scientist

Just remember the grass is always greener...

Not a nurse (I work in the lab) but this topic reminded me of a funny thing that happened to me at work. I chew gum because there is nothing to drink in the lab and I get so freaking thirsty and my mouth becomes incredibly dried out (gross breath naturally results, even if I have just brushed my teeth on break). Anyway, I chew it discreetly but one day I must have swallowed wrong and I ended up coughing. My gum went flying across the lab. Luckily no one saw, but man was I still embarrassed! So just a warning. Be very careful not to unexpectedly cough while chewing gum!

Just make sure you can handle both jobs, if they are FT. When I was a CNA a few of my coworkers worked two jobs, back to back, full time. I never liked working alongside them because they often had to leave early (sneak out, basically) to get to their second job on time AND they were rushing, so I felt like I had to pick up the slack. Don't spread yourself too thing. Your patients and coworkers will appreciate quality of work.

I'm not a nurse but a Medical Laboratory Scientist / Clinical laboratory Scientist / Medical Technologist (or whatever they call us lab folks these days) and I ended up having to go the ER a while ago after going to a walk in clinic with tachycardia and chest pain. I was hooked up to IV's and the EKG electrodes when I told the doc I had to use the restroom. He was like "oh sure, I'll unhook you and turn your IV off. You're in the medical field, you can just hook yourself back up when you're done and set everything up." I wobbled my way to the restroom, sick and weak, and when I got back her was gone of course and I had NO idea what to do with all these wires and how to turn my IV back on. It was ridiculous he expected me to know how to do any of that based the fact that he found at I was an MLS. Luckily the nurse wasn't bother when I called her and to assist me. That's why I :heartbeat nurses!

Got the nasal spray two weeks ago. No issues at all.

What about Northwest University School of Nursing? It is in Kirkland. I've absolutely never heard ANYTHING regarding this program. It was something I looked into when I was a prenursing student. I took a tour of the campus and everything. That was years ago and I've still not heard anything about the grads or the program. Does anyone have any info on it? They didn't seem at all competitive when I looked into their program. Kirkland is a quick drive from Bothell.

Thank you all for taking the time to response. I sent her a email letting her know more about the nursing programs in this area but also letting her know that if she puts her mind to it, I think she can be successful in anything she chooses to do. If she wants more advice from me I'll recommend she speak with an academic adviser. I can only help her so much and I don't even know the full story of her transcript.

I have a friend I met when taking some science classes at a community college. I was accepted to the university in our city and my program (which is competitive) but she ended up not getting accepted to the university at all. Her original plan was to major in chemistry (which is an open, non-competitive major at this university) and try to get into the field of forensics using that degree. I don't know why she wasn't accepted to the university. I don't know her GPA. She did okay in the science classes we took together, but I know she has failed some classes due to just not going to them and not properly withdrawing from the courses. I was helping her come up with a plan to take classes at our university as a non-matriculated student to work toward her chemistry degree in hopes that the university might see that she can handle the rigors of the upper-level classes and accept her next year. So winter she is taking an upper-level math class at the university. Anyway, she emailed me and said if she doesn't get accepted to the university, she is just going to go back to the community college and apply to their nursing program because she needs to do something and she knows nursing is an in-demand field. I asked her why she didn't give my program a try and she said it sounded too hard. I'm at a loss as to what to say to her. I've helped her through this entire process of applying to the university, guiding her to take some of the classes as a non-matriculated student, etc. but I really don't know a polite way of telling her that nursing isn't something that you go into lightly. The programs in this area are INCREDIBLY competitive. The one program she is referring to at the community college is the most difficult one to get into too (but it produces the most respected graduates, even above the BSN programs). I asked her to consider applying to my program, which is more in-line with her original interest in chemistry, and she said it sounded too hard and with her just having had a baby she couldn't do it. While my program is academically incredibly difficult, there is no way the nursing programs in this area are any easier. I don't want to offend her but I think her interest in nursing is misplaced and she doesn't understand the reality of how difficult the programs in this area are and nursing is in general. I worked as a CNA when I was a pre-nursing student (before changing my major, but because I was pre-nursing I know all about the programs in this area and I have people I know in many of the nursing programs from my time as a pre-nursing student) and it just isn't something I think you can get into lightly or half-heartedly, especially when the programs in this state are SO competitive. What advice should I give her? I don't want to be rude and make her feel like she can't do it. I just don't think nursing should be a back-up plan and I really don't think at this point she could get into the programs in this area (I would be very shocked if she did) because they like to see volunteer work, healthcare experience, high GPA's in the pre-req sciences (I know she hasn't completed some of them, but I also know one of the bio classes that is a pre-req for nursing she did awful in). I fear she would apply and get rejected and just give up on college altogether since her "back-up" plan failed. What is a tactful way of bringing this up to her and helping her on the right path? She also doesn't seem to know much of anything about nursing at all in terms of what they do, the amount of knowledge they have, the amount of work required. I wrote out an email trying to tell her how nursing really isn't a back-up plan and how the programs are much more competitive than my program and even the general requirements of our local university (which she was rejected from), and how nursing is way more demanding of a field than I think she realizes, but I ended up not sending it because I don't want to discourage her, so I decided to come her and see if I could get some advice!

