averna

Hey guys, I'm about to start taking my prereqs for NS, and I was just wondering how tattoos and piercings are dealt with in nursing school and on the job. I have a small tattoo on the inside of my left wrist, and I have a small nose stud. Both are very tasteful and not at all "in your face". (I also have my ears pierced, just one hole in each lobe.. I figure those are typical enough these days that as long as you're not wearing crazy big hoop earrings or dangly ones, it's fine to wear small ones there). Other than those, really, I'm your everyday typical girl next door. Now, the tattoo I can see myself covering up with a wide bandaid. (Although I don't want my patients thinking I recently attempted suicide....) The nose piercing though.... It's not the kind of nose piercing that you can just take out yourself. I would have to go and have it professionally removed, and, if I wanted to get it back in, I'd have to go and have it professionally put in. Again. I *really* like my nose piercing, I feel as though it's a part of me, and I don't feel like it's offensive or a health risk. Obviously if my nursing school or job requires me to remove it, I will... I'm not *that* much of a stickler. But still.... =( Just wondering how jobs, and nursing schools in particular deal with this kind of thing. Any stories? Thanks in advance =)

Thanks for all the encouragement, guys! Also... GOOD NEWS!!! I decided I should call the biology department, just to see if maaaybe for some strange, odd, wonderful reason, I could get out of taking the pre-req for Anatomy. The guy who answers the phone is really nice, I tell him my sob story, he listens, "is there ANY possible way, at all, that I might be able to skip the initial bio class and jump right into Anatomy, any way at all?" And he's like: "Oh, that's fine. You don't have to take the pre-req, it's just more a suggestion. You have a BA you said? Pfft, you're smart, you'll be fine." I was like.... (except less scared-looking and more happy-looking ^^). So after work today I'm going to skip down to the bookstore and buy my text book (squee!) and get ready for class to start in a month! Anyway, I'm REALLY happy. Also, a teensy bit scared, because, wow, this is actually happening. I'm actually going to start this whole journey. But it's a good kind of scared. I think. It's good. :chuckle

Good luck!!!! I have my fingers crossed for you!

Melmarie - that's awesome! Grats on getting into the NH program =) Funny - I live right in Kendall square (well, my boyfriend does, and I basically live there. My actual apartment is in Central Sq, but I'm pretty much never there ^^) Are you going to be moving near UNH or commuting? I don't even know how far UNH is from Boston technically... is it far? But yes - I'm looking at MGH, Simmons, and Umass Boston. All of them have accelerated BSN degrees, and are all close by. And thanks for the potential suggestions about Bunker Hill! I'm *trying* to take some of my classes at BU, like I said before, because I get tuition reimbursement there- but so far, it hasn't really been working out, due to a number of things (the pre-reqs of pre-reqs, classes being full, classes not offered at the right times, etc). So I'm starting to wonder if I should just bite the bullet and take some at Bunker Hill, or Bay State, something like that. Feel free to send me a private message if you want, seeing as how talking about Boston and UNH is slightly off topic here. er, can you even send private messages? I'm kind of new to the site, and haven't looked into that yet.

I'm looking at some accelerated BSN programs... where I can get my RN in less than 2 years. I was originally thinking about a direct entry master's program, but I think it would be more beneficial for me to get my RN, work a few years, and then once I've got my life in order, decide if I want to go back to school for something else. I don't want to jump into a direct entry master's, especially because I've had absolutely no experience in nursing, at all (never been a CNA, never been a tech, never even babysat some sick kids - although I am going to start to volunteer at a local hospital to hopefully get a feel for the atmosphere a bit). I do think that it would be a good career for me, and that I'd get a lot out of it. I just don't want to throw all my eggs into one basket and commit myself to direct entry. Mass General Hospital in Boston has a 14 month accelerated BSN prog that I'm really interested in... They usually have around 400 applicants for about 60 spots. So THAT makes me nervous. Anyway. Now I'm getting a bit off topic. -digresses-

I think you need to be a little bit more specific. Also: LOL @rhonda .... hiLARious :chuckle

Yeah... at this point, I'm thinking that there's no way I can work and take those pre-reqs part time, unless I want to start nursing school in like 2012. If I can just quit my job, take out a loan, and take these courses full time.... I might be able to make it work. Thanks for the advice, and good luck to you too!

These pre-reqs for these nursing programs are driving me nuts. For most programs, I need the basics: Anatomy, Physiology, Stats, Chem, and Microbiology. Some of the programs also need Nutrition, or Intro to Psych. The Stats and the psych are fine (I got a BA in psych in '07), but I have NONE of the other pre-reqs. Ok, so I figure I'll look at some local schools and register. So my first bet is a nice university here, at which I WORK, so I would get tuition reimbursed (woot!) So I'm like, sweet, I'll sign up for a (free!) evening class. Anatomy, here I come! OH WAIT. Anatomy has a prereq? Bio 106. Huh. Um. Ok, I guess I'll just... register for that then. OH WAIT. Bio 106 has a pre-req? Bio 105. Huh. Um. Ok, I guess - ok wait, no, these pre-reqs are going to take me YEARS before I can even APPLY to nursing school. My pre-reqs for nursing school have pre-reqs, which have pre-reqs. GAH! I'm pulling my hair out here! Has anyone else had this problem, starting from scratch? I talked to some of the nursing programs I'm interested in, and they DO offer some summer courses to help people with pre-reqs - but the thing is, most of these classes are quick, compressed online courses designed specifically for THAT program - as in, if I took them, and didn't get into that program, I couldn't use them for credit at another nursing program. Which would pretty much put me back to square one. I'm also trying to broaden my search to other community colleges, etc, where I would, in fact, have to pay tuition, but it wouldn't be *as* much as a private institution. I don't know guys. All of this seems so overwhelming. I mean, I do think I can do it, and I DO want to go to nursing school. It's just a lot of stuff that needs to be organized, and get done, and figured out. I guess it's be good practice for the real deal, huh? I think I just need someone to tell me to calm down, take one step at a time, etc....

