resources Did you receive a college degree in that specialty? no - my degree was in sociology How long did you work in your previous career? a couple of yrs What was the hardest part about changing careers? no longer having my own income and getting used to school again What was your motivation in changing from your previous career? always wanted to be a nurse did you make more or less money in your previous career compared to nursing? right now about the same What qualities do you possess (if any) from your previous career that help you in the nursing field? organizational skills, people skills Was your first career in the healthcare field? yes, it was hr for a large healthcare company Is there anything you would change, in regards to your career choices if you could go back in time? ummm... I guess not Do you regret choosing the Nursing field as your second career option? not sure - right now the economy stinks and I'm working at a job I dislike immensly Rate your previous career, 1-10, or, how happy were you with your previous career vs how happy are you with nursing? previous career = 7 nursing = 5 (if I was in a specialty I wanted I think that number would be a lot higher) what prevented you from becoming a nurse earlier? fear of how "hard" it was to go through nursing school and to be a nurse On being a nurse: Why the nursing field as opposed to another discipline? My thoughts were as follows: nurses are the backbone of healthcare - they are also the caring and compassionate staff members nine times out of ten. Also, I didn't have time to go back to school to be a doctor and was afraid of limiting my opportunities by becoming a PT, OT or SLP. Are you worried about 'burning out' on being a nurse? Becoming too reliant alcohol or drugs for coping/escape? Yes I am concerned about burning out as a nurse. Especially as I am not doing any of the specialties I actually want to work in. Not worried about drugs - never done them, never will. How do you feel about the glorious American healthcare system? [rate it 1-10, or RANT!] 3 On being a nursing student: Did you have another job while in nursing school? No, I went to a direct entry MSN program and we were not supposed to work What obstacles do you/did you face being a student? High workload, being married, having family emergency during school, not being able to see family/friends very often during school, etc. Nothing too terrible. Which class is most important for student nurses? They all are. Which is the least? Honestly, none. What other classes do you feel student nurses should be required to take? More clinicals should be included in all nursing programs. I think it's a weak spot for most.

It's faster than undergrad, meaning that you are learning at 2-3x the speed. For example, instead of 2-3 semesters of med surg (like an undergrad program) you will have one - but will be responsible for learning all of the same material - they don't leave stuff out. This means you will have very frequent exams on huge amounts of material you have to really understand in order to succeed. You will be reading hundreds of pages a week and should really be able to critically think about all of it. The exam questions will not be asking you to regurgitate what you have been taught, but rather testing you on whether you have really assimilated all of the new information and placed it in correct context with everything you have learned before. Nursing exams are truly unlike any other exams I have ever seen before, and you will have a couple of tough (but wonderful) professors. That's what makes it so tough. As far a what makes the DEP graduate level, I guess the part that will have the biggest impact on you is the amount of papers you will write. Every semester you will have a Correlation Paper for each nursing class - it's essentially a detailed look at one of your patients - and they are around 30 pages in length. They take a bit of time to write, and are (again) used to test your critical thinking. Also, for theory type classes you will have multiple papers due each semester, weekly reading, projects and weekly "discussions" on the online classroom - again, time consuming.

I don't want to scare you, but I hope you bought travel insurance. I completed the Salem State DEP program and October is going to be a really really rough time to take a week off - assuming they would even really allow it. You have a one semester accelerated Med Surg class, Pharmacology and a theory class. You will miss one-two clinicals depending on which group you are in (one or two days/week) and probably at least one exam. If you luck out and there are no exams the week you're gone I can guarantee there will be the first week you are back - meaning you can not relax. I have to tell you that your grades probably will take a hit if you go - I only took one weekend off from school/studying that entire semester (to be in a wedding) and that was pushing it. Good luck! PM me with any specific questions.

I did use Saunders,but preferred Kaplan (took NCLEX RN in Sept and passed 1st time). Good luck!

I would recommend going to the colleges website and looking at the dept of nursing. The website should answer all of these questions for you. If not, call the schools admissions office. Most nursing programs for a BSN require A&P I&II, Microbiology, Chem, and Algebra or Statistics. There are also all of the gen eds (Eng I&II, social sciences, arts, etc.) Good luck!

