BSNgrad2010

You sound very similar to me. I have my LCSW and worked in mental health as a social worker for 5 years before going back for my BSN. The big difference is that I had paid off my loans before going to nursing school. Had I still had $50K plus in loans I probably wouldn't have done it. I did a 1 year accelerated program after going back and taking pre-reqs (Micro, Chem, A & P 1 & 2). The school advised students not to work during this program so I quit my job. After graduation, I got a job as an RN in a hospital and make slightly more than I did as a social worker. I have not gone on to get another master's degree because I don't want more loans. Financially, making this change was not beneficial to me. I had to take out about $35K in loans for the BSN program, lose a year of salary, and deplete much of my savings to pay for bills during nursing school. Now, I'm making only slightly more than I was before. An NP's salary would be quite a bit more than RN, however, it would also be quite a bit more in loans. If you do go back to school, I highly recommend a public school. Private schools are way too expensive and won't get you any better education. Why do you want to be a psych NP vs a social worker? The jobs are very similar. What are you seeking with the NP that you can't find with the MSW? That might help you make your decision and decide if it's worth the financial hit. Maybe you need to find a new social work job that you enjoy more. There's so many things you can do with an MSW degree. If I had it to do over, I'm not sure I would make this change again.

I'm sorry you're having so much trouble finding something else! I am trying to stick it out a little bit longer but I'm keeping an eye out for jobs that I might like. I am leaning towards the OR. I think I would like having 1 patient at a time, no families, and working as a team (as opposed to feeling like I'm on my own). I don't know though since I've never been in the OR. I will probably try to shadow to see if I would like it. Good luck to you!

I completely get where you are coming from! I've been in ICU for 1.5 years and still feel stressed all the time and I only have 2 patients. I can't imagine trying to take care of 4! Have you thought of looking into diabetic education? I just thought of that when you said you like the DKA patients and being able to sit with patients and educate them. I don't know the requirements to become a diabetic educator but it seems like something you might like. Much less stressful and definitely fewer codes!

Don't think of it as all your responsibility. You and your husband should split the work evenly. Do we ever ask dads how they manage to work and have a family? No but we ask women this all the time. We need to stop expecting women to handle everything and having no expectations of men. I don't know how many times I've thanked my husband for doing a load of laundry or emptying the dishwasher as if those are my jobs and he is helping me out. No, these are both of our jobs, neither of us should be expected to do it all. That being said, I tend to do most of the indoor housework whereas he takes care of the lawn care, auto care, maintenance, etc. Good luck!

I don't know if they called the med-stat people but the captain did offer to divert the flight. The passenger was feeling much better by then so we ended up not needing to do anything, luckily!

Thanks coreO. It's good to know we could get a hold of a doctor although it still sounds like a nightmare to do it over the phone!

Hi all--I don't make a lot of posts on this site but something happened today that gave me good cause to post. I was on an international flight from Mexico to the US today on the way back from a wonderful vacation. There was some commotion with a passenger a few rows up from me then an announcement went over the intercom asking for help from any doctor, nurse or EMT on the plane. I am a pretty new nurse so I waited for a doctor or experienced nurse to volunteer to help but no one did. Finally, myself and an EMT volunteered to help. The man ended up being fine, just a little dehydrated and not feeling well from a bug he caught in Mexico. While helping the passenger, I took a look at the medical kit the airplane had on board and saw a pretty well stocked supply of meds, IV supplies, etc in order to help in the case of cardiac arrest. Meds used in code situations were on board. My question is, how far could I have gone to help this man if there is no doctor on board the plane? Can I administer these meds (epi, atropine, etc) without a doctor order in an emergency situation? I personally would not have because I am not ACLS trained and wouldn't know the proper time to use the drugs but just wondered what the legalities are in this situation. Luckily the passenger was fine and no CPR was needed but I just wonder what we could do in that situation. Anyone know?

I just graduated from an accelerated program. My daughter was 4 months when I started. The accelerated programs are very tough and time consuming. Since everything is packed into one year, you really can't miss a single clinical or day of class and still finish on time. If you were to go into labor and miss clinical, it would set you back a semester. I had some classmates get pregnant towards the end of the program which was fine or, like me, had babies before the program started. However, giving birth during that one year would make it impossible to graduate on time.

I am graduating with my BSN in December and have a job offer from St. Anthony's and interviews with Barnes and SSM. Any opinions on which hospitals are the best to work at for a new nurse? What's the opinion of St. Anthony's? Is it a good hospital? It's a lot closer to where I live but I've always heard bad things about it. Thanks for any info!