AR2010

Absolutely, I dont know of many people who would say it was great if they werent successful but yet and still greater hope for me, a site that I can access via car!!!!!!!!!

cali you are right, that would be great for me because york is within driving distance for me, not next door of course, but better than having to pay for a planr ticket to god knows where, and hotel rooms etc.

thanks again for the information, it seems that the CPNE has crammed into 2 and 1/2 days every fear filled clinical experience that I attended over 2 years at the other RN program I was in. Evaluations involving a nursing instructor standing over you with a clipboard waiting for any slip up. Sleepless nights prepping for your patient(s) trying to make sure that no detail was missed.This is semi unsettling but sounds doable if I adequately prepare. Nerves are definitely a huge factor, but Im glad that I now know what to expect.............thanks again cali

I had spoken to an EC advisor via email, and was told that I do qualify (Army medic as well as having completed 4 semesters (75%) with clinical at a previous associate degree RN program with a C or better). You are absolutely right about the website. Semi hard to navigate if you dont know what you are looking for. I did look at thier site and they had states listed that accept the degree from them with stipulations..........PA was not listed :yeah:thank goodness, I am looking at EC as an option because it seems like it would be one which would make obtaining the RN a better solution for me. Cali, can you tell me what the CPNE is and what it consists of? Im seeing postings saying that people are having to wait months to get sites? Paying for plane tickets etc

Caliotter, thanks for replying. I had looked on the EC website and it was somewhat vague, I did get the gist that its basically as you said, an evaluative tool for those with previous clinical expertise. I will definitely check out some of the unbiased threads, if any, here at allnurses. Thanks again for the info :)

Miss Lady, thank you for replying, you are right, making it that far, through the stress, the weight gain (lol), and the sacrifices I had to make in my personal life, and then failing at the very end was hugely devastating, I went about my daily life in a state of shock and disbelief for weeks until one day, it hit me that I would have to start again and deal with this all over.....then the anger, and depression set in:crying2:. It was almost like dealing with the different stages of grieving (denial, anger, acceptance etc..). But on a more positive note :), I have recieved some excellent advice as well as words of encouragement from alot of people who have replied to this post, including yourself. It seems that alot of people are saying no to the vet tech thing and have basically confirmed what I had thought all along, that it is low paying, and there is no room for growth. I am definitely going to give nursing another shot, even if I have to go LPN and then do the RN thing at a later point.............Thank you for the great advice and words of encouragement...........:)

I know alot of you have attended Excelsier College and some have given rave reviews while others have not. I have applyed to the college (as an option that Im looking at) for thier Associate Degree Nursing Program and am just wanting some basic information on how it works, whats with this CPNE thing Im hearing being mentioned, etc...I am an ARMY Medic and have alot of clinical experience through the military as well as from having attended another associate degree program, so the lack of clinical is not a huge concern for me, and would not be a deal breaker. Any information would help......Thanks

Texas, well put, especially the comment on the clinical aspect. Online programs like EC are not made for people who have no clinical experience whatsoever. It does kind of cater to those that have the experience and are self motivated (alot of times military, and those already in the healthcare field). Although I did attend a 2 year ADN program that was brutal, there was no hand holding whatsoever, more like here is the deep end of the pool, and the clinical instructor pushed you in and expected you to learn how to swim that way (not always a good thing). That said, I do think that clinical is a huge part of nursing because when a patient needs treatment, they arent going to care about nursing theory etc. This is why on the app for EC there are certain job requirements/and/or a certain amount of clinical experience that must have been completed......as I said

Wow!!! :yeah:It is about time..... your post just stated everything I was thinking. I do not like to get into the drama of arguing via postings with people (so I have pretty much ignored the rude and distasteful comments that some people post) . I must say you hit the nail on the head. I have found that alot of times people who reply to these threads are either really helpful or really rude. Not really a mid range. Its sad because people post excerpts so that they can get advice, not so they can be insulted . It is a shame that some people focus on the negative aspects instead of offering positive advice. On another note, I could not imagine how devastating it must be to have gone through nursing school, gotten my degree, and then could not find a job just because of the school I graduated from, and then being stuck in a catch 22 situation....cant go back to a RN program due to having a license, but cant get a job because of the school you went to..................As I said well done and well put:yeah:

I remember my little sister said something to me along those lines, after an argument we had. It is a true shame that alot of people are under that misconception. As a student nurse, I know that this is totally untrue................student nurses clean up poop and vomit, not RN's .................LOL I am totally joking, please dont take offense. On a serious note, do not allow someone else's ignorance ruin your day. I know that it is alot more hurtful because this was said by someone you care about so the blow hits 10x as hard. We all know that RN's may do the task of personal care for patients, but they do a load of other tasks as well. Although I am not an RN as of yet (I am a student nurse), I have seen all that RN's do when I am at clinical, as well as when I was deployed and working along side of them as a medic. RN's must be 10 people for each patient they have and alot of time they dont get credit for the amount of multitasking that they do each day. I hope that this message helps, I think that your friend may need a little more education on the many different aspects of nursing, cheer up......................:)

Do tell!!!!

