rebeccalizzie

Nope. DH is a cop, I used to be a 911 operator. DH *had* a bike...until he became a cop and found out that at least 95% of the motorcycle-involved wrecks are *not* the cyclist's fault--but the cyclist is quite often very seriously injured or dead. *Much* more often than car vs car wrecks. People in cars don't always see you and merge right into you. Helmets seem to make almost no difference, since most of the deaths are caused by being ripped apart, run over, severe internal injuries, or head injuries so bad that the helmet doesn't make a difference. The last one DH was on, guy was 28 with 4 kids, wearing his helmet and driving carefully. Person in the next lane didn't see him, merged into him. He was thrown off the bike and landed on his head. Dead at the scene, snapped his neck. The last motorcycle call I took was a cyclist whose neck made direct contact with a telephone pole. His head was 15 feet away when the EMT's showed up (he was also speeding on a wet road, so it was a stupidity-related accident, but still). Yes, life is full of risks, but I don't take a lot of them. I don't smoke, I don't do drugs, I don't drink and drive, I don't skydive without a parachute, and riding a motorcycle raises your odds of death a lot more than driving a car. Note--I don't include dirt bikes here either, since I think the biggest risk to cyclists is cars. If you are riding a dirt bike, there shouldn't be any cars on the trail with you! Forgot to say...of course this means until DD is 18. After that all I can do is pray!

Oh no, I fully intend to work as a RN for at least a few years before getting my masters to be a NP. I want to be a nurse first, then a nurse practitioner. I agree, it's just part of patient care, and I certainly think it falls under the category of making patients feel more comfortable, and I don't think I'll have a problem with it at all, I can usually just do what needs to be done (I once babysat a 5 year old who wasn't potty trained... ) I'm sure I'll be fine with it...but it's nice to know I'm going to be doing something other than that! :chuckle

Thanks so much everyone for your replies...I feel better! I still need to shadow a few times so I can really feel like I know what I'm going to be in for, but apparently a couple of hospitals don't do shadowing anymore because of HIPPA worries...so now I have to find one that will still let me do it! Thanks again... Rebecca

Thank you, that's exactly the kind of feedback I need! Yes, I know that I need a masters. Unfortunately, my wonderful DH can only support us (DD and he and I) financially up to a certain point, I need to get out of school and working full time again as quickly as possible. I actually already have a bachelors in accounting, so I could have done an accelerated program, but once I add in 18 months of prereq's, and a program so difficult I can't even work part time, I decided it would be better to get the RN as fast as I can, and then let the hospital pay for a bridge. I got my first degree online, I figure I can do the bridge program online too. All of what you described sounds about what I expected, so maybe I'm not as far off as I was starting to think--between my mom telling me that all nurses hate their jobs and that she really wishes I could just stick with accounting, and the rest of my family making it sound like I would be a glorified babysitter, and the "grossest things" thread in the humor forum here...I was starting to doubt my judgment!

Okay, I'm sure this sounds terrible... I really want to be a Nurse Practitioner. But I want to be an RN first. When I discuss this with people in my family, they immediately ask me if I really want to clean up poop all day. Now I know nursing has it's share of urine, feces and vomit, but that's not what I want to do all day long. I have been looking all over the place for *some* reference as to what nurses do all day long, and it's all so vague--"patient care and assessments" mostly. I have a child, and I've babysat for years. I've cleaned up my share of bodily fluids, and I don't have a problem with them. If I'm spending, say, one hour a day changing diapers and wiping bottoms, that's fine. But if I'm spending 8 hours a day changing diapers and wiping bottoms, I would be pretty unhappy. I don't want to work my tail off for two years at school only to be cleaning up after people all day long. That's actually why I don't want to be a CNA until my last year of school (and the *only* reason I'm planning on it then is because it really seems to be encouraged). Yes, I do plan on shadowing at some point...but I'd like to have some idea of what I'm getting into first! Help...and please try not to read this as "I think cleaning up after people is beneath me"...because I don't! I just want to do other things as well! Rebecca

Oh yeah, me too...graduated HS in 1993, went to school for a year in pre med, almost flunked out. Dropped out, had my DD in 1996. Went back to school for psych, dropped out a year and a half later because I realized it was a waste of my time. Quit waitressing and started working as a 911 operator. Started back to school *AGAIN*, finally finished my bachelors in...accounting...last year (why in god's name I chose a business degree is beyond me, but at least I have a non stressful day job now ). During all this I got married in 2002. Planning to start prereqs to be an RN this summer. :) . I originally planned to do an accelerated BSN program, but now it looks like it's going to be ADN so I can still work and help pay bills while I'm in school! And then I'll do a RN to BSN bridge while working in a hospital, and maybe a masters...I'd like to be a nurse practitioner. Yeah, this is *seriously* the scenic route!!! :rotfl:

I'm not a nurse (yet!) but I feel qualified to answer part of this. My husband is a cop, and I am a former 911 operator/ police dispatcher for a large city. So I have a lot of experience on strange shifts, working around your family (we have an 8 year old DD) and missing holidays. I do have fears about him getting hurt, but I think that's an individual thing--I'm not generally a fearful person, so I put it in perspective (for instance, he's much more likely to be in a car wreck and be killed on the way to work than he is to be killed at work). But everyone has to deal with their fears in a way that works for them--statistics help me a lot. DH has been on second shift (3-11) for 5 years. He works 4 days then is off 2, meaning he gets one real "weekend" every 6 weeks. I am now in a normal day shift job, working 8:30-5 monday thru friday. DH and I see each other on the evenings he is off, then Sat and Sun morning while I'm off. I go to bed before he comes home most nights, and he is asleep in the morning when I leave. We have made a huge effort to spend quality time together because we don't have quantity time! I try to wait up for him one night a week. I also call him from my lunch break, and he calls me from his dinner break. That way we at least can keep up with the day to day little stuff. On his days off I don't run errands in the evening, and I keep my social life to a minimum. Since I have 4 other days to go out with friends this isn't a hardship, and our two days together we spend *together* as a family. When DD was small, this was perfect--she was only in day care a little bit of each day, and she got individual time with each of us. Now that she is in school DH doesn't see her much, but they do their best to have time together too. He will likely be on first shift in a year or two, and then that will be better. As for holidays...you learn to be creative. We often do a brunch on a Sunday instead of a dinner to celebrate birthdays, so he can be there and then go to work. We celebrate Christmas morning on the day, but have Christmas dinner on the closest day he is off--it's great because our whole families can be there on the 27th, the 25th people have so many other family committments. Easter we are doing an egg hunt and a brunch (I've gotten *really* good at brunch dishes!). We've learned that what is important to us is to celebrate the holiday, we don't care so much when we do it. I really commend you for facing right now what *could* be a problem for you later. By dealing with your fears early, I really think you will help keep yourself from being resentful over something you hadn't really considered. Sounds like your fiancee is getting a great guy to me!