RNDreams

I started at GPC with taking 1 face to face classes for math (97 because I was out of school for 10 years and math is NOT my strong point) I did take 98 online with a great teacher named Sandee House and got a B and am taking her for 1101 over this summer both online. I realized that I do much better with math and am actually got at it when it is 7 weeks as opposed to several months because I retain the information and can get to the lab at least once a week for help with homework and you will you a math program call "my math lab" which is an addition cost only about $40.00 but I think it comes with the book if you buy a new book but if I remember correctly I found it cheaper to buy a used text and buy the code to access the mathlab site from the website directly as opposed to buying the next text. I have taken ever other single class at GPC online and got the HOPE scholarship and really enjoy it. This summer I will have to take a lab face to face for 3 hours a week blah because I did take that online and i was supposed to buy so many materialy it would have been a few hundred dollars and I was supposed to go to the school once a week to look at rock samples so it wasnt the ideal online class and it was the only online class I ever dropped (that was for physical geology though) I will fininsh my business degree this summer befor I start my nursing prereqs at Kennesaw (hopefully) in the fall! Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions as I am the queen og GPC online classes :) Christine

congratulations on your pregnancy, i feel for you having worked for your position and now you are scared when you deserve to be elated. i think (i am not a nurse but i was a spa manager in the exact same situation and was told by another manager of the company that i confided in not to tell he because "the owner hates kids she well over 50 never had any of her one, and all of the pregnant employees disappear" so i (being 6 foot tall) never showed until my 9th month but i told her at 16 weeks because i think that is a good time to announce because most people are technically out of the woods for problems so a lot of people wait until then. i did and i caught myself lying to this woman (which i never do that i have had trouble with pregnancies sticking and didn't want to make the announcement until i knew i was out of the woods. when it was in actuality my first (dream) spa management job at the time and my first try at having a baby and it happened on the first try. the spa owner smiled (or tried to as her lips curled up) and even said to me ;i thought in your interview that you said kids weren't in the picture for you anytime soon." well i had actually interviewed with her almost a year before i finally got a random call about the management position for twice the wok and half the pay the previous spa director was making, red flag i know bvut she is known in our area as a skin care goddess and myself being an esthetician i had dreamed of working for her for 3 years after becoming licensed. well i worked 12 hour days during my leave, got numerous emails from her about how i had "turned the place around" "everyone was much happier under my management etc..." her fiancé came by the spa quite a bit while i was pregnant and was the maintenance man, he was our buddy would fix the printer, touch up paint as necessary. i went on my maternity leave with a 5k bonus from the owner for the good work i had done which was wonderful, of course. however. while i was out i got numerous calls from my employees stating that her fiancé now was on the payroll and they had thought he was telling her things to get me fired and he literally had my job. i told them not to worry about me they were over reacting and when i got back i would take back control (only 6 little weeks later) and everything would be fine. well i got an email from the fiancé that we would be open the day after christmas, i offered to come in since i so wanted to be back at work and missed my team of staff so much i went in, worked myself to death that entire day because there was a lot of catching up i needed to do. at the end of the day i got called into the office with the owner and the fiancé and he terminated me. he said he was now the director of operations, i asked the owner "for future reference can you please tell me what specifically did wrong so that for my future career i wouldn't repeat it" she just shook her head (brainwashed) and he spoke up and said we have a letter for you and its all in there. i got out to my car crying (the bread winner of the family with a 6 week old baby at home) and read the letter that stated georgia is a right to work state and your services are no longer needed. nothing more nothing less. the d-bad (sorry) even tried to deny my unemployment (which i was granted) so there is my reason why you should wait and the rest i guess i needed to get out, sorry. :redbeathechristine

I :redbeathe HIPPA, even the people that are supposed to be endorsing it adminit that they dont exactly know what it is! Love the federal gov. as long as they sign the form thats all that matters! Ha-ha, I am just making light of this but have worked in about 10 different medical practices myself and I dont even know what it is but a form that people know to sign they have read and adreed to and then there are the ones that want to come up and tlak to me about it becasue it says "if they do not understand or have any questions to see (the front desk, me at the time) and they always ended up signing it but I dont know what it says b/c it is different at every office. Funny, to me, no offense... C

