jhaf07

Hi there. I am not a nurse but I am a nursing student currently at HACCs york part time program and I actually have experience with both HACC and LGH. I started at HACC years ago and completed all of my pre-reqs there. A few months before I was to apply to part time clinicals a friend thay had transferred out of HACC to LGH talked me into applying. I live in York so I knew it would be difficult but I thought hey, it'd be nice to go through clincials with a friend. I actually applied to LGHs part time weekend program after the application deadline, and got accepted, granted I had a 4.0 and some good references, but I was none the less surprised. I started there August of 2011. The class was very large compared to HACCs part time program. The instructors all hammered into our heads that they were there to help and wanted everyone to succeed. I did like the instructors, however, I felt that we were pretty much thrown into the middle of chaos and given a lot of info all at once, our skills were not taught to us very well at all and we were expected to pass this practicum of ALL the skills at once at the end of the semester. We also expected to pass an ATI exam to move on to the next semester. Clinical weekends were definitly unorganized and we felt rushed through each "station", learning from many different instructors in one day. Well, my mother in law passed away in September from Pancreatic Cancer. It was a very stressful time for my family and she was also babysitting for us so I could make the commute to class 2x a week, my husband was off every other weekend when I had clinicals. As much as I did not want to drop out of clinicals, and leave my friend behind, I had to. On top of school, I had also returned to the work force after being home with my kids for five years and was working as an NA at a hospital, night shift, with a child still home during the day while my husband worked. It was a mess. lol Fast forward to now: I have finals for my second semester of clinicals next week and I could not be happier to have returned to HACC. It has been, in my opinion, a much more gradual learning process. The skills we are to learn are demonstrated to us and then we set up a time to come in an test off on them, there are deadlines to meet, but it is not a "test all of it in one day" thing like at LGH. The class is smaller, our tasks at the clinical sight also progressed gradually, I did not feel like I was being thrown to the wolves to make it on my own. It is much nicer for me since I live so close, there is theory one night a week and a clinical night on a second night of the week, so it's two days a week instead of two days then clincials every other weekend. We still are doing ATI testing but we do not need some passing score on those exams to go on to the next semester. Many of the instructors are wonderful and understanding, then there are a few that are a little intimiditaing and harder on their students, but I have not met one yet who was actually mean. Now there are variations in different instructors' teaching styles and what they expect of their students, which can be a little frustrating when you switch clinical instructors each semester, but it was like that in some ways at LGH too. I prefer HACC, and here in York I hear that HACC nurses are the prefferred choice for employers, I am not sure how it is in Lancaster, I am sure they are partial to local nurses but I do not know. I do know that I had an interview at LGH before I started working at a local hospital here, and they were pretty snobby over there lol. Oh and LGH is about twice as much in cost compared to HACC, which was not cool. Overall, I prefer HACC a lot more over LGH, i feel like I have a much higher chance of success here and I am very glad that I came back. I hope my rambling has given you some useful info to help with your decision. Have a nice day :)

I am pretty sure this question is the one that made me bomb the interview I had a few weeks ago. I gave them a time when I had a patient fall when the call bell fell of the bed because it didnt have a clip on it. It was truly the biggest mistake in my CNA career and I learned a lot about not relying on other shifts to do what theyre supposed to (this was a pt that did not want disturbed at night so we typically did not go into his room unless he rang or till morning med pass). Anyway, I did the same thing as soon as I left, thinking about how I should have come up with a more benign example instead of hanging myself out to dry, lol. Needless to say, I did not recieve a job offer from them however, it was my first job interview in 7 years and it gave me some good experience so I knew what NOT to say at the interview I had the next week, and I did get that job (although the second interview was way more friendly and they did not ask me the dreaded mistake question). I hope your interviewer respects honesty and sees the learning experience in your story better than my interviewer did. But if you dont get the job, at least next time you'll be more prepared. Good Luck!!

