Thujone

Reading this made me smile and giggle a little, and not because I think it's funny, but because you sound a lot like I did a few years ago. Here's the thing. I dont know what the admissions board will look at as I've never been in grad school, but generally speaking they look upon students who have turned their grades around with a positive light. It shows character. I've talked to some medical doctors who had made bad choices (and had far worse grades than a B plus too) their first time at college, but they turned themselves around and the admissions board took note of that. You are still very young and really just beginning your academic career. From this point on, I suggest you avoid any relapsing in regards to your grades. To be blunt, no, one 'bad' semester will not hurt you. However, if you want to mamaximize your competitiveness then you can always retake the courses. They won't be as bad the second time around.

I think you may be confused, and perhaps getting information from incorrect resources. If you would, allow me to clarify a few things for you. 1. I have never heard of an LPN making $10/hr. That sounds more in-line with CNA wages. There is a big difference between an CNA and an LPN. Where I live LPNs make about $18-23/hr as new graduates (if they work in LTC). If they work in a doctor's office then the pay will be lower. 2. There are no completely online nursing schools. You must, at the very least, attend labratory hours. I would be very skeptical of anyone saying that they got their education online. There are LPNs who bridge to RN, and they do the theory portion on-line, but even they do lab. hours in the class room. 3. Don't let anyone fool you into believing that a college education will not lead to a stable life. It is the most important factor. If you have an educated work force then the particular field they work in is more likely to earn a higher paying salary/wage. Requiring that your work force members have a college degree decreases the supply of readily available employees, and at the same time the demand for them rises. This lead to better wages. That is a simple law of economics, supply versus demand.

No, the expectations have been the exact same for my female peers. I didn't get any special treatment outside of a few things that are uncontrollable. For example, one time two girls were speaking poorly of a patient in the bathroom of a LTC facility, and the DON just happend to be in one of the stools. She told my classes teacher about this incident. My teacher went off on the entire class and made threats toward everyone. Everyone except me because of course I couldn't have been me. I wouldn't have been in the girls bathroom, I'm a guy haha. So, outside of irrelevant things like that, no, being a male has made literally zero difference for me.

Maybe she thinks it stands for "real nurse"?

The LPN program is 3 semesters and the medic program is 5 semesters and they are at the same school, so the cost per credit hour is the same, but obvsiously the LPN program will be cheaper. I like your trial-by-fire idea. I hadn't thought of it like that. I currently work as a CMA (AAMA) along side a lot of RNs and 1 LPN, and we do the same things, but of course this is in a pediatric office. As far as I know I've never been sterotyped yet, and I always have an intersting time talking to the girls there, but I can't pretend that's not the case in LTC where most LPNs work. I worked as a CNA and I had problems getting some of the facility members letting me perform the duties of the job, one of the male residents didn't want me because they he assumed I was gay (granted he gave everyone a hard time), and some of the females didn't want me because they were too embarrassed to let a male work on them granted this was a very small amount of residents who did this as well. I suppose that doesn't really matter though because the LPNs there really only passed out meds and did wound care, so changing dirty briefs wouldn't be an issue.

I agree with you but I wouldn't be able to start an RN program until Fall 2017 regardless of what I choose to do. In the mean time I could attend my community college lpn program that last 12 months while waiting on RN school to start.

I have several options. I can start Paramedic school Jan. 2015 then go back to RN school at a later point. On the other hand, I can attend LPN school and then either do a LPN to RN bridge or just start the RN program from scratch (but in 2017). I'd attend LPN school, graduate, and then apply for LPN-RN or RN school. The reason I have to wait to apply for the RN program is due to me having to retake a class, but I do qualify for the LPN and Paramedic program. I know this is a nursing forum, so I don't expect to find much support for being a medic, but I'd like an unbiased a answer as possbile. I can see faults with both sides. One, LPNs still get paid better than medics. I can go on to being an RN later on. On the flip side, I am a male and I wouldn't have to deal with all the sterotypes thrust upon me for being a male nurse. I guess all of my reasons are very vain, but maybe there's something I haven't thought of. Thoughts?

It sounds like you was an EMT-B. Anybody who has taken pharmacology can tell you what a beta blocker is. You can't be a paramedic and not know what a beta blocker is. I wouldn't expect an EMT-B to know what it is because they don't give very many drugs. However, the paramedic gives many drugs I.V, and some of them are cardiac drugs. In fact, they have almost every drug that's used in the ER on their trucks and work in a fraction of the space and an even smaller fraction of staff to patient. Paramedics are more knowledgable in emergency care than any other health-care professional outside of doctors/PAs/NPs who specializes in that area. The real downside to being a medic vs an RN is that nurses make more money and they work in a more comfortable environment. I personally would be a nurse if I wasn't a male (too much stigma attached to male nursing for me, people automatically assume you are gay or bi, and I don't like dealing with that.) Plus, I don't like taking orders and waiting to be told what to do or answering to others. I like to just be able to figure it all out on my own and go from there.