Than you very much, your answer is exactly the kind of information I needed. I think the only other lingering questions I have are how physical do you thin the job is lets say on a scale of 1-10 because everyone is different and I have seen people post on here about how physically demanding the job is and I am just getting now back into shape after an emergency spinal fusion to my l5-S1. I am clise to haing full rane of motion and am realease to go bac to work to whatever type of work I want to (as long as a ton og heavly lifting isnt inclused) I guess that is the part that concenrns me. I want ot go fo the same reason as you ans I hear the employers of CNS are a lot more flexible with their employees who are trying to get their RN, have you foun that to be true. Also can you tell me, if you want, what you think the starting pay for a new grad CNA is, I now there are a lot of differentials that can come into pay q with this querstion but I literally have no idea as I just started to explore going this route which I feel really great aobut so far because then I will be a lot more comfortable by the time I am in NS and I will know, for sure, that is what I want to do with the rest of my life. I have alwys wanted to be a RBN and come from a long line in my family but I have always been the "bread winner" in my family so me taking the 4-6 semesters off of work (or work as little as possible) was never something I thought I was sgoing to be able to do. It is a sad situation but I had been in spa management for the last several years and took a new job for 10K a year more and I worked 1 day and then the next morening I couldt get out of bed and needed the sx. The new co. told me they inderstood no problem call them after I recovered and I did and then they wouoldnt tae my calls so I assume they had to fill the position while I was recovering grom my back surgery or maybe they thought I was damaged goods and too much of a liability with having had back problems. Long story asd short as possible my indusrtry and the economy was taning about that time and I have been unemployed since my sx. becasue I have I am overqualified for the typwes of positions I am going for b/c I dont think that I can hold up with hands on esthetics b/c of my back but I am NOW getting to where I am quite sure that if I am exercising and keepIng myself stronng. Also I now there is an physsical for RN, is there on e for CNA? If so for either CNA or RN do you think my previous sx. will count me out. Than you! Christine:redbeathe

I am not a CNA but I am considering it to get me to and then maybe through nursing school. I know it is very hard work but will give mne a head u:redbeathep when I ger into school for my RN. Can you please tell me, what type of school you applied to? How long the program is, the cost, if there is job placement and anything else I need to know about applying to CNA school and why you chose that route. Thank you! Christine

ou are welcome anything i can do to help! I know it has been a great help to me so I wanted to share! Christine