It seems like it would be very difficult to complete the requirements for a BSN, which is a very difficult degree, on top of the requirements for med school. You'll need to take a year of (the science majors series) bio, chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics, and some med schools require calculus and some now require biochem (again not the intro courses, but the courses for science majors). I took most of the nursing pre-req science classes (chem, the intro to ochem/biochem course that was required, cell bio, anat, physio, etc) and changed my major to a track that required the actual major sequences of these sciences. They are a lot more intense and very difficult courses. I had 4.0 in the nursing pre-req sciences. When I switched my degree to a science degree and took the major sequences of these sciences it was a whole new ballgame. It's not impossible by any means, but just realize that it might be tough to finish an already difficult degree like a BSN and complete the pre-med sciences with adequate grades to get into med school. Good luck with whatever decide :)

I volunteered at a hospital as a nurse's unit aid. In terms of patient care I did very little. I'd restock rooms and transport recently released patients to their cars. I'd also answer calls and direct family members to the appropriate places. What made the experience valuable wasn't that I was exposed to patient care. What made it valuable is I got to see what RN's do up close. They spent a lot of time talking to me and I "shadowed" them to really get a look at what their job was like. I eventually became a CNA and worked at a long-term care facility as well, but the hospital volunteer position provided a different perspective and a look at what RN's do and how they interact. I was surprised when I first volunteered because I thought doctors treat and do everything. I rarely ever saw the doctors in our unit. They'd rush in for maybe ten minutes and leave. The RN's did everything. It was quite eye-opening and I think actually volunteering gave me an opportunity to see up close some of what they do daily in their shifts in a way that working as a CNA in a nursing home didn't provide. Anyway, I recommend volunteering if given the chance. I had great interactions with the RN's during my volunteer work and really got to observe them in action. Being a CNA gave me great experience with patient care, but being a volunteer let me actually observe a unit of RN's hard at work.

I've taken the year long gen chem and organic chem (and now I'm taking the year long biochem) series. I hated chemistry and never thought I'd survive three years of it but I've actually come to enjoy it. I recommend for gen chem Klein's Chemistry as a Second Language book: http://www.amazon.com/General-Chemistry-Second-Language-Fundamental/dp/0471716626/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221203475&sr=8-1 if you are taking a general chemistry course, not just an introduction to chemistry or an overview course. I honestly don't think you will find a better series of books to supplement your textbooks than Klein's series. If you are taking an overview course or an intro course only though this might go above and beyond what you need, but I know some pre-nursing students do take the gen chem courses that science majors are required to (they usually aren't required to take the full series though) so I thought I'd throw this one out at you. If you really want to know and master chemistry, give it a try. It teaches you more on how to think and approach the course.

I am currently in school to get my BS in Clinical Laboratory Science. I was the opposite. I was set on nursing and was a CNA for a while, volunteered in the nurses unit, finished all the pre-reqs for nursing, but found that I enjoyed my science classes much more than I ever did taking care of patients. Patient care is definitely not for me in anyway. I don't even like doing the blood draws. My passion is science. I love the application of science that the MT/CLS role provides, though, and I like the idea of being part of the healthcare team "behind" the scenes. I even decided against the MLT training (the associate's degree) because I WANTED to take the harder, longer science classes. I know MT's get bored and burnt out so my plans are to possibly work for a few years as an MT and apply to pharmacy school. I think clinical pharmacy could be exciting. Plus I was one of the top students in our organic chemistry series and scored in the 99th percentile on the American Chemical Society's Organic Chemistry exam and people I've talked to said that people who enjoy and do well in organic chemistry tend to do well and really enjoy pharmacy school. I think the bottom line is I like "boring" things like the lab and I honestly loved the year long organic chemistry sequence more than any other classes I have had in my life and that is strange to most people, but it fits for me. You have to find what fits for YOU and what makes you excited! Is that nursing? Is that the lab? Nursing offers A LOT and there are many facets of it that you can find passion for. It's not all body fluids and stuff like that. There are so many areas out there to explore. And remember it is natural to feel nervous and doubt yourself, no matter what stage of your education you are in, but that doesn't mean you've made the wrong choice. I know tons of MT's who went on to become nurses as their second career and I know a few RN's who went back to school and took pay cuts to become MT's. So no one on here can tell you what the right thing to do is. But I think if you are in the nursing program you should stick it out and try to find where you niche might be.

I just completed the year long organic chemistry sequence (the higher level one) and the labs were horribly hazardous but my friend completed it and she was pregnant. The professor made special arrangements for her to only work under a fume hood and to partner up with someone on the experiments the utilized the more nasty chemicals. I would talk to each professor of these labs and see if you can get any sort of accommodations and what they recommend.

Where I was at, this was how the season pro's did it . It was frustrating and dangerous for the patient and unfortunately I was just the newbie who everyone rolled their eyes at for "wasting my time" doing things correctly. Bravo to the OP for following proper procedures. They're there for the safety of the residents and for your own safety.

That certainly is the truth! I haven't been a CNA is a couple years now but man some memories never leave you. Congrats on landing in a good facility! It can be so heartbreaking and frustrating (and back-breaking) if you don't. Good luck on your 2nd day!