Lauren3249

I'm a student in the RN program at Hillsborough Community College. My husband's job just got transferred to Orlando and it looks like I need to transfer as well. How do I go about it? Is it even possible?

Quick background: My husband (the self-employed cable installer) injured his knee. I took him to the ER, received xray (no broken bones), discharged & referred to orthopedist. We don't have insurance & he had to pay out of pocket for 2 doctor's visits and an MRI. We are out of money w/ no income (I'm a nrsing student). Results show he has torn cartilage and needs surgery. We have no way to pay for it. We've applied for medicaid but that takes up to 45 days to process. The doctor will do a payment plan but wants $5000 up front (which we can't even afford groceries). My husband can't even walk. He's on crutches. Can't work and can't help around the house. My question: If we take him to the bigger and better hospital (Tampa General) and he tells them what's going on and that he's having persistant pain, cannot walk, swelling, etc. , do you think they'd go ahead and do the arthroscopic surgery on an ER admit w/o insurance? If not, how do you suggest we go about resolving this? We have 2 kids, I'm a fulltime student, he was our only source of income, and we have no insurance. We need serious help!!! - Rachel

Thanks for your reply. I spoke to her today and she hasn't had any bleeding. I'm starting to wonder if maybe she's just not telling the whole story because she told me that she was able to return to normal life and just be on pelvic rest for a few days. Now today, she wanted me to care for her 9 month old son because supposedly she's not allowed to lift him up. Otherwise, she seems to be doing fine.

Strangest thing happened to my SIL this past week. March 8th (she was 16.5 wks pregnant), she had a routine u/s where she learned she had complete placenta previa. Two days later, she says she started brown spotting with clots. It continued sporadically for 5 more days until she let out a "gush" of blood and was admitted to the hospital. They kept her for 4 days before doing an u/s. When they finally got around to it, she no longer had placenta previa (not partial, not complete, nothing). The placenta was right where it should've been and they discharged her the following day. She says she's still spotting. Basically, it was 12 days from the time she was diagnosed with complete placenta previa to the time of the ultrasound that showed absolutely nothing wrong. Ever heard of something like this happening?

This may sound like such a silly question, but I have to know. With all the hand washing that is required of nurses (and rightfully so!) do you use lotion to keep your hands moisturized? I'm a nursing student and my hands are literally cracking and bleeding from all the hand washing. Is this something that my skin will adjust to? It's quite painful. Any lotion recomendations?

Maybe for Dale Mabry, but for Plant City students our first day is tomorrow (Tues). You're Dale Mabry right?

I was shocked by how many books we're going to have to buy. And how expensive they are! I went to the Plant City bookstore and if I buy my books there, it's going to cost about $500!! Tuesday is our first day. I'm so excited!

Mave, I don't know if you heard back from Ms. Sandrowitz yet, but I went ahead and emailed her. She wrote back and said the hospital orientation has been rescheduled for the entire nursing program. That's all she said. She's always very short in her emails. It's kind of aggravating, but I understand she probably has a lot of messages to respond to. Have you gotten all your supplies yet? Your books, your name pin, your uniform, your white shoes, etc. So much stuff to worry about. Oh, and welcome to everybody else here on the west coast!

Mave, They sent it to my personal address.

mave, not a dumb question... i wondered the same thing. :) i'm pretty sure that we don't. when we had our orientation, ms. sandrowitz told us that the uniforms were just for clinicals. she said we could even come to class (as in lecture) in our pajamas if we wanted. did you receive that email about the hospital orientation at dale mabry? it was supposed to be for the 9th, but the email stated that the orientation had been rescheduled for the 23rd. here... this is the email: to whom it may concern, this is jennifer from the nursing department of hillsborough community college. due to unavoidable scheduling conflicts, the mandatory hospital orientation has been changed from monday, january 9, 2006 to monday, january 23, 2006 at 9 am in the dale mabry student service building auditorium. we apologize for and inconvenience this may have caused, and we hope you have a great holiday season! best wishes, nursing department strange huh? flstudent, thanks for the congrats. you should make it into the program w/ no problems. y'know, i had ormrod for micro and he was really good. i heard brannan was kinda hard. well, ttyl.

I start the nursing program at HCC Plant City in 3 weeks! I'm so excited and nervous at the same time. My GPA was a 3.89. My friend had a 3.6 and she was accepted. I prefer the Plant City campus over the Dale Mabry campus for many reasons. 1: The traffic at Dale Mabry is HORRIBLE. 2: At Plant City, the people just seem nicer in general. 3: The campus is small and more personal. Anyway... good luck with the prereqs! :) Who'd you have for A&P? I took prereqs in Brandon also and my professor was Ehringer. He was pretty good.