Jennie, Good Morning! I did just have a few more questions for you and you have beenn wonderful because I know how busy you are but since I will be obtaining on degree and then starting my nursing pre reqs which I could have been done and gone with a long time ago but as I mentioned I was the main source of income in our family and whenever I mentioned nursing to anyone especially my husband he looked aghast becasue he didnt know what would happen to us if I didnt work for that long. We sometimes bad things happen that turn out good for us which here you go as short as possible: I was working in soa maangement and did 2 grand openings in a very short time and after the first one and during the second my pack started to hurt relly bad and my husband had to literally rip me off of med in the AM b/c if I landed sleeping on my back then I was stuck. Since I worked so many long hours at my job I and was offered a comprable position for a large company for 10K more a year so I figured I woudl take it wait 6 months and then have the back surgery I knew I needed. The new company said they were fine with that, they werent exactly ready to be up and renning with the spa part of the project so have my surgery, best of luck, talk to you as soon as you feel better. So I was a sidk replaced in my back that was degenerated and slipping out when I slept on it and finally landed on the main nerver in my back and I worke up one morning and my husband could not rip me off the bed (our nornal routine) but now I was basically paralyzed from the waist down and there was no more putting off the surgery I knew I needed. If anyone is interested in the tech side I had a TLIF (Trans Lumbar Infermary Fusion) to my L5-S1 I gould go into a lot more detail on that but the sirgery was a success I could walk the very next day and flt great about a moth later. Things are still not perfect and it is a much longer road to recover than I thought but I am def. well enought to work, tried to call my new employer and they never not HR, not the regional manager, not the Dr. Involved, not anyone would aknowledge me. They would never return my calls. I was left unemployed since the first time since I was 17 anf this hads been now for 8 months and I look 6-7 hours a day 6 days a week and rarely even get a call because I no longer want to be in spa managememnt, I would rather go back to hands on esthetics and an told I am overqualified for that Basically people think I will try to take their job. SO for the last 8 months we have gotten by somehow, I have found work here or there, my husband got a second income and now mt brother in law is moving in and going to be payng us rent to it just proves that I dont have to work full time or more than full time like I was and that everyone is having hard times right now and it was all bad timing on the part of my back but good timing to prove to my husband that we can get by (barely) wiout me working so we can do it for NS. That is why I am a little out of the look and will finish up my A.S. in business this Spring, I only have 3 more classes to my degree so I cant stop there and then I would have to start all nursing pre-reqs, but you are saying that the pre-reqs differ from school to school so I need to pick the school I hope to get into so KSU for example and do all of my pre-reqs there becasue they take into consideration how long a student has been with them if they ge into the nursing program? RIght? So I do my best at all of the pre-reqs and really try for a 4.0 on all of them because that is considered as well. Then there is the Teas or Net which Do I only take the 1 that my school wants or can you take both to apply to as many school as you want, the more the better right? What else do I need to be doing now to ensure I et into the school of my choice, or honestly for me any BSN program in GA. I obviously want it to be accredited and I dont really care too much about a little of a commute b/c I have been doing it for years working over by northside hosp and trying to get off the connecter at 8:30 AM is about 30 minutes in itself so I dont mind the drive but I knew the less the better in NS b/c the more time for studying. I guess I should also go to KSU's & GSU's websites and see when they are having information sessions so that I can get the real info on the programs and do it now before I get a job. Anything esle you can think of I need to do. I am obviously a planner and I will hae with finishing my AS Business and Nursing Prereqs It is going to take me about a fulle year to do that at least. I also have been on a semester system and know that KSU and GSU use quarter systems so I need to find out exactly what that means and how it differs from what I do now. Anything else you would suggest? You have been such a help and I am sorry this got long again but let me know of a career that needs someone to be this detailed becasue that is how my brain works and I think that is why I will be good at nursing and cant think of anything else I would rather do. Have a great day! Christine:redbeathe

Jennie, Ill write more later, dont you think youll get off that easy, but I have to run now but wanted to say thank you very much for the great answer about GSU, that was exactly what i was looking for. NO... I am in no way offended by anything you said at all, it would take a whole heck of a lot more to offend me. I do have a couple more questions but like I said gotta run for a while, or at least rip myself away from my love for this somewhat newly found message board becasue long story as super short as possible. I have wanted to be a nurse my entire life and come sfrom several generations of RN's, but I didnt have the oppertunity to go to college right out of HS and I am now finishing my Associates in Business becasue I am married, have a mortgage a daughter and have always been the "bread winner" or main income and thought there was no way I could ever take the time it takes to get through NS successfully. Recently things have just changed and my brother in law wants to move here from Fl and rent a room from us for at least a few years. So all of the sudden if half of my mortgae is paid I may now have the oppertunity to follow my dream and go to NS while he lives here and he and my husband stress about the bills for 4 short semesters in the span of a very long lifetime. So that is why I have just been blabbing everything to anyone who will listen to me on here because I never thought I would be able to go to NS and now there is a very good chance! What type of nursing are you interested in? I am nterested in L&D and psych but since I am also an esthetician and have worked for plastic surgeons for several years becomming an Rn and a seasoned licensed esthetician will really open a lot of new doors for m in the industry I know for sure that I absolutely love. I'll write more later....dont you worry...just kidding :) Christine :redbeathe

I appreciate you writing me back, yes I do have a lot to say...I am just naturally either a very detailed writer(which I like) or just long winded (which is probably the case.) I ould consider GSU I have heard great things and I dont think that the drive is far at all b/c I worked at the Four Seasons hotel for 6 years (me and my husband) so that is why we bought our house here. He may live in West Coob which can be an hour from atl when I literally live 2 minutes from I-75 and we bought our house for that very reason so I can be to GPC in about 15 min from my house (0 traffic that is and 30 with) I have just heard people that go there complaining about the fact that your classes can be really far away and parking can be bad down there and then of course there are the bums alwys begging which they told me gets annoying becasue there they are in NS and these guys are probably making more $ then they make in a month just beggin off the students. I would imagine though if you are in the nursing program that the majority of the classes are all within the same few blocks? Is that correct? Can you also tell me your thoughts about the parking comments I hear as well, the bums I dont care much about (That sounded mean, I car about them but not about the fact that they may ask me for a few cents everyday) I honestly dont have it to dive to them right now anyway. Your post got me pretty interested in GSU which I hadnt really considered before, anything you can think would be helpful to me, do they use the NET or the TEAS and anything else you can tell me to break the obviously wrong info. I think I may have gotten from students who porbably dropped out anyway :) Thank you Very Much! Christine:redbeathe See short and sweet, not too long i hope

