LPNDebbie

Definitely job #1. More pay, less to spend at daycare and that money/day saved can be time spent with your children.

Awesome info, thank you! I work 4 days a week with 12-13 hr days each and one night shift. I'm exhausted. I need to work 4 days a week to pay my bills but I can do coding at home and drop the night shift at work ?

Thanks for the options! I've worked home health for years and also got a taste of hospice. Not interested in either. I have been working in Skilled Living for the past 2 months and I think I found my fit. It's still heavy with med passes but it's not as hectic as skilled nursing. I work in memory care so the job requires lots of patience but I am happy.

Hello, I worked in home health. I just got hired with an Assisted Living Facility and start Monday so we'll see how that goes. Being an LPN, we are restricted to what we can do. I do not plan on becoming an RN. I am sure an LPN cannot be a flight nurse and I'm not sure how I would feel being a first responder. As an LPN, I have worked in dialysis, home health, and skilled facilities. Other than assisted living and office clinics, I am running out of trying new things out.

Thanks for the input. I will definitely look ok into that! For now, I have an interview tomorrow at an Assisted Living facility. I am overwhelmed at SNF's and bored working home health. Hoping to meet in the middle!

I'm glad I'm not alone. My next step is to try Assisted Living. It can't be as stressful as skilled living. I have not considered what you recommended but I definitely will. I just hate school and I struggle with ADD. I would also love to work from home though so who knows. At this point, I'm desperate for any ideas. Thanks!

That sucks. I'm sorry to hear that. We work so hard for our licenses and get easily punished. I can't get used to always having my license being held over my head.

I'm sorry to hear! I can tell you, it's not easy to switch careers at our age because we are so used to doing a particular job for so long. I've been fired for giving 2mls of insulin that ended up sending my patient to the hospital even though she needed it due to the chart, but they didn't put a discipline on my license. I'm not sure what would give you a discipline. Does it drop off after so long? I know nurses make med errors all the time.

I have been a nurse for almost 3 years and have not yet found my niche. I am 44 yrs old and have been an admin assistant for most my life. I've worked in dialysis, home health (visits and shifts) and 3 different LTC's with experience working every shift. I think I am just unhappy with my career. I've dreamt of being a nurse my whole life and now that I'm here, it's not what I thought it would be. I wanted to help people but it's not easy when you're overwhelmed in an LTC. Home health gives me more time to care for someone but I find it boring and I also feel accomplished. I miss working with computers, having report deadlines, feeling like I've made a difference when I'm driving home at night, etc. I would go back to being an admin assistant but I would take a major pay cut at this time and my bills would go unpaid. I don't like nursing anymore so going back to school to be an RN is out of the question. I know it will open more doors but I simply have no desire to continue in the nursing field. Maybe I should have stuck with what I knew and what I was happy with. Has anyone switched careers later in life?

Many years later, I wanted to provide an update. I started LPN school April 2010 and graduated Jan 2012. I now work 13 hr shifts and find it, yet again, difficult to go back to RN school with these hours. I work Thurs-Sun nights so my only option would be to only work wknds and go to school during the week. Day time classes will get me through school quicker but the mixed day and night schedule will probably kill me. I will figure something out as my reg pay plus OT doesn't even amount to what I could be making with reg pay alone as an RN.

Tried that too. I just want to play the videos about how to navigate around the site and other things. Can anyone else view them?

Tried that too. Even my boyfriend, who builds computers, tried everything and nothing worked. Even got in touch with Excelsiors IT dept to no avail.

The same thing happens on my personal home computer

I ordered the ATI Teas study Manual version 6. This can be best found on abebooks dot com for under $14 new. Everywhere else is $30 or more. I haven't studied as I may not do my RN ASN. Good luck to you!

I think I want that job! The nurses are already overloaded and now we have to do the job of the cleaning people?!

You were correct. On the bright side, hopefully she never asks you to do this again! If you did do it just so she could avoid OT, you could have gotten written up, lost your license, etc. You worked too hard for your license just because of some rude nurse.

