VespaLPN

I'm an LPN moving to the NW Austin area in June. We were going to move in Feb, but decided to save some extra money up, just in case. I will work on my RN starting this year. Is a Dr. office position pretty easy to get there? I have started calling offices to get emails and fax numbers for my resume. Any advice on this long distance job search, since I am a new nurse (just under a year-LTC), and moving halfway across the country? Thanks! Kim

I am relocating to Austin, and I never realized how many hoops to jump through to get into the apts that I like in NW Austin without a job offer, yet. I plan to work on my RN degree, so I was hoping Dr. office positions would be available, so that I could go to prereq classes at night. I have now been in LTC for almost a year. Any advice?!? :) Thanks, Kim

Being so new, I was stressing about med pass times. I have 2 halls, and you finish one in a decent time, you go to the other hall, and a CNA comes and gets you about a patient back on the first hall. It's like "argh!", because you were just with that resident 5 minutes ago. I find the nurse who comes in next affects my anxiety, too. My stress level is higher for a certain nurse that enjoys "eating her young", that is my relief going into my days off. We talked about that at school, luckily. I try to put up a wall, but I do get driven into tears, sometimes.

I have been riding for years.....started with mopeds, moved up to vintage scooters and motorcycles up to 1800cc's, so I have experience on a lot of bikes. My favs are my scooters and my 1973 Honda CL350 Scrambler (it's just so damn nimble!), and yes, after a lot of close calls in South FL, I finally broke my wrist in an accident riding just outside of Nashville. I didn't feel up to riding, and NOW, when I don't feel like riding, I DON'T go! I should have listened to that little voice back then....

Mmmmm....a man that can cook! Mine can heat up things in the toaster oven or spoon out food I cooked in the crock pot!

I did swimming because our county pool was open from 6 am to 8 pm, but recently cut back on hours. It was tough, but I could squeeze in 3 days, usually. I was the only student in class to not gain weight, but I've been too broke to pay for the pool, so during the time off waiting for boards I gained back what I lost....sucks!

I took my PN in GA yesterday and was unnerved afterwards and tried the trick...I got the good pop up yesterday and today. I was so nervous because ATI said I had a 97% chance to pass, and then I took it and was flabbergasted at the number of meds I have never even encountered...I had no Drug Calc, which I thought was weird or a bad sign, but I've seen other people on here that didn't have any Drug Calculations, so it helped me relax a little. I had to drive almost 200 miles round trip and felt really sick afterwards. I hope the good pop up means I passed, too. And my , I wish they would put those furious keyboard slappers taking some kind of data entry exam in a separate room....yeesh! They were SOOOOOO loud!!!

My experience before Nursing School was food service, motorcycle shops, military (fire dept dispatcher), and for most of my years a vet tech. My mom was a nurse (she is now my nurse guardian angel), so I resisted the Nursing profession. I started before she passed, but she was soooo happy I started. The man in your life, sounds like my hubby...hates his job, comes home, flops out and plays video games and I even would have to beg for the laptop to get my hybrid and online classes done. Unreal. I just took boards yesterday, so hopefully I will be working real soon. I worked part-time (almost 30 hours in 3 days) as a convenience store clerk. I recommend working very light part-time or not at all. It was a struggle to study and get homework done. You don't have kids...it's a good thing for you for studying right now, but as for me, when I was in tears, picturing my daughter's face helped me pull through! As soon as you crack open a book, your kid's will start in on you..."I'm hungry" (and they just ate!), etc. Stick with it no matter how difficult things seem or how much of a pain your other half becomes. Ask him what he would like to go to school for, and remind him that he can trade off and go to school while you work...that's how I did it. When we move to Texas, he's going to go back to college. I love my Saunders Student Nurse Planner (it's ragged out now!) and also I love my Survival Guide to A&P. I love small books I can tote anywhere....your school textbooks will fill up a bookshelf, trust me! Good luck, and try what I suggested. A person who doesn't want you to better yourself has an issue with themselves.

12 miles one way to school, clinicals for me vary from 15 miles to 50 miles one way.

Like most everyone here says: "If all goes well!" June 2010

We signed waivers and did IV's on each other, made occupied beds (fully clothed), ambulated, vitals, assessments, and injections, etc. We have sims we have named for peri care and bathing (one is named George Clooney!),..... I didn't know some programs had students bathe one another! That's a good heads up for me to prepare for when I go back for my RN degree down the road...

Good luck in school...stick with it! I'll be done with LPN school in June and taking boards. I'm enjoying the extra care that I can give to my patient on my clinical day on the floor. We, of course, assist with other patients, and I've heard that we will have more than 1 patient per day in our last quarter. My question is, how overwhelmed was everybody when they actually got out there? Thanks!