alissadancer

Ha that's funny. It seems like there is one bodily fluid serves as each person's own gross out factor. Mine is poop. I figured I would try Respiratory because aside from wanting to work with patients, I was excited about all their new technologies and use of chemistry. I guess I'm a bit of geek for that stuff I did look into being a PA or NP. It certainly is a lot of schooling. My husband and me were hoping to buy a house within a couple years. We need both of us earning good incomes to make it work though. If I were in school to be a PA I feel like my time to work would be pretty limited.

Oh my goodness, if a nice house costs 180k, $18/hr is very good pay for your area. In my neck of the woods, a "starter" home would cost about 300k, and new nurses make about $30/hr. It's still considered far above average pay. I suppose it's all relative though. Even in a low cost state, I imagine it would be hard to afford a house, kids, car, etc. on your own. You should certainly be getting more raises though. I hope.

It seems like a lot of people who post here go from an RT career to an RN career. Can anyone explain their reasons why they chose to do this? I have a BA in English lit. I was going to apply for an accelerated BSN program, but the schooling was just too expensive, competitive, and intensive for me. After looking into it, the field of respiratory care really piqued my interest. I was just accepted into a very competitive community college RT program in Massachusetts. I realize it will also be stressful, but the affordable cost and the field itself really swayed me. But now I'm worried that RTs eventually get bored? tired? frustrated? with their jobs and go back to school to be an RN anyway. I don't want to wind up spending more money on yet another undergrad degree down the road. Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

So I already have a BA in English and a desk job. But my plan is to apply to an accelerated BSN program. I'm still working on all my science prereqs, as my English degree did not require many science courses. If by some miracle, I do get accepted into an Accel program, I must still work. From what I understand, nights and weekends would be the only time to squeeze it in. Can anyone think of a decent paying part time/night job, besides bartending or waitressing? I do have some waitressing experience, but it's certainly not an easy job. I currently make only $16/hr, but I get 40 hours a week ( still not very good pay for Massachusetts). I was thinking of getting my Pharmacy Tech certificate because it seems like one could work nights or weekends in that field. However, my research indicates the average pay is only $10-12/hr! Not sure if it'd be higher in Mass. What is a wannabe student to do?

Yes, Umass is the only place with reasonable tuition. There are no other state schools in Eastern Mass that offer an Accel BSN. They might have some out west or on the North Shore though. I think sometimes the number of credits assigned to a particular course is kind of arbitrarily decided by the school itself. They might have their own systems

The absolute hardest parts are the Circulatory/Respiratory systems which are typically featured in A+P2. A+PI is much much easier, IMO. It's a lot of memorizing bones, muscles, etc. It's stuff you can actually visualize. Plus there is a lot less biochem. The Nervous system can bit a bit tricky, but even that is doable. Honestly, it all come down to your professor. Having a great professor makes it so much easier to succeed. Even though it's not very scientific or unbiased, I recommend Ratemyprofessor.com to check out your profs before you take them. Unfortunately my school has classes that fill up while the instructor is still "TBA." I've wound up with some stinkers. And aside from your professor, of course, studying many hours per day really does help. This might sound strange, but I've actually done a lot better in accelerated winter/summer intersession courses. You learn the material so quickly, that you don't have time to forget it by the time the test rolls around. It's a month or two of pure hell, but for some reason it works better for me.

This is not meant to sound snotty, but it seems like almost everyone here claims to have a 4.0 or a 3.8 on their prereqs. Really? I consider myself a very intelligent person, yet I'll be lucky to get a B- in A&P II. I'm pretty friendly with my classmates and it seems like only maybe 2 or 3 of them will wind up with As. Are these the only people who have hope? My class average for tests is usually in the 60s. Do I just have a really hard community college/professor? Or are people who are accepted into Nursing school really that much smarter than me?