Ddestiny

No this is not normal. I did my LPN at a community college in KS in 2011. It was a 9 month program and cost $5,000 for everything, including books and the cost of taking the NCLEX. I didn’t deal with any of that stuff. Obviously Covid wasn’t a factor then but Im not convinced that has real impact on not having enough chairs. The for-profit programs in my area cost a lot more and would seemly do things to weed people out early without giving them a refund. For example one of my classmates had failed out of one of those programs in the first week because she flunked a medication math test so they kicked her out with no refund. The first week! And it was crazy expensive so it took her forever to get out from under the debt to even get into not-for-profit program. We spent one half day on vital signs and CNA tasks because we all had to be CNAs as a prerequisite to get into the program. If I were you I’d see what your options are to get out and find somewhere better. Spending weeks on basic tasks is really scary to me and makes me think the program probably doesn’t have a good NCLEX pass rate. Is it accredited? If not you might have difficulty bridging from LPN to RN if you do continue through with this program. What an unfortunate mess. :/

Shortage or not, is all about location. I just recently moved but before that lived in Kansas. I lived throughout the state at different times and there is a legitimate nursing shortage there. New grads can get into the "hot" specialties (at least ICU and ER....I never really inquired about L/D) right out of school without having to pay dues on night shift. BSNs are not typically required though there are a few magnet hospitals sprinkled here and there. Now I live in the Toledo, OH area and the market is a bit different here. There is definitely a need for more nurses but one should still expect to spend some time on nights, irrespective of experience. I've been a nurse for 7 years with 2 years ICU and I accepted an ICU position on nights. My first night job! lol The unit I'm working on is really hurting for nurses and there are a ton of new grads. One thing I will say, they definitely support their new nurses a lot better than what I saw in Kansas. A FIVE MONTH new grad orientation! But it's also very rare for them to (get the opportunity to) hire experienced nurses. Since everything in the area is so seniority-based and you'd have to start over anywhere you go, I think people tend to stay in one hospital system more. Anyway, my point is that location is key, and it can be hard to really understand a place's job economy until you really delve into it. Picking a location to move and then finding a job might be doing things backwards -- the strategy may need to be to find the job you want, and worrying about location second. It sounds like California is very difficult to break into, and there's enough competition that they don't feel the need to take a risk on someone who is changing specialties. The required strategy to get into your preferred specialty might be to move to a cheaper/less desirable area of the country, pay your dues, then return back once you can secure a position in CA. It's a lot of work, admittedly, but it just depends upon your priorities. There are no wrong answers.

Whenever I have a student or I'm precepting a new nurse, I point out one of my favorite pieces of advice to avoid this very common problem: Always make sure that the correct drip chamber is dripping before you move onto the next task. That being said, it still doesn't make me immune from making the same mistake, especially if I'm in a hurry. ?

I would definitely recommend putting a lot of energy into looking at RN positions. The sooner the better, really, with the upcoming need for maternity leave. Nursing orientations in the hospital are usually anywhere from 4-12 weeks depending upon the unit, so having plenty of time to get through training and establish yourself before being off for a while will be really important -- especially for a new grad, practicing new skills. Don't allow the concern of them not hiring you due to your pregnancy, keep you from getting out there and applying. Everywhere. Aggressively. The sooner you get your foot in the door, the sooner you are making RN money and using your new knowledge. Oh, and you'll never have to worry about "too much sitting down" as a nurse! ?? Good luck with your decision.

I've been involved in peer interviews in multiple different facilities. Some were more organized than others, as far as guiding what questions could be asked. The last place I worked didn't even offer the general refresher of "these are illegal/inappopriate questions, these are common questions, etc" so it wouldn't have surprised me if someone accidentally came out with one because we are nurses, not HR. But we absolutely want to take those peer interview opportunities to assess the fit of a potential employee. After you work with enough staff where you find yourself asking "how does he/she work here?" from their lack of cultural fit or general knowledge base, you'll grow to appreciate being given the chance to participate. Many employers don't offer it.

There was no separate program or special process. I don't know if it is different now.

I think a lot of those specific questions would be better fielded by current members of the program, since I graduated so long ago. I found the program less challenging than LPN program. My tests were all online, not proctored. I don't remember if we were allowed any fails. I don't remember ever feeling in danger of failing. Nothing to lose by applying. If you get in, great! If you don't, you're no worse off than you are now. For some perspective, It took my husband several years and literally thousands of dollars between application fees, transcript fees, GRE fees, flights and hotels to get into a PhD program in his highly competitive field. And "competitive" in KS looks very different than on the coasts. Don't let feeling intimidated hold you back from making a move that, after just a year, can seriously change the trajectory of your financial future.

It's kind of hard to keep track of everyone since we only were all in the same place at the beginning of the first semester. Since so many are from out of state, not everyone attended pinning. I only know of two specifically that didn't graduate with us. One may have quit, I just remember that he left early in the first semester. The other I was pretty sure that he was dropped, and he was very lazy at clinicals (i.e. said things like "I'm not going to be an OB nurse so I'm going to sit back and let [all the female classmates] get your experience in". I told him that I had no interest in OB and would probably not use the information much after the NCLEX but that doesn't mean you can just not participate). Hard to know how he was as a student. The program itself is really flexible. I think if you're able to get through your LPN then you can get through this program as well, as long as you're willing to put in the appropriate time. I felt LPN was more difficult just because it was the first time learning the info, whereas RN is mostly going over the same thing plus a few additional pieces. I definitely didn't study as much during my RN, personally. I think if you're having problems then the instructors were open to working with you. I got to a point where I was able to get a month ahead of assignments so that I had a really nice cushion if anything came up. Clinicals were available almost every single day. You might not be able to get your preferred specialty location depending upon your availability vs the days that actually go to there (i.e. there were only a few days to go to dialysis or prison, if I remember correctly) but the hospitals had availability almost everyday. It was incredibly easy to manage. I had gotten accepted into Pratt's LPN to RN bridge before Hutch's and almost went with it, but it was nowhere near as flexible (had to go to clinicals M/W/F for weeks on end.....not many jobs you can work around that unless you're employed through an incredibly flexible nursing home or something. I was working M/T/W/F at an office so there was no way I could miss that much work. With Hutch's program I think I only had to miss a total of 3-4 days of work. In the spring (orientation and skills check-offs was a Monday through Wednesday or Thursday event) and in the fall (mental health clinicals was a 3 day/2 night trip). Hope that helps!

