More to Learn

I started school at 48 with very few college credits to my name. I attended part-time at first, while I waited to get the pre-req classes I needed to apply to nursing school. I worked about 20-28 hours /wk throughout school. I graduated with my ADN at 52. I have to say that it wasn't easy; there was plenty of blood, sweat, & tears...but I have no regrets! Just the education & fellow students alone enriched my life more than I could dream of! And then there is the respect I gained from others, but even more important is the respect I gained for myself. Plus, I am convinced that the experience made me feel 15 -20 years younger! Word of advice; a BSN is now a must if you wish to work in Acute Care.

I started school at 48; part-time at first, while I waited to get the pre-req classes I needed to apply to nursing school. Many people told me that it would take many years to get into the classes I needed, and to expect a 3-5 year wait just to get into a nursing program. Thankfully, I did not listen and was determined to plow through to obtain my goal. I applied at only one community college and was accepted upon my first application. Along the way, I met some aspiring nurses including a retired engineer who became a nurse at 72!! It wasn't easy being the oldest student in our cohort but I was able to bond with many of the younger students and the experience is one I will never forget. I attended study groups and even led my own dosage calculation group to help other students. I became the Vice President of the Class and upon graduation, received the Leadership Award & the Esprit de Corps Award. I have to say that it wasn't easy; there was plenty of blood, sweat, & tears...but I have no regrets! Just the education & fellow students alone enriched my life more than I could dream of! And then there is the respect I gained from others but even more important is the respect I gained for myself. Plus, I am convinced that the experience made me 15 -20 years younger! LOL. So after 6 years of experience working in a hospital, I am ready to challenge myself some more; I will be starting school again before the end of the year at 58 years old! I have discovered I have a passion not only to help others, but to teach, and I am excited about the next chapter in my life!

I currently have my RN (ADN) with plans to start my BSN at WGU as soon as I get approval but since I have the ultimate goal to acquire my MSN (and I am no spring chicken), would it be better to start RN to MSN? Would that be more time efficient?

What do you mean; "test out of the assignments"?

This may be a dumb question but I can't think of it; what does "PA" and "OA" stand for?

I am getting ready to sign up for RN to BSN program but trying to get all my ducks in a row first (and I will be moving soon), so I can concentrate on school. Does anyone have any suggestions on what tasks might be completed BEFORE starting; to help ensure speedy completion? For example, I may try some advance studying for classes like STATS? Any website suggestions? I'd like to finish in 6 months if I can (due to monetary considerations), but I might just be dreaming : )

What do you mean; "test out of the assignments"?

Thank to all those posting in this section! I've been working med-surg in a hospital for a year now (since graduation) and have moments where I love my job but if I want to finish on-time, I have to cut out the majority of patient care and teaching. Unfortunately, as the hospital continues to cut ancillary staffing to bare bones, I have become more and more dissatisfied. At the same time, management constantly talks about HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) and how we must improve patient care. ???? Their actions on staffing are counter-productive to this goal! I long for a job where I can actually take the time to care for my patients and provide teaching. When I do provide teaching to my current patients, they always say that I was the first who explained a procedure/intervention/care etc. in a way that they could understand it. I love teaching and know it is my calling. The posts about Public Health nursing sound like a position I would enjoy. But in this job market, I'm afraid that if I give up my current position for a more specialized field and not like it, I may have difficulty getting back in. I am 53. Any comments from those of you who crossed over would be appreciated. Thanks, More to learn

Coke Machine, I rec'd a friend request but without a message. Can you send it again? MoreToLearn

This really strikes a cord with me because I had a similar thing happen to me; an instructor in the first week of my second semester of nursing school told me I would not make a good nurse because I was too high strung. I had just finished asking her a series of questions after her poor explaination of ABG's. She had known me all of 2 minutes and that day I had PMS, did not have enough sleep or enough to eat (was hypoglycemic). Initially, her comment crushed me and it took several weeks AND the support of my family to shake it off but I did. I agree with the other posters that we need to remind ourselves that administators and/or people in any position of power are just as human as we are. Perhaps she herself had PMS, not enough sleep/nutrition that day. As I progressed in nursing school, I discovered that many of the teachers were going through menopause; a condition that causes hormonal imbalances...the sufferer often lashes out uncontrollably at whoever happens to be around at the moment. As nurse, I must remind myself daily that human conditions such as this (along with pain, fear, etc) cause patients to react or say things they don't mean and I must not take it personally. So...this is just your first experience of many more to come...I guess this is why nurses develop such tough skin. Just don't let your skin become hard!