Oh, I definitely agree with you on the double standard thing, it does go both ways, as far as SF, even if females were allowed to do that, its not really what Im into . Im sure there are some high speed females out there that could do it, but Infantry type MOS's are not really what my goals are based around. I also agree with you on the who you know thing, there is alot of politics involved in the ARMY today, and I see it all the time, those that get in good with the higher ups are the ones that get the schools. the ASI's you listed would definitely translate into something better than just the EMT-B that transfers. I find it very disheartening that the scope of things I could do when I was deployed is almost nonexistant if I were to work as a civilian EMT. Also, where I live, EMT-B's cap out at around 13 bucks an hour . I am attempting to get the M6 ASI

you are absolutely right, it is never too to go back to school, and I am looking into the M6 thing. Thanks again for the advice. Also, my unit is a CSH (combat support hospital) and it is the closest one where I live (i am a reservist). My best bet would be to try to get the waiver. LOL, when I came in my mos was 91B combat medic (even though I am a female and there was debate about females being called combat medics......go figure). The LPN was the 91C, and it was a seperate mos. they then changed the mos to 91W (healthcare specialist/nco) and combined the two mos's and made the lpn the skill identifier. ANd now it is 68W (they changed the whole medical series to 68 series) Im sure you already knew that or dont care lol, just wanted to sound smart . thanks again for the advice.

Tx Nurse, Thank you for replying. When I first began attending college, Preveterinary science was my major and then I got deployed as an ARMY medic and surprisingly, I liked the human aspect so after weighing the pros and cons decided that although very challenging, nursing school would be easier to get into and there would be a much larger potential for movement throughout the field of nursing once I completed school. M6 school would be harder for me to get due to my rank (SSG), I would have to get a waiver because the ARMY likes to save those school for the junior enlisted. I dont think it would be impossible to get, just a little bit more difficult. As they say, if only I knew then what I know now, I may have taken a totally different path. I wish I had known that I couldve started by taking up animal science, or even having attended the M6 school when I first joined (had it put into my contract). P.S. I have been deployed with M6 medics who were with combat engineer units, so sometimes you dont always get the perk of staying in a hospital. I remeber at one time before you went into any medical mos whether it be x-ray, dietics, etc, the ARMY made you go to the EMT-B portion of schooling so that they, if needed could always deploy you as a medic, I remember it happened to an E-7 who was a repiratory therapist. She had never practiced as a medic and had always been an RT. The ARMY has its ways to get around loopholes ;-)

I dont think it should be a huge problem, I know alot of people who entered nursing school with anxiety disorders, deppressive disorder etc. As long as you are compliant with your meds (if you are taking any) and able to cope with the stress of nursing school (it is very stressful), then you shouldnt have anything worry about. I dont know of very many nursing students who dont suffer some form of anxiety, and maybe even a bout of deppression at least once while in class:D. Good luck to you P.S. I am in no means trying to downplay your illness, and I do realize that mild anxiety and temporary depression are less severe than clinical depression and possible bipolar disorder. I am just trying to offer some words of encouragement ;-)

you are absolutely right, and that is something alot of people dont realize. There is a double standard, because although I can deploy with and have been deployed with combat units, the ARMY is still reluctant to award schools to females that carry a hight deployment rate, which is ridiculous because being a medic period is a highly deployable MOS. Also, alot of schools are not given to enlisted soldiers above E-5 because they are afraid that at that point in your career, you will take the training and run per say, but regardless I will continue to look into it, especially the M6 school. What better way to get training is there than to let someone else pay for it?

Unfortunately, I have heard the same things and seen them at my unit. It is the reason, that once I began to make rank, I thought about putting in for a Warrant Officer Position as opposed to becoming an ARMY RN. Its sad, but there is alot of "good old boy" networking going on in places, those that are liked and are in with the big wigs tend to get the schools and thus get promoted. The sad thing is that I see it even on the enlisted side. It is why I "fly under the radar," so to speak and stay out of the drama that goes on so that I can get my NCOES and get promoted.