There is a simple fix to this problem. Simply say and prefferably in front of others and very respectfully "I find it very offensive that you call me a girl, and would appreciate it if you did not do that". The woman who is doing this to you will either apologize profusely or all hell will break lose with her. The bright side is that since you've done it in front of other staff that the other females will mroe than likely take your side. Females love to argue and talk bad about each other, but behind each others back of course. You can use that to your advantage at times.

You want 400 mg, but you only have 350 mg per ml. So, you should create a want-have divsion equation. It works like this: Want / Have so... 400mg / 350mg (per 1ml) = 1.14 ml If you need to divide the dose due to having to give in into two different thighs, then just divide by two. 1.14 / 2 = .57 so two syringes with .57 that is Now the tricky part, how do you get the exact amount with such numbers? The answer: Once you have 1.14 ml you should be able to get fairly close to this with a regular 5 cc syringe. Just get the liquid in between the 1.10 and 1.20 cc mark and you are going to have as close to the exact amount as possible. So you now have 1.15 ml of Rocephin in 1, 5 cc syringe. This breaks down to .575 if you need to break it in two syringes. Use the same method as above. Get the amount of medicine in each one as close to .6 cc as you can in both syringes. Often, you will have slightly less in one of the syringes, but that is okay. Also, I personally would pick the 500 mg bottle. Picking the 1 G bottle does nothing to help solve your delimma of having the exact amount of medication in the syringe. The truth is, when the numbers are like this, you never have the exact amount of medication, but you can get so close to the exact amount that the results in giving the medication at such a small amount off would not make a difference. More often then not, the practitioner is prescribing the medicine on a formula of 50 to 75 mg per kilogram (for Rocephin in pediatric patients), so the prescription it self is at the providers discretion, so if the patient was 8kg then the effective dose could be from 400 to 600, so having such a small defenciancy or just slightly over, and I'm talking lik 0.1 ml over and under would not matter at all.

Absolutely not!! I have dated a nurse that I work with and although everything was good for about 3 to 4 months, after that we had a break-up, long story short, I started dating her literally right after she stopped dating (and living with) a guy she had been with for the past 5 years, and thus leads me to believe that she just wasn't ready for another relationship at the time. After that, I had to see her everyday at work, and we did not even talk to each other. She sent me a message on FB saying that someone had made a profile (that had my home city on it) calling her a whore, and she thought it was me, and I had to fight to make her understand it wasn't me who had done this (was either her ex-bf, a co-worker, or her IMO). Eventually, we did get to the point where we can kind of talk to each other. Luckily, I am returning to school and will only be there on the weekends, so I don't have to feel so uncomfortable while being at work. On the flip side, there was some women who took my side, and some who didn't, and the entire office was talking about it. Overall, a very bad experience. I'm not saying it's impossible for things to work out, but make sure she doesn't work in the same building that you work in.

Thanks for your help. I'm new to vaccinating. I opened up the wrong fridge (we have a state frdige and a private fridge for vaccines), and grabbed them out. It was the correct vaccine, so the child is protected, but obviously, I want to watch out for my office too.

Today I had a patient come in and had to give them HPV #1 and Menactra. Well I did give them the correct vaccines, but I gave them the state vaccine and they have privatw insurance. Has anyone ever done this beforw? What should I do about it?

So are you saying the chances of being employeed are slim? I realize that it would best in the long-run to get my RN first, but that's not an option financially right now.

Hello, I have a question in regard to male nurse, more speficially LPN's marketability. I just (five months ago) completed an associates degree in medical assiting, and I am certified as well. However, after graduation I have not been able to find employment. Now most of the jobs here are all offered through one organization (Caromont) that owns nearly all the physician's offices. All of my class-mates found jobs, but I haven't, I was interviewed by Caromont, but was never phoned back. I honestly think it comes down to male marketability and the old fashioned way of how a male is seen in the work place, I could be wrong, but I was the only male student in my class and I am also unemployeed and infact have never seen a male CMA. Now, the reason I am bringing this here is becaue I am considering going to LPN school. However, I don't want a repeat experience. I'd like to find a job as an LPN quicly after graduation. I need some perspective here from people who have completed LPN school and what their experience of being employeed was after graduation, and how they feel they are treated once hired. I live in North Carolina if geographical information is relevant to this. Thanks, Thujone.