If you're near Lancaster, are you close enough to Lancaster General? I just had an interview there, now granted, it was for a nursing assistant position, but there were a few other people there for interviews as well, my guess is some of them had to be for RN positions. They have a few positions posted on their website. FYI though, they use behavioral interviewing techniques, which I totally bombed by being way to honest about prior mistakes, but hey, I learned what NOT to say at an interview, lol, and I did better at the next one. Check it out if youre close enough to them. I also recommend a cover letter, I did not get any call backs until I added that, I think it helps to give them a little intro of your self. Good luck! I hope the economy is better in 3 years when I graduate lol

I need help big time, need some tips on how to do well during a job interview. Some background: I have been a SAHM for 5 years, been in school all that time working on RN degree on a part time basis (and took a yr off when while pregnant with my last child). I am starting clinicals next week. I have not had a job interview in 7 yrs and most of my work history comes from when I was 18 yrs old. My last job was at a LTC facility as a CNA, I was a very hard working employee and learned a lot about work ethic and getting the job done under pressure during the 2 yrs I was there. My dilemma: I recently decided I was going to back to work part time as a CNA, my goal is to get into a hospital so I have a foot in the door when I graduate in 3 yrs (part time clinicals). I was so excited for the interview I had yesterday at a very well known recognized hospital that also happens to be the sight for my clinicals, the college I am attending is part of the hospital. In the past Ive never had a bad experience at a job interview, was never nervous, and always got the job. I was not, however, at all prepared for the type of interview I experinced yesterday. The recruiter was polite but did not come off a very personable. She started by going over my app and questioned me on why I was only at Manor Care for 7 months (I worked there right out of high school, did my CNA training while there). I explained that I ended up leaving there suddenly when I became pregnant with my first child because I needed to move back home for family support. I was living in a different area when working there and moving back home would have given me an hour and a half commute so that wasnt happening. The recruiter asked me about three times to explain why I did not give a two weeks there and I tried to explain that it was an unexpected pregnancy and I NEEDED my family, but she seemed stuck on this. Then she proceeded to ask if I gave a proper notice at CVS when I left, which I did not b/c I was 17 and didnt care lol (I know now that was a mistake but cut me a break, I was in high school). She did not ask why. So after we reviewed my app we discussed my previous supervisors, not references, and she was concerned that I did not have my former sups personal number for her to contact during the day (the sup works the night shift). I am sorry, but I think that is unprofressional, there is no reason she cannot call the facility and leave a message for the sup to call her back. Ok so that was strike 2 on me. Then we get to the interview questions and she proceeds to pull out this sheet of paper and explain to me these set of questions that they rate all applicants on. Wonderful. She begins asking me all these "tell me about a time when" questions and at first they're not too bad, I had some difficulty coming up with specific examples and stories since it's been a while since I worked, but I could handle "tell me about a time you had to work with a difficult co-worker" and "tell me. . . .. .went above and beyond for a patient". At first I thought I was doing pretty good, and then I got a "tell me about a mistake you made and how did you learn from it". I went on to tell a story about a resident who fell because the call bell was not in reach, it had fallen off the bed b/c it did not have a clip. There was no policy in the facility at the time for these clips. I went on to explain to her that from that incident on I checked all my residents for clips as soon as I walked on the floor. Looking back, I think I may have been a little too honest with that answer and perhaps could have a least worded it betetr, but the fact is, I didnt screw up often, that was the only time I was written up and I did not know what else to offer. There were a few other answers that I realize now may not have been the best. The recruiter ended the interview after the questions, did not offer for me to ask questions, and said there were other applicants and she'd be in touch in two weeks. I left very discouraged realizing it did not go well, not like I planned, and I know I did not get that job. So, I have another interview with a different hospital much closer to home on Monday and now I am a wreck thinking about it. I wanted some opinions on whether I should wrack my brain for less serious experiences to share or if I should really just be totally honest. When I started as a CNA I struggled learning how to manage my time, I fell into the cutting corners thing at first but quickly realized I needed to improve and do everything by the book and the majority of my time working I was an excellent employee, very dedicated to my patients and very hard working, I have people to vouch for that. Id always be finishing my rounds when others were sitting at the nurses station. I have good references, am doing very well in school (4.0) and am genuinley a good person. Should I expect that my unstable work history as a teenager is going to haunt me? And should I be a little less honest about negative situations when I am given those as a question? I need advice before Monday lol, because if I hang myself out to dry again I may just give up the desire to work until Im done school. I am pretty bummed out by this so anything that anyone has to offer would be greatly appreciated! P.S. I hate those behavioral questions and am praying for a more traditional interview at the smaller hospital.

