meg816

I was a school nurse for 2 years and didn't like it either. What I did like was the relationships I built with the students and staff. I was looking for other day jobs, when a teaching position at our local Career and Tech Ed school came open. I applied and got the job. I currently have a Type M vocational teaching certificate and am in my 4th year of teaching. It is way more work than school nursing, but the reward is great and I have discovered something I love as much as bedside nursing. And the schedule is amazing!! Good luck on your search.

I too am a new school nurse. My background is L/D. I didn't have any orientation at all and was thankful I have a friend who was a school nurse who I could call 10 times a day when I started in the fall. I was feeling really unsure about myself because I have had a couple parents really upset when I didn't call them. I don't have as many kids as you, but my office fills up fast during recess and I'm try to assess and get them back to class ASAP. I went to my nursing supervisor, because I was going home at night,almost, hating my job. And that was not normal for me. I have never had a bad day being an L/D nurse, and I hated feeling like that because I LOVE being a nurse. I spent a couple days with another nurse in my district and was reassured, because I am doing what I should be. Before I spent those couple days with another school nurse, I decided I was going to call parents for everything. Most parents, I have found, are irritated that I call them but I don't care at this point. I have to cover my ass. The nurse before me said "your a mom, just do what you would for your kids." I'm the kind of mom who is not worried about bumps, scrapes, bruises. My kiddos have to be bleeding out, or have an infection I am sure of before I take them to the doctor. I love my students so much, and am so thankful for my job. Bottom line... Call parents if in doubt, if they don't answer.. Not your fault! Document everything! You are not their parent and you are not a provider and can't diagnose. Just keep loving the kids and calling parents and you will do great:)!!!

Hey everyone, I am currently an AAS RN and am eager to advance my degree. I have been a labor/delivery since I became a nurse 4 years ago. I recently became a school nurse because my family needed a consistent schedule, but still work PRN at the hospital. I am looking for a school that is, most importantly, inexpensive since I will be paying out of pocket. My two top choices are Western Governors University and Aspen University. They are both financially feasible and it looks like they will both provide my educational goals. I'm leaning towards WGU because I can move through the program quickly and it's quite inexpensive. My only hesitation is that if I go for the RN to MSN, I would not be awarded a BSN. And, it's a pass/fail system with a GPA a 3.0. My ultimate goal is to be a FNP and CNM. My concern is being able to get into an accredited school with only a 3.0 GPA after getting my BSN/MSN. I was also wondering, if going through WGU, if getting my BSN first and then getting my MSN would be the way to go so I have the BSN in my hands in case life happens and I am unable to complete the RN to MSN in a timely fashion. I would love your thoughts about my plan and how I am thinking about fulfilling it.

I work in a 160 bed facility and the nursing supergiants are responsible for only nursing. They would never dream of floating.... There is too much for them to do as it is!! You are worth so much more! You can find a job anywhere that will be less stressful. Good luck super nurse:)

I was 4th on the alternate list and it just means that if someone who was accepted can't go then they start going down the alternate list in order and accept people on that list. The year I got accepted 6 alternates got into the program because so many people couldn't accept their spot. If you don't get in by the time classes start you have to wait till the next year. We did have two LPN"s come into the program at the beginning of the 2nd semester because 2 people dropped out, but it was only because they were LPN's that they were able to come in late. I know it changes year to year, but my score on the NET test and GPA weren't nearly as good as yours and I still got in a really good alternate spot. And if you don't get in, just take classes towards your BSN so you don't feel like you are just wasting time while waiting to get into the program.

I think you have an excellent chance of getting in! They don't start going through applications until the end of summer semester because they count summer courses into their consideration, so you should get an extra point for your CNA if you put that on your application. And they don't start sending out acceptance/denial letters until September or October. Good luck and let us know what happens!

