redhead77

I just interviewed for a position in a neuropsychiatric hospital the other day. They didn't ask me anything about psych nursing at all. The questions were: What qualities do you have that you feel would benefit you in this position? What are two values that guide you in your clinical practice? Tell us a time that you had to deliver difficult news to someone. Why would you like to work here? Tell us a little bit about yourself. and Tell us about an instance when you had to deal with a stressful situation and how you handled it. So far out of four interviews, I've only had one that actually asked me skill related questions. Good luck with your interview, I hope it goes well!!!

From talking to people who have previously or are currently working in public health, I don't think it would put you at a disadvantage to begin in that setting. Not everyone dreams of working in a hospital after they graduate. I wouldn't let others dictate the path that you choose. Nursing is a very diverse profession and there are many areas that you can work in. I say if that is where you want to end up, then you should work towards it from the very beginning. It may not work out perfectly, but even if you have to take a job in a different area until something opens up, don't give up on it if you know that is what you want. Good luck!

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer for you because I am basically in the same boat. I was encouraged not to work by my husband while I was in nursing school. He figured this way I wouldn't feel overwhelmed by having to deal with school, our kids, and then a job. I figured that this was sound logic considering we have a teenager with autism who is pretty low functioning and requires a lot of assistance. Now that I'm finished with school and successfully passed the NCLEX but have no job, I feel that I have passed up valuable chances at gaining experience. The only nursing job that I've had was short lived because the place was new and completely disorganized. I ended up doing the nursing work plus clerical work and worrying about my license because of how lax everyone was about everything, including medications. I'm beginning to get really worried about getting a job now. I maintained a 4.0 throughout the nursing program, including BSN, and got great clinical feedback from both patients and my instructors, but I don't think that will help me as much as actual experience would. I've applied to many job openings lately and plan on continuing to do so and hopefully it will pay off soon. Hopefully, in the not too distant future we will both be back here reporting our successful job-hunting efforts. I wish you the best of luck and I hope that someone will give you the chance to prove yourself as a nurse.

I really like DATC's program! We jumped right in with both feet and haven't looked back since. I know from talking to people that know both programs that they think DATC's program is more intense than Weber's. This includes one of my clinical instructors who graduated from Weber's BSN program. He told us that he thinks we are more prepared to join the workforce when we finish than most other graduates. I also know from talking to Weber students that their first semester clinicals were in LTC whereas ours were med/surg and labor and delivery in hospitals. Either of them are good schools, but only one has a 100% pass rate for the NCLEX LPN for the last several years. DATC was always my first choice and I haven't regretted it. Another thing that I like is we have a small group (40) and we go year round (if you start in August, January takes the summer off). Congratulations in your accomplishment and good luck with whatever you decide!

I am currently halfway through my second semester at DATC. In April I will graduate from the LPN program and I start the RN year through Weber/DATC in May. It took around six or so weeks after the application deadline to get my letter from the program. Most people don't get in the first time they apply, but I do know that at least 10% of my current class started a semester earlier than planned. For whatever reasons, sometimes people who get accepted don't actually attend. Some don't have a current CNA and are no longer eligible so they take people from the next semester and fill the spots. I was one of the people that got into a spot that opened up and will now graduate with my RN two semesters earlier than I originally planned! Good luck!!!

I'm not scheduled to begin nursing school until Jan. 2012, with my first orientation on Sept. 12th. Earlier today I received an unexpected phone call from my program wanting to know if there was any chance I'd be interested in starting next Monday. The only problem with this is that we need to have a current CNA when we start and mine has lapsed. Needless to say, I am kicking myself right now for not taking my recertification tests sooner! I've been enjoying my lazy summer since it's the first semester I've had off in two years. She did say to get it done as soon as possible because they always lose people in the first couple of weeks for numerous reasons and that they may still have spots to fill. As soon as I got off of the phone with her I scheduled my test and now either way, I will be ready to go! At first I was kind of freaking out thinking "How am I going to do this with such short notice?", but now I'm a little bummed that I may have missed my chance to graduate a semester early. I know that there's still a small chance to get into this class, but I'll just have to deal with whatever happens. At least I can relax knowing that I have a place in the January class.

misselena & RoxanneBB, Congratulations to both of you! I just received my acceptance letter this past Saturday and I'm very excited about it! This site has been very helpful and I'm sure that it will continue to be after I actually begin NS in January. Good luck on your new journey!

studentnurseCT It is a great feeling! It took almost two years of pre-reqs to get here. I took so many classes that I was able to get my associate's degree in health sciences this past April. My orientation isn't until Sept. 12th, so I have a while until I find out all of the specifics. I am ready for the next chapter to begin!

