UCLARN

I guess some people think that you need years and years of experience before even attempting to pursue a nurse practitioner program. I on the other think that while it may be helpful, I don't think one has to have over 10 years experience working as a staff nurse to become a good nurse practitioner. When I was in school for my master's/nurse practitioner program, I had classmates who graduated from their BSN program in June and then started the master's program right away in September of the same year. They seemed okay by the time graduation rolled along. By the time I finished the MSN program, I only had 4 1/4 years of staff nursing experience (2.5 years full-time, 1 3/4 years per diem). Try looking for quality nursing experience in big hospitals with highly acute patients. Just try to remember it's quality not quantity. Good luck in all of your endeavors.

I guess some people think that you need years and years of experience before even attempting to pursue a nurse practitioner program. I on the other think that while it may be helpful, I don't think one has to have over 10 years experience working as a staff nurse to become a good nurse practitioner. When I was in school for my master's/nurse practitioner program, I had classmates who graduated from their BSN program in June and then started the master's program right away in September of the same year. They seemed okay by the time graduation rolled along. By the time I finished the MSN program, I only had 4 1/4 years of staff nursing experience (2.5 years full-time, 1 3/4 years per diem). Try looking for quality nursing experience in big hospitals with highly acute patients. Just try to remember it's quality not quantity. Good luck in all of your endeavors.

They probably started yelling back at you because no one wants to be "SCOLDED!" Try talking to them in a normal, adult like voice. It's much more mature and civilized.

When I worked as a staff nurse, that would be a big NO! I have NEVER heard of a "nurse dose." Maybe because I worked in peds. Either way, don't you think it's a tad unethical and not to mention illegal.

You need to find another job. Goodness... tell her to get a life!!!

Your BSN program sounds great. May I ask which university you attended? Were prereqs integrated throughout the curriculum? Wish we had programs like that here in California, unless they already do and I am just unaware. Thanks...

If you think that the 2 extra years in the BSN program are filled with such things like music appreciation, then you must not have your BSN. At the top of my head classes that were required in the BSN program but not the ADN program included pathophysiology, statistics, community health (2 semesters which had public health, home health, etc), leadership and management, health teaching and promotion, life cycle, health care systems, policy, and finance, global health, nursing research, and more! I started with my ADN so I speak from experience. BSN can't be 4 years of actual nursing. Even with the ADN, the first two years or however long it takes a person to finish their prereqs isn't nursing at all. I have to agree with you in the nursing education part. Things need to change. An entry level degree should be set so that we are all uniform.

Idealistically, yes. But until we have enough nursing professors and universities willing to keep their BSN programs open, it is not going to happen any time soon unfortunately.

Unfortunately ADN programs have too many applicants than it can handle. So with that said, if you feel that going the LPN to RN route fits your life, I say you should do it. Plenty of people have done that and it is not a waste of your time nor money. You will gain valuable experience that you could use in the RN program. Don't worry, your goals are not naive. Many hospitals pay their LVN's education to become an RN. Good luck!! P.S. DON'T let what others say bother you, they are not in your shoes.

I definitely agree that a master's should be the minimum for nurse practitioners. Patients deserve the best and having a higher education is crucial. I do have to disagree with you though on the number of years a nurse should be before applying to an NP program. It's important, but what types of experience one has should also be taken into account. I had only 2 1/2 years experience when I started the program, some of my classmates only had 1. I have to say, we did pretty well. All of my classmates worked for major hospitals that sees very sick people. A nurse can have many years under their belt from a smaller hospital that don't see critical patients. That nurse may have a hard time in an NP program based on just not having that quality experience. I guess it's all individual. I just did not want to wait til I was in my thirties or forties to become an NP. I suppose I am just very fortunate to have finished earlier than later and I take that as a blessing. :)

