Gradin2010

I always submit my references along with my resume. Who wants to hire you on your word alone? Every job asks for references. People who apply at Walmart need references. It eliminates a step in the application process, and gets you to the interview quicker. Good luck!

I agree with the others, you do not need to go to a big expensive school to get a good education. I am a 4th semester RN student at a community college in a small city (30,000 people)...our NCLEX pass rate is 94%. There are much larger schools in our state whose pass rate is only 30 to 40%.

My school requires us to have a PDA. It was pretty expensive ($500) but I think it's worth it. The PDA is especially handy at clinical when I have to look up a drug, lab values or a word I don't understand. two thumbs up!

To my classroom instructors: Thank you for all you have taught me. I will take a little piece of each of you into my own practice one day. To my clinical instructor: I know you're not full time faculty with the school, but it would help if you had an idea of the schedule and/or what we're learning in class that particular week. . . and (this one really bugs me) please don't refer to my patient as "pretty pathetic". . . not in front of me or my classmates.

I'm just a student myself, but I think to work in an office you need at least a master's degree. Kind of like what a practitioner needs.

Even though it's a different test, your 76% is better than most of my classmates. Our class average was a 73% and we need to have an average of 75% to pass.

I am a mere five weeks into nursing school, and I can tell you it's tough. I know you're looking for how the career is as a whole, but the education you need to get into the career is really really hard and very stressfull. but there are tons who have toughed it out, so maybe it gets easier on down the road.

I think an "Ethical Delimma" would be when your own moral ethics and beliefs conflict with something your doing or someone you're taking care of. Here is an example that was thrown around in my class. It's just an example and I know that as nurses we should be objective and care for our clients without regard to our own personal biases. I'm not trying to start a debate, I'm just repeating what was said in class . . . Say you're a nurse who is strongly apposed to abortion and you are supposed to take care of a sixteen year old girl who just had or is going to have an abortion. There is your delimma. At least this is how I understand it.

Man, can you tell I've been studying?? I really need to pay attention to what page of the thread I'm on vs, how long it actually is. . . lol, that post belonged somewhere on page 7. Congrats and good luck to everyone anyways!!!

This is such an incredible commitment, but look at the benefits! I've already told my husband that he prolly won't see me for the next two years (kidding). If you have the support at home (I'm sure you do) you can take the time to concentrate on you, your education and your career. Your kids may not get the picture yet (My daughter doesn't quite get why mommy has to go to school) but I'm sure they will be proud of the day that they can proclaim "My mom is a nurse!" Good luck to you

:yeahthat: If you can record your lectures a great time to listen back to them is in the gym. With the way I learn the constant repetition of the lectures helps some of that info sink in.

Thank you to all of you for sharing your insights on this. I am a nursing student going into my first semester, and this is one of the things I was concerned about. I am comfortable with my current weight (135 at 5' 7'') and do not want a weight gain to make me lose my focus. I am planning on preventing the weight gain by following what TheCommuter has done. I am also lucky that my college campus has a gym and I have a break in my daily schedule to work out between classes. Good Luck to all of you

What about scrubs in pastel colors. . . I haven't even started nursing school yet, so I don't know a lot. It seems like you can be appropriate in your color choices without wearing cartoons.

Our physical was only about $30 provided you had all of your shots on file. It really was just like a normal doctor's visit. Eyes, ears, throat etc. We also got a ton of medical questions and we had to lift and move a 50lb box.

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-ICDP620-Digital-Recorder-Compatible/dp/B0013NYB5S/ref=dp_cp_ob_title_2 This is the one that I have