Happy BSN

The biggest conflict I see is between nurses who do their jobs and those who want to be lazy but get paid.

Your hospital's PR dept may be marketing the hospital as a wonderful place to come and rest. Who knows these days, lol.

Here are the pluses from my perspective (as you've seen many of the negatives, it sounds like): A sense of empowerment Great pay A wide variety of opportunities The pleasure of helping people at their worst moments In the past, I would have said great job security, but it sounds like many people don't have that right now.

My first school, LPN school, was incredibly stressful and you could only miss five days total, I believe it was. Personally, I would want to separate the stress of nursing school from the joy of pregnancy, but others might have a better idea.

No, you don't have to have a specialty. I enjoy the fact that I do all kinds of nursing - it is a rare privilege to have a license that allows us to do so many different things. Nurses become specialized by choice - they love working in a certain environment or with a certain type of patient and they may get certification in that specialty. It certainly shouldn't hurt your RN career to be an LPN first. You can then say, "I have five years of nursing experience and one year of RN experience," for example. Good luck to you!

I can handle almost anything, but urostomy smell comes the close to getting to me.

"There's a skunk in my room!" I worked in a small rural hospital and a skunk came into the first floor and sprayed into an area that sent the smell through the ventilation system. The call lights were lit up like Vegas.

Study telemetry in your spare time if you don't feel comfortable with it and never pretend to know something you don't, just ask. Many nurses feel more comfortable when all their patients are hooked up to telemetry and you may feel that way soon, too.

You might seek out a job in a specialty office, such as cardiology. Lots of RNs working in those! You can manage a clinic such as the Coumadin clinic or lipid clinic and be highly involved in patient education or you can supervise the LPN and MA staff. I worked as a research nurse in a large cardiology office and, while there was a lot of problems, I did enjoy having my own desk and setting my own schedule.

I would definitely explore all the options in my local area, from industrial nursing to nursing homes to schools to private duty. I believe nurses will be back in demand. Good luck!

I used to buy an SAS shoe that was kind of a tall oxford but lately I swear by Cobbie Cuddlers at Kmart (the standard oxford kind). I stock up when they put them on sale - they are extremely comfortable, even after a long shift.

The best advice I have is to follow the golden rule: Always treat your patients as you would want to be treated, whether on not they are confused, whether or not anyone else is looking, whether you will get credit or not, etc. As far as time management, always ask yourself, "what is the priority?" You will absolutely get quicker with tasks as you go along. Always dress professionally, regardless of whether the policy requires it.

Hi, you should check the qualifications for licensure in the state in which you intend to practice. I reside in a state that had a qualification of "good physical and mental health" until a few years ago. I lost an LPN friend who had five children because she couldn't get diagnosed or treated for her asthma due to endangering her nursing license. Now, the law reads "not in poor physical or mental health." If you pass the hurdle of your state requirements, there isn't any reason you shouldn't be able to go to nursing school and work as a nurse. Many of us have desk jobs - I'm not saying you will need one, but just to open your mind to the vast opportunities in nursing. Good luck!