SBarn

I do a ton of PICC care and a fair bit of implanted port access and care. Blood draws and IV starts are pretty stressful in the home if you aren't confident you can do it. If you aren't confident in those skills you definitely need to speak up and let someone know. Tell them you want every PICC care and lab draw, etc. patient you can get when the educator can be with you. Is there a health ministry or clinic in your area? You could possibly volunteer there to do blood draws to get experience.

There is a girl at my school that was on home dialysis. She seemed to be able to handle everything. She did say though that if a kidney came along she would walk away from nursing school in an instant.

"If there were some kind of happy balance... a carefully monitored pregnancy, in hospital, but hands off unless a complication develops, fewer women would take these risks" My thoughts exactly. I am not a nurse yet, but I wanted so badly to have a natural labor and delivery. When I went in for my last appointment before my due date my OB told me we had to schedule an induction for my due date, that it was unhealthy and risky to let the pregnancy go past that. I cried and begged and he agreed to let me go 2 days after my due date. I got to 8 centimeters and ended up with a C Section because my son's heart rate was decelerating so much. Even though I had done a lot of reading and felt confident that my son would be better off waiting until labor naturally started, I felt pushed and bullied into agreeing with the induction. I felt that if something did go wrong after I had refused the induction that I couldn't live with myself. Now I have no idea whether or not we will decide to do a repeat section or a VBAC whenever we have our next child. There should be a middle ground between birthing at home and being pushed into an induction.

Interesting reads. Thanks for sharing!

Amazing and beautiful story rn/writer!

I have already completed a semester of an ADN program. At the end of each semester you take a test called the ATI that is used as a predictor for passing the NCLEX. The highest level is a Level 3. I believe the TEAS is on a 150 point scale so a 72.7 would be just below 50% but I am not aware of any level system for the TEAS. Are you applying for the nursing program at Jeff State?

Oh I hope not. I have great grades - only one B - and scored Level 3 on the ATI. I guess it is good to hear a hard truth now though rather then spend the next 5 months pumping myself up.

I don't want to hope for anyone to fail but I am hoping that someone wins the lottery or their husband/wife gets a huge raise to take a job out of state or something :) I want a spot in your program!

That does say a lot. Thank you for the info! I just wish I had researched the RN programs better and started there! I hope this is a great semester for you!

This is hilarious. I needed that laugh.

Are there any current students in 102 in the night program at Jeff State? I am trying to transfer in to the program joining in 106 in the summer and am curious about the progression rate. Put simply, are most of the students doing well and progressing through the program or do you lose a few at the end of every semester? I just finished the first semester at another local school and won't be attending there anymore. Good grades, but the school was not a good fit for me. I feel like if there are spots available for transfer students I will be able to earn one. I just wanted some insight related to the probability of a spot opening up for me. Thanks in advance!

I might would try get in touch with my contact for the interview and ask if they have time to perform the interview given the current circumstances. Say something like you understand things are probably hectic right now and just want to be considerate but also inform them that if they have the time, so do you.

I have read and posted on the thread Snow Days and it got me thinking. Is it standard to expect nurses and other healthcare workers to pay for hotel rooms and spend possibly days away from their families in cases of inclement weather? Does your facility have an inclement weather team that reports to cover shifts in cases of unsafe travel for employees? I understand that hospitals are 24/7 facilities and patients need good care regardless of what the weather outside is. It just seems to me like there has to be a better way and, until tonight, was not something I considered as a student about my chosen career.

Keeper, lol at snopocalypse - we have been calling it that too here in Birmingham.

I am also in Alabama and understand how impossible it is to get anywhere once there is ice on the roads. Several of our interstates are closed and there are many cities that have simply closed all of the roads in their jurisdiction. There literally is no way to get out. Many of my friends from northern states are amazed at how everything shuts down (banks, schools, etc are all closed today and tomorrow and possibly Wednesday) when snow hits here.

I am so sorry. God bless you, the parents and that sweet baby. Praying for a healthy niece or nephew. I am sure that you and everyone else did everything that needed to be done.

So sad. I pray she has a good outcome.

I don't understand how anyone can say "If you are well enough to be on Facebook you are well enough to be at work." You do understand that you can pick up your phone, update your status and go back to sleep, right? There is no real effort required. And, it can be a total time drain if you allow it to be. If you can't manage your time then you are right not to participate in the Facebook world. I think it totally stinks what your coworker did. Lesson learned and it didn't cost near as much as it could have. Merry Christmas!

I just finished my first semester of nursing school. I agree with the others that you should take some time to do things you enjoy, but I would also make sure to brush up on my A & P and Micro too. It helped me tremendously to come in to the program with a good strong understanding of those subjects, especially anything related to the inflammation response and sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Even if you just find some fill in the blank anatomy pictures online I think it is important. You don't have time to relearn what you should already know.

I think it is selfish and it seems to me that she is looking through rose colored glasses. Let's assume she does pass the virus on to the baby. But in 5 years she develops AIDS and dies. In the mean time Dad has become infected and 2 years later develops AIDS. Now you have an HIV + child with no parent. My concern as the mother would be the fear of leaving my sick child alone to fend for themselves. I can't imagine there are foster parents lining up begging to care for HIV + children. No doubt there are some wonderful people out there but they can't possibly meet every need. I understand that HIV treatment has made huge strides but I just don't think we are there yet.

Thanks Lunah. I had just looked at the courses required. I didn't see that link to the right. Oh well. I guess I will just suck it up and drudge on. Really don't want to though.

Hi Everyone. I have two finals left before I finish my first semester in an ADN program in Alabama. The school I go to is absolutely horrible and so unorganized. I have been looking into Excelsior and I don't care if I have to start over with my nursing classes. I read the info in the sticky and it said that in order to attend Excelsior you must have completed 50% of your clinicals in a nursing program or hold a certificate or degree such as LPN or RT. When I go to Excelsior's site I can't find any information that states those requirements. I am desperate to leave my current school and am holding a candle of hope that Excelsior is an option for me. I know it is difficult to get licensed in Alabama but perhaps I could license in Mississippi and transfer my license? I called Excelsior and the Alabama Board of Nursing both today. The BON just kept hanging up on me and I hung up on Excelsior after I held forever. If anyone has a minute and can help clarify any of these points with me I would appreciate it so much! Thanks!

I don't see a problem with it at all. But I also don't see a problem with nurses accepting gifts. I mean, most people send a gift to their children's teachers throughout the school year because they are grateful for the work they do. Why should it be different for nurses? Maybe I will see it when I actually become a nurse :) Good for you for spreading Christmas cheer!

Congratulations on graduating and an even bigger congrats on being a recovering addict! You have overcome two huge obstacles already. I doubt something as small as a physical can hold you down :)

My nephew died in a MVA also. His liver and kidneys were donated. Time passed and my cousin became pregnant with twin boys about that were born 5 days short of the one year anniversary of JT's death. We were so thankful for healthy baby boys. Then, on March 31 of this year one of the twins died of SIDS. We were so angry and bitter toward God. Then one week later we received a letter from the family of the young boy who had received one of JT's kidneys. It was the restoration of faith we so desperately needed. All of this to say, organ donation makes a difference for both the giving and receiving family. Please consider it for yourself or your loved one.