missnurse01

You are passing now with a decent grade. There is no indication that this will not progress. The only person that can make you fail is you.... and no one can make you feel like you can not do this unless you let them. You can def do this no doubt! You have had success this semester! Let that lift you up! I went thru LVN school, ADN, BSN, and CRNA. With long breaks between, 4 kids, had a kid die, no family or social support. YOU CAN DO THIS. You have to believe it though. It's like when you go to start an IV, if you don't believe you can do it, well it's suddenly harder. Find some joy in life again...this semester is short and will pass!!! Spend more time in nature as that invigorates you! Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Very good luck to you.

ajsh...You absolutely need high acuity ICU experience. And your fiance can go with you!!! Good luck.

The most important things in looking for a first job: quality of the ICU, paying off your current student loans, pay everything else off and save crazy money for grad school. Where ever that may be, that's the right job. Obvi a decent pay rate and low cost of living are helpful. And hey, if you live somewhere you aren't excited about, you'll stay home and save money!! or work tons of OT!!!! Good luck.

OP, do what you think will satisfy you for the next 40 years. Things can really change in that time frame! Also don't discount the idea of moving out of PA for work. Many of us do. It may sound difficult but people go home for visits. Everyone's situation is different of course. We have moved states many times with kids in tow. Good luck with your decision!

CVICURN - flat out explain in your grades in your essay you send in. Address the old grades and highlight the new ones as well as the grad level class you took. As your years of experience increase, your attractiveness to adcoms should increase. I assume you have shadowed (and included on your essay). Also, read Watchful Care and also include on your essay. Other than that, teaching (ACLS, etc) and activity on hospital committees is useful. Volunteering on medical trips can also be a plus. Good luck and keep fighting the good fight. You can also apply to more schools, however, make sure you are applying to them not because they are nearby - but because they will give you a good clinical education.

It's a fairly defined path for you. Get best grades in ADN you can. Get into a high intensity ICU ASAP after grad, move if you have to. Work a ton, pay off your student loans, SAVE SAVE SAVE. Take the sickest patients, when something is going down in another room, be a fly on the wall - listen and learn. READ a ton. Read the CCRN manual, take the test eventually lol. Know EVERYTHING about your patient, the drips, how do they work, like which receptors...pathophys of disease processes. Get on some committees at work, admissions to CRNA programs like that (I was on our 5 plus hospital system wide code blue committee). Work on your BSN, online, pay that off. Take classes that are required or that will support you in school. Gen chem, prob a year of it. O-chem, biochem if you have time. Stats if you didn't have to take it for BSN. Do the dumb GRE. Research and make a database of schools that you want to go to, what you are looking for in a school, talk to recent grads about their experience. Shadow a CRNA before you start doing all this to be sure it's for you! Apply and kill the interview! good luck

When I did bedside nursing I appreciated that everything was electronic...no more manual blood pressures or shooting cardiac outputs. It made assessing changes more quick, as well as freeing up time for actual patient care. I also loved the electronic record - most systems made charting very fast! Easy to find history, etc. Unfortunately that meant nursing leadership loved to make new things to fill out, lot so duplicate charting! So that took away from patient care. Most data was text, some systems allowed you to view graphs of trends like VS or labs, but it was rare if we used it. Few pictures, some like wounds, or a body image on the screen in the ER and you just click where an injury was instead of describe it. Yes pt ed and hosp P&P were avail online and easily accessible. Yes you could usually access the internet, no online textbooks but yes other research databases. Number of computers varied. Usually enough unless it was change of shift and the docs were there rounding. Varied per facility. Good luck! If you want a CRNA perspective on the same thing let me know!

It is up to you and the area you live. You will always find A job, maybe not the one you want. Maybe not locally, maybe it won't matter. The big thing is, how long will you work before you retire? Will you pay off your loans? Worried about return on investment. If that's not an issue than go for it!

2 very diff beasts. I was an LPN in an ER, then as an RN, did Level 1 ER too. Then moved to cardiac ICU. Sooo much to learn about patients and disease processes and drugs. I mean in like 5 years in the ER all we ever used was dopamine for BP control, who cares what the HR is!! lol. Anyway, it will def hone your critical thinking and all you emergency med stuff will help you as well. Big time. Good luck

It is all doable. I bought a packaged program before I knew better back then. I did workbooks then compared the info with the topics that EC gives for free to be sure I reviewed everything. I overstudied, but that's my personality lol. All classes were an A, I had done all the science and non nursing credits already. Basically memorized the carjack for CPNE, found mnemonics for everything, practiced practiced the skills. Passed no issue. NCLEX...I don't even remember studying for it...I must have. I didn't go to a class. Must have had a review book, from the library I think. Passed no issue. Now a CRNA. good luck

I did LPN-RN via Excelsior and am now a CRNA. No issues.

wow there's a requirement for preceptorship now? None when I did it in 2004! Initially licensed in MN then applied for reciprocity to GA. Goof luck!

Yes everyone, absolutely worth it. I came out with 144,000 in loans. Yes absolutely pay everything off, save up. Interest is a killer on that amount of money. Seriously 1/2 of what I pay goes to interest. If I continue to pay at this rate will pay almost 120,000 in interest. Even doing it in 5 years is a huge amount. Obviously if you have a working spouse, family that can help pay, etc, it's a different story. But one income with a family is a killer with the loans.

Good luck guys! Yes spend a number of years in a high intensity ICU. I was told repeatedly by CRNA instructors that they could tell I had a lot of experience. It made clinical a little easier.

lasvegasnurs, each state is different. Where I went to school there was no social service monies for people in grad school. We were able to get food stamps but very little, even for a family of 5. After school fees we lived on 1800 bucks a month or so. Everyone should look very closely at what is available for them in their state.