I went to a prestigious university (UCLA) for my master's and loved every minute of it. I don't need to explain further because the name speaks for itself. For my undergrad degree, I went to a slightly less prestigious university (Cal state) but is considered still pretty good. Even if my BSN didn't come from UCLA, we still had to take classes such as micro, anatomy and physio, physics, bio, chem, stats, research (qualitative & quantitative) and so forth as well as typical easy GE's like humanities and foreign language. For you to say that the only prereq into the nursing program at that less prestigious school is bio, nsg courses and GE's is wrong. Even ADN nurses must take micro, bio, chem, a&p, etc. So it's either you're fooling yourself into thinking that it is that much easier, or you have been gravely misinformed. My advice to you is to follow your heart. If you do not want to become a nurse, then don't. I wouldn't want you to be burnt out way before your time. The nursing profession is full of intelligent people already so if you don't want to become a nurse, that would be fine. Our profession does not need people who think they have "lowered their standard" just to become only a nurse. You asked what would I do if I were in your shoes. Well, frankly I don't know at this time. But what I do know is that I wouldn't come to message boards for reassurance. Good luck in all your endeavors.

When I started working as an RN, I was 23 years old. Patients and their families would and still ask me if I am the student nurse and I politely say no I am your RN. One incident that I thought was funny was when a particular nurse kept asking me to get her things. She was in a 1:3 room so I didn't mind because she was not able to leave the room. She saw me writing my end of shift summation and it finally dawned on her that I worked there as an RN. She actually told me that the reason why she kept asking me to get her supplies was because she thought I was a volunteer! I am 28 now and I think I still look young. My patients would agree. I'm short (4'11") and asian. Asians tend to look younger... thank god for me! I'll be sad when they stop telling me I look young!

In order to do so, we need more graduate level prepared nurses to teach them. How can you admit a lot of students if there is NO one to teach them!!

You can't lose your nursing license on a no call, no show. You haven't accepted the assignment yet ...because you haven't had report, so it's not abandonment. Good luck in finding a better job! It's their loss!

No my dear you are completely wrong when you say that the RN program only consists of 9 months of nsg courses while the LVN program has 12. It doesn't make sense. The California ADN program is 2 years in length AFTER finishing prerequisites (anatomy, physiology, microbiology, biology, chemistry, etc all 1 semester in length per subject). So taking that into account, it might take people up to 2 years for their prereqs plus 2 years of the RN program. The RN students take 2 years of strictly nursing courses and LVNs take 1 year of nursing courses. The following speaks for it self. Here's the curriculum for both: ***Registered Nursing course sequence for students enrolling as of Fall 2002: Prerequisites: Micro 2 Eligibility for English 1A Valid AHA CPR/Basic Life Support Card, Course, for health care provider. Nutri 125 or Nutri 11 Psych 24 Required Non-nursing Courses: English 1A Speech 1 Humanities Physo 2A or Anatomy 25 Physo 2B or Physo 1 Political Science and U.S. History or American Institutions 125 Critical Thinking (See Associate in Science Degree requirements, page 57) It is recommended that the student complete as many of these non-nursing classes as possible prior to beginning the program. Registered Nursing Curriculum Requirements for the Certificate of Achievement: Registered Nursing course sequence for students enrolling as of Fall 2002: Sequence to be followed: Semester I Semester II Semester III Semester IV (4 semesters or 2 yrs) Nurs 50 Nurs 51 Nurs 52 Nurs 53 Nurs 50L Nurs 51L Nurs 52L Nurs 53L Nurs 137 Physo 2B Nurs 138 or Physo 1 Physo 2A or Anat 25 Recommended electives: Nurs 136, 200, 202, 211, 215 Anat 110 MA 109, 115 ***Vocational Nursing Curriculum Requirements for the Certificate of Achievement: Sequence must be followed: Prerequisites: Nurs 137* Nurs 103 or a valid CNA Certificate Nutri 11 or 125* Psych 102* Valid AHA CPR/Basic Life Support Card, Course-C *It is recommended that students take these courses and Physo 100 during the year prior to enrollment in the program. Completion of these courses will also enhance likelihood of acceptance to the program. (Following sequence effective Fall 2003.) Semester I Winter Intersession Semester II Summer Session II (takes 1 yr) Nurs 108A Nurs 108B Nurs 123B Nurs 127 Nurs 123A Nurs 126 Nurs 127L Nurs 125 Nurs 126L Nurs 125L **OOPS didnt see your following post. can't delete. but anyhow, i dont think anyone said that LVN's aren't bright, did they? my cousin is an LVN and doing quite well thank you. she is now in the process of completing her prereqs for the rn program. good luck to the first poster!! just keep at it.