starfishlpn

It is illegal for them to ask about your marital status or your family, whether you have children is NOT there business. If they have offered you the job and you are available to work the schedule they offered there should not be a problem. They cannot discriminate against you based on the fact that you have a child. Is this a nurse/nursing manager or an HR rep? Unfortunately nurses in managerial positions are not always up on those types of legal issues. My director once tried to change the unit an aide worked on to a harder one after she returned from maternity leave, but suddenly changed her tune after that girl went to talk with the HR director. The best thing is not to discuss your personal life/family while interviewing, they should not bring it up.

That sucks, you and your classmates should still looking into celebrating none the less. Unfortunately, I did not have a ceremony after my completing my LPN. We finished in December, so it was scheduled for the 18th. Then the day before there was a horrible ice storm and it was cancelled and not rescheduled. Our class was not the most cohesive bunch and pretty clique-ish so we did not do anything either, but my family did a little gathering for me.

that's kinda what I was thinking. I have not done a formal application and technically your resume does not have to have every place you ever worked, I mean if you are mid-career with several nrsg jobs why would you add a seasonal retail job or working in fast food as a teen. Other than that my work hx is stable, though I am young so I don't have a whole lot to show, just never had a bad situation that I had to explain...as if I am not already crazy nervous at interviews:uhoh3:... Thanks Of course you cannot lie on security clearance.

As a brand new LPN, the first full time gig I was able to land was a prison, private owned federal. I was being open-minded about the idea but ended up being there all of about three months. Long story, technically I was fired for 'insubordination'. I was hired for night shift but agree to work days as a favor to the director, as they had someone quit and were already understaffed. When one of the night nurses decided to leave I was told that I would switch to nights, which I had never worked, without training one day after working days, when I had a family obligation. The director, who was from what I hear was a brand new RN and had been on vacation about half of the time I was there. I said that given I had a one hour drive and no notice. There was no way I could do that and did not think it was fair; also I was varily 20 y/o so perhaps I was not as professional as I should have been. I worked elsewhere (ltc) for two and a half years and just finished my RN. Now I have an interview at a county jail, with medical service outsourced to provate company. I had been doing prn home health, though rarely worked, while working in the prison so I have always ommitted them from my resume as I was only there a few months. How much, or should I mention this past bad experience?? I assume that the security clearance will ask me for every place I ever worked and I will have to put it there, correct?? although it is likely HR not nursing that does that. I am just nervous, don't want to bad mouth my ex-employers or lie. Any suggestions on how to deal with this?? The job itself at the prison was not bad and I am looking to broaden my experience base beyond ltc, with my field of interest being public health.

that is of coorifice what I meant. It is a ltc facility and our policy is no non-work cell phones though not as strict as most hospitals ou7r policy. My husband text me or leaves a vm which I check when on break. I can't even remember the last time anyone has called the work phone for one of my staff. I feared that perhaps it may be a situation like that. I know she has a live in bf or husband and no family in area of the country where we live (it was a local number).

Okay I work noc shift on a very small unit just me and a couple of aides. A man called and asked to speak with one of the CNAs that was not normally scheduled to work that day. I responded, after pausing to think about it, 'she isn't working to night'. He seemed surprised to hear this and then asked me for my name. I was honest but because he asked my name I almost feel like my words may be used for foul or this might come back on me. I don't know the whole story, but it isn't my job to lie for anyone, nor was I asked to. Am I just being paranoid? How should I have responded?

Especially if they are long term care or even hospice? Is there any surefire rule?

I take a prenatal vitamin and a probiotic every day and then teaspoon of fish oil qod. I am not pregnant or even trying to be right now, as my husband are both students right now, but my ob/gyn says he recommends that for all of his patient's of child bearing age and especially considering my diet as I eat fresh vegetables and a limited amount of fruit, but have pretty much eliminated fortified cereals/ grain products in adhering to a ketogenic diet for my migraines. The probiotic is great never have any GI irregularities, which has never been a big issue for me but think everyone has an occasional bout of problems.