I have not worked in 5 years, I left the LTC facility to be a SAHM and start working on my degree. The past two years or so Ive had the itch to go back to work, Im starting my clinicals next week and I REALLY want to work at a hospital. I totally get it lol. I applied to 2 hospitals, the local hospital that is close, who my sister, mom, and MIL all work at lol, and the one that is 40 minutes away that I will be doing my clinicals at. I waited weeks and didnt hear anything, so I reluctantly applied to a couple of LTC facilities, even though I do not want to go back to that. You're right, there is only so much you can learn there, although I do attribute my time managment and organizational skills to working in the setting. I never heard anything back from the local hospital and decided to email HR at the other one and ask them what was up with my apps. The lady who responded said all 4 of my apps were not considered for employment. I was very upset by this, that they had at least 12 positions open and were not even going to interview me. I fumed for about a week and decided, Im going to apply again anyway, there was one for poisiton left to apply to on the shift I wanted. So I tweaked my resume slightly and added a cover letter and I applied again. . . and they called me the next day, and pretty much gave me a phone interview, for one of the previous positions that I applied to, which I was told previously that I was not considered for. I think you should hold out if you can, if finances permit, and keep trying to get into the hospital if that is what you really want. It seems persistance pays off. My interview is today and Im so excited (and nervous! lol) for this prospective position in the ICU. I know there is so much for me to soak in there and if I get this job I already have a foot in the door for when I graduate, and that is really important to me. You should do what your gut is telling you and not settle. Good luck! :)

Hi. I am a nursing student, beginning the clinical portion of my program in 2 weeks (yay!). I have been applying for a CNA position in a few local hospitals, and actually got called for an interview at the hospital where I'll be doing my clinicals (this was after I exchanged emails with HR there and they told me all 4 of my apps were not considered for employment, I dont get it lol, but I wont complain). I am very excited but have no idea what to expect. I have not worked in 5 years, I left the work force to care for my kids before they reached school age, day care costs about as much as my monthly pay, and to start the pursuit for my nursing degree. I have only worked in LTC facilities, which I feel is good practice given the hectic and stressful environment that LTC's have. So I have never worked as an aid in a hospital setting, Im looking for advice from anyone with experience. My sister has been a CNA at a hospital for 4 yrs on the oncology unit, she has never worked in LTC, but she tells me the hospital is not difficult. My iinterview is for ICU, I am way excited for all of the great experience I will gain while in school, but scared at the same time because I am not used to caring for acute patients with tons of moniters. So does anyone work in ICU as an aid and could maybe share their experience? FYI: the nursing program that I am attending is on a part time basis, class 2 evenings a weeks for 4 hrs, clinicals every other weekend dayshift and I will only be working part time, 24 hrs/week, night shift. Two of my 3 children will be in school all day so I have no doubt that I can pull all this off, just a little nervous because of the unknown. Also, I have not interviewed for a job in 7 yrs lol, I could use pointers for this also. Thanks!

1. when is your start date? august 15 2 what state are you in? pa-attending lgcnhs 3 program (lpn,adn,bsn)? adn 4 what is the one piece of advice you are holding onto right now? it's not really advice, more of a reassurance: school has never been hard for me but the closer i get to starting clinicals, the more worried i get that it will be too difficult for me. when i express this to hubby (who is also a nurse) he rolls his eyes and says, "woman, you are smart, you'll do well", and i try to take his word for it, after all, he's been there, done that. 5. who is your greatest motivation to complete nursing school? my 3 kids, my hubby, my mom (also a nurse) and my mil who is battling pancreatic ca (who also happens to be a nurse). my hubby and mil are both very respected in their field and i hope to some day be as successful and hard working as they are.

