techjob4u

What do you guys think of me getting an CNA while waiting around for a program to accept me. Seems like none of them start untill Summer 2010 or Fall 2010 and I am studying for a PHR (professional human resource cert) but after that I have time between now and then. I was thinking it would help me test the waters and I could possibly get into a nursing home on the weekends thru an agency and make some $ on the side (even if its not much) to offset the upcoming tuition since I no longer qualify for a pell grant because of my completed BS. A Cna I know in tampa told me if you get in to a hospital and make it know you want to be an RN they might even pick up the training? She said if you are lpn you have a 100% shot at this if you are a CNA who is motivated you have a 50% chance of getting in a training class. How does that work? Does the hospital send you to a school and pick up the tution if you sign a contract or do they train you on the job and teach you in the hospital. She told me Memorial, Helen Ellis and Morton Plant have such programs.

No I have not contacted USF but I know they will not take me. They are rejecting students with 3.7 GPA and are super selective. Like I said I flunked out my 1st year in community college and did not go to class hung out with my GF instead typical 17-18yr old, living for the moment stuff. I do show remarkable improvement when I actually started paying for school on my own and got a little older but I did have a few withdraws in Stats II and Algebra. There’s just no way USF will take me from what I read on the boards. I also cant find anything about class time's really need a class that starts after 5pm and weekends. I know its going to be a longer haul but I think as far as working and moving towards a RN my best option might be to go to P-Tec or Manatee Tech for LPN about 1 year and then to LPN to RN bridge program. I was reading the strings on Excelsior College good and bad. Hopefully I can work as an HR Generalist / Recruiter while doing the LPN and decide if I want to keep working in HR or LPN while I finish up my RN bridge depending on where the economy is at in 1 year. I can always go for a MSN online option and skip the BSN altogether. I just don’t see the point of two B.S. Degrees. Not to mention Ptec has a LPN online program starting at 5pm with sat clinic, and Manatee has a program that start at 6pm two days a week and both are 1 year and about 5-6k for LPN. All I know is if I could do it all over again I would have went the nursing route from the start and not screwed around the 1st few years. However I am 38 now so was not thinking like this 20 yrs ago, and my friends would have laughed at me if I said I wanted to be a nurse.

I just noticed that Ptec has a LPN online option with weekends and nights for clinical. I also noticed some schools have an online LPN to RN program. Has anyone gone this route before?

I have been going back and forth about the simplest route to become an RN. As stated in my prior string I already have my BS in Business and really don't want to start over as essentially as a freshman. I looked into a BSN class here in Tampa at USF and it looks like a great option. One issue with that my freshmen year in college was horrendous. In fact I stopped going to class altogether and didn't both dropping and bombed an entire semester. I didn't want to be in college and could care less only went because my father made me go to college or pay rent. When your 17-18 you just don't care about the future so I screwed up. However a few years later I went back to school and my cumulative GPA was a 3.2 when I got my bachelors since I pulled almost all A's and B's. However my transcript of my 1st year is a joke. So based on that there's no use in applying to USF they will not take me. I started to look at HCC and they have a pretty good RN program from what I read. All I need to do is take Anatomy I / II and Micro Biology and I am done with my pre reqs. I am pretty sure I can blast thru them with little to no issue. Here is the big question. How would an RN who has a BS be viewed? Would they be viewed as an ASN or more on par with a BSN? My main reason for getting a RN is to continue in my current profession of recruiting and staffing. I have seen multiple positions working in staffing positions that require a BS and RN. I have no issue "paying my dues" and working bedside but eventually I want to get back into the staffing side and merge my 11 years of exp in staffing with my newly gained RN skills. In your opinion('s) is this a smart move or am I just wasting my money and time? Would a RN with a BS in another field be considered for such work or would they just skip me and go with a BSN?

