RNrobert

I got called out by the mother, who was a nurse, of my patient recently. She did it in a respectful manner and to be honest she was 100% in the right. We all get busy, forget how are actions are perceived, and need to be reminded of what we are there for sometimes.

Just my two cents, I work in the ER and the ratio of men to women is closer to 50/50 (especially if you add in the techs) so I don't find it weird at all to be a male nurse. My nursing school class was almost 25% male, so in my experience the ratio is becoming more even. I would go for the BSN, even though I believe my two year school prepared me better for immediate bedside care, as some employers will require it, completing the BSN at a latter date will only get harder, and when you factor in the prerequisites required for ADN programs and the wait lists involved the timeframe to complete either level of education becomes very similar. When it comes time to get a job, especially if the current environment is the same, it will be about who you know more than what your level of education is. Make contacts with people in position to hire during your clinical rotations, take advantage of any student nurse worker programs offered through your school, ask your instructors (who think highly of you) if they will provide you letters of recommendations. Good luck, this profession is tough and not for everyone but the good days are like nothing else.

Many hospitals have positions for Student nurse workers that you will be eligible for after you complete your first semester of nursing school. Apply early and aggressively. If you get the position be the hardest most eager employee possible and get to know the people who have the power to hire you when you get licensed.

As a nursing student I had a homeless man who was unable to bring his hands to his face so I shaved him and feed him his meals for the day. As I was leaving clinicals I saw this same man smoking a cigarette outside the hospital entrance...:grn:

A homeless person was brought into the ER because she had a cast on her lower leg for over a year. Think a scoop of mint chip ice cream melting over an ice cream cone and you have a pretty good idea of what her leg looked like. The smell was so bad even the drug seekers were running for the door.

You mentioned in your post that you should omit work experience that is not relevant to nursing. I would humbly like to disagree. You should include any and all work experience on your resume while tailoring your job duties and achievements to the position you are applying for. I was able to get a new grad position in an ER mainly based on my restaurant experience by highlighting the fast paced environment, ability to multitask, and need for teamwork. Any job that you have had has given you skills which are applicable to nursing, sell yourself and your experiences.

Dust busters work pretty well

It is tough out there right now but this will change. The average age of the nursing workforce is reaching fifty plus, and while new grads are having difficulty finding jobs experienced nurses have little difficulty finding employment. The economy will pick up sooner or later, older nurses will retire or go back to part-time, hospitals will start spending the money it takes to train novice nurses, and census will shoot way up. There really is a shortage of nurses that will only get worse over the next few years. Even in these tough times employment can be found if you do the necessary footwork and aren't especially picky about where you take your first job. I was lucky, I made a great contact at my local hospital who got me in with the director of emergency nursing. Start making contacts early in your schooling, volunteer, work as a cna, student nurse worker, tech, or ward clerk, and do things that make you stand out and be remembered. As with most things in life, if you are passionate about what you want and work hard to achieve it, you will get what you want.

While in nursing school the only way students could get supplies or get into the med room was to borrow a key from one of the nurses on the floor... Needless to say I had to drive the 30 miles back to the hospital very early the next morning to make sure that nurse had his keys back before he took report.

Thanks for posting the info. Good luck to all... I think we need it.

Just checking to see if anyone has received a call back yet?

Chamberlain is 100% online and requires no clinicals. As far as credits, you typically will receive 80 units for your ADN and are then required to complete 32 to 48 more depending on whether or not you have other transferable credits such as statistics, upper division writing, etc. It is rather expensive, 575 per credit hour so roughly 20 to 30k. I can't tell you anything about classwork as I am still just doing research on RN-BSN programs myself. So if anyone has some good info about Chamberlain or other online programs I'm interested as well.