Scoots

Well, it was almost a "no brainer" (I hate that phrase, but it fits!) for me. I switched over to the the MA A.S. program and got (barely squeaked in) the full list of courses for the fall quarter. It feels right for me at this time. With my background in the health care field already, the Nursing Assistant certification, and my interest in IT/billing and coding in health care settings this should "get me in the door" to see what I want to focus on doing. If I want to move more into the direct patient care end of it then my school offers an LPN certificate that I can take courses in while working as an MA! If I prefer the administrative end of things then I can go for an IT or medical billing and coding certificate to enhance my skills there. Meanwhile I think I am going to pursue part-time work as a CNA in home health care while in school. Just a few clients a few days a week. I am really excited NOW about starting school in September! Wish me luck...thank you all for your thoughts. I love this website and will likely lurk here with my fellow life explorers! You are one great bunch.... Deb

I am also going to check into a Medical Assisting program at this same school. I see it involves a bit of direct patient care, some administrative work, some medical billing/computer work. I might like that variety too and it talks about getting a certification. It takes 6 quarters to complete. I need some marketable skills in healthcare as my MSW options appear to be "dead in the water". There is no where left to go with that anymore. And around my area the LPN is being phased out for the RNs to take over. I've heard it's difficult for an RN to get a job around here and almost impossible for an LPN to get one! I've got to do something! I can't sit around here for another 18 months sending resumes out into the abyss. I've got a financial aid award and I'd like to use it this academic year. I need some goals, somewhere to go to each day, people to interact with and a purpose that seems to be taking me into some kind of future as a worker bee.

Years ago I was a CNA during college years and in the summers between high school teaching. I enjoyed that and went back this summer to a 2 week vocational school program to get a certificate in that. I have yet to take the state exam, but I am thinking that doing something like that in home health a few days a week or doing some of that with a local LTC might be enough of an involvement for me. I liked interacting with the older adults and helping out in that way. Things I used to be able to do as a medical social worker in home health no longer exist and it is all about "assembly line service provision" with patients. I hate that! I have an older friend who even does some private duty with one client as an STNA and loves helping her and spending her days with one person. I think about doing some of this (or similar) and it appeals to me more. I've made "big bucks" in the past yet was not happy due to the stress. After 18 months my body and spirit are in a calmer place that I do not want to leave in order to enter back into a hectic, chaotic, insanely stressful lifestyle. I don't think it's worth the years I may have left on this planet. Your comments are helpful! I need to get clear in my heart and this process helps of receiving feedback. I've only got a few days to make the choice now or not. And the choice is permanent as the window of opportunity is narrow for next academic year. Thank you!

Thanks for your support. And it's not just the money owed (mine would be about 100K too!), it's the stress involved in going through the program and in the job itself. I know much of what nurses struggle with on the job after working alongside them for almost 20 years in health care. In some ways I feel like I'd be "jumping out of the frying pan into the fire". I told myself when I started this "process of exploration" that it was just that, a "process". Now I am at the end of the line I just feel sick at heart at the thought of "pulling the trigger" to go forward. Guess that's my answer, eh? Meanwhile I am unemployed 18 months, can't find a job in my previous field, and still thinking about going to school in some other area to strengthen my employability. None of this is a guarantee, I know. But I've got to REALLY want whatever I pay big bucks for in more coursework. 3 years, 100K, tons of stress during and after an RN is just not what I want in my "heart of hearts". At least it feels that way right now... I feel so confused and frustrated!

I think part of what is going on with me is that I am starting to back out of thinking I want to go through with this whole process. I've gone through all of the process to get a student loan, register for classes. BUT I have NOT signed the student loan promissory note as of yet. I just cannot bring myself to do it. I am having major second and third thoughts about the time, expense, and energy involved in doing all this and not sure if I really want to invest the next 3+ years of my life into doing it. I would be 58 when I got the RN license and starting over. Not sure I want to be doing that at that age. I have other interests as well. This is a really hard place for me right now as I have got to make the commitment or not. I am leaning toward "not" at this moment!!!! My last few days have been tough trying to work through all of this. I am talking with friends and family who are all saying to do what makes me happy. Even I'm not sure. But facing all of the above seems to be too much for me to feel "happy" about. Am I nutso? Sometimes I wonder....

I'm wondering if this amount of time to complete the pre-reqs. and the nursing coursework is excessive at this particular local community college. Plus I am coming in as a transfer student with most of the general electives, psychology, sociology, math done already. This is an LPN+RN A.S. program. All students go through coursework with an option to obtain the LPN license along the way. 3 additional quarters gets one to the point of obtaining the necessary coursework to take the RN exam. I cannot get into the nursing classes until fall of 2011 because of the sequence of courses and I will lack one course by the deadline of Sept. 30. So I am taking any and all required sciences, etc. for the LPN/RN pre-requisites during Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer of 2010-2011. I should be going full-time each quarter here. Next year I should start the nursing courses and I will go 4 quarters to the LPN level, plus 3 more to the RN level. I should have only nursing courses to take by this time. (Maybe even some courses for the BSN in their contract with another 4 year local college to keep me at full-time for financial aid.) By the time I am done I will have spent 3 academic years doing coursework. I will come out with an A.S. in Nursing/RN license. Does this time-frame seem excessive? Especially for someone transferring in so many credits? What do you think? Thanks for insights...