Hey, I don't know you have found anything yet, but if not, here is my input. I just graduated from the UAA RN nursing program in Fairbanks and had 2 LPN's in our class. Unfortunately, there are not many opportunities in the Fairbanks area for LPN's and our acute care hospital, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, stopped hiring them years ago. However, Denali Center, a long term care facility is connected to FMH and does employ LPN's. You may find some openings on the Banner Health website http://www.bannerhealth.com/Careers/Locations/Alaska/Alaska+Careers.htm. Banner also employs LPN's at Tanana Valley clinic Urgent Care. One of my fellow student worked there and loved it. State jobs pay the most and one is the Pioneers Home, long term care, and they employ LPN's. It sounds like you have already been on the state website, but I encourage you to check it often as the openings change frequently. I'm not sure if the jail employs LPN's. I recently got on the website and found only RN positions, but state jobs pay dollars more than other facilities, but as a new grad, acute care experience is invaluable and I seeked out the hospital for a job. The other LPN in my class worked at a private clinic and loved it as well. Check out Craigslist and The Fairbanks Daily Newsminer want ads and you make have some luck there as well. Goodluck on your job search and welcome to the cold cold north and Land of the Midnight Sun. We are definitely a unique state with a unique way of life:nurse:

Congrats on getting in the nursing program. I live in Alaska (although would love to be in GA)and can't speak to GA nursing programs, but I am a single mom and just finished nursing school and got licensed this month. I'm not gonna lie and say it was easy, because it wasn't easy. Nursing instructors expect you to make school your number 1 priority and if it isn't it may not go well. My children, ages 4 and 8, definitely had to sacrifice not having their mommy around as much as they needed so we could have a better life. But I will tell you, every minute was worth it. Now that I am done and looking back, I am like how did I ever do that!!! Nursing school is intense and seems never ending, but it is sooo rewarding and you can get through it and will be glad you did. I had an aunt and my children's dad to help with the kids, but most of my study time and writing care plans and papers were done with my kids in the same room. You just have to make sure they are fed and have something to do and get to studying. If it's anything like here, getting into a competitive program is half the battle and the rest will be over before you know it! My program was 4 semesters over 2 years and now I am a labor and delivery nurse and LOVING every minute of it. Good luck and like the other post said, enlist as much support as you can. And....as my first year instructor told us...don't be afraid to say "no" when people ask you for things. If you are the kind of person who likes to do for others (which you probably are since you want to be a nurse), you have to set boundaries with friends and family and not sacrifice yourself for others. I didn't see my best friend for months at a time because nursing school and my family had to come before anything to be successful. And many won't understand unless they have been there, but keep your head up and your eye on the prize and you will be an RN before you know it and that's a priceless feeling! You go girl!!!

I apologize if I was not clear. All of the online programs are for licensed RN's. Of course nobody can get an online nursing degree pre-licensure, because clinical hours are always required. We had a recruiter come visit our class from Grand Canyon University and the program I mentioned is and RN to BSN program that is totally online.