Maybe you just need time off. I did horrible my 1st year of community college even failed a few class's. My head was not in the game. I went to work in some crummy jobs and got partying out of my system and went back to school a few years later. I was ready to go back and my grades went back up to A and B+ across the board. Maybe you dont need a few years and a crappy boss yelling at you like me. Maybe you need a few weeks. Just take a step back and when you think you are ready. You are ready!

What about taking a temp assignment or working for temp agency vs a move. Maybe a 13 week contract will be enough time to find a perm gig and most agencies can set you up with back to back assignments. I use to be a Division Manager for one and we offered health insurance and kept the good nurses with work with little to no gaps between. I moved for a job once. They laid me off 1 year after I sold my house!

Let's say I do go for a CNA is there a CNA to LPN option. I see the LPN to RN option in many schools. I also see a BSN option, which might be best for me if I can figure out how to support my family for the next 1.5 yrs without income. Also how would an ADN or LPN who has a BS degree be looked at? I almost feel like I am taking steps backwards by going back to school to get a BSN when I already have a BS Degree. Maybe, I should just finish my PHR and use the $ to finish my Masters in HR vs trying to start over at 38. From the threads above it looks like RNs are having just as much trouble with work as I am. I would hate it but I can always go into high tech sales again or medical devices. SIGH!

No issue kind of jammed out my thoughts without a spell check. Didnt see one in the blog options.

I have read some similar questions but I have a bit more detail an would like some real answers on how to move forward. First let me give some detail on myself. I am a 38 year old male who has a business degree B.S. and has worked for the last 11 years as a recruiter mostly in the IT and Engineering field but I did work for one year as a Division Manager for a Health care staffing company. During the time I worked for the health care company I couldnt not believe how lucky the nurses were to get 3, 12 hour shifts and be able to take PT gigs on the side and depending on the location and skill set allot of the nurses were bringing in pretty good $. At the same time I was working for the med staffing company my brother was sick and dying from cancer so I gained a huge respect for the nurses who took care of him and started think I was in the wrong side of things. Sure I made allot of money, but I hated my job all staffing companies care about is $ and all they did was hire and fire people based on numbers. In 5 years my company had 5 division managers for nursing, and after one year I went back to an Engineering recruiting company sick of the churn and burn. While working for the Engineering firm, I though about going into nursing but the hours are almost impossible to work full time job and go to school. I looked into it and the local community colleges had a 1 year plus waiting list and even if they didnt the hours were 8- 3:30, and the night class's were 4pm to 9pm. Even the more expensive private schools had almost impossible hours for me. Since I was working full time 8-5 and making over 68k I gave up on the nursing idea yet again. Well all was well in the land of engineering until feb 2009 when I was laid off with 50 other coworkers. I have been collecting unemployment for close to 10 months at this point and have not gotten any interviews eventhough I have applied to over 300 jobs! Who needs a recruiter or HR Generalist when no one is hiring! All of my friends are in the same boat out of the 50 of use only 7 have found work. I have been studying for my PHR (professional human resource) cert, but I was thinking about going to unemployment and seeing if I can get job retraining since I have not been able to find work in my field despite my exp, degree and tons of applications. My wife has decided to go back to work full time and told me she is willing to work full time since the kids are older ect. Here is the question. What is the best route. I have looked into BSN class's and USF is close to me in Tampa but I do need to work, I cant just be out of work for 2 years in a row, I have gone thru my 401k and savings. I was looking into a six week CNA course, I know the pay is low but I might be able to get a job and work as a sitter late at night or in a nursing home 2 or 3rd shift, and then go back to school. As far as school I am so lost with the route to go. BSN vs LPN. or LPN vs ADN or should I get my CNA work then get my BSN or ADN. Theres no wonder why they have a nurse shortage, they make it impossible to attend class's! I know I am not gonna make the same $ I made as a Branch Manager - Recruiter, but I am sick of the turn around in my profession, at least nursing is stable. I am once again ready to give up on nursing for the 3rd time... any advice would be great. I think if I could get an RN, LPN, ADN or BSN with my business background I would be a huge asset to a hospital and could really keep the agencies in check and should be a huge asset.