we all know you have a master's degree in who gives a damn, trust me, as much as you broadcast it we couldnt help but hear it , but you just like the rest of us, have to do personal care on your patients, please stop trying to delegate it to the aides or even to the rest of us when you are not busy, you jus think that you are too good to do it. When the instructor goes into your patient's room and sees mr/ms _________ sitting in thier own waste she is going to tear you a new one, and Im sure she wont care about your previous degrees!!! Please stop trying to turn everyone against the nicest instructor we have ever had just because you didnt do so well on the test. I overheard you talking about how you went out clubbing the night before the test and didnt get any sleep or get to study. Its your fault, not the instructors so please shut up, sit down, and reorganize your priorities! Nursing school is hard, and you knew you were going to have to give up some of that social life when you signed up!!! Just because it is a summer class does not mean that you can wear shorts that look like underwear and a bra top, when you bent down and picked up your pen off the ground I turned and saw more of you up close and personal, than I ever wanted to see I didnt know whether to pretend I didnt see it, or start throwing dollars at you ..........flashback to the strip club...................

black socks, that was hilarious. It brought me back to the days of real basic training and AIT drill sergeants. Those are truly the stories that stick with you throughout your entire military career................LifeChanging!

It was our first day at the long term care facility, as well as our first day at clinical. I had not slept at all the night before or the days leading up to this, and as I surveyed the rest of my new clinical group, they looked as though they had had the same sleepless nights that I had. We all sat in the open lounge, it was where Mrs. O the clinical instructor, was supposed to meet us. I asked "has anyone met her before," they all shook thier heads no. Someone said something funny and we all laughed nervously. It was 630, she was supposed to be here. I decided to break the ice and join in the discussion, I say something and the group laughs, and then I say something else, and out of my nervousness, I let out an expletive (F-bomb). I see everyone's faces twist into a look of horror and I think to myself "wow these people are sensitive, "I look and see that thier eyes are focuses behind me and as I turn, there she is..................An older African American woman........................she had taught at the college for longer than I had been alive and had the no nonsense look of an old school instructor. She approached out of Nowhere!!!(How had she managed to walk up behind me without making a sound!)Clad in Crisp white scrubs with creases so sharp they looked as if they could cut your head off, complete with horn-rimmed tortoiseshell glasses that had pearl attachment chains so that she could wear them around her neck, positioned ever so close to the end of her nose, she exuded professionalism, and authority. We all stared, afraid to say anything, no matter, she broke the silence. "stand up and come over to me," she says in a tone that meant she was not asking us, she was telling us. We lined up in front of her, and with her glasses positioned over her nose she poured over each of us with her mouth twisted in a look of disapproval. Put those ringlets up, who told you to wear acrylic nails, why didnt you iron your uniform? I smiled to myself thinkly smugly, I had ironed my uniform, with starched creases identical to the instructors . She approached the girl beside me and said, let me see your socks.....no ankle socks! They must me 3/4 length and white!:redbeathe My heart sank, how could I be so stupid? I had on white ankle socks, how was I supposed to know that she would inspect us like this? She approached me, I was perspiring profusely, uniform check! nails clean and trim check! "Let me see your socks she says.....With the conviction of an inmate walking to the deathchamber, ready to meet his/her maker, I did as I was asked. There crisp and white, betraying me with thier snowy white glow were my brand new ankle socks...I waited, and she did not dissappoint. "No ankle socks!!!!!" it seemed as though her voice had echoed down the hallway. My face burned red in shame............... I will cut the story short so as not to bore anyone with a long story. :) I will never forget that day, myself as well as my classmates can look back on it and laugh, I hope that some of you can appreciate the fear experienced on your first day of clinical, not knowing who your instructor is or what they look like. Share your stories!!!!

I will definitely look into some of the things you mentioned. It is worth a try, I do know that some things (specialties, ASI's) are harder to get into for those of us that are in the reserve component. Once again, thanks for the advice, I definitely needed a few choices to jog my memory.

pca 85, I definitely feel you on that one. I hate when Student Nurse Know it all raises his/her hand and gets called on because you know that the rest of classtime learning is toast.

I appreciate the great advice, as you can tell it is easy to become discouraged. It is easy to focus on failure alone as opposed to learning from it. I am going to apply to other schools and stick it out, I know that it will pay off in the end, its just that the end is so far away............

thanks for the great advice, I had did a little research previously but wasnt sure about the income thing and it seems as though (as you stated) the income potential is extremely limited. Although, income is not the main reason I would go into it, it sure is a huge concern and RN seems to have way more possibilities. As I said, thanks, it is good to get this kind of advice from a person who has actually gone to school to be a vet tech (experience)

Thank you so much for the great advice, I am an ARMY medic, and you are right, the training was tough, but as you said, its in a different environment, you are almost forced to focus soley on training, not as many distractions as in a civilian school. As for the M6 school, it is also something I have considered, but I would have to put in for a waiver because of my rank (SSG). That quote is outstanding words to live by, as I said thanks for the great advice.