Darling Rose, Congratulations on being accepted into LVN-RN program. You've probably attended the orientation by now and have more info. #1. One thing you should review before you start the program is dosage calculations. You will have an exam on the first day. Some LVN's in the past have failed this exam. You have to 2 try's to get 90%. Pass = >/=90%, Fail = #2. You can buy the Nursing N52 syllabus at the PCC bookstore about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks before class starts. This will give you your reading assignments and a complete outline of the semester. I highly recommend you get this asap (sometimes there are leftovers from Fall semester you can buy if you're eager to start before the holidays but be sure to buy the Spring semester version when it comes out since there could always be changes). I believe the cost of the syllabus is $12.00 or less. #3. Try to make friends with students who started RN program from beginning (not just the LVN-RN students). These students have experienced 2 semester's of exams and assignments so they will have a wealth of information that some of the teachers assume you already know. #4. Ask about the PCC mentorship program. You can be assigned a mentor who may help you adjust to the program, answer questions, & give you encouragement. I am a PCC mentor (recent PCC RN grad). Much success! More To Learn

Hi vannery, Congratulations! Sure you can private message me and I will give you some info. to: Mereb79 The teachers really frown upon taking time off school although you are allowed to miss a few days. But it really depends on when you would miss because certain days are mandatory. Also, keep in mind that if you take off when you are not sick, what happens if you really do get sick? There are no make-ups for info and if you miss an exam, you may still get to take it if you have a good excuse but you will take a harder version of the test and you must make arrangements prior to the original test date. I found that while I was in nursing school, that had to be my number one priority if I expected to pass. Good Luck. to: rjvonrn Once you are accepted in the ladder program, there is a class you take to prepare you before you start the 3rd & 4th semester. Many students told me that the class was lacking in important info that left them lost in 3rd semester but if you can get a mentor or buddy up with students who took 1st & 2nd (and ask for help), you'll do fine. The most important thing you can do is study for the dosage calculation exam that you will have on the first day of school. You must pass with a 90% (you'll get 2 attempts, and if you don't pass...you get kicked out)

Education guy, Sounds like a nice program you have - a good option for many. But for me, I needed a school (community college)that I could afford and $26/unit was right up my alley. Some students applied for financial aid and didn't even have to pay the unit cost. Also, I'm really glad I got to go to school with other nursing students. The support I received from them was impossible to get from family members who have no idea what you're going through. But, to get in a program where there are 600-900 students applying and they accept only 60, can be tough. So yes, grades will certainly count against the competion. Of my group, no one had less than a 3.0 going into the program and many had higher than 3.5. Please note however, that guys have less competition than girls. I noticed that of the guys in my group had the lowest GPA of anyone. If I did not get accepted to the community college, I may have considered going to a private school back then but would hate to go into debt during an economy like this.

Dear mjmoon, Your thoughts about GPA correlating with entrance to a nursing program are completely valid. My school claimed that they chose students via lottery providing you had a minimum of a 2.5 GPA in English, Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology. However, before I finished my pre-reqs, the school changed the policy...they had some sort of calculation that took into consideration any "withdrawals" that you had - they wanted students who had a high success rate at completion plus ....good grades. Many students didn't even try for A's because they thought it didn't matter...as far as I know, those students didn't get accepted in the program! Right from the beginning, I had a feeling that getting A's would increase my chances of getting it in so I worked really hard to get A's but then I made the mistake of taking the accelerated version (6 weeks) of Physiology while I was working and it was simply too much for me...at mid-term I was getting a D. I knew that if I dropped the class, my chances of getting in would be reduced so I stuck it out and talked to my teacher about it and did extra credit. And thank God, I just barely got a B. I ended up with GPA of 3.75 (with no W's) and was accepted into the program with my first application. For me, nursing school was not easy. I did have to work part-time but being self-employed allowed me to work around school. Still, I understand why schools want to choose students with a high success rate because over one third of my original class did not graduate with me. Some got kicked out because of grades, others may have had things happen in their lives where they could not continue to go to school, and a few others got kicked out because they weren't up to par during clinicals. Note: a few of these students were allowed to simply repeat a semester and may still graduate if they pass. During the nursing program, teachers would say "don't worry if you're not getting an A, hospitals don't look at your GPA...they only want to know that you passed". Well, that may have been true in the past, but not so now...nearly every hospital that I have applied to wants a copy of my transcripts and one hospital even stated that there's no need to apply if you have less than a 3.0 in the nursing program. Lucky for me that I did reach that benchmark but I still haven't found a job yet. There are jobs in convalescent homes but my dream was to work in the hospital so I'm just going to have to redouble my efforts in my job search. Anyway...moral of my story: GRADES DO COUNT! Don't listen to other students or teachers who tell you they don't.

Hi Noski, Congrats on getting through the interview. Can you share some of the case scenarios you were given? thanks