jdchisolm68

I was accepted into the program I applied for but am unsure for several reasons. I was a CNA at a local nursing home and was disturbed by the lack of quality of care and the quality of employees...my goal was to be a CNA while attending the RN program but after experiencing how the focus is on profits and not patients I am very discouraged and not sure if I want to be an RN in that environment. Everyone says there is lots of different things I can do but with the flood of schools and new grads I'm reconsidering . They say there are lots of nursing jobs (the colleges of course) but I'm thinking the flooded market is a real issue I have to think about..any new grads or current students finding this to be an issue..i'm 44 and at the edge of a new career and want to make the right choice..all pre-req's are done and can go into any field...radiology...med technologist..nursing...science teacher....I don't want to change careers at 50...any advice would be greatly appreciated...thanks

It's definitely a fight against your bodies natural instincts. I have my bedroom completely blacked out. That helps me at least get good sleep when I get it.

I"m glad I found this...i'm in the same boat...all pre req's are done and I am looking at nursing, radiology and the mlt but the more I look at the med lab tech the better I like it...I'd rather the pay scale of nursing and unlike most people I am ready to move to anywhere in the country that has an RN job but the only new grad I know that got a job quickly was already working on the unit as a CNA.....I hope your student loans are regular stafford..just go half time (6hours) in the fall/spring and they will stay in a school deferment forever..it's unlimited...at least you can hold them off until your income catches up...

43yr old male...all pre-reqs are complete...already have a Bachelors in business and have a 3.9 gpa for the RN program but I've been working as a CNA for experience and have been looking more at the Med Lab Tech program instead of the RN program...(working in an LTC and seeing what the RN's do may have discouraged me)..The salaries is not an issue but job availability and enjoyment of the work is....any RN's that would do it differently?...I'll probably apply to both and then decide...any advice would be greatly appreciated

I work in the same type of facility. I have a bachelors, all the pre-reqs for the RN program and 20 years of training experience and took a CNA job to get experience while I got my RN...However, its hard to keep an eye on everyone when you have 18 patients and most of them are total cares...the residents get limited care and my license is constantly at risk.....nursing may different in other areas but my fast food medical care experience has turned me right to the Medical Lab Technologist program...less money but the for-profit treatment of the less fortunate turns my stomach

I have a patient (among my 12-15) in a ltc that I care...he's mobile, refuses to wear a brief and pees everywhere...nursing station..hallway...sink...pretty much anywhere..now he does bm's at random as well....his behavior has been off the charts lately and then at the end of a 6 day 8 hr shift of cleaning him up and his waste the nurse told me he has a MRSA infection... in my opinion I should have been told about this condition much earlier...he also has 3 roomates which could be exposed through him leaving a trail of bm through the room.....should I have been told he has a MRSA infection? My precautions wouldn't have changed but I think I should have known since I'm the one dealing with this person.

ugh..during work tonight I found out that the dayshift left a patient that has a colostomy with no wafer or bag...just shoved towels against the hole and went home...they said they couldn't find any..(it took us 5 whole minutes).....that poor woman just lay there with regular laundry towels wedged into a hole in her side all day long...pathetic...should I report this to the DON of the nursing home or just skip her and report to the state?

I just started a new CNA job and want to get along with my co-workers. That means I help when I can and expect help when I need it (like when you have to have 2 people to move a resident). But I've already gotten into it with another CNA...she decided that since another CNA went home she was going to take the men side of the hall and give me all of the women. I am a man and have no problem with helping care for female residents but many of them prefer a female CNA..i understand and am not offended at all. My issue was I had already done all the vitals for the men and gotten their rooms prepped for bedtime after dinner. She sat at the nurses station for 2 hours and did nothing and then wanted to hand them off to someone else to start from scratch hours after the shift started. As a former trainer and supervisor I felt that the nurses should have stepped in and said to stick to the schedule which clearly indicated the rooms we were assigned but they just ignored the issue. I have no problem helping patients but I do take issue with doing someone elses work. Are the CNA's in charge where you work?

I'm not sure how you've been studying stats but i've had several courses through the years and for me the best thing I did is to let go of trying to understand it..thinking too hard about math or stats didn't work for me...find a white board somewhere and write out problems over and over again...memorize everything...it got me through several organic chemistry and graduate level statistics...memorize, regurgitate and pass....your gpa will not be listed on your diploma or nursing license...

Thanks for everyones advice...I just challenged and passed my CNA exam in florida a few weeks back and i'm a hospice volunteer. I went through EMT training in 2004 but got sidetracked with a good raise in cubicle world... I'll definitely keep the pysch classes in mind as well as the time management...I can see how both would be useful. I would hope conflict resolution would be an integral part of the program but I'll keep my eyes out for something that would fit that...thanks for the advice...diving in full time may 16th..

That's great...41 here, finish my pre-req this fall and start the bsn program (hopefully) next year.....many years of being a corporate wannabe led me here and I couldn't be happier...until I read your post!!...congrats!!

I'm finishing my BSN pre-req's and will only be taking the core nursing classes for the remainder of school and wondered if there were any classes or specialized courses you recommend taking before graduating and going to work? ..i need extra hours for this summer and I noticed that Medical Terminology is not part of the BSN program...I would assume that course would be helpful so I'm going to take it. I also plan to refresh my spanish as well.....Any courses not required by your bsn/rn program that you wish you would have taken in school?....Thanks for your advice..

For the guys...khaki pants and a nice shirt...dont' wear a tie unless you like wearing one (it'll show if you don't)..and remember..everyone interviewing is qualified to do the work...keep these in mind.....1) appearance, 2) attitude, 3) confidence, 4) enthusiam.....if you fail appearance they won't even see 2,3 and 4.

I challenged the CNA exam in Florida and passed on March 8th. I took the 1 week cram course at Medical Prep Pinellas for $279.00 in July of 2010 and finally got around to taking the exam.....my skills were position change, perineal care and measure/record urine output..and of course handwashing...the hard part was being the patient and watching the other tester skip steps that would cause them to fail...I finish my pre req's this fall and then it's onto the BSN...best thing I did for the skills test is to say everything while you do it...it helped me to remember all of the steps...

Work is home away from home so almost everything gets discussed eventually but your personal and professional goal should be to avoid any and all political/religious discussions in the workplace..you may not be able to avoid hearing them and if it makes you uncomfortable then use HR but discreetly...an open door policy just means the door is open..it doesn't mean you won't get any crap for shining a light on improper behavior...be professional and let others handle the issue..don't be the person who wishes they could take back something they said...