weirhead69

In terms of a blueprint, I just mean a way to organize my gameplan, a formula to look at the big picture, and then critical thinking associated with the particular patient scenarios. Preceptors, they seem like they can make or break the experience.

The last time I was here (a long time ago) I wrote how I was bagging nursing school b/c the cost was so outrageous. Well, I actually went and am now in the last month of NS and in a preceptorship. The program was an accelerated one and what I like to describe as "teach yourself nursing" b/c the lectures are only the tip of the iceberg of what we're eventually tested on. The clinicals I have had so far consist of 5 weeks of med surge, pedi and maternity, psych, and 5 weeks of sitting with care managers in hospitals as part of my community rotation. The med surge is the only experience I have had with actual patient care. As a man I was unwanted in pedi and maternity, psych I played cards with pts., and care management was a complete waste of time! I realized I have to get the most out of this preceptorship and again I am teaching myself nursing. I was never given a plan of care tool, but have gotten one from this site today. I was wondering if anybody else's experience has been so lame with nursing school. I have read some amazing stories here and asm completely jealous. My current preceptor iss the type of nurse who documents lung sounds without even taking her stethoscope off her neck. The floor is hectic and full of stressed out women (again I'm the only man). Is there a website anybody can recommend to get a good clinical experience blueprint. I'm asking my colleueges and most say their final experience is good. Mine is starting out to be just like the rest. ugggg! Anyway, thanks

well i've decided to not attend mcphs this fall. with the job market in the state it's in and this being a second career, i just cannot justify spending 40-50k for a bsn. it's a strange career that an admission counselor says "regardless of the job opportunities, salary, etc, it really should be a career that you think will be the best fit for you." it could be me but those are very real concerns for anyone to weigh before embarking on a career. the best fit for me may be as a cowboy but that would be dubious advice to give someone who decided he was going to ride off west to find the next cattle drive heading out of laredo. schools and the nursing career need to stop seeing itself as a calling. the oversupply of nurses and the rise of per diem work are not positives for the career as a whole. nursing seems to be cast as something that rises above the petty concerns of money and opportunity but that is what work is all about.

I have been in retail the last 10 years of my life and think I have some truths figured out. Some people thrive on conflict. Some personality types are just built to come alive when conflicts are brewing and if there aren't any, they need to create them. Ever wondered why reality tv is so popular? In my business we provide an inhome service and people have become more and more nasty to deal with. We live in a depersonalized world where the businesses we shop at and the restaurants we eat at are all controled by corporate entities completey divorced from local communities. People act bad because they feel like it's accepted. At Wal-Mart you get your way by making the biggest scene and you don't have to worry about seing the owner at church on Sunday. I wanted to go into nursing to help people in their time of need and serve people in a higher capacity. In retail everyone acts as if every petty concern is life or death. At least in nursing it may be true.

I was accepted into an ASN at the tech college but figured it was a step backwards. The actual tuition will be more like 45k in reality but the cost of not being able to work as it's a 16 month boot camp will make it a lot more in the end. Even the ASN they recommend not working to really succeed. The tuition for that would have been around 20K I think. I am planning on talking to as many nurses as possible in the next week before decision time. I see the level of enthusiasm in some other posters and I am just not there, at this point anyway. I'm jealous to not be as committed to nursing as some of you.

I am in my early 40s and getting ready to pay the tuition deposit to an accelerated BSN program but having major second thoughts. I have not worked in healthcare before so I really don't even know if its for me. The school wants 50k for tuition and just yesterday the Boston Globe ran an article saying how tight the job market is for nurses. I am still paying for my previous "quality of life degree", one that offered no clear career path. I have one more week before they want an answer and I don't know what to do.

I was recently accepted into a post-BA BSN program and am having doubts about the tuition, and the problems new grads are having getting hired. I am over 40 and been on partial layoff for 2 years taking science classes and looking forward to nursing school to now unable to pull the trigger on the tuition deposit. I feel like I should work for a year as a CNA while seeing if the job market returns. The $50,000 seems high for an education that doesn't gaurantee a job. The folks at the school do there best to make the degree seem like a winner either way but a job at the end of the tunnel is not a nice bonus to me, it's a necessity.

You just described a couple of areas in NH, mainly Concord or perhaps the Seacoast area although both are accessible by car no matter where you end up. One thing you get used to living here is the need for a car. The mtns are 1 hour from Concord and 2 from the Seacoast. The living is cheaper here than in RI I imagine. I cannot speak to the job scene yet as I am still trying to get into a school. I do wish we had a proper university in our capital but the Portsmouth Dover area has that covered. Good Luck!