LTC is hectic! I was a new nurse with 3 days of training and put on a cart on day 4 because they were short staffed. It was insane. I am a fast learner and love to multi-task and even this was a lot to handle but it did get easier. Once you know your patients, their habits, their meds, the time of the meds, etc, it does get easier. The thing I hate about LTC is when you are assigned to different halls all the time. You don't get to know the patients, meds errors are easily made this way, you are rushed, family thinks you have an hour to talk about their loved ones, patients are lonely and want to tell you their life stories, labs come in, dr's need informed, you need to access the emergency kit for a certain med, pharmacy needs called, patients fall, have change of health status, get combative and hit the CNA's so reports need filled out, the pharm delivery gets dropped off so the meds need sorted, the stock room isn't stocked, some CNA's are hiding in the rooms on their phones so you have to answer call lights, the water station is no where near where you are so you are always walking to fill up water because the CNA's seem to think once a shift is enough and on top of all of that, you still have to chart! This doesn't include admissions and discharges. UGH! I am currently a home health nurse and quite happy and will never step in another LTC again. I am going to school to get my RN degree this summer and will work towards my goal of being a recovery room nurse.

Thank you, I am not seeing it on this Chromebook. I get the application only. I will check it out at home.

I took it in 2010 for LPN school and now again. I only need to study the math. I failed it the first time and when I retook it after studying, I got only one wrong. I just hate math! Thank you!

Thank you for the quick reply, Pixie! I will definitely read the info in the links you sent me. You also attached a link that states there is a video attached. This is the problem I am having with Excelsiors website. They always say there is a video tutorial but none can ever be found. Your link takes me directly to the application. When I was enrolled last year, I was able to take two classes and I couldn't find them on the website. I needed a video to watch to show me how to navigate around the site and get my classes done. I ended up dropping those classes and paid about $700 for that so I don't want to make that mistake again. Edit: I am using an Acer Chromebook. I think I will log into my personal computer when I get home to see if those videos will play on that. It could just be this computer.

So...I enrolled to Excelsior on the LAST day before the dreaded TEAS test was in effect. After much thought, I decided to drop out because I hated the idea of the CPNE. I didn't want to waste all of that money if I couldn't pass the test. Anyway, long story short, I am re-enrolling because I need a "can do" attitude and this is also the best school that fits my 12 hour night shifts. I am computer literate and have worked with computers for 20+ years but for some reason, I was unable to navigate around the site to find my classes! I wrote to the school and was sent a link that mentioned video tutorials being below but there is nothing. This is really what I am looking for. Is there a video I can watch? Also, am I able to test out of all classes or is there a rule that I will have to take a certain number of college credit hours as a regular course? For the multi-source option, what is the admin enrollment fee? Is this an annual fee or a one time fee? Lastly, how much is the TEAS test?

I have been a nurse for only 2 years after working in the corporate world for 20+ years. I adjusted quickly to the 12 hour shifts and don't even think twice about it anymore. I get that extra day off a week but I use it to pick up shifts for OT.

I just sent my transcripts to ISU after dropping out of Excelsior. Is it possible that I may have to take some pre-req's at a local college if needed prior to starting classes at ISU if accepted?

I have been researching online schools to attend for over a year now. I want to obtain my RN ASN. Will go straight to BSN if that's my only option. I have been an LPN for 2+ years now and have been running into dead ends finding an online school. I was enrolled in Excelsior College but dropped out since it is a HUGE risk putting all of that time and money into it only to possibly fail the CPNE. I just heard about Presentation College today. Anyone heard of this? Any reviews? How about Indiana State? I hear they only accept a handful of out-of-state students. I hated the traditional classroom time and felt a lot of time was wasted as to why I am choosing on-line this time around. I work 12 hour nights as a home health nurse so I have plenty of time to study. They need more on-line school for the rediculous hours that we work!

You are too focused on pleasing others and feeling like you let everyone down. As you learned, this didn't work out in your favor so next time focus on YOU! A year flies by. Wait for it and take the 2 year.