When I was 8 I wanted to run away to Alaska and live, unmarried, with my team of sled dogs. I think that stemmed from reading White Fang and The Call Of the Wild one too many times, lol. This evolved into, I want to be a veterinarian until an 8th grade career paper revealed to me the amount of schooling I would need to accomplish that dream. I have always been a good student, never athlectic or artistic, school came naturally to me but I was so ready to get out when my time was up, come on graduation! lol So that dream turned into nursing, when I was 13, I was going to follow in my mother's foot steps, she's an LPN. Then as I grew my interest in medicine grew also, and I found myself reading old nursing textbooks for fun and then older I got (and the more symptoms of hypochondria I suffered lol) led to me discover google, and I have learned a lot about various diseases through research, which deepened my interest in medicine even more so. I was always that nice girl who tried to help and couldnt say no to anyone, Im still like that most of the time. My plan upon high school graduation was to take a year off then do the LPN thing at a local tech school, 1 yr program, easy right. I started by finding a job in a nursing home and getting CNA certified at 18. Fast forward a fews years later, 1 child to my ex, one child on the way to my current hubby, (who is an LPN but in a nursing sup position), and I learned a few things about nursing. One of them was it didnt seem worth it anymore to move to LPN then to RN. I worked with many LPN's and with the job market the way it is, and the hospitals weeding them out by sending them to school, I knew it would do me no good to persue that, I did not want to work in a nursing home again. soo, Ive been working on my RN since 2007, finally starting clinicals next month and was so lucky to have the opportunity to stay home with my 3 young children while I persue my degree. So the reasons I want to be a nurse: 1) I am fascinated with medicine, disease, and the inner workings of the human body. It is amazing, if I thought I could make it through med school in one piece with 3 young kids on my hubbys one income I would do it. Right now Im not sure but I am not closing that door yet, I had kids young and Ill be fairly young when they hit their teen yrs and dont want anything to do with me so Im thinknig I may somehow bridge from nursing to MD by the time Im like 45 and my kids are all grown. We will see lol 2) I want to help peopel, but I want to help people in the medical setting. I love being at the hospital, I like the atmosphere, I know it's weird but my surroundings just suck me in when Im there and I can't wait to be there every day, lol. So sure, I could be an accountant but this way Im hitting two of my interests at one time: medicine and people. 3) I've seen a lot of burnt out nurses, mean nurses, and Ive witnessed not so nice care being given to my pancreatic cancer stricken MIL, who herself is a nurse at the hospital where she was being cared for. That makes me mad, that makes me want to try to make a difference, don't ask me how I'll do it, I'll figure it out when I get there, but something's gotta give with the nurse-to-patient ratio and I will find a way to help with that. Hope that wasnt too boring, Ive always been a talker, and am still learning how to put what I have to say in less words lol

Prepare for PMS lol. My husband is a nurse (LPN), and the only issues he has with his job is dealing with feminine cattiness and attitude problems (but he is a supervisor so it's his job to keep the peace, he, as a man, cannot understand why some of them just refuse to get along with each other). He really enjoyed school and had no problems. I have not started clinicals yet (next month, yay!) but from my experience in pre-reqs and working as a CNA the males were always welcomed as a nice addition. The males I have come into contact with were refreshing and helped to break up some of that cattiness (no one wants to look bad in front of a member of the opposite sex lol). I think it is great to persue nursing even though nursing traditionally is not a male career (howver that is quickly changing). Good luck and you should def go for it. I wish I had more advice to give but in 2 months when Im getting into the nitty gritty and swamped in school work, I'll come back and let you know how everyone in doing. :)

I was 21 when I started pre-reqs and have only taken two classes a semester since I have 3 kids and wanted to make sure I maintained a 4.0. I remember when I started how far away actually applying to clinicals was and then I ended up taking a whole yr off in the middle of it due to preterm labor during my last pregnancy. I ended up applying to a better school with a very good friend of mine (yay we get to do clinicals together!) and if it had not taken me this long to finish my pre-reqs we wouldnt have that opportunity togther at a great school. So I believe you will get to where youre supposed to be when you are meant to. You should enjoy the school experience before clinicals comes and it gets crazy hard lol. I will be a month shy of my 30th (gasp!) bday when I graduate nursing school in May 2014, but I look at it like this: I'll have at least 35-40 yrs to practice nursing when I'm done, decades worth of getting up early and having to go to work, lol, so I am going to try to enjoy the lack of that particular responsibility while I still have it (Im a stay at home mom and have been for the duration of my schooling). Alhtough I did just apply to two hospitals for a CNA position since its been 5 yrs since I worked and I am starting to miss is, but they are part time positions so if it comes to light that I cant cut it, work and school, I can just quit. Good luck, and everything will happen in due time, dont get discouraged!

