sea2summit3

Hey armyChris thanks for all the advice and apologies for taking so long to reply. I'll likely be looking into ER as well. Any thoughts on setting myself up so I can be a strong candidate as one of the 20% external hires?

Hey Bend/OR nurses, I realize there are a few posts regarding nursing in Bend but most are outdated or non-specific. I'll likely be relocating to Bend in August 2015 and as a Trauma ICU RN, I'd welcome thoughts on opportunities for nursing in bend. I'm open to opportunities outside of the hospital; I have a long history of EMS & wilderness rescue. 1. Is there a law setting nurse:patient ratios? Do hospitals in OR obey these ratios? Can you point me to the law? 2. What is the salary range for nurses in Bend? 3. Any places you'd recommend working or not recommend working and objective reasons why? Specifically, are middle and upper management at these employers long-term thinkers & nurse centered or short-term thinkers who have a knack at turning staff over? 4. Do employers recognize BSN over ADN? 5. As a BSN with CCRN, TNCC, TCAR certs, experience in trauma, cardiac, and medical ICU, anywhere I should look? 6. Is the ONA union effective? Any thoughts are welcome!

Been a while since I've been on... If anyone else has the same question, yes you can work and complete your BSN. Personally, I only worked through 1/3 of school and decided that my GPA and happiness was more important than my $10/hr retail job. Having worked for 1 year, I have a good start on paying down the school loans I accumulated as a result. Some people can handle the intensity of school and full or part time work and some can not. Some students can do it an maintain a high GPA, some will destroy their GPA. Decide what elements are most important to you, but I personally advise to not sell yourself short. Nursing has almost infinite opportunities, many of which require GPA as some element to be competitive for advance degrees. A BSN or ADN degree can eat you up; they are much more difficult than other programs. My stack of books reached my 6' height. My girlfriend is in an ADN program at it sounds no easier. Plan to work your *** off. I am now looking at advancing to a ACNP or CRNA and I'm glad I did not take the chance of compromising my GPA for work.

I'm hoping to do the same, but have yet to decide. Thanks!

Are there any nursing students in UNR's Orvis program or graduates from that program who worked while in school? I have been accepted to the Fall 2011 class, am waiting to find out about financial aid, and thinking I may need to work part time. I have a previous degree and currently am taking 13 units of prereqs and working full time, so I'm used to working hard. Just wondering if anyone had any words of wisdom. Apologies if there is another post on this, but I couldn't find any specific to the Orvis program. Thanks!

Thanks for the replies. I'm sure a lot of the negative feedback I was reading had some other things going on.

I've read quite a few negative posts regarding Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno. I am prepping for entrance into a nursing program... maybe TMCC. I'm reading that the teachers are very unhelpful. It also seems that the an underlying (and unspoken) goal of the program is to force people to fail out. Any more positive experiences with TMCC? Also- A&P summer course... can both be done in one summer? I can't access any of TMCC's old summer schedules. Thanks!