cindyloulou

I have a good friend who had a baby girl 10 years ago and did not know it until 2 days before the birth. I was a real skeptic about this whole "I didn't know I was pregnant" situations. However, I spent a lot of time with her during her pregnancy ...

I do school nursing with special needs children but I am located in one classroom and do not move around school sites. I deal with g-tube feedings, trach care, oxygen use and non-ambulatory kids. The kids come to this program 2-6 hours a day and the...

I work nights on a tele unit. We do 12 hour shifts and self schedule. We have to pick up 3 weekend nights per 4 week scheduling period. Otherwise we get to pick and choose. If we absolutely cannot work on certain days, we put an "R" for reserved....

I went from full time to per diem abut two months ago and love it. The one nice aspect of my unit's handling of per diem hours is that I schedule myself at least 6 shifts per month. I usually don't get called off unless we are low census which does...

I was in a similiar situation and the decision to change from full time to prn was the best thing I ever did for myself and family. I also work on a very busy tele floor and we are required to schedule at least 6 shifts a month. I work nights and c...

I used to have a full time position but elected to go per diem due to having more flexibility and not having the need for insurance benefits. I am required to schedule for 6 shifts a month, up to 12 a month. My unit (tele) rarely has low census so ...

I say "go for it". I too have my Masters in Social Work and worked in Hospice for 7 years and then another 5 years with an adoption agency. After spending some time staying home with my two kids, I decided to pursue my nursing degree. I felt that ...

Here's my story. I have always been a mostly "A" student in school with a few scattering of B's. I never really got that nervous before test or finals. But....the NCLEX was different. About 3-4 days before the Big Day, I started to get the runs an...

Ahh, nursing school tests are so different from anything else I had experienced with a previous degree. Criitical thinking and learning to prioritize are key. Going over nclex questions from saunders and reading the rationales did help. With time,...

Clinicals can be difficult, especially with instructors that expect a lot from you. I have learned that if I go to the hospital the week before clinicals and do a "scavenger hunt" and get to know the lay of the land, it has helped. Just try to as o...

Out in California, I have seen slight increases in our area but this will probably taper off. As the economy has slowed, I have seen less hiring at all the hospitals.

I thought OB/Peds was tough. We had our OB/Peds clinicals for a very short time so the knowledge and experience base was very limited and therefore the test were more difficult for me.

The cost of 2 year degree at a community college is so reasonable. So far, to complete the program with tuition, books and lab fees, it will be around 3,500.00. I consider that very cheap to get a great education and come out with a degree that is...

I took the TEAS a couple of years ago and from what I remember it is pretty basic. I think it is a good idea to complete the study guide and go over any weak areas. For my school, we had to have a minimum ( I don't remember the number) in order to ...

Wow! Talk about crazy clinicals. Even during most hectic clinicals I have never run across such scenarios. You seem to have good sense of humor about it all which is not a bad thing.

I hear you. I think what you are going through is very common amongst nursing students. Many are high achievers and usually earn A's and B's. I found testing for nursing schools to be different. The test look for critical thinking and not not kno...

I feel for you. I am in my last clinical rotation before graduating, and I still get that heap of anxiety before each clinical morning. I have had various personalities for clinical and I have to say I have learned the most from the "tough" ones. ...

If you are seriously thinking about nursing, I would at least complete the pre-requistes. I found that some of the pre-requesite classes were fairly tough. Nursing school is challenging and takes commitment, but anything is possible if you put the ...

Long breaks between clinicals is a tough one. I remember returning to clinicals from a 2.5 month Summer break. I felt the same way--anxious and scared that I had forgotten even a basic thing such as hanging I.V. It seems like every new clinical ro...

You are definitely not too old to be starting nursing school. There are many in my program who are in there late 30's, 40's and some in there 50's. Think about it this way--time goes by no matter what. If not nursing school, what will you be doing...

I think what your going through and feeling is quite typical and normal of many new nursing students. I know that I felt the same way in the beginning. I remember a group of us students contemplating whether to quit that first semester. It does ge...

I found that for med calculations test you know the stuff; it's just that the mistakes that I made were overlooked or "dumb" errors due to carelessness or not taking my time with the test. It could be converting the wrong numbers for a ratio or put...

I am In my last semester of a 2 year nursing program. While I found the academic portion to be challenging, I believe that organization, staying on top of the readings, and studying, studying, studying has helped me stay on top of this program. Now...