Six years ago I began working in a local nursing home as a CNA and fell in love with my charge nurse. He was the nicest, most competent nurse in the building. . .and he also happened to be covered in tatoos. His history was a mystery to me until we started dating, and consequently I ended up pregnant pretty early on (we've been together ever since and have been married now for 4 years). I was stunned to find out who he had been before nursing and what kind of trouble he had been in as an adolecsent. He was definitly a trouble maker but what made him an unusual bad kid was the fact that most of the run ins he had with other boys were directed towards mean kids that bullyed others (he felt a need to stand up for people since he was picked on for being poor at a young age. By the time he reached middle school he had already reached puberty and had an established work out routine, thanks to juvi house arrest lol, so 13 yrs old covered in tattoes and with facial hair, he was pretty intimidating). Anyway, his saint of a mother (I love her!) and her lawyer helped get him on a straighter road and as he grew he gained a sense of responsibilty. He was never one for school, dropped out half way through his senior yr b/c they refused to let him him attend comencements since he was MIA from class a little too often, although he had very good grades which is why he didnt feel the need to attend class. He went the way of GED afterwards and while he was doing that, his mom had went back to school for nursing. After skipping out to Florida for a year, and being a mason for a few more he realized he needed something more stable and meaningful in his life, so he went back to school to get his LPN. A few years later I entered the picture. He is now doing the Exelcior thing to finish his RN (he tried full time clinicals but with our 3 kids and me being in school he was only income, he couldnt make the time commitments for the clinicals). He is in an RN position now, a supervisor, at the same facility where we met (although now he finds himself dealing more with staff problems than caring for patients which he doesnt really like so he is going to try to make his way back to the floor). So, now that I am done rambling, lol, I'll get to the point. My hubby was a wreck when he was younger, but I have no doubt that his life experience gave him exactly what he needed to be a great nurse, effective, intelligent, compassionate. He is the go-to man in that building and every one comes to him for help with their problems. Not to mention his incredible charm cuts through so many others' nasty moods, lol. I think your colorful history will serve you well through nursing school, and def think you should proceed and follow that dream. I took a different path in life and I was an honor student who never even had an after school detention, I stayed out of trouble and was more reserved and cautious as a teen. I can meet by hubby's intellegence but something in me doubts that I'll be able to meet his great nursing skills, he def gives me something to work towards lol. Keep hanging in there and I bet you'll be more successful thank you realize, it's all about how much you want this for your life. Good luck, and I hope my story gives you some peace of mind and confidence in your decision.

We have navy blue scrub bottoms, with the cargo pocklets, and a white polo shirt with the school logo sewn on. We have two lab jackets, one long professional looking one to wear over dress clothes when we go into the hospital to prepare the night before our weekend clinicals and we have just a simple short lab coat to wear whenever, both jackets are white also with the logo sewn on. They're cute, way better than what I would have been wearing if I would have done clinicals at my old school lol. . .they have all white scrubs with the school logo on a red patch and the scrub top is collared with a zipper up the front lol

Yay! Im starting next month at Lancaster General College in PA, I just got my uniforms in the mail last week and am really excited :) I have a 4.0, transferring from HACC. We were scheduled to take the TEAS, but they dont use it as a tool to test before acceptance, it's used more for assessment to figure out how much every one knows, although I am pretty sure they would have put more weight into the scores than they led on, lol. However, a week before the exam date, they cancelled it, didn't tell anyone why, although I am not really concerned why, was scared to death of taking it lol so Im glad I got out of if. Congrats everyone who's starting, I'm counting down the weeks to orientation on Aug 15, start of classes the following week.

I was at HACC and applied to LGCNHS after they had already chosen the applicants for Fall 2011, so I didnt really think I would get in, they are sifficult to get into even if I would have applied on time (my friend who transferred last semester finally convinced me to apply after bugging me for a year about it). I was surprised when I very quickly recieved my acceptance letter. I will be starting clincals now almost a year earlier than I would have at HACC so Im really excited! I have been getting all the stuff in order, background checks, uniforms ordered, and such, and now that it is sinking in I am getting a little nervous. :uhoh21: But I am really really really happy that after 4 yrs of part time pre-reqs I finally get to start the good stuff. YAAAYYY!! Congrats to all that got accepted!