AshleyKay

There's actually a joke among our classmates because I always seem to be around when someone is throwing up, and a friend of mine in class always catches someone when it's coming out the other end. I wasn't worried about "yuckies",but being thrown up on the first time did make me kind of go ok whoa that's someone's throw up all over me, but immediately you move into action and just want to help them out because they're miserable, you start cleaning them up and getting them what they need and completely forget that you're covered in puke. All you're worried about is getting them comfortable again. Then you go take care of your scrubs and it's no big deal. Other students in my class who were really concerned about being bothered by vomit and wiping butts got over their concerns really quickly. The problem is that, if you decide to work in an area simply because the patients don't throw up and aren't contageous, that doesn't say much about you as a nurse,...you should want to work in a certain area because it's what you're interested in. You're going to see things that are 100 times worse than puke no matter where you're at. I know I've barely scratched the surface on the things I've had to deal with in clinicals. However, you may be surprised that it doesn't bother you nearly as much as you think it will which is what happened to the two students in my class who really wanted to be nurses but were worried about how they'd handle certain things. They were fine after the first butt wiping and vomit party. Your empathy for the patient should override the "yuck" as a nurse. But you're really not going to find any areas of nursing where you don't deal with "yuckies."

I agree, I'm excited to get asked to do stuff. We even discussed this in class recently...that it makes us feel good when they trust us to handle something for them. I also haven't seen any students roll their eyes or make themselves scarce when asked to do something,....maybe things are still pretty new for us but I can imagine we'd get in some serious trouble for doing so. :) We actually got a lecture on behavior before we started, but that was more on not being in the way or annoying. I'm having fun anyway, tired, but enjoying it. I think we all are.

Student loans is how I'll be going, and hopefully financial aid. I'm going to have to at least work part time. I can't imagine not working...but I guess we'll find out. From what I've read from other posts, you can sign up with different companies who will pay off a certain percentage of your student loans if you sign a contract with them. There's a really good thread about it somewhere on this site. It's not going to be easy but there are different avenues you can take. I'm still in nursing school and am really interested in CRNA school one day...the financial aspect seems like a nightmare but after reading other posts on different ways other students made it through helped relieve some of that anxiety a little. I definately get the feeling it's worth it in the end and someone said that you should end up making more than enough to cover any loans you need to take out. Good luck :) Ashley

Thanks Erin :) I appreciate it

Alright well I'm not going to try and convince everyone here about any abilities I may have as a future nurse...I'm sure I'm going to screw up as well, I'm sure I'll have bad days. I am actually loving clinicals and can't wait to graduate. So I'm working with a few cranky nurses who have foul attitudes. That doesn't go to say the majority of nurses have bad attitudes. I'm pretty sure I have good attitude when I walk in the door, I'm always happy to be there...even on thirty minutes of sleep. I'm as friendly as I can be with the nurses I work with, I realize they know 100% more than I do and I want to learn from them so I ask questions, lots...that are usually answered with a strange look or ignored completely, but not by all. I thought that's what I'm there to do, watch and learn. I'm not being a pest I don't think. Maybe I am just being really annoying and I don't realize it. Who knows, I guess I'll get all the answers once I am a nurse. I have never once gone in with any kind of know it all attitude, I'm usually just trying to not look like an idiot and stay out of the way. But hey I am sweet and my attitude about nursing is far from negative, I'm excited to do it. I'm not really sure what else to say. Maybe in 6 years I'll have let a few patients lay around in their own urine or vomit because I didn't have a choice and I'll have a different story to tell. My original point was that there are nurses out there who are not compassionate people, who never were to begin with. I'm sure you all have worked with a couple. Maybe practicing nurses just have a foul taste in their mouth about new nursing students in general...which is totally understandable. I'm not pretending to know anything more than a practicing nurse...but when I ask a nurse to explain what she just did quickly and she says, "What the hell are you talking about?" I get a little upset. Which is also understandable I think.

I really don't understand how me making negative comments about nurses that I don't feel treat me or their patients right or have negative attitudes about their job means that I shouldn't be in nursing school. I'm sorry I don't think it's ok for a patient to sit in her own urine for an hour while she's pressing her nurses's button...or for a patient to not get their pain medication on time. This makes me a bad nurse? I've only been doing clinicals for two months, I already said that it could just be the group that I'm dealing with, there are hundreds of other nurses at this hospital. I'm glad you guys are so quick to tell us nursing students to change our profession when we get a little frustrated with our experiences instead of supporting us. I'm in nursing school because I want to be a nurse, bottom line. This is what I'm here to do and what I can't wait to do. I sure would appreciate it if everyone would stop getting so defensive over nothing....unless you are one of the nurses that I'm talking about. Maybe next time you have a frustrated nursing student come through....just some advice....you've all been there, you could maybe just say 'hey, I promise, we're not all that bad...it'll get better just hang in there' not 'alright you shouldn't be a nurse get out of nursing school'. Thanks. I'm not complaining about the job or the patients I've come across, just a few bad apples that shouldn't be nurses themselves because they just seem miserable. I really don't see where I went wrong unless you think it's ok for a patient to sit in her own urine for an hour. If that's true, then you should check your career choice. Not me.