Glad they are willing to work with your schedule. I don't even understand why some facillities act that way, I mean why discourage someone from furthering their education and reaching their own personal goal that will even make you better at the job that you do; unless they are just thinking that you may want to move on to bigger and better things when you finish or something?? I hear a few of my classmates that work for nursing facilities that act that way. I have always thought I was lucky about the place that I work for because they have been very understanding and flexible with my DON and administrator openly encouraging myself to go back for my RN. My administrator even wrote me the best reference I have ever gotten, which helped me to get into the a program to begin with. I have been there two years come September and I too finish in December. Unfortunately the first 2 months or so of the fall term will be so busy and time consuming I am praying that I will be allowed to take a leave of absence and maintain my full time status. But if I am forced to go prn, then so be it, just praying when I am done they will have a place for me; I have faith that in the end it will all works out for the best.

From my experience bridge programs are less competitive than straight through RN programs. You are not guarenteed a spot in the RN program so I certainly wouldn't drop out of your current program until you are officially accepted. RN was my initial goal as well but I was able to get accepted into an LPN program 1 year or more before I would have been able to even apply for the RN programs in my area, so it was just the best route for me. Plus I can actually afford to pay for my tuition (and rent, food, and other needs) far better than when I was working as a CNA. Think you need to speak with a counselor, are any of your nursing classes going to count toward your RN? or do you just have to start all over? Also consider the amount of time/money/energy you have invested in you current program, IF it will count as nothing, can you life with that having been wasted time? How far along in the program are you so far?

I am really lucky at the place I work, it is a 32 bed skilled unit. Day shift= 2 nurses, Evening= 2 nurses (though it used to be one nurse and a medication aide), Night shift=1 nurse. So a ratio of 16:1, except at night when it is 32:1, but far fewer medications/treatments. It's tough when you are new, but the hang in there the longer you do it you start to develop a routine, talk to the other nurses and see if they don't have a few tricks of the trade or tips for you. I bought my own tympanic thermometer, and wrist B/P cuff that goes on my cart and I make a list of all of the vitals that need to be done, then I do them at the same time as meds. Also when you have have an admission or things get crazy remember that the aides can do vitals too.

I agree with the original poster it is getting to be a bit rediculous and there are so many nurses who really got into it for all the wrong reasons (not that I ought judge to anyone else's motivation), and when you are miserable in the profession you chose whatever it may be, it shows in your work. It wouldn't be an over reaching government interference in our lifes but rather the state boards of nursing doing THEIR JOB and what is responsible for the staffing needs of their individual state. They have always had the power to approve or reject a schools purposal to start a new program and approve the number of students each program can accept. I know that their have been rumors that the community college that my husband is currently attending nursing school is considering decreasing admissions to once per year rather than twice as another community college about 45 mins away has started a program recently and they don't want to flood the market. The issue is that for profit school would never make such a consideration as at the end of the day they, like any business, have to consider the bottom line and reducing or eliminating a program for whatever reason, so long as there are interested students, means they are losing money.

Some schools insist on using the best grade is counted toward your GPA others say the most recently completed (hopefully these are the same) and some schools limit the number of retakes you can do, so your best bet is to check with the individual school you are hoping to go to for their specific policy. I myself was not able to drop microbiology and ended up with an F, because of family issues that required me to travel out of state, losts of emotional distress, etc. Retook it and suffered no ill effect still got accepted to two bridge programs the first time I applied.

Well you may get financial aid for the immediate year following your lpn program assuming you are like most of us and were relatively poor when going through your program. But making 50k a year you aren't likely to get much if any thing, unless you have a husband that was unemployed last year and a dozen children. I mean I worked the equivalent of 7 full time months the year after I finished school (finished in December, took a month or two to find job then started prn/part time for a couple months) and my husband worked only part time to go back to school full time, together we made just under $60,000 that year, with no other dependents. The next year we were told that niether of us qualified for pell grant. $1200 per class, I don't know where you live but that sounds really expensive to me at least for a community college. Think most of my science courses were between $220-450 (70-$80/ credit hour tuition X3-5 credits+ 10-50 lab fee) with an additional $150 max per book if it was new. If you are at least a part time student 6 credits at most schools you can likely get stafford loans which are government backed loans that you don't owe any interest on until six months after you finish school or stop going, but ultimately you have to pay them back. Your employer does not provide tuition reimbursement? Be sure to meet with someone at the school about scholarship opportunities and lauch your own search online. Also be sure to check with your state board of nursing or that of the state you intend of living in regarding their acceptance of excelsior graduates, some states llike Kansas, Washington, Georgia, Illinois and others require you to do an additional preceptorship or get a license by endorsement after working in another state for a designated number of hours. And the state of California does not accept it period not even by endorsement unless you started it many years ago prior to the enactment of the law. Good luck

