bluehippo

Thanks

I'm in the last semester of nursing school. CNAs at all of the hospitals I've been at have been extremely helpful to me. Prior to the past few weeks, I have been responsible for total patient care of one or two patients. The past few weeks, I have been responsible for only medications on five patients. One patient's g tube connection leaked twice. The first time the RN, who is ultimately responsible for the patient, fixed it. (I'm not trying to push off responsibility from me, I just needed help because I had no experience with g tubes leaking and the different connecting parts). It leaked again. This time another RN found the right equipment and really fixed it. I definitely wanted to change and clean up the patient but did not have the time so I was going to go find the CNA and ask her to do it. The RN said nicely that I should do it because the CNAs don't like it when they are asked to clean up the patient again. I'm going to approach my instructor about this matter the next time I'm at clinical. I'm curious as to what others would suggest I do in this situation. I'm a student so I'm a 'guest' at this hospital. I don't want to make waves, and I, of course, will need their help in the future. What are some of your thoughts and suggestions?

No, this is not required at every school or hospital.

There was a post recently, maybe within the past month, that was very similar to your post. Try to find that one because a lot of people had some really great suggestions like talking to the department chair, writing letters, and other options. A good number of posters had been in the same situation that you are in. That really stinks (I'd like to insert a much harsher word but...) that you were .5 points away from passing and the instructor is not willing to work with you. I think I'd be pulling my hair out! Good luck to you. I hope you're able to talk/meet/write to someone at your school that can help you out.

Some of my nursing instructors have told me that there is no difference in pay between a BSN or ADN. Two people that have graduated from this same ADN program are making very decent money, and they also say that there's no difference in pay. I am attending a community college that costs about $1200 every semester, and I will have spent about $1000 on books by the time I graduate. After I pass the boards, I plan to get a job and experience, then maybe next year begin an online ADN to BSN bridge program. The ADN-BSN bridge is definitely more expensive than schooling for the ADN, but I will have a steady income by then. It does stink that you've already spent $20,000 on your first year of prerequisites (would you spend a total of $80,000 for your BSN?), but if money is such an issue, which I can totally understand, then maybe it would be better to get out of there and continue with a community college to get your ADN and go back later when you have more money for your BSN. I wish you the best, good luck.

I also attend a community college in a Chicago suburb. With tuition, books, and child care for one child I will have spent about $9400. Maybe I should add my salon bill in there since nursing school has given me some gray hair that I need to cover up regularly!

Ya, it stinks that people talk so much smack and can be pretty judgemental. 95% of the time I stay out of it. But I don't think RNs talk more than people in other businesses. I can kind of see your point because as students we are taught (or drilled) that we are to act professional and not judge. I will be entering my last semester in January and have been very lucky because most of my class is supportive and honest.

I cried (loud movie-style sobbing crying) in the car on the way home from clinical. My clinical instructor took me into the conference room, dropped her clipboard on the table, kept standing, and began loudly telling me that that would have been a med error. And how I either chose to ignore her or simply didn't hear her request to listen to what "pharmacy had to say" regarding vanco levels (I still don't understand why she told me to call pharmacy, said that she wanted to hear what they had to say but walked away immediately after- Hell, I'm just glad I passed after that incident!). I had not had the peaks and troughs lecture in pharmacology yet and later went home to double check peak/trough level info in the drug book (which the book did not mention and it's the 2009 Jones & Bartlett). I also went off the printed out MAR because I wasn't able to read the physicians' orders, which was wrong on my part. It turned out that RNs had been giving the medication without the proper orders just like I was about to do, which still doesn't make it okay. I will always check peak/trough levels and always read (or get help reading) the physicians' notes. It's kind of funny, though. Talking to my peers, I've found out that most of them do not read the physicians' notes. Others were not aware of peak/trough levels, too, at that time. I felt like I was the most terrible and the world's stupidest student nurse. I really questioned if I was cut out to be a nurse. I also shed a few tears in the bathroom on my first day of pediatric clinicals because of a child with left side hypoplastic heart syndrome that had absent parents.