This is an awesome thread... I'm going to be in nursing school in a year or two, and I've just pretty much resigning myself to the fact that co-workers, instructors, and my fellow students are all going to suck. (Ok, I mean, not really. But I've read enough on these forums to be aware that it's not all sunshine and unicorns). However!! This thread REALLY lifts my spirits. I can't wait to go and graduate from nursing school, work in the field, and BE one of those awesome nurses who is just awesome. =D Keep 'em coming!!!

I LOVE that idea. Although then you'd have a bunch of random people walking around with "registered nurse" written on their shirts. I feel like that's a weird, bad lawsuit waiting to happen. "She didn't give me CPR correctly! I was dying on the street! I'm emotionally scarred! It SAID she was a real registered nurse!!" -snort- I think they should send them just to hospitals and give them out to genuine registered nurses for free! Ok, well, they probably wouldn't do that. Or have nurses contribute like 5 or 10 bucks, or have the hospital they work at throw in some money to get shirts ordered. (I mean I realize that's unlikely to happen). But hey, how cool would that be!

Any site moderators/admins/allnurses members who want to see this in action - see if you can access the forums at Ravelry.com. It's a knitting community website, and you can click different buttons on posts - you can "agree", "disagree", "love", "funny", "educational" and "interesting." If you accidentally click something that you don't want to, just click it again and it change it back. It's a really neat method of feedback, and I'd love to see it utilized on this website. I'm not sure if you have to be a member of ravelry to check out the forums... it might be the case. Usually it takes about a week to become a member, because they are slowly sending out invitations little by little as people sign up, so as to not overload their server. It's completely free and requires very little personal info - it's just that it's a new website that really exploded into popularity, and the two people who run it are trying to keep up with everyone who wants to join. On a side note, anyone who loves to knit, should TOTALLY join ravelry.com. Best knitting community website, ever. :wink2:

You started nursing school because you were "bored"? I'm trying really hard here to understand, and to not offend anyone. But that in itself just makes me speechless. I think you need to rethink what you want to do with your life. I'm not even IN nursing school yet, but my wanting to apply has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I'm "bored". Good luck to you, and I hope you figure out what you really want to do.

See, that's where I thrive. Right now I work in a library, and we just sit here. Things are so slow. Honestly? I liked WAITRESSING more than this, despite the weird hours and the being on your feet all day and the getting crappy tips from customers. I like being super busy. I actually enjoy feeling like everything is about to go all to h*ll =D It's like some weird thrill. Granted, I'm NOT comparing waitressing to nursing. LOL. Not at all, don't get the wrong impression here. Obviously they're uh, VERY different (which is an understatement at the least). But do any of you actually enjoy being so super busy? Or is it more just absolutely and completely overwhelming, and totally past the point of being manageable/enjoyable?

Gotcha. I'm trying to get a good perspective on what it will *really* be like. I think that I have had a sort of rosie colored view on what it could be like, and reading these forums and others has somewhat been a rude awakening. I'm going to have to make sure that I'll be able to put up with all the "BS" and enjoy what nursing really is all about - helping patients, being compassionate, making a difference, etc. Which is exactly what I want to do. I've long since dropped the view of "oooh, nursing! cute scrubs! we'll all be like the Grey's Anatomy people! I wanna be just like Izzy! everyone will be making funny and cute quips while doing surgery!" (-snort- yeah right). So I'm not *that* naive. Just... a little bit naive. I guess I'm just going to have to rethink this. I'm not in nursing school now, I haven't even gotten through my pre-reqs, or even applied. I just want to have as much input as possible before I begin this journey. I DO want to be a nurse, but I DONT want to put up with all the politics and red tape. And I don't know if that's really possible. =/

...or that's what it seems. I know that a lot of these forums offer a place for nurse to vent anonymously. That's totally cool - it's important to have a place to let some steam go. It's healthy. But it really does scare the crap outta me. What if I go through four years of nursing school, spend all this money, have a ton of debt, only to be one of those people who posts on this forum, "Nursing is awful. I hate my job. Do NOT go into nursing. I should have never done it." People say that they just "know" that they're cut out to be a nurse. Well, I don't *know*. Not for sure. But how can you be 100% sure on anything? Also, how many of you are working in hospitals, and how many of you have more low-stress jobs? See, here's the thing. I don't want to work on the floor. I don't want to be running around in a hospital. I'd much rather be a small doctor's office, or at a school, or an eating disorders clinic. I really want to go and become a mental health nurse practitioner and work with adolescents. So part of me is like, well, I'd go through nursing school, get through it, get through the whole clinical hospital thing, maybe work in a hospital and just grin and bear it, and maybe a couple years after I graduate I'll be able to settle into a nice 9-5 job at a home for troubled kids, or at an ED clinic, or maybe a s Am I just COMPLETELY delusional? Is this NOT what happens? Am I going to become a mental health nurse practitioner and just be destined to work in the ER at nights and have a crappy manager who cuts corners and have people pooing on me all day? I mean I can deal with that for a little while - but only if I know that a different, better-suited job for me is around the corner. Please, let me know if I'm completely naive.