Again I was not downing the medical profession, I have enormous respect for them; it is just a fact. As a student whether medical or nursing you are taught how things ought to be, in the perfect world and in the perfect facility, and a little less of how things actually go. It is not that doctors don't care about the social and spiritual needs of a patient or even that they do not address them. But I and probably any other nurse on here, who has actually worked in the field can tell you that the nurses spend exponentially more time with a patient than the doctor does (doctors have more patients that is just how our health system works). This means that these less pressing and non-medical issues are more apparent to us just due to greater amount of patient and family interaction. Not all doctors are arrogant, a few are as is true for the general population. I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with many really great physicians thus far in my education and career. I respect that our jobs are interdependent and that we rely on one another, not all healthcare workers see that. Having the opportunity to walk in someone elses shoes can certainly help you have a greater understanding of what they go through and a greater respect for their position. I have gone to physician's private offices for clinical and followed them around for a day. It certainly gave me a different out look on what they do and how busy they are. On the other hand I have seen doctors visit a patient in a long term care facility and spend less than one minute with a patient and bill medicare for a visit. I absolutely agree with the idea that we as nurses and nursing students should be searching and aquiring greater knowledge in the biological sciences, social science, and other subjects related to nursing. The sad fact is that not everyone sees it that way. In fact I remember several members of my associate's level class whining they couldn't find a BSN program that didn't require Chem and statistics. Many people are lazy, but my own out look is if you are going to be something you owe it to yourself to be the best at it that you can be.

I took the exam several years ago, and don't even remember any of the questions, but it is mostly just common sense more so than anything you ought to study. You just need to know the limitation of your scope of practice. If it is not something that you are supposed to deal with (someone is bleeding, complaining of any medical problem, can't breath, have a question about their medicine, etc.) you just get the nurse. As a general rule, even in nursing school, those practice exams tend to be a little tougher than the real thing.

I once met an older nursing instructor who said that a good number of the pre-med students she had seen come through her program, dropped in favor of another major once the realize how hard, time consuming, and all consumming it was; plus they tended to look down on basic nursing/hygeine care. As a nursing student you will have to change briefs, clean up feces, urine, vomit, etc. I would think that it would be extremely hard to stick with something that ultimately isn't what you want to do. Nursing and medicine are very much different fields, more so that most people believe. Most doctors prevent, treat, and rehab diseases; nurses treat people. I am not by any means speaking negatively of the medical profession; it's hard work and very much needed in this world. I think physicians would do better to go into nursing before hand. I believe that it will at the least humble you and hopefully give you an appreciation for for nurses and the work that they do.

You have to start at the begining of the adn program and do 4 semesters? That's terrible, if that is what you are saying I would be looking into other options. Personally I think it is best to get the ISB number for all of the books they require and search online before you resort to buying them at the book story. I can usually find them way cheaper. I didn't have a care plan book from my LPN program and the book store sold the one recommended for my class for just shy of $70 for a really big soft covered book found in online for $22+$7 for shipping saved almost $40. As far as using older book, if it is a newer version of the exact same book you may be okay. But it's always good if you compare. My husband made it through human development with a book one edition behind, still got a good grade, not sure that I would want to do that for a nursing class if I could avoid it. Be sure you know which books are required and which are deemed 'optional' or 'reccomended'. I feel your pain with the new edition thing, I just started the second half of a 1+1 program in January and I will be a part of the first graduating class and so all of the books are new and the newest edition. Congrats on going back to school, good luck.

As a student I am taught it is a no no, cause it is unnecessary and can cause nicks and skin irritation... teacher says it is old school, did it 15 years ago but generally thought to be a bad idea. The other difference is likely your environment, I have seen a lot of stuff in ER that wouldn't fly in other departments, just because of the convenence or urgency to get something done in the ED... Clip if needed then scrub the heck out of the still hairy area, that's what I was told.

