Cyndi13

I think a lot of people who appear "Crotchety" are just scared of the unknown, or don't like being out of their element, and they just don't know how else to express their anxiety. That being said, it certainly doesn't make it any easier on us!

I haven't checked in on this post in a few months, and reading them all at once I definitely need a tissue!!!

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The answer is subjective. So many things come into play with this. The answer for YOU is based on your teacher, your syllabus, and your own ability to learn sciences. I found A&P I to be much easier than A&P II, and I find MB to be easier than both. That being said, Eng Comp was a cakewalk for me, but I struggled with Chem. I have great teachers (except Chem; she taught like you already knew what she was talking about and having been out of high school for twenty years, I was clueless!) but found the A&P II syllabus to be really cramming too much information into too little time - although we did have several snow days which didn't help. Go with your instinct. Only YOU know your capabilities and the reputation of the school you are attending and its teachers. Good luck! :)

The TEAS test is divided into four parts: Reading, Mathematics, Science, and English and Language Usage. When you take your test, each part will be scored separately. When you are done, they will average the score for you and tell you your percentile ranking. If you need a 40% overall, that means you need to score at least a 40% total average for the four sections. That could mean you get a 37, 43, 25, and 55 for an average of 40%. If you need to be in the 40th percentile, that's means your score needs to be higher than 40% of the people who take the test. For example, I got an 86.7% overall average from the four sections, and that put me in the 98th national percentile, meaning I did better than 98% of the people who take the test nationwide. That being said, I'm not tooting my own horn. I was VERY LUCKY to get a test (there are different versions with different questions) that I was able to score well on. I could just have easily been given a test where I was NOT as familiar with the science section (which is my weak point!) and scored MUCH LOWER. I would be concerned about taking a course from an institution that has such low standards for the TEAS scores. No matter how low they are, try your very best to score high in case you don't get in and need to submit your scores elsewhere that may have higher standards. The study guide is priceless. If you know that material - and I mean REALLY know it - you should do just fine. Good luck!

Thanks, mmuck! I'll have to keep your suggestions in mind. I can certainly handle the patients of the ER, my comment was directed to those that were threatening to "pay back" (so to speak) patients whose behavior they didn't like... I wouldn't expect sunshine, candycanes, and kisses in any department, lest I be quickly disillusioned! lol! Glad you didn't take it as personally as others did. If it didn't apply to the reader, then they shouldn't take it personally A friend of mine works in PACU and keeps telling me I'd love it, so I'll have to look into that a bit more :)

I want to thank everyone for posting such lovely stories! I hope many more are to come... Thank you for sharing the personal side of your careers :anpom:

RubyVee, I hope you read my second post. I absolutely got the humor and chuckled myself. While you only found offense with the attack of other nurses and voiced that, I only found offense with comments like "Just a hint....if you're going to play possum, don't play it in my ED. I can get really personal with a foley catheter really quick. Hey, if you are unresponsive then I want to make sure you won't mess my bed." As I said in my last post, it "implies someone is willing to either perform an unnecessary procedure OR make a necessary procedure unnecessarily uncomfortable because they don't like what a patient is doing. There's no other way to read that, and yes, it disturbs me." Maybe my own personal experience that I related in my last post touched a nerve that otherwise would have found the comment benign... Actually, I wasn't going to post anything about anything, until I read your thread and thought this was a safe place to state opinions. I actually left it open that I'm sure small town experiences are completely different from large city, but regardless the poster seemed serious about this, and so that's how I took them... If they were kidding, then I retract my disgust. If they weren't then I make no apologies for my comment, I only apologize for thinking this site was a place everyone could talk openly, no matter what level of "experience" they have or how far they've traveled in anyone's footwear... And for the record, you are assuming I have NO medical experience. Just because I am not YET an RN does not mean I haven't been in the medical field. I started as a candystriper at 15. By 19 I was an EMT. By 24 I was a CNA. I will be the third generation of nurses in my family. I am not as ignorant to these experiences as it has been assumed. Which is why I laugh at most and take exception to few.

Well I don't recall using all of those adjectives, just cynical (which according to the free dictionary online means "Negative or pessimistic, as from world-weariness"). Heartless, angry, and miserable were NOT in my comment, and not my intention, or I would have stated such. I get statements like the above "Triage is the least fulfilling and most dangerous place to work in the ED. Do us a favor and don't assault/harass your triage nurses. As many people have already stated, you should expect a wait." or "We have priorities. We understand that you have been waiting for two hours in the waiting room. If you don't want to wait, make an appointment with a doctor. The little old lady that just walked in looking OK to you is probably having a massive heart attack. That's why she goes first." and this "If you know what pain meds to ask for, then you know too much and are probably a drug seeker." (and for the record, I laughed and GOT a lot of them!) My OBSERVATION, however, came from post after post that can only be determined as CYNICAL, such as "I don't care that you're having pain unless it is in your chest, or related to the leg that just fell off." and ESPECIALLY "Just a hint....if you're going to play possum, don't play it in my ED. I can get really personal with a foley catheter really quick. Hey, if you are unresponsive then I want to make sure you won't mess my bed." which implies someone is willing to either perform an unnecessary procedure OR make a necessary procedure unnecessarily uncomfortable because they don't like what a patient is doing. There's no other way to read that, and yes, it disturbs me. When my son was 18 months he was in the hospital for severe croup and dehydration. All of the nurses were absolutely LOVELY, except one extremely rude night nurse. I had been waiting since 6 pm to hear if the doctor had approved a certain over the counter medication and hadn't asked a soul for an update so as not to bother the nurses with "nonsense" or "stupid questions." But as it was approaching midnight, and the nurse was in the room for vitals, I asked. Not only did she snap at me that I should have asked sooner and now she'll have to wake the doctor to find out, but she proceeded to treat my just-waking-up son like a hunk of meat, manipulating his limbs like a rag doll for an anal temp, and she DIDN'T USE VASOLINE! My son SCREAMED when she inserted that! So YES, BeLLa RN, *I* take it personally when I see a post like that and find it cynical. The amount of posts I ran across that mirrored that opinion were frightening. When I was a Medic, we had our own set of issues (such as the toe pain x2 that couldn't wait for the bus) and of course we would talk and vent among each other in a sense of comraderie and understanding. AND some of us were cynics and eventually got out of that line of work. Sad thing is, when I began reading your post, I started to reconsider. Then right on cue you became defensive about something that wasn't even directed to YOU and started making your own assumptions and putting words in my mouth... So don't be so quick to jump down my throat and take it so personally, BeLLa RN, as it is just my opinion, which admittedly isn't worth much! (and for the record, when I went to the DON the next day about my son's nurse, I prefaced my complaint with "I know you are used to having people come to you with complaints, so let me start by saying that every nurse before this has been extremely professional, caring, and informative and I am happy they are part of my son's care...)

Wow. I've wanted to work in the ER/ED for twenty years. I start ADN (RN) classes this fall. Felt like I was finally realizing my dream. After reading this, I'm reconsidering. I never want to by this cynical towards a patient. Of course, I live in a small town, not a big city. Maybe things are just that much different there? But WOW...

In glancing through the "Hot" tab on the home page, I noticed that almost everything was a complaint (and thankfully we have a place to vent!). But it left me wondering: What is the nicest thing a patient/family has done for you? :kiss Or, if you can't think of one, do you have a favorite patient story? Sometimes it helps to be reminded why we got in this field in the first place