Barnes & Noble has great prices, too. Lately B&N has been a better deal than Amazon. Especially if you join their member club (it's $25 a year). My books were still cheaper through them, even with paying for the membership, than what the school and Amazon were charging. Free shipping for orders over $25, too.

Look for interventions relating to infection/infection control, especially with her DM.

I can only imagine how you feel. What do you think about taking a leave of absence and talking to a counselor before you quit? I used to work for an HMO. The RNs there worked Monday through Friday 8-430p with an hour lunch, with benefits and all of the normal holidays off. They told me that they made decent money (the office did not require a BSN or Master's degree). They also did not have to deal with patients, just hospital staff and doctors' offices. I also have an aunt who works for BCBS with the same Monday-Friday schedule. These may be some options for you? I hope you find what you need. Good luck :)

I'm in my third semester. We started out with 50 (in first semester) and are down to about 30. And every semester you hear about how many people in fourth semester are told to go home from clinical- meaning they've failed. This time six people were told to go home from clinical within a few weeks. Other instructors say that the fourth semester instructors get irritated that the students are not comfortable with their nursing skills. It sounds like a catch-22. Students only have so much clinical time and instructors assign the patients. I have practiced so many of my skills again recently on my own time, and will be practicing again over xmas break, but doing it in the lab is still very different from your skills on patients. I've actually been lucky lately. I've been getting heavy-needs patients while other students are done with their assessments and bored. But then again, I've upset a few of my clinical instructors so maybe they were trying to weed me out-kudos to them because I'm still here and getting better at my care and judgement! My advice is to help other students and RNs. Ask to watch, ask the clinical instructor for a heavier-needs patient or tell her that you haven't worked with xyz so if she could assign you an appropriate patient. A student really needs to be his or her own advocate in the clinical setting and be nosy as heck to see as much as he/she can see.

If you want to be a nurse, and not an EMT or respiratory therapist, please don't follow the suggestions from the counselor. You should really do what your passion is. From my personal experience it is challenging to get into a nursing program at many schools. If a better grade in English would get you in that sounds like the most sound action. But first, since you're getting conflicting information from counselors (I also had that problem), you should go to the chair person of the nursing program to clarify. If you need information on transferring, I've found that it's best to go to the school you plan to transfer to with your transcript. They will be able to tell you for sure what classes they accept and all other pertinent information in regards to getting into the nursing program. From your post you mentioned that the first counselor said that you needed to take English to apply to the program. The other said that the C in English is holding you back. It sounds like English is needed to get into the program but the first counselor failed to mention that certain grades are needed in those preclinical classes, too. That really stinks that some of the information was omitted the first time. If your school offers mini semesters that would be an option. Or maybe they would accept an English class from a community college that offers mini semesters. I hope you find the appropriate info and make it into the nursing program if that's your passion. Good luck :)

I have known a few people who have withdrawn or received an F after completing a class. They just re-entered the following semester and keep on going (and passing, too!). Withdrawing does stink but is sometimes necessary and definitely does not mean it's the end of your nursing education! Please remember this is a hard program which is, for most, a totally new way of learning and test-taking. Focus on psychology and pharmacology for right now. Med surg will be waiting for you next semester. I hope this makes you feel a bit better. Good luck and keep your chin up!

I am still in nursing school. But you really sound like you have a wonderful heart, and I think the nursing profession needs you (and more people like you). It sounds to me that you are on the right track. At my psychiatric rotations I got to listen to many patients' stories. I used less of my nursing skills there but did a lot of therapeutic communication. Again, I am still a student, but I don't feel that I was able to really help patients. Obviously, these people were in a hospital and were very sick. They seemed to need much more interventions than I could provide (even some of the RNs there didn't seem to relate well to the patients because of the severity of their illnesses). It wasn't very rewarding for me. I've also done a rotation on telemetry (using nursing skills, giving meds) and was able to really listen and connect to people. The people on the tele floor were physically ill and probably somewhat emotionally ill but definitely not as severe as on the psych floor. I feel that I made a difference in their lives regarding their physical and emotional well-being which was incredibly rewarding for me as a nursing student. Good luck and keep us posted :)