PlanBNurse

i personally got into nursing for the money and stability. the return on investment on an adn degree is phenomenal. my total schooling expenses including books for 2years of nursing school was about 8,000$. my first year out of school i easily cleared 70k (before taxes, i'm single w/no kids, i got killed with taxes) with working at least 1-3 overtime shifts a week (my regular pay is for 3 12hr shifts a week). i work in an ed in wa where overtime pay is time and a half plus 10$/hr bonus, plus 4$/hr night shift, plus 3.50$/hr weekend. so if you want the most "bang for your buck" get an adn degree and find a hospital that is desperate for nurses then work overtime at night on the weekend. as long as your nice to your patients and do your job competently, making as much money as you can helps out all us nurses.

I'm a big fan of danskos. I used were running shoes and end up getting lower back aches after a 12hr shift. Ever since i started wearing danskos I have not had that problem. My danskos were tight across the foot at first but after about a month they were great. Just wear thin socks until you stretch them out, its worth the wait.

the rumor that local seattle hospitals do not hire students from sccc is simply not true. i graduated from sccc about a year ago and several of us were hired right out of school in to residency programs at harborview, virginia mason, swedish, overlake, evergreen, valley medical and the va. in fact our employment rate after passing nclex was 100% (also 100% passed nclex on the first attempt). i personally got hired right out of school into an ed residency program in tacoma. sccc has several clinical rotations at local seattle area hospitals, which provides for excellent opportunities to make connections to land a job after graduation. btw working as an rn in a nursing home is admirable. these nurses provide a very valuable service to our geriatric population and i find it sad when they are looked at as 2nd class nurses.