The problem for me is that, I moved to a more rural area, not just for my school (as I had another option where I am from) but a program that my husband got into as well, and I commute a little over 2 hours every weekend to work and then stay with friends or family whil I am there. I now work 36 hours, but if I have school both monday and friday, well it is no long worth the commute to work only 2 shifts. I think am going to start looking for a prn, part time local job which I expect will pay me a great deal less (but a job is a job) and talk with my manager about possible taking a leave of absence; I looked at the schedule and counted it up, it is only like 8-9 weeks total and there is a holiday or two in there that would allow me to work. Then I'll just have to save up over the summer, to pay my rent up through the semester and get a stafford loan to cover other expenses. I may have to go PRN, I just hope that they have a place for me when I finish becuase I really like my job. Thanks for the advice guys, I did e-mail the director and our class brought it up again; doesn't look as though it will change.

I joined the second year of a bi-level RN program at a relatively small rural community college. I chose this school over the other one I was accepted into because they had one 7 hour lecture day and a 12 hour clinical day and I thought that it would allow me the continue to work while in school. I have done very well so far, but this week the schedule for fall was posted and now I am freaking out:eek:.... we now have class three days a week for lecture for like 3 hours then a 12hour clinical on a non-consecutive day. Everyone was ticked because how are we supposed to work when going to school 1-4, you can't work evening or day shift. If you work over the weekend then good luck finishing your clinical paperwork which can literally take hours (clinical is friday and then we have class again on monday).... I am not the only one up set, but I think I may have to quit my job, I know that school requires sacrifice, and I have already dropped my working hours, but I don't get financial aid and loans are minimal and will cover little after tuition and books.... how am I going to pay my rent? food? gas? I was thinking about e-mailing the DON as all of the concerns we have addressed to the instructor has been totally maginalized and completely brushed off. Is this a good idea? or am I over reacting?

Firstly, what schools are you looking at 35,000 is a lot of money I probably won't spend that kind of money for six plus years of education if I decide to go for a graduate degree. You need to look in to public school as the best option just because they are way cheaper and generally offer equal if not higher quality education. And federal financial aid even if your efc is 0 will not even make a significant dent in 35,000, is that a four year bsn or just a 2 year program? Your financial aid is based on your income from the privious year so if you go back to shool right away without skipping more than like one semester then the previous year will be when you were in school which means that you will still look financially needy. Honestly nursing school is tough and it is very difficult to work while you are in school, at least I am really struggling (and I don't have kids), so if you currently get financial assistance through governmental programs and it is enough to keep your family afloat, I would just take advantage of that and start taking the general education classes then just start applying to all of the programs that are acredited and that you qualify for in your area. The more you work the less public assistance/benefits you then qualify for even when you are in school, and still won't be making all that much. I don't generally encourage that sort of thing but if you are a single mother without family support who is trying to better yourself and get an education so that you can support your kids than, that is the kind of people who need public assistance temporarily to better themselves. Going for you LPN has its advantages and draw backs you just need to weigh the options for yourself. If RN is your real goal and you have the motivation and can get your school paid for without a great deal of loans, then go for it. LPN if great if you are anxious to get out there and work in the field and get a better idea of what it is like and perhaps don't have the time to spend years in school right now. good luck and congrat for deciding to return to school:yeah:

Well in a perfect world we would all be able to quit our jobs to go back to school, but I have to work... I get no financial aid and my husband is a full time student too. I think if you are a brand new lpn with little or no work experience then it is probably a good idea a least a couple shifts a week, though you definitely ought to make school a priority. So you just have to balance it. I entered a bi-level program where all but a few of my classmates just finished the lpn portion of the program. Though I thought I was a little academically rusty, I am keeping up with them just fine. I am actually really suprised by how many things I know just because of working and being out there in the real world, though I have only been an lpn a couple years.

Thanks, glad I finally got a response. I did really well in my LPN program and have learned alot since then, but I have never felt smarter than I did when I was finishing school. I was afraid that I would be expected to be as well studied as the day I graduates as the majority of the class just finished their first year, LPN level classes and are continuing on for their RN (It's and one plus one type of program). There are only a few of us joining LPNs.

I was part of the first graduating class, December 2008, officially a was accepted to ATS but graduated from KCKCC. U?