Hi, I encourage you not to waste your time get a BSN through a college you have to be physically present for. There are a ton of online programs that are accredited. I will be starting with Grand Canyon University in the fall. The classes are 5 weeks long, one at a time, and you can be done in 16 months...and it's all online! There somebody else that I commented on about living in Fairbanks..this is my copy and paste job fyi....... Hey my fellow new grads! I just graduated from the RN program in Fairbanks, AK and will start working at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital in about a month. New grads around the country are finding it difficult to obtain employment (contrary to what my high school guidance counselor told me:)), not just Alaska. From what I can tell new grads from Alaska do have priority from out-of-staters. I know from the past two years anyway, FMH found positions for all of its Fairbanks new grads. This is most likely because we do our clinicals at FMH and our they are huge supporter of our program in many ways including financially. They take pride in Fairbanks students and can't wait for us to come work there. They also have a mass interview process for the new grads that only include Fairbanks graduates interested in applying. With that said, right before my class interviewed, FMH hired 9 new graduates from out-of-state and are still finding positions for our class. I can't speak for anywhere else in the state, but there are always positions open at FMH. It is not nearly as big as the Anchorage hospitals, however, it is a teaching hospital and the majority of the nurses are patient with students and new grads alike...you can't ask too many questions. Fairbanks is a great little city. I was born and raised here and love the place. It has a small town community feel without feeling like you are in the woods (although if you live in the woods, you can drive 5 miles and be in town). Housing is a different story..and I can only speak for Fairbanks. I am also a single parent and have lived in a small apartment while obtaining my dream job. Now that I am looking at making a decent living as a nurse, I am looking for a house with a yard. Right now housing is slim pickings for sure. And the housing for a 3 bedroom house or duplex is about $1600 or $1700 plus some utilities, and of course a 2 bedroom is cheaper. In the spring there will be a ton of places for rent, but also a ton of applicants. There are apartments that are even cheaper, a 2 bedroom apt is about $1000 or $1100 depending on the area. I would recommend Willow Wood (google JL properties) apartments as they are nice and there is a great school across the street (Joy Elementary). Craigslist(beware of scams) and Fairbanks Daily News Minor are pretty much the only place to find housing. I know I didn't have a whole lot to add to the conversation, but please feel free to contact me with any further questions about Fairbanks. FYI.....New grads at FMH start at $28.00/hr. Fairbanks can get very cold in the winter, but is very unpredictable. Last winter we had -40 for 2 months straight, but this winter has seen no -40 days. But the summers are amazing and Alaska is a truly unique place to live....and I feel so safe after taking trip the the lower 48. Good luck to you all!

Hey my fellow new grads! I just graduated from the RN program in Fairbanks, AK and will start working at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital in about a month. New grads around the country are finding it difficult to obtain employment (contrary to what my high school guidance counselor told me:)), not just Alaska. From what I can tell new grads from Alaska do have priority from out-of-staters. I know from the past two years anyway, FMH found positions for all of its Fairbanks new grads. This is most likely because we do our clinicals at FMH and our they are huge supporter of our program in many ways including financially. They take pride in Fairbanks students and can't wait for us to come work there. They also have a mass interview process for the new grads that only include Fairbanks graduates interested in applying. With that said, right before my class interviewed, FMH hired 9 new graduates from out-of-state and are still finding positions for our class. I can't speak for anywhere else in the state, but there are always positions open at FMH. It is not nearly as big as the Anchorage hospitals, however, it is a teaching hospital and the majority of the nurses are patient with students and new grads alike...you can't ask too many questions. Fairbanks is a great little city. I was born and raised here and love the place. It has a small town community feel without feeling like you are in the woods (although if you live in the woods, you can drive 5 miles and be in town). Housing is a different story..and I can only speak for Fairbanks. I am also a single parent and have lived in a small apartment while obtaining my dream job. Now that I am looking at making a decent living as a nurse, I am looking for a house with a yard. Right now housing is slim pickings for sure. And the housing for a 3 bedroom house or duplex is about $1600 or $1700 plus some utilities, and of course a 2 bedroom is cheaper. In the spring there will be a ton of places for rent, but also a ton of applicants. There are apartments that are even cheaper, a 2 bedroom apt is about $1000 or $1100 depending on the area. I would recommend Willow Wood (google JL properties) apartments as they are nice and there is a great school across the street (Joy Elementary). Craigslist(beware of scams) and Fairbanks Daily News Minor are pretty much the only place to find housing. I know I didn't have a whole lot to add to the conversation, but please feel free to contact me with any further questions about Fairbanks. FYI.....New grads at FMH start at $28.00/hr. Fairbanks can get very cold in the winter, but is very unpredictable. Last winter we had -40 for 2 months straight, but this winter has seen no -40 days. But the summers are amazing and Alaska is a truly unique place to live....and I feel so safe after taking trip the the lower 48. Good luck to you all!

This sticky is wayyyyy out of date. There are no jobs in Atlanta as far as I can tell.