I am so excited to join in this group! Today I received my acceptance letter for a nursing program that begins in January of 2012. I am beyond thrilled! I will be graduating in April 2013 with my RN. Congratulations to everyone else that will be beginning this journey!

allergyrn, good point and I completely agree. I know that every step of the process will come with both relief and nervousness for the next part of my journey. I am excited to be able to learn more about all of the various areas of nursing and to get some hands on experience with a few while doing clinicals. Thank you for your post, I appreciate the insight.

The only things I know about Broadview is what you can find out by Googling, so not much help there. What I would say is that if you have specific schools in mind for your graduate studies, talk to someone there and see if they will take the credits. I know from talking to the head of the nursing program at Weber State that people are constantly upset when they find out the information they were told by people working at some private universities is less than true. I know that most of the public universities locally only accept credits from regionally accredited schools, which is what usually ends up causing the problem. Good luck with whatever you decide!

So after doing some soul searching, I've decided to pursue the path of nursing. I mailed my application last week, but won't hear back about their decision until August. I really appreciate the feedback that you all gave me, It got me thinking even more. kona2, I think you're suggestion about shadowing RNs in different work settings would definitely be beneficial to me. Especially since I'm not sure what area interests me the most. westieluv and MolliNick, thank you both for telling me about your experiences with nursing. I appreciate you sharing your experiences, both the good and the bad. Wish me luck! I am glad that I took the time to dig down deep inside of myself and make sure that this is the right choice for me. I have never been the type of person to just jump into things, I always spend a great deal of time and energy researching before I make my decisions. I think that is especially important with regards to becoming a nurse. I am planning to work hard and take the good with the bad. Thanks again everyone for taking the time to respond!

From reading the posts on this site, it seems like the wait times vary tremendously. I have seem some of just over a month and some of several months. I applied to a program that starts January 2012 and they said we would find out in August. The deadline for it isn't until the 17th though, so maybe you'll hear sooner than that. Good luck, I wish you the best!

Thanks for the replies Jules A & enhiver626. I guess it is true that I don't have to commit the rest of my life to nursing if it ends up as a less than ideal fit. I just feel as if I've already waited so long for the timing to be right to do this and I don't know when it will happen again if this doesn't work out. enhiver626, I guess some of the things that have discouraged me are: 1. The cutthroat attitudes that people have to deal with on a daily basis in their jobs or even in NS. 2. The mentality that money is the bottom line when caring for people. 3. I also am not big on expressing my emotions, so I worry that I will let things slowly build up inside of me until I explode. I am used to being a caregiver, so I can relate to needing to take care of others before myself. I am a mother of two and my oldest child (14) has lower functioning autism and has had various medical issues. When he came along I put everything on hold except for taking care of him. Finally in the summer of 2009, I started doing something to better myself and I enrolled in college. I surprised myself by how much I loved school and I really want to finish and be able to apply what I learn. I plan on doing some major soul searching and hopefully everything will continue to work out for me. I hope that your experience with nursing improves for you so that even if you do leave, you will have some good memories to look back on! :) Thanks again to both of you for taking the time to respond, I really appreciate it!

Hello everyone, I am looking for some perspectives from people with experience in this field, whether you are currently a nurse or in the midst of NS. I have thought about nursing as a career for a long time and recently finished my associate's degree in health sciences which fulfilled all pre and co-requisites for local programs. I have a natural affinity for science and especially love the human body and all of its intricacies. I graduated with honors and truly enjoyed the experience of learning so much new information. My mother is a nurse and I have seen first hand what her job entails and I know that it is often an unappreciated profession. I don't have a specific area in mind right now, but because nursing is so diverse I feel that there are many options and I will know when I find the right one. I have been reading numerous posts on this site and have read things that have both encouraged me and discouraged me. So what I am looking to find out is, has anyone gone through this journey only to discover that they may have been better suited to another area in the medical field? I have no doubt that I want to work in the medical sciences, but since I will be committing at least two more years of my life to school and the rest of my working life performing this job I want to be certain. I know that I am the only one who can make this decision, but I would really appreciate any incite on the matter. Thanks so much