Count me in! I start in January for the ADN program. My orientation is in a few days. I'm so excited and can't wait to get started! Congratulations to everyone who got their acceptance letter. :balloons: :rotfl:

I finished up my pre-reqs in the Spring '05 semester and applied for Spring '06 admission. I sent in my application in May and didn't receive an acceptance letter till Aug or Sept. It was stressful not knowing and all. I heard it's very competitive, so I am very excited to be accepted.

Anybody? This is like my 3rd post on this topic. I know there's gotta be some HCC students on here. I start the nursing program in the spring. Any other current of former HCC students?

Aww... nobody?

Hello! My name is Rachel and I am hoping to start the nursing program at HCC (Hillsborough Community College) in Spring '06. I have completed all the pre-reqs and I'm now waiting to hear back about my application. I thought it would be nice to hear from other HCC students... possibly find a study partner for the Spring. Anybody currently in the program? What has been your experience so far?

Anyone?? This is the school I will be starting at in the fall. Was wondering if anybody here is also attending or did at one point?? Thanks in advance for any replies. I will be checking back soon.

I have lived in Florida my whole life and have seen much of the state. I was born in Orlando and raised in the Kissimmee/Orlando area. First off, I must say that my opinion may be a little bias for the simple fact that I hate Florida and cannot stand the heat. I will be getting out of here as soon as possible and I will definitely never look back. If you are into blistering heat and heat stroke, old semi-senile people coming out the wahzoo, oh and tourist galore (think: jacked up prices on everything, horrible traffic, and people everywhere)... then this state is definitely for you. I have been living in Tampa for the last year (Brandon area to be exact). If I was forced to choose between Tampa and Orlando, I would definitely say Orlando. If you're thinking Tampa because of the "beaches" I would say no. Any beach nearby would be the Gulf of Mexico. In my opinion, swimming in the Gulf of Mexico is the equivalent of taking a dip in a murky lukewarm bathtub. Yum. Clearwater Beach?? Yeah right. At least with Orlando, you're only a 45 minute drive from the Atlantic. Much, much better. Agh, I'm done putting down this beautiful state that I have been lucky enough to live in for the last 20 years. Okay, it's 2:52am... I think I'm just a little tired. Maybe I can think more clearly tomorrow. Oh, speaking of this beautiful "Sunshine State" ... this is a little song that we were forced to learn and sing in elementary school, I will never forget it... let's pass it down to further generations: I wanna wake up in Florida where the orange blossoms grow Where the sun comes peeking into where I'm sleeping And the song birds say hello! I love the fresh air and the sunshine They are good for us, you know! I want to make my home in Florida Where the orange blossoms grow! Goodnight All! :uhoh21:

This is the hospital that I will be giving birth at. I have only been to this hospital a couple of times and don't know much about it. I was just wondering if it has a good labor and delivery department.

Good point, but I am already aware. I was only hoping to get an idea. Besides, you're not going to find many fast food workers that budgeted their money wisely and are now living lavishly. It's just not going to happen. You've got to have money in the first place before you can even begin to use it wisely.

Thanks for the suggestion, I will look into that.

I just want to say thank you to all who replied. I know that a nurse's lifestyle can vary greatly due to many different circumstances, but I just wanted to get an idea. You see, I live with my fiance and 3 yr old son. I am currently taking a break from school and am enjoying life as a stay-at-home mom. My fiance works as a satellite installer and makes about $27,000 a year. To most people, this is not very much. But, it is okay for us and we get by. I am exctied to be going into nursing. This has been my dream for as long as I can remember. I know that nurses derserve to make more money than they do. A lot of people deserve to make more money than they do. But, this is life. I am not going into nursing just for a pay check. No. But at the same time, I want to make sure that my family can live comfortably while I'm working my butt off.

Oh, btw, if you feel this topic is out of line... feel free to let me know. Like I said, I am new to these boards. So please correct me if need be.

Okay, so I'm new on these boards and I'm not going to pretend like I know all about nursing because I really don't. However, I am learning. I have learned from reading around, that nurses don't get paid very much. Or at least, not as much as they should. So, my question is: as a nurse what kind of lifestyle can you afford? What kind of home do you live in? What kind of car do you drive? Do you get to go on vacations? Stuff like that. Do you feel as though you have all the things that you need?