Thank you both for the supportive replies. It's good to be validated and to get advice from my peers. L8RRN - I'm sorry you had such an awful experience in LTC, but am glad that you were able to get a great job at a hospital that you're enjoying! It's good to hear that school clinical experiences aren't always indicative of what it's like in the real world. :-)I am really hoping that if the homecare doesn't work out that psych is a good fit for me. Caliotter3- I agree that I definitely do not want a string of back-to-back resignations if I can help it. I'm hanging in there for now hoping for the home care job to work out, but if it doesn't Plan B is probably where I'm going to go. I'll have to think about staying on per diem at the LTC; I'm really uncomfortable with a lot of what's going on there and don't want to stay any longer than is necessary. I really am afraid for my license.

Hi all! I am a new grad (got my RN in September) who has been having a hard time with the job search like most other new grads right now. I know how lucky I am even to be working, but need some advice. I had been working part time in a pedi office for the past few months, but one day a week at wages $10/hr less than anywhere else wasn't cutting it so when I got an offer at a local LTC I took it. I have only been working at the long term care for a couple of weeks now and I already feel sick when I even think about going in to work. My first day on the floor I was told how to do the med pass when the state is in and how to do it on an everyday basis (because otherwise I'd never finish). There are "shortcuts" left and right that I am told I have to do and I am not getting much guidance, training or support and feel like I am risking my license. I am caring for 22 patients, (some are long-term residents but most are shorter term rehab patients) and I don't even know what the primary diagnosis is for most of them! I pass out meds for hours, start treatments, then it's time for the second med pass. I can barely get that stuff done never mind dealing with family members, labs, doctors orders over the phone, admissions, codes or anything else. I absolutely hate my job and feel as though I am giving sub-standard care - something I am absolutely not okay with. I mean I've been told to not do BP's unless specifically ordered by the Dr because there isn't enough time (and most of these pt's are on BP and cardiac meds!). The CNAs at my facility hide in residents rooms and refuse to speak English most of the time, they talk to each other while caring for the pt's and ignore the pt's. I have already had an issue with an insubordinate CNA and have been told to get used to it because they;re all like that in this facility. The nurses sometimes sign off on stuff that hasn't been done in the treatment book and will sign off on meds not given in the MAR. And I'm encouraged/expected to do the same. I did not work super hard for my license just to loose it at a job I hate! I have an offer for a Psych hospital to work PRN, and they're telling me that I could get up to 32hrs a week every week if I want it. I wasn't crazy about psych in school and am worried about doing acute locked unit psych care, but am enticed by the fact that I probably won't be risking my license there and may end up with actually getting two days off in a row once in awhile (doen't happen in the LTC facility). I have to let them know if I am taking the job soon as orientation starts in mid-March. Then there's the homecare job that I have had one interview for and am supposed to get a second for. I desperately want it and am ridiculously nervous about whther I have a chance at getting it. I am technically unqualified as they want experience, but a RN friend who works there had recomended me so they gave me an interview. I am anxiously awaiting this second interview and praying to get the job - it's exactly what I want to be doing right now. If this job does not come through I do not know what to do - stay at the unsafe miserable LTC or give the psych hospital a chance? I do know I am very fortunate to have gotten these opportunities and hate to complain in this economy, but I really am getting depressed at the thought of staying at the LTC. I'm starting to wonder why I even went to nursing school if I can't work in any of the fields that interest me. Maybe I should have stuck with insurance. I would appreciate any advice/insight on what to do.

As another poster said, you can't go wrong with any of the state school programs in Mass for nursing; they are all quite good. But, here's my experience with the schools I attended. I did my BS in another subject at Worcester State and loved going to school there. I was impressed by all of the science courses I had there and heard that their nursing program is good. It's a relatively small school, which I liked, and you get to know the people in your major as well as your professors. I went to Salem State for nursing and loved it. My program was the DEP (for people who already have a Bachelors degree), so not what you're interested in, but a few professors overlap as do the facilities. We had access to a great nursing lab, had great clinical placements and fantastic professors. Also, my programs NCLEX pass rate is 100% - you can't beat that! I recommend either school highly, but you'll have to go check them out yourself to see what feels right to you.

Maybe consider working in a pediatric doctors office? I'm a new grad in Mass and recently started working part time in a pediatric office. It's a great start, and is easing me into the role of a peds nurse. I'm getting more comfortable with all of the basics and relating to the kids and their parents. A lot of days we're super busy, but I always get to take a lunch break (big perk!) and I love it so far. As I eventually want to pursue my PNP it's ideal for me right now. There really aren't hospital positions around here right now, and I was thrilled to get offered a nursing job in peds!