mairose15

This is a great thread, I love these answers! I think you have to have ingenuity not necessarily artsy but being creative, resourceful and flexible in your ability to deal with potential crisis situations. The ability to dodge a punch or insult rather than fight back.

*how long does it take to become an RN nurse or LPN? *how much do you get paid? *do you have to be great at math to be a nurse? *i have a child and a husband, would becoming a nurse affect my time with my family? *what's the easiest type of nursing? *what's the fastest way to become a nurse? First of all, I recommend spending more time on this site researching Nursing as a career. Secondly, nursing is not just about communicating and helping people, it has quite a bit of science (specifically anatomy & physiology, biology and chemistry) associated with it. Lastly of all (& the thing they can't really 'teach' you), is that it is very important that you are able to think critically. What I mean by that, is that it isn't just memorizing and regurgitating information, it is being able to find the best (most accurate, efficient & resourceful) solution to a problem when there are several 'right' solutions. I think being able to think critically is what sets nursing apart from most other careers. - it takes 3 to 4 years depending on the type of degree, college, and your own abilities. Also, with a child, it will probably take longer. I remember med/surg 1 had weekly required reading assignments that were 500+ pages & you couldn't just skim the reading (see science notation above). Then you have labs, clinicals and a major paper or project. That, was for each of my 9 credit nursing classes and does not include any other classes you'll be taking. - depends on the type of degree you get, type of nursing you choose, shift you work, days of the week you work, type of company you work for and mostly, which part of the country you live in. - you may be required to take pre-reqs up to and including Calculus or at least pre-calculus. You will likely have to pass (100% pass) a medical calculations test to enter or stay in the program. At minimum, you will need to know basic algebra fairly well. -YES...?!?!?! I guess any schooling/job will have a major effect on your time. - depends on what you find you 'fit' with. Nursing is an enormously broad field of study. See the specialty nursing tab for a general idea of some fields of nursing. You'll find that sacrificing your own comfort -eating, sleeping, using the restroom- will have to come second to your patients needs. Overall, there is no 'easy type of nursing' but there are things we are all more suited to than others. And for all the sacrifices we make there are a million rewards. - go to school and pass the NCLEX and then hope and pray you are able to get a job in a field that you like! I'm not trying to discourage you but nursing kind of picks you! It's not a glamorous job, it's not about the money or how easy it is. If you are looking for something like that, Nursing is not for you! Good luck!

My biggest tip would be a technical college. I got my ADN and only paid maybe $500/quarter (7quarters). I had 2 small kids. I also have a mother and mother-in-law close by who love spending time with their grandkids. They were a Godsend! Now that I'm working - 3 12hour shifts - I get to spend 4 days with my kids & 3 at my wonderful job. I couldn't be a happier person. I also recommend that you get used to not having the cleanest house or the laundry done everyday or dinner on the table when you get home...some things will have to wait! I wouldn't say it's for everyone but we made it work - I have an amazingly supportive husband, kids, sister, parents, in-laws and I never could have done it without them!!

I was trying to figure out what WALLAH was!!

Yep, I was hired right out of nursing school. I did ADN, a two-year program at a very affordable community college. Nursing school is hard though so make sure it is really what you want to do. We employ both RN and LPN positions (1-yr program, the pay is less than RN but they do almost everything we do). They usually look for experience so doing some volunteer work or a job in a psych facility while in school would really help! Also, my job offers tuition reimbursement so I can get my BSN or MSN while I work. Look into long term residential institutions (I work with adolescents and children) we always have counselor/teacher positions open - the pay sucks but it's a great way to get to know how things work and what position would be best for you. I like that I don't have to get too personal with kids and that they see me as being "on their side" rather than the doctors who they see as authority figures. Good luck, I hope you find what you are looking for!

Okay, I get it. I'll descretely talk to my boss. Thanks for clarifying my responsibilities. I won't feel so bad about it knowing it's an obligation and not so much of a choice.

I am a new RN grad nurse in a residential psych facility. I've been there around 3 months and I really like my boss and the other nurses I work with! The problem is is that I often work with an older LPN who is physically in somewhat poor health. If possible she doesn't like to get up much and walk and will sometimes drive her car across the street to give meds. I usually volunteer to do a lot of things that involve walking or taking things to patients. The LPNs where I work give meds and the RNs are responsible for writing critical incident reports and we share everything else. Okay so on occasion I have felt like I had to step in such as when a pt sprained his knee and she wanted him to come the nurses station to get his pain meds because she wouldn't walk to his unit to give them to him - he had a sprained knee and I didn't feel like he should have to walk to us. So the other day she went across the street to get the meds for the younger residents. The meds are kept on the kids unit but during the day they are given in the main hospital because the kids are usually in the main building for lunch and school during the day. So she goes over at quarter to twelve-ish. Around 12:10 another unit comes to the clinic for meds, and she is not there. I tell them that she should be back any minute now and I run to the bathroom, get some stuff, etc. and come back to the station. I then recieve a radio call from the unit requesting meds - they've been waiting 20 minutes! So, I go across the street to see if I can help and I peek in the nurses station door and I swear she is sitting over there sleeping! Either that or she is very intently staring at the wall. I asked one of the counselors how long she had been there and he says 1/2 to 1 hour. The thing is not that she was sleeping or that she had trouble moving around but one of the kids that didn't get meds on time was a diabetic. She's fallen asleep in the station with me before but I was there to wake her up and we weren't really doing anything - I was doing some new admits but she was pretty much just watching me do them. My boss has already complained to me about how this PRN nurse doesn't pull her fair share of the load and it's been told to me that I need to give more of the work to her. Thing is I don't mind because I like to keep busy and unless I'm sinking I don't ask for help. I really like this lady, as a person, not so much as a nurse, and I know she really needs this job. I feel conflicted about whether I should mention it to my boss or not. I don't want to tell on her and potentially get her fired but I feel like as a nurse she really shouldn't be sleeping on the job, esp. when it is affecting the patients. Can someone tell me if I am being irresponsible if I don't turn her in or if there is a way I could do anonymously? I know she is applying for another full time position but missed the interview because she couldn't make it due to personal problems. That is a red flag to me but I don't know about the interviewer or her take on it. I just don't want to be in this position.