No one explained this part, so I will. "RN" is a credential or license obtained by taking the state nursing board exams and passing them. A candidate may have gone to a hospital diploma program (in which case no college degree is involved), obtained an Associate of Science degree from a college, or obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Nursing from a college. All must take the state tests in order to be called a "Registered Nurse". There are particular courses that are required to be taken before one can sit for the exam. You just can't take the exam cold. Many programs build upon each other and become "bridge" or "plus" programs. I am attending a school starting next month that puts the student through the LPN required courses before they enter into the RN courses. They call this a "one plus one" program. Hope this helps and hope you find the right school for you.

Where can I buy the manual and on-line tests study guide? What does "ATI" stand for? I am really new to this as you can see!

I am starting my pre-nursing coursework too after years of wanting to pursue being an RN. I got caught up in reading on-line about the lack of jobs too. That really set me back for awhile and I almost backed out of registering for classes. But like others have said, in time that may open up and I've got a few years to go here also before I start looking for a job. In the meantime I like the advice about volunteering (or working as a CNA/STNA) and networking. I just decided that I want to be a nurse, period, and I'll take my chances! Good luck to you too!

No, you're not too old! I am 55 and starting pre-nursing classes this fall! It is my 5th "career" after starting out as a CNA, high school teacher, Naval officer, medical social worker. It's something I've wanted for a long time and now I have the guts to pursue it! Wish I had not waited so long, but "timing is everything" as they say! You have youth and time on your side and a zillions things you can do with an RN. If it's YOUR dream, go for it! I also agree that getting a CNA certificate/training will give you real insight as to some of the things that are involved. I have worked with enough nurses in health care to know that this is not the whole of it, however. But it's a great start!

I am returning to college full-time after almost 2 years of unemployment, so I have learned to live "dirt cheap" due to all of that. But I had some of the same questions in applying for student loans. I only qualify for loans, not grants, because I have a previous degree like you. What I was told at my financial aid office is that they calculate the amount of the quarterly student loan based on the tuition, the books/fees, and living expenses. I had a maximum amount offered to me based on my previous year's income of being on UI money. After I pay tuition and books at the college bookstore, I get the remainder of the loan monies mid-term in the form of a check sent to my house. It's not a lot, but my partner works and we squeak by. I am not sure if I will be able to handle full-time school and working, but if so I will likely pick up a part time job if possible. Things will be tight, but I figure I'll be too busy to care! I'm not sure how all this is going to work out myself. If you had a way to share expenses with family or a room mate that might help you to some degree. Good luck!

If you can cut those grades you can study nursing courses and do well. I have to tell you that I have been out of college for 20 years, did another profession with high GPA degrees, but have wanted to be a nurse all along. Now at age 55 I am starting into the pre-RN courses this fall (ones I had 30 years ago and did well in, go figure!) and even I am terrified! I think we are both smart enough, but the intensity of the studying and clinicals seems pretty overwhelming. I question if I am up to doing this myself! Then I do 4 quarters of pre-requisites and think, "well, what if I don't get in the nursing classes?" Then I'm stuck with student loan debt and no LPN/RN! So I try not to think so much and just get on with it! LOL I think we both need to chill and I tell myself to take one thing at a time here. So that is the best advice I've got to offer. If we want to be nurses we've got to go through this "trial by fire". How bad do you want to be a nurse? That is the thing, I think! :redbeathe

I've worked over 20 years in health care (not as a nurse, yet-going to school this fall) and I read your post and experienced your frustration! Believe me, I've worked in a few hellish situations like this in health care and lost my own physical and emotional health over it. It is NOT worth it when you have so many other options open to you. Get out now. This place is so layered with dysfunction that you will never be able to surmount it all. There is no shame in walking away from a horrible workplace. Grace of God you have a place that wants you to come back right now. Go. If you still desire to do ER work then scope out something maybe prn at another facility. Maybe part-time at your old place eventually and part-time in another ER setting. Think outside the box and the process will unfold. Meanwhile, leave that horrible place. I've worked enough to know that no matter how great a job you do or how wonderful an influence you might be on your patients/clients it is NOT worth your personal happiness to remain in an unhappy work situation. It will be hard, but you are choosing for something better, something you deserve! Good luck and God bless.... Oh, yeah, gotta add: the hateful, petty "beeches" that you have encountered are so much like the ones (nurses and other professions) that I encountered in health care: they are control freaks, hyper-critical, mean, and petty. Ooops! Did I just refer to some of the posters on this thread? Well, land's sakes! As a new member of this forum I am disappointed by the posts regarding the OPs paragraphing. I hate to have you caring for me in the hospital. If you are this hateful on a forum you must be a terror at work.

I am starting pre-nsg coursework too after being out of science classes for 30+ years! I've signed up for A&P1, Chem. 1+lab, and another allied health course. I was tempted to take another course in math to total 15 hours rather than 12, but wanted to take it a bit slow to start out. I did take Chemistry and Micro "way back when" and remembered the intensity of the labs, etc. I know that A&P is a LOT of memorization. I'd suggest dropping the Micro for now or maybe the nutrition. Of course this is me and my cautionary approach to getting back into going to college again. BTW, I'm terrified too! Good luck to you!