http://www.back2college.com/raisegpa.htm I just found this "how to raise you GPA" link on my schools page. I loved playing with it, a big help for those of us with so little time. I hope it helps you too! Christine:redbeathe

I have been wanting to go to NS my entire life nut have never had the chance to b/c I became a licensed esthetician (skin care) here in GA 6 years ago and did very well in that career as a service provider and the in spa management (I am now VERY burnt out from that) but I have to have a TLIF (trans Lumbar Infirmary Fusion) to my L5 S1 (back surgery) back in September and I never though the recovery would be such a long road but I think I am almost there. I rarely need pain meds (maybe after a long day at work) but I get through the day fine. My dream has always to be an RN lke the last 4 generations of woman in my family, and I could now possibly attend but I it would probably be a year after I finish my pre-reqs (I am getting an a.s. in business this summer) and my husband just got a raise to where if I just worked on weekends waitressing or something we should be OK. We do have a mortgage and an almost 3 year old too. So as I decide what classes to enroll for in the fall more business (blah) or pre-nursing (yeah) I hav to be honest with myself and if others who have been thre before me can tell me an honest assessment of how physical NS is I would greatly appreciate it becasue I can now bend but its not pretty but maybe in a year it will be much better, and I know I cant take pain meds and get through NS and I want to be entirely off them ASAP anyway but right now taking them is the only way I can sleep after a day of work b/c am in so much pain. I know in NS there is a lot of making beds etc and right now I couldnt that, so can someone please give me an honest opinion, knowing my situation, if you think I would make it through NS? Thank you! Christine:redbeathe

I am not even in NS yet but I believe CHOA (Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta) is hiring new grads, as well and Piedmont Hosp in Midtown (but from what I have read it is a lot harger to get a job there. I am about to fraduate with my A.S. in business from GPC and transfer to KSU and am seriously considering KSU'S NS, even though it will be really hard for me to go being the "bread winner" of the family so I have been researcing intensly b/c I keep reading threads on here about new grads not being able to get jobs but it doent seem to be the case here b/b there are SO many hospitals and oppertunities. I am also willing to move somewhere else (as soon as I can seel my house for what it is worth) so I think that flexibility will help too. Back to you I think that the majority of the "hiring freezes" and ending and Americans are back to buying their $5.00 Starbucks Coffee so New Grads are needed and I think will be hired soon. I am now a licensed esthetician (skin care) here in GA and was out of work due to a back surgery I could no longer put off and have a VERY string esthetics and managerial resume and didnt get 1 interview untill this week and I got 6 and 2 offers so thinga are looking up here in GA. and hopefully across the rest of the USA. Good Luck! Christine:redbeathe

