Bob_N_VA

The hospital I work at has both a Nursing Informatics (NI) as well as an Ambulatory Informatics (AI) department. The primary difference is that NI is inpatient and AI deals with all our ambulatory sites which are many. I work in an IT position wher...

It's been a while since I posted last. I had been working in many different areas of computers and IT since I got out of the Navy back a few years. Mostly I worked as a government contractor though I also worked in private industry for about 4 years...

Wossaaa (I'd use your first name, but I don't know it) How long have you been a nurse, and where else have you worked or is this you first job? I'm not sure I would have liked a SNF, even if I was working in management. I'm guessing you have LPN...

If I were 10 or 15 years younger, about your age or a bit younger, I probably would already have gotten into a NP program or some other higher education program in Nursing. All through school people would tell me I could always combine the two, but...

Sure it is. Nobody would admit to it officially, but they want men in the profession. As long as you are competitive with the other candidates, you'll get in.

Get thee to amazon.com and search on "mens white nursing shoes" and you will have lots to choose from, more than I had when I ordered them almost 3 years ago. I ordered the Pro-Step Men's Anderson Slip-On Shoes which were 60 something at the time but...

It's an 18 month program at nights and on weekends. You start with a bridge course and then roll in to the last two semesters of the RN program. Now that the last E/W class is finishing up in December, I'm not sure what they will be doing next year...

Take it one day at a time, one test at a time, one clinical at a time. Sure you have to look down the road and prepare, but it can become very overwhelming at times, hence the one day at a time advice. Keep up with the reading and coursework, don'...

If they haven't changed what they ask (I'm going into the last term starting in June) then its pretty basic stuff, why do you want to be a nurse, maybe a question or two about your background or schooling. Nothing to get worked up over. They should...

Lots of the posts here are from folks looking for help with their resume or cover letters or both. I've been around the block in other industries and have had success over the years (over 20) with my ever-evolving resume so it seemed a good idea to ...

Good article. My only comment about the "manliness" is that maybe a better term would be "macho" or "machismo" if you want to be technically correct. That type of behavior or attitude has no place in a clinical setting. I don't think you can turn ...

My guess would be they want to see one of your performance reviews from your current job. I've never had a prospective employer ask for something like that, but I've never worked for a state prison system either. You could just send them the licens...

Your resume should read like a sales brochure for you. You are selling yourself to a future employer. Start out with a summary or branding statement. 3-4 lines that describes what kind of nurse you are. Include with that Hard skills and Soft skill...

Good advice so far. One of the things you want to add to your resume would be an objective or "branding statement" at the top that essentially sells you to the new employer. It has to summarize you as a nurse in 2 or 3 sentences. You can follow...

I'm in the process of moving from one career field to another and as part of the transition I got professional assistance from a company called "Right Management" for updating my resume and job search skills to current day standards. The fact that yo...

Way too long. You don't need to spell out Baccalaureate of Science in Nursing twice, just use BSN and do it once, they will remember. Use the cover letter to tie the job requirements to specifics in your background that match. Make the letter a ma...

Rule #1: Don't mess around in class with any of the ladies, because if it goes south, then you have to see her and all her friends for the next several years and they do talk. Rule #2: Learn to use capital letters when you type in a public forum, it ...

Long term you may want to rethink going for RN. Of course its all dependent on location, but in many areas they are moving away from LPN's to using RN's. Plus, an LPN salary isn't going too go to far supporting a family in LA or anywhere for that m...

Riverside in Newport news has both a days and evening/weekend LPN program. Days is 12 months, E/W is 18 months and the cost is about 4 grand a semester (3 semesters either way). It's a well regarded program and you get lots of hands on since it's h...

Tell me what bad things you've heard about Riverside, I've been going there for over 2 years now in the evening program, and I haven't heard anything really critical. It's a well respected program that has been around forever and gives its students ...

As everyone else has said, officially there is no discrimination for or against guys getting into school. Unofficially, they love having a few of us in there, it adds a perspective to the class that is badly needed. For two years, I was the only gu...

Not sure what your uniform looks like, but I have pants with pockets so I keep my wallet there. We also have these silly looking vests and the pockets are deep enough for bandage scissors and tape and other stuff you need to have on the floor. Even...

Hopefully get a job. After that, we'll see.

You'll do fine, don't psych yourself out. You got this far and it wasn't on luck.

It sounds like you are in a similar situation to my stepdaughter. She said she wanted to be a nurse but was not accepted into the program at her school so she was taking classes in anticipation. Her grades never approached the point where she would...