Barbara Hessinger

My advice is to apply further away, maybe even at the opposite site of the country. This will test your relationship with your boyfriend and who knows, even open your eyes. Unsupportive men are a dime a dozen in my opinion. Good luck and you will succeed...

What you said pretty much sums it up. I am approaching the end of my first year in nursing and it is beyond scary how little I was prepared to do this job. Neither good for one's license nor patient safety. Critically thinking doesn't help if you don't have a solid foundation to perform basic skills. One of the reasons why I decided to exit after the first year of school.

Great posts. A good start would be to offer smaller clinical groups. But then the schools would have to hire more clinical teachers which means cutting into their profit...

Joanna, I didn't realize that you are in Canada. What part? I agree with you. When I was younger, I was always moving where the jobs were, within the country and even overseas. Why sitting at one place when there is a whole world to discover.

Here are my 2 cents. With the aging population in the US and the increased need for home care and LTC I can't imagine that LPN's will disappear. Why would a for profit corp pay for RN's when the same work can be done by LPN's. Health Care is a business after all.

"But I am only human" Didn't you know that nurses have to be super humans??? LOL.

I think it is a good way to get your feet wet and see if you like nursing. You can always get your RN later. I see many new RN's working in LTC right now because of the job situation.

I can so relate to you. I am German and find the medical language and its pronunciation quite challenging. I have worked other jobs and never had the language problems I seem to have as an ESL nurse. Hang in there, you will be ok.

There are some free practice exams online. Just google Hesi. My classmates bought a Hesi test book and some claimed that it helped. Take a look online what's available.

I have never worked as a LPN after I finished the first year of school. The refresher course might be a good idea. Who knows. So Ontario is tough too. I am in AZ. Keep me updated on your progress. You can send me a private message if you like. Just go to your "My Account". Good luck to you.

I am in the same boat as you. My intention was to take a break for a year and go back for the RN but after realizing how bad the job market is for us I pass. I have no intention to spend more on school only to be in the same situation again a year later. Where are you located?

Congrats! School nurse sounds like an exiting first job. Let us know how it goes.

Are you in AZ? I tend to agree with you on the economy. AZ is not looking too good. Just read yesterday that the Phoenix housing market will take a long, long time to recover. The military bases and surroundings still do fairly well here but that's about it. The retirees are not coming down here as they used too and that hurts health care in AZ.

Buy used books online. Most of the time I even bought an older edition which really saves you some money.

After reading all these posts, I really believe that nursing is way underpaid for the amount of fear (anxiety?) nurses have to deal with.