Hello, I will be moving to The Decatur part of Atlanta from Alaska in June. I just recently graduated and will only have a few months experience. After many hours of researching ALL the acute care hospitals in the Atlanta area, I have found very few job descriptions that don't require a minimum of a year experience. I know across the country new grads can't get jobs. I have heard new grads in Atlanta look for about 6 months before getting a job. Is this still the case? If I won't be there until June, should I start looking now and make a note on my resume that I can start in June? This is a huge move for myself and family and not knowing if/when I will get a job is adding to an already stressful situation. I will die if I have to go back to waiting tables while waiting for my dream job ( not really, but I would think about it:))Any thoughts or advice will be sooooo welcomed!! Also.... My top two choices are Dekalb medical center north (for the location) or Grady Memorial (for the experience). Any thoughts on those locations. I know people either HATE or LOVE Grady, but I think I would get alot from the experience...I have a heart for poor and indigent people!:)

I happen to be graduating with akkat. This is an amazing program and if you truly have a passion for nursing, you will get so much out it. It is super intense and the distance part can be challenging, but not nearly as bad as I originally thought it would be. They tell you upfront you are responsible for your learning. Instructors are not going to read the material and do the assignments for you. They are there to facilitate your learning. This is a program for adults and I suspects most programs have this expectation from students. The first year instructors are super amazing. They are current ICU nurses and have a passion for nursing as well as teaching nursing. They know there stuff and challenge your thinking as well as demand excellence in nursing in a respectful,nurturing, motherly hen sort of way. I could not have asked for a better foundation for the rest of my career. And let this first year keep your head straight for the hell of a second year. This program is very competetive and the amount of pre requs you have done and the score of the NET (nurse entrance test) will mostly determine whether or not you get in. I graduate next week and I know this program was high quality and prepared me to go be a new grad which is when I really learn how to be a nurse (so I hear). Good luck, the end prize is so worth it.

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I think I want to be a nurse anesthetist and this requires 1-2 years of ICU experience to even apply for the program. However, after doing alot of research on Grady I really want to work in the Trauma Unit. I love the idea of working with people in need and the craziness a trauma 1 unit has to offer. Maybe it is the naivety of a soon to be new grad, but I truly want to touch lives and save lives. I want to be busy and learn as much as I can every day that I go to work. I have high standards thanks to some amazing nursing instructors. From what I have read 1 year experience at Grady is like 4 years anywhere else. I am excited and ready for that. I am very good with people, even difficult people(difficult coworkers). I was a waitress in a busy restaurant for 6 years and was grateful for the people experience. I live in a medium size town and our hospital is only 150 beds and although there is alot to be learned here, many of our patients get shipped to larger cities. I can't wait to work in a large hospital and all it has to offer. I'm overly excited about being a nurse, I know, but I love nursing!:loveya:

Congrats on passing NCLEX! That's so exciting. If you have time, do you mind elaborating on what kind's of things you saw in the ICU. Do you know how hard it would be to get a job in the ICU with about 1 year's experience on a med-surg floor? My plan is to go to nurse anesthetist school and I need some ICU experience It takes years to get in the ICU at my hospital and we send the most critical patients down south (I live in Alaska). Thanks a bunch.

Does anyone work at GRADY MEMORIAL? I am moving to Atlanta the end of next year and am hoping to get a job at Grady because I know the learning there is priceless. I have been doing research about the hospital and realize the past 10-13 years have been difficult and they are undergoing some serious changes. I was wondering what it is like to work there and if any change is noticeable yet. I will be looking for RN work in the ICU or their awesome trauma/ER with only about 1 year experience in med-surg. Any information anyone is willing to offer up would be appreciated. Thanks

Fairbanks just graduated 16 students and 15 got a job at FMH. They did however go through the program in Fairbanks and received their clinical experience at FMH which probably gives them a hand up over out of state new grads. Fairbanks is not suffering the RN job shortage as bad a Anchorage though. I know right now that the women's center could probably use some post partum RN's.

