Just,another,RN

Congratulations on your latest achievements, and your intentions to return to school. Good nursing practice requires an understanding that learning is lifelong. I wish you the best of luck with that, and if I may, I'd like to suggest that you don't delay it any more than absolutely necessary. Life has a way facilitating procrastination, and after too long the desire and practicality to accomplishing this goal diminishes. I've known a few LPNs that wanted their RN's and aren't that far from having enough credits, but have been LPNs so long that the promotion would mean such a drastic pay cut that it no longer makes good financial sense to proceed. Additionally many hospitals won't even take into account your LPN experience so if you're looking to to specialize, you would still have to get your 1-2 years of med/surg experince before even being considered for many specialty areas. As for your question to the compact laws, both Texas and Arkansas are compact states. You can work in any compact state under a license from another compact state, provided you claim the compact state you're license in as your primary state of residence. Some states require that you apply for compact status and prove that you meet their qualifications ie; own or rent property there, are registered to vote there ect. Most compact states are not that difficult about that particular issue as long as you have a local state address on their record of you. I'm not sure about the particulars in either Texas or Arkansas. However since you moved to Texas I am pretty sure that you are only allowed to practice under your Arkansas license for 30 days. After which you're required to apply for a Texas license and relinquish your Arkansas license UNLESS you still claim Arkansas as your primary state of residence. Hope this was of some help. Good luck!

Sounds like a familiar situation. I've heard though from quite few CRNA's, that the more experience you get before you enter the program the less difficult it will be. Additionally this prior experience (2-5 years depending) also helps considerably once you're on the job as a CRNA in dealing with doctors & their idiosyncrasies & the many other issues that arise on a daily bases. You can learn plenty from a book, but the knowledge gained via experience is worth so much more. Good luck!

Let me start by saying I'm saddened to hear about your difficulties especially so early on in your career, but please don't give up on it so quickly. I'm sure you'll find a place in this field, NICU may still be for you. Nursing may not be for everyone, but just about anyone can do it. Fact of the matter is your apparent failure on this unit was not yours alone. It has to be shared with the unit as a whole and your preceptor. You probably would have had considerably more success with a better structured orientation. That's not to take all of the responsibility off your shoulders though. Probably the best advice I received for this kind of situation was from a former professor of mine in nursing school. He said you should periodically request feedback regarding your performance. With bench marks in place for you to be at a certain performance level within a certain time frame, it is critical for you to know exactly what that performance level is, what level you're at and what has to be done to make adequate progress. If you don't ask for feed back or if you don't receive the right kind of feed back, achieving this goal will be like searching for a needle in a hay stack. Regardless of what unit you land on, this is a key factor to success. Beware of the sharks; they're out there & their diet goes well beyond the young. The best way I've found to deal with them is to learn your role, know your role and always fulfill your role in a professional manner on the unit. Good luck!

I'm not sure what your back round or education level is, but there are a few reasons most hospitals only allow nurses, paramedics or physicians to take an ACLS course. First these classes are in high demand as I'm sure you're already aware, & since there are those who need this training & certification to perform there duties within most compliance regulations they generally get first crack. Additionally there are 3 basic differences between advance & basic life support. Those are the presence and legal ability to use, insert, or administer an advance airway, an AED or standard defibrillator and IV medications. If your legal scope of practice allows for these procedures than you should get this training and certification; it will increase your marketability. However I suspect from reading your postings this isn't the case. So I encourage you to return to the academic scene and achieve additional education and a degree for you to facilitate this. Just don't stop there because there is so much more than an ACLS certification that is necessary to truly be an asset in any setting that requires it. Good luck!