i haven't interviewed yet, at i am just graduating gpc and then entering ksu in the fall, but please let me know how the ns interview goes, the questions, the pressure, how many interviewers, and anything else you think is pertinent to be successful for me to gin acceptance etc. i have been in spa management for so long that i am used to being the one doing the interviewing for my staff for the 2 grand new spa i opened here in ga for the same company over the last year and 1/2. good luck to you and remember that most interviews (i don't know about for school or the medical field) are done through ddi's targeted selection... this mean that the ?'s usually start with "tell me about a time when" so you will want to have a few prepared answers just in case they do this types of interview, you answers can be work, school, volunteer, or any other time in your life when you have experienced and taken part in a situation and what you personally did to overcome the situation. for example remember there 3 words, situation, what you did, and outcome (always make this positive in your favor, even if you have to flip it a bit. i don't have my cert. books in front of me but i have done millions of these interviews s i can tell you the top 3 questions just so you can get an idea. question #1 tell me about a time when you had to work with a team to finish a project outcome, what was the outcome? #2 tell me about a time when you had to deal with an angry patient (in school, church, or life in general, remember it doest always to be work related but those are the better answers but since you are just applying for school and may have little work experience you would want to answer as briefly as possible (remember to go off your resume) #3 tell me about a time when you felt you ethics were comprised by another student, boss, or co-worker and what you did to make sue you did the right thing ultimately? best answer: (situation) there was a time (be very specific) in my pre- nursing a&p ii class where another student who sat right next to you told you that she was not prepared for the test, and knew you were one of the top students in the class, the test was about to be taken in three days and the teacher was very fair and have given over 3 weeks to give every student well enough time to prepare for it. the other student, told you that she had a lot going on in her life right now and that she didn't even get a chance to crack her book (knowing the test was 3 weeks away) and asked you if you wouldn't mind making you answers as visible as possible (sharing and cheating with her) during the test so that she could pas thi 1 test and then she promised never to ask this of you and get herself back on track, she told you that if you didn't "share" your answers with her "as a friend" she would certainly fail the test and would def. let down her family etc. etc. and she may fail the class and not get into ns as you too had talked about before. (task) you told her that you had been studying for this test for the last 3 weeks and didn't think it was right just to give her the answers but that you still has 3 days until the test and due to the fact that you and been reading and studying since the teacher announced the test, you felt you had th material down and that you didn't feel comfortable sharing answers with her but that you would do what ever you could over the next 3 days to study with her to get her up to par. (outcome) you and the student studied for the test together and you taught her the best you could (because you got as much out of teaching as you did self studying on your own that you did a mini- study group with her and even invited other students from the class to join in which a few did. you ended up with the a you had worked so hard for and she got a high c almost b thanks to your help and was very proud that she had done it on her own and promised to never put you in an uncomfortable situation like that again and hoped that you would study with her again for future tests, instead of getting overwhelmed and waiting until the last minute, because she said she knew she would have def. failed the test w/out your help and that you feel your grade was improved to get that a by going over the material again and again with her which only made you remember the material even more. so in the end eveyone won and you didn't have to comprise you ethics as a student yourself and the other student realized that with a little more effort and just asking for help that she too would have gotten an a like you in she had given herself more time and reaching out for help earlier, rather than procreating until she was willing to chat which she told you that "thanks to you" she would never considering doing ever again and also never put a co-student and potentially "friend" in the situation she put you in. so everything worked out wonderfully, you got your a and she learned the lesson that with jut a little extra work she too could be that a student as well which she greatly thanked you for. hopefully that helps, if you have any other question just let me know, i dont know if they are even interviewing in this way but most large facilities are going to this so they can by pass the people that say " i'm all about patient service" then the interviewer will ask so tell me about a time when you had to deal with an angry patient and what you did to resolve it. just remember situation,action,task. this method of interviewing quickly gets rid of the bsers and is all based upon the proven fact that :past behavior represents future behavior. good luck and please let me know how it goes b/c it will 9hopefully) be more turn in the hot seat at ksu! christine :heartbeat