I don't think the Kaplan exam was required when I was going through this. The HESI was required at that point, which was really simple, especially for someone that's already an LPN. When I was applying the program would typically get ~200 applicants for 50-60 slots. But this was also 5 years ago, so I unfortunately don't have much up-to-date information.

I think the responses to this post illustrate that there are many different things that one can value or prioritize in their work environment. For example, I am pretty apathetic about working holidays, and I'd much rather work 12 hour shifts because then I only have to get up to an alarm 3x per week. lol Boredom, on the other hand, is a big dealbreaker to me. It's one thing to have intermittent (i.e. census-driven) down time but if I'm not feeling challenged, then that makes your day go by incredibly slow. I've felt fulfillment in nursing positions and now it's a requirement for any future positions.I want to be learning more so that I can improve over time. Some people prefer things to be more comfortable, either because they have a lot of stressful things going on in their life or they're just a more laidback personality. That's okay, too -- lots of different folks, lots of different types of jobs. It sounds like you've learned something important about yourself. It doesn't mean you necessarily need to leave, but it sounds like some soul searching for what you really need to feel content is going to be important. Getting a PRN position like others have said, or adding more things to your life outside of work (how many of us lose our ability to maintain a social life during nursing school and take years to pick it back up again? lol) might be the answer instead. If you decide to leave then finding a position that matches your needs will be important. I never thought I'd see myself in Critical Care but it turns out, that it checks off all of my boxes. ? Good luck with your decision.

Agreed! I enjoy my job. I don't enjoy every moment of every day, but overall I have no major complaints. In my 7 years of nursing, I've worked 3 different areas of nursing (primary care, post surgical/oncology, and now ICU) and I've decided that the ICU is definitely the place for me. I initially went into nursing wanting to be an NP like everyone else, but after I fell into the ICU (long story) I really fell in love with it. I want to stay at the bedside. And I see nurses that are finishing out 30+ year careers at the bedside, that are knowledgeable, compassionate and engaged in their work. I want to do that. I want to keep learning and growing in my role, and be the best that I can be. I like the responsibility that I hold. I like working with very sick people, and guiding their loved ones through what's happening. It's not anything like what I envisioned for my career because I was scared ****less at the idea of critical care when I was in nursing school, but now....here I am! Nursing is not for everyone and that's okay. Of those who would enjoy being a nurse, not everyone area of nursing is going to fit. It's hard to know until you're really there, but shadowing and fulling investing yourself into your clinical experiences is as close as you can really get. Nothing is like when it really falls on your shoulders. I see a lot of posts on here from people that have been a nurse for maybe a year or two, in the same job or similar types of jobs the entire time, and they decide that nursing is not for the them. Maybe that's true.....or maybe that particular job is the actual problem. They'll never know if they're not willing to take a risk and try somewhere else. And that being said, your unit culture definitely makes a difference too. I wouldn't enjoy my job as much if it didn't have a positive culture, where anyone can say "I need some help" and they'll suddenly have more hands than they could ever need. There are so many variables, just like with other career paths.

I'd admit I didn't read all of the responses so far, so maybe this has already been mentioned. When I am being notified by my CN that I am getting a patient, I am also getting the very basics of info about them. At least a diagnosis and including whether or not they're intubated. If the first indication a nurse gets that they are receiving a patient is that a nurse from another area is calling to ask to give them report, then that sounds like a breakdown in communication from the charge nurse to the receiving nurse. Most of my received reports are at the bedside, including from ER (ICU nurse communicates with ER charge about a good time to come get report, ICU nurse goes to ER bedside to get report, ICU nurse and an ER RN/CNA/Transport bring pt up on the ER cot). I have no problem with bedside report. But, I would be unimpressed if someone walked in with a patient for me and I didn't know that they were coming or to expect them (but my questions would go both to the person bringing the patient, and my charge nurse, to figure out where things broke down). In very busy circumstances the charge nurse or another unit RN will take report for incoming patients and then they'll settle the patient until the original receiving RN is able to do another handoff.

It's definitely something I've considered. It's hard to know the real reputation of a hospital when you've not been within 500 miles of their city. I don't like the idea of job hopping or the added stress of multiple periods of orientation, but it might have to come with the territory. One factor that I have on my side is that I don't have to move for almost 4 months so I can hopefully get at least something decent then continue to look if needed. The interview I have coming up sounds pretty great if I would be able to come to days in a reasonable time frame. Unfortunately that's one of those "crystal ball" questions that no one can really answer.

Not yet, but it is definitely on the "to do" list. It's been a definite goal for this year but if my upcoming interview doesn't prove fruitful then it's definitely going to need to be expedited!

Thank you! I appreciate your positive vibes! And though I haven't looked into it specifically, it does seem like there are a decent number of nursing schools in the area. One of the ICU recruiters I spoke to said that they usually hire via their new nurse residency.....not sure what to think of that, hopefully it means that they have a good base of experienced nurses. But as difficult as it can be to "break into" the market, maybe that means that people are less apt to job hop in comparison to other locations.