dollama

I don't have specific experience as a nurse, but as an air force spouse, and a daughter in law of an Army guy, and having lived on a Navy base with my husband, Air Force is the way to go as far as a generic look at the branches of the military. My dh works with former army guys who were rangers and came over to Air force spec ops because of the better lifestyle and working conditions. Of course, you should talk to all of them because you might find a better offer from one than the other.

Thanks for the information! That could be a schedule that could work out if I could convince them to keep me on PRN status but inactive when dh is deployed. Hmmmm Maybe I will take that CNA course. Thanks

Thanks for your input. What you are saying makes perfect sense to me. I kept thinking about it, wondering how a new CNA would be able to do it without supervision. The hospital is a much better setting if I can find shifts that fit in my schedule. CNAs make diddly around here ($7/hr at the nursing homes, not sure how much the hospital pays) so childcare would cost more than I would be making. And I know the 40 hours of nursing skills clinical coursework I did in the LTC home 7 years ago would not qualify as any sort of experience! LOL.

I remember doing that and it really was not that bad. I was a little embarassed to do it, but I don't remember getting the bath (blocked it out I guess LOL). Believe me, bathing a classmate who for sure took a shower very recently (since they know they are getting bathed) is not that bad. We did not have to do peri care. We did subq injections on each other. Look on the bright side - cathing is done on the mannequins!

B.U.S. General Studies concentrating in Health Sciences (did 2 yrs bsn program and then a mix of health ed and communication classes) Technical Certificate in Medical Coding Thinking about going back and doing the accelerated bs to bsn program.

I am considering going back to do an accelerated BSN program. I did 2 yrs of prereqs and changed majors. I want to make sure this is something I REALLY want to do (there are a few other choices I am considering in healthcare). I have been told/read that working as a CNA is good because you get your feet wet, get to see what nursing is like, and also ends up being good prep for your clinicals once in school. I have 3 kids that next year will be in 1st grade, K3, and 2 years old. If I work it would be part time more than likely during school hours and sometimes weekend shifts if dh were around (he is in the military and is gone 7-8 mos per year). I hear that home health scheduling can tend to be more flexible than inpatient or LTC where even prn you are usually on standard shifts or 12s. Is it true that the scheduling is more flexible? Is there a whole lot of use for CNAs in home health? I know there are lots of homemaker/sitter positions, and visiting nurses are needed to do independent things, but what do the CNAs do in home care? Thanks!

Thanks so much for your response. I went back and read my post and it is a wonder anyone could understand it. I was going to edit it down to make it more concise and coherent if no one had posted to it. This is what I would have asked: Do all new grads have to do med/surg or is it a myth? What kinds of pts do you get on the med/surg floors and is it organized or is there a lot of variety between types of problems? And I guess my bonus question would be....if it is so stressful and busy, is it really the best place for a new grad? Baptism by fire I guess. I would think it would be hard for experienced nurses on the floor to have a lot of new grads around trying very hard to get it all together. But it is also the best place to experience the biggest variety of patients and to hone skills, from what I understand. I am strongly considering doing a CNA course and trying to get some time in as a CNA/nurse tech at a hospital just to really get a feel for whether or not to return to school. I hear its good training for nursing school anyway to work as a CNA for a while. Thanks again.

True if its from the vaccine then you don't have to worry about taking the meds. I didn't think of that. Mine is from exposure - when, who, how - I have no clue. So I have to take the meds just in case I am harboring TB walled off somewhere in my lungs. Hope you find the answer about the x-ray.

I had a positive ppd and I am currently taking INH (isoniazid) in a 9 mo prophlyactic regimen. I was not told I would have to get a yearly x-ray. I was reassured that they would give me some sort of paperwork showing that I had a clear x-ray and took the 9 mos of meds, so I wouldn't have any trouble with school or career (not in RN school right now). Did they not offer you the medicine? I was told it was optional but highly recommended. I decided it was worth taking it. Can't wait til December for a glass of wine though! HTH

Boy am I glad I am not the only one. I think back to my 4 weeks doing LTC half day clinicals to learn basic care skills and if I were a CNA I would have been fired! Just changing sheets, doing sponge baths, etc....took forever and I was shaking and sweating hoping I was doing it right. Good thing my pt did not understand much because I babbled my whole way through it I was so nervous. :imbar So the soaking sweat is requisite? Maybe I will go back to BSN school after all. Thanks for making me feel better! :rotfl:

Not currently attending but hope to get back to Albuquerque, NM to attend UNM's BS to BSN program. Started my BSN :) at UNM in 1992, then changed my major. Poor decision. Oh well. Did the first clinical quarter of LPN at Valdosta Technical College, Valdosta, GA but decided if I want to be a nurse, I should just go ahead and finish the BSN. Thats where I am right now, in limbo!

I am a former BSN student, got a BS in general studies, and considering going back for the accelerated BSN program. I did a quarter of LPN and decided if I were going to go for it, I would go all the way so as many opportunities were open as possible. Anyway, I know that medsurg is an excellent area to get basic skills down pat. You learn how to organize, delegate, work under time pressure, deal with a variety of pts.....I completely understand. Not a perfect analogy, but I waited tables to get through college and while I don't want to go back to it, I learned a lot from it and feel it was a great learning experience as far as organizational skills, working under pressure, etc....So I can understand the concept of new grads needing to work in med surg. I dropped the LPN prog the day before we were to start medsurg clinicals, so I have no clue what it is like. The first day our instructors had us looking over old charts to see what kind of pts the floor had, and the nursing care and dr orders we were going to follow, then we went around taking vitals. I totally froze up and couldn't event take a simple BP. My partner, a phlebotomist, had to do the rest of the pts while I watched. The previous term we were in LTC learning basic care skills and I was in there, bathing, turning, changing diapers, checking feeding tubes, etc.... Something about being on a med surg floor did something to me I guess. OK, so what is it like? I tell myself, I don't want to work in med surg, too many patients, too many different things to deal with at once, blah blah blah....When given the opportunity to hear opinions about their work, I always hear nurses outside of med surg say how rewarding (home health, school nursing, PICU...insert field) is ....and usually med surg nurses say how the nurse pt ratios are too high, they are very stressed out.....This whole impression is kind of driving my opinion on whether to go back for a BSN or to more strongly consider the other two fields I have interest in (Resp Therapy or Xray tech). I will probably be working only PRN or part time once I do go back to work, so I might be limited in my choices of nursing fields. edited to add: What areas fall under the med/surg umbrella? Do they usually organize pts into different units based on their probs (eg - renal, oncology, etc...)? Is it as terrifying as it all sounds?