I failed to mention Alaska Regional Hospital serves Anchorage

Hi all, I live in Alaska and am graduating from nursing school in December in FAIRBANKS. From what I have heard, Anchorage nurses are having trouble finding jobs in the hospitals. The problem with Alaska is that we are sporificely populated with only 4 major hospitals in the state: Fairbanks Memorial Hospital-Fairbanks, Providence Hospital(largest)-Anchorage, Alaska Native Medical Center-Anchorage, Providence of the Matorificeka Valley-serving Wasilla, Palmer, and surrounding areas. And, many Fairbanks patients get sent to Anchorage, while many Anchorage patients get sent to Seattle. Anchorage graduates close to 100 RN's a year, while Fairbanks only graduates maximum 16/year and another, probably, 25 students in other outreach sites (Juneau, Matorificeka-Valley, Ketchikan, Kotzebue to name a few). That is quite a few new grads every year and most want an acute setting job for the experience. With so few hospitals to choose from, I can see it could be hard to find a job now. And a lot of residents go outside for college and come home to work. Being from Fairbanks and just having watched the previous class pass NCLEX and get jobs, I know Fairbanks RN's are not having trouble getting jobs. 15 of the 16 new grads secured jobs at our local hospital on many floors including medical, surgical, pediatrics, and ER. That was everyone who applied. However, in Alaska and most places, the NICU is reserved for experienced nurses and those units have a very low turnover. In Fairbanks, the last nursery/NICU nurse was hired 2 year ago and the one before that was 6 years ago. But fairbanks sends its most critacal newborns to Anchorage or Seattle. Also, the ICU is next to impossible to get in to as a new grad. So hard, I will spend one year at my local hospital for experience, and then I will be moving outside to look for an ICU position as I want to pursue anesthesia and it requires ICU experience. The highest turnover units are med-surg. Long term care and clinics are also options and there are many of those. Also, Alaska RN's make a decent wage almost anywhere they work. The average for a new grad is about $26-$28/hr and the schedules vary from working 3 12 hr shifts to 5 8 hr shifts and everything in between. Keep in mind that Alaska does have a higher cost of living than most other states. I hope at least some of this information has been helpful and good luck to all of you coming to this great state. Hope you're ready to freeze (was between 30 below and 50 below for 2 months this winter in Fairbanks!)

Hi, I am in the Nursing program in Fairbanks, AK through UAA and will graduate in December. OMG Alaska needs nurses. We only graduate maximum 16 RN's per year in Fairbanks. 15 out of the 16 students who just graduated got hired at FMH and there is still a shortage. And they were hired in all units-ER, PEDI, MED/SURG- with the exception of ICU (they don't make it a point to hire new grads). The medical floor is almost always hiring because it has a fairly high turn over. Alot of new grads go to that unit for the experience and move on to something else after six months or a year. The women's center is struggling for good help right now too. I can't speak for Anchorage, because they graduate alot more RN's a year because they have a BSN program as well as the AAS RN, but all I have been hearing for the past year and a half is how desperate Alaska is for nurses. The only unfortunate thing is that there are only 4 major hospitals in the entire state and depending on where you go, you may be limited to what you get see. Fairbanks sends alot of people to Anchorage and Anchorage sends alot of people to Seattle. Alaska is a unique and amazing place and I don't think you will have a hard time finding a job at all. Nurses are truly in demand wherever you go. Good Luck!

Whoops, spelled the name wrong. School's actual name is FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY and they offer virtual degrees at $167 a credit hour for undergrad degrees.

Hey everyone, I was looking around for an online RN-BSN program that was affordable and fast. Thanks to the suggestions from my search of this sight I came across Fort Hayes Virtual University. The price is great, lowest anywhere, and I can get all my nursing classes done in 1 year. I am going to apply so I can find out which of classes are going to transfer. I was wondering if anyone had any first hand experience with this school, or know someone who does. How is the workload, instructors, ease of application, and whatever else could be useful to know? Thanks!:)