Alright don't get upset, I was not referring to 75 percent of the nurses out there, I'm just referring to 75 percent of the ones I've come across in my clinicals. My classmates and I have been treated pretty badly by the nurses we've had to deal with. I have tough skin, I'm not talking about nurses that are hard on us, I'm talking about nurses that are just mean at heart. Why go into nursing, I don't understand. I'm just saying we've been pretty disappointed in the types of people that actually feel that nursing is a good field for them. Nursing and teaching are the two career fields that I feel you should not go into if you have even a single cold unfriendly bone in your body. If you do, but you want to work in medicine and are good at biology....be a lab tech. Hopefully my experiences will get better, I'm not complaining about the job...I know what I want to do and I know that I'll make a good nurse, I've just been a little surprised at what I've seen some nurses get away with doing. Really you shouldn't be offended if you know you're a decent compassionate nurse, I'm not talking about you. I'm at a good hospital and hopefully I've just had bad luck with who I've had to work with. That's not even what this post is about....I was just responding to something someone said in a previous reply about all nurses being compassionate....just not true. But hopefully the majority are. However, being a nurse does not equal being a compassionate person.

I just visited the studentdoctor.net website because of some posts earlier about them...so I went to the anesthisia part and I have to say I was a little shocked.... I didn't know they were so worried about CRNA's just taking over their jobs completely. They sure seemed a little bit cynical about it. Not that this upsets me any but most of the comments mentioned their 8 years of school compared to a CRNA's education...so I guess they must think we're getting our degrees online in some 9 month program...that's nice. I wondered about how CRNA's were treated by the anesthesiologists...maybe this is just by medstudents, overall I'd heard that they worked well together. I was hoping so anyway. I really liked this comment about CRNA's doing complex cases: The nurses CANNOT do it..........what you are observing is simple cases that are within their realm..........give these glorified technicians something with an iota of complexity and see what happens..... yep that's nice...well I guess I'll be staying away from these guys...have any CRNA's made any comments on their posts before? Not that it makes a difference but still.... this was good too... An anesthesiologist I know in private practice uses his CRNA's to get to room ready for epidurals so he can roll out of bed, insert the needle and go back to bed when on call. Not too shabby. uses "HIS" CRNA's?..ugh i can't read these anymore....

I'm currently in nursing school, but when I was majoring in Psychology at LSU I went out with a resident a few times. The first time we met he asked me what I was majoring in and then actually said 'please say you're going into the medical field.' I never asked him why he said this but he made the comment later when I asked him about nurses and doctors dating, and he said that there are two types of doctors...those that want a partner that they can actually discuss their work with who can understand what they're talking about and dealing with....and those that want their home life to be something totally separated from the medical world. I think nurses are the same way, and while some may marry a doctor for his title and paycheck....some may like having a partner they can discuss their work day with and relate to professially, while some nurses look for a partner who has nothing to do with the medical world...like nurses who are completely adamant about not marrying a doctor. It's all in what you want to come home to at the end of the day.

I'm in nursing school and I have to admit, I've been disgusted by 75 percent of the nurses I've had to come across. I realize this isn't the same everywhere, but every single ICU nurse I've dealt with is wonderful. The ER, well I'm not even going to go there. One of my teachers was recently admitted to the hospital that she teaches for for kidney problems. She pressed her nurse button for thirty minutes so she could use the bathroom, no one came, she urinated on herself because she was too sedated from her pain medicine to move. She laid in her urine for an hour pressing the nurse button before finally rolling herself out of bed onto the floor...she's covered in bruises from hitting the floor. She then pulled herself out of her room by her fingers and drug her iv bag behind her. It took her 15 minutes to get her head out the door to yell for a nurse to help her. The iv had torn up the inside of her arm from pulling it. This is not compassion or professionalism, this is disgusting. One nurse actually came in on her third day after being admitted and asked her if she had strained her urine in the last 24 hours. She said 'with what, my sock?' Too many people enter this profession for the title and the decent pay. Being a nurse does not mean you are a compassionate professional human being. Doing the job does not mean you are compassionate, enjoying the job means you are compassionate. I along with everyone else in my class have been amazed at the lack of compassion and professionalism. My classmates and I look at some of these nurses that are treating us and their patients terribly and we can't help but make comments, worrying that one day that's what we're going to turn into. Just yesterday there was an elderly patient in the er who I hard gasping for breath when I walked past her curtain, I stuck my head in and she could barely speak to ask for her nurse. I informed her nurse of the situation and she looked at me and said...'um yeah, i heard her', and turned around to continue her conversation about her boyfriend that she was having with another nurse. I realize that there are good nurses and bad nurses, compassionate nurses who are bad at their job and cold, unfriendly nurses who are great at their job. I really wish I could come across more of the good. I'd really like to be proud to be a nurse.

In CRNA school do the students practice on each other any? I mean do students put each other under any kind of anesthesia? Sorry if this is a dumb question, just something that popped through my head. :) Thanks Ashley

Hi, my name is Ashley and this is my first post here. I'm currently a nursing student to become an RN. Immediately after I'll continue on to get my bachelor's degree and then CRNA school. I'm working full time while I'm in school but I'm actually wondering how possible it is to work as an RN full time while getting my bachelor's degree if I go to school full time. I know it will be difficult, but is anyone doing this now? Also, if I work while I get my bachelor's degree will that count as my year of experience for CRNA school? I'm also curious as to how possible it would be to work while in CRNA school. I'd appreciate any information or advice. Thanks, Ashley