Tozz

I didn't retire from nursing, but I retired from another career in my late 40's. After taking a few years off, I went to nursing school. I've been doing per diem (PRN) ever since, with the exception of one full-time year in a nursing home. It's perfect for me. I'm in a hospital, so there are always plenty of needs. I can work zero hours, or 40+ hours a week, or take a couple of months off. They apparently like me because they don't hold me to the letter of the contract when I take my mini-sabbaticals. (Allergies to the vaccine are extremely rare, but if you're one of the unlikely few, vaccine mandates always have a medical exemption.)

I graduated from Curry Accel a decade or so ago, and it's an excellent program. It's the least expensive (along with UMass) in the Boston area, and clinical placements are in the top Boston teaching hospitals. As I recall, it was the first accelerated nursing program in college-dense New England. Good luck, all!

I'm in full agreement. I don't think I made myself clear--if you're in a competitive job market, go for an accelerated program when you have another degree. Where I live, schools are churning out 4000+ new nurses per year within commuting range. It's a buyer's market. Most hospitals don't hire ADNs. I realize this may be different depending upon where you live.

I've been exclusively per diem for nearly ten years now. I work at three locations. I schedule ahead, and it's very rare that I'll take a last minute call unless it involves incentives. You'll figure it out.

I don't think COVID will impact your education significantly one way or another. All the indications are that we may start to see a few glimmers of "normality" within just a few months. What you should carefully consider, though, is what flavor of program you enter. With your prior Biology degree, you're already ahead of the game. So consider entering an accelerated (usually 18 month) program, to get your BSN. In many areas of the country, hospitals are selective with credentials. I know several RNs with a bachelors in another field, who opted for a much cheaper community college ADN program. To a person, they regretted the decision, and spent years, dollars, and time, obtaining their BSN. (I've never noticed much of a difference between ADN and BSN nurses. I'm just pointing out a practical reality in competitive job markets. This may or may not matter where you reside.)

Do you really believe that the US has never mandated vaccination?!

I had "gnarly" side effects (basically flu symptoms, fever, vomiting, feeling like you fell down a flight of stairs) for 12-18 hours after Pfizer #1. Nothing after Pfizer #2. Nothing after Johnson and Johnson. Feeling out of it for a day was well worth it. In reviewing tales from co-workers, there doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason, other than more people had side effects after #2 of the mRNA vaccines. Maybe some people's immune systems are just more ramped up, looking for a fight. I'm the only one I know who's had the J&J, so don't have even a meaningless anecdote.

Sometime last century, I posted a link in this thread to a pre-peer reviewed study from Israel that indicated that, yes, the vaccine significantly reduced transmission. I linked to the actual study, but am too lazy to search a few hundred messages. Here's a media report referencing the same. Since then another study from Israel, with real world data, has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine (I admit, I have yet to read it).

I started out in Long Term Care. 20-40 patients per shift, depending on who called out sick that day. I can't imagine what you folks went through this past year.

You are a man of strong opinions.

Haha, I'm back here after a week. I guess the thread was not winding down! Anyhow, we're in agreement. Maybe I was not clear. Bullying occurs in both. Absolutely. However, the female profession seems to be more obsessed about it. In this thread alone, the term has been used dozens and dozens of times. I never heard it used once during the twenty-five years I spent in my prior career. It's just an observation. Perhaps we just called it something different. Saying you're being "bullied" implies victimhood. Among most males, proclaiming yourself bullied, much less, being perceived as a victim, is a fate far worse that being bullied.

I received the J&J vaccine the first week of December in a Stage 3 clinical trial. They are currently enlisting subjects for a second dose of J&J. This is just speculation, but J&J may end up being nearly as effective as Moderna and Pfizer with a second dose.

For what it's worth, the number is nearly double that. Google your state's number of deaths (due to any cause) for, say, Sept 2019 and compare with Sept 2020. The difference is the true toll. Many deaths not attributable to Covid actually were (I.e. deaths with no test, deaths at home from people who avoided the ED during the crush, etc.)

I sense this thread is winding down. A few takeaways: I now have a sense, though not an understanding, of why so many of my coworkers are refusing to be vaccinated. Having spent time in two careers, one almost exclusively male, another almost exclusively female, I've come to realize that "bullying" is an exclusive concern of the latter. Even though it occurs in both. I'm left with a sinking feeling, that many of those who have gone through the same s**t that I have experienced during the past year, are, at the best "vax hesitant." It goes with the territory in nursing, but I wish the profession was more grounded in science and facts, rather than feelings.

Okay, that's a start!