i am sorry to have jumped in on your thread like that, asking my own questions. i actually decided not to post that here and put it under the general tab but my 2 an 1/2 year old was trying to type on the computer with me at the same time (or in all honestly she was probably trying to get me off) but i have 2 papers to knock out for school today and my husband and i had an agreement the i would spend the day with her yesterday while he played a computer game that he never gets to play and he would keep her occupied today while i did my assignments (as always at the last minute) but i honestly get better grades that way. i know that wouldn’t be the case and something i would have to change for ns. anyhow it must have posted here and on the general board where i intended it because i wanted to get some opinions from seasoned nurses as well. i also spell checked my final version because this one was hard to type with my daughter trying to type as well so i see this post is not corrected and not the one i intended to post so i am sorry to have barged in on your post selfishly like that and am sorry. it sounds to me like your heart is in the right place when it comes to nursing but since you just graduated and another 3 years of school is going to be a lot more school for you, i am just curios, if you are considering a career change that is fulfilling but that you would have to go back to school for in most states is teaching (which will always be stable as well) even though right now they are going through their struggles with cutbacks as well but hopefull as everybodies economic fears statrt to die down, which i think they finally are b/c i had been looking for a medical esthetician position since i healed from my back surgery 9 months ago and after month i felt ready to go back work and i have a really great, stable work history and live in an area that is typically booming working for plastic surgeons which is the area that my backround is in and i literally looked for 6 days a week for 7 hours a day and got 2 phone calls from people that wanted to "interview me" just to tell me i am "overqualified" to return to being :just an esthetician" since i have been in mangement for the last 3 years. why did you bother to have me get dressed up for an interview when you just wanted to tell me that? anyway back to your situation, if you want a solic career teaching should be piucking back us soon and in most states you just have to test in your area photography, graphin design to be able to teach it. of course those classes would be on a h.s. level if that is somehting you are interested in and you may not be interested in at all but since yu already did 4 year of college and got your degree if you are open to it and have ever thought about teaching you can try that before going to school for another 2 years, of a very intense program, just to try nursing in hopes that nursing as a long term career works for you and with as many people as the other poster said all of the people that do not have their hearts in it and are just doing it for "stability" and "good pay" not realizing how hard it is to first pass the program and then be successful and enjoy being a nurse. just a though since you already have a degree in something you love but don’t particularly like the job you are in which i completely understand. my daughter is going nuts again no time to spell check, let me know your thoughts though, b/c i know i could be totally off and you have never considered teaching but i just cant imagine for me personally to be able to go to school for a 4 year degree just to go back to school for something totally unrelated but by that time if you try it and find out it’s not for you ten you can go to ns and all of the people that flocked to ns will have already gotten jobs and quit b/c they were doing it for the wrong reasons. let me know your thoughts and again i didn’t mean to jump on your thread. good luck christine

:nurse:i know that this is a little off topic to the post, but since someone brought it up it sprung a question on me that i have to ask. what other careers are available in the medical fiend, maybe some that are less known bout. i am an esthetician (and have been doing hands on esthetics as spa management for 7 years now) i know that managing other people is not fir me and i have always dreamed of being a nurse but her drug and alcohol addiction and her finally losing her rn license, amongst the fact that i am about to graduate my 2 year college with my a.s. in business which i chose because i was in spa management at the time so i thought it would be a good fit. although every day of my life i try to be nothing like my mother that threw her life and family away i was scared to get into nursing b/c i was scared i would do the things she did (steal meds etc.) i have worked as an esthetician at plastic surgeons offices where the dr was "loose" with his scrip's and i never did anything with them or have ever stole from a job period. so now i am in the position that i have to decide where to go for my 4 year degree and nursing is on my mind again and i have a husband i have been married to for 6 year and together 14 and a 2 1/2 year old daughter. i know i could do nursing but the are some financial considerations and my husband just go a raise yesterday that is we lived very minimally i could possible attend ns and we coud keep our home and have our credit be kept decent and then i would have the career of my dreams for my life. it fits well with esthetics because i could be a skin care nurse and works for a plastics and do what i do now but also assist in surgeries and give botox and other facial injections as someone that is a licensed esthetician and rn is a dream to a plastic surgeons practice. but as i said financially it would be cutting it close and i would have to sacrifice a lot of time with my husband and daughter and i also had an emergency spinal fusion 8 months ago and although i fee almost back to normal i don't know if i could keep up with the physical demands of ns, the thought of making beds etc, makes my back hurt, but i know it would make it stronger in the long run. so i have quite a few things againt me and a few things going for me, not to mention i live in atlanta so i have every option for any kind of medial related school i want to go to within a 45 min drive max. my? is given my back situation and financial situation and dream of nursing what other programs or mainly licensed health care jobs are there in the medical field that are not so physically demanding and the programs are not as intense? i am looking into radiology tech but they are only given at voc. schools here and i have a scholarship here in ga that if i maintain at least a 3.0 gpa i can go to any ga university for 100% paid tuition and up until this point for my a.s. i have self paid and then got that scholarship so i have no college debt as opposed to a tech school where i would take my pre reqs (that i don't know if they would transfer from a voc. school to a 4 year) so i am really at a loss of what to do. any advice, knowing my situation, is greatly appreciated! thank you! christine