JG_0311

If your boss will work with you try and get weekends only, the RN program I just finished was monday-thursday, I worked as an LVN on friday and saturday (with a wife and three kids added to the mix). You will most likely need to cut back on your hours in order to get through the RN program. It is time consuming, there is a lot of work to do outside of the class room, and you are going to need to free up time in your schedule to do it. It is hard, but if you are willing to make sacrafices (time, money, sanity :) ) and your employer is willing to work with you, then it can be done.

Is this a seriouse question? CNA's are allowed to take vitals and assist with ADL's. As an LVN I give meds, assess patients, start IV's, place NG tubes, and foleys, and basically do everything else that an RN can do except for passing IV meds. Please educate yourself before making comments like that, it's a bit insulting.

Which is funny, because oftenly it is a male MD delivering the baby.

It happened to me twice in one night, the funny thing is that it wasn't the patients refusing me it was their husbands. One of them was really rude about it, I felt like asking them if they had any other prejudices that I should be aware of when finding a replacement nurse. It just strikes me as being silly, most of them have male MD's, the majority of the Gyno's in my area are also male, and that is way more personal than anything that I'm going to be doing. So why is it such a taboo to have a male nurse. I know that some people have the belief that nursing is a woman's profession but men have been involved in nursing from the very start ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_in_nursing ). If you don't want me to provide your care because you don't like the way that I do it, then I can understand. However, I don't use my member in the performance of my job duties, so don't refuse me simply because I have one.

Perhaps you could try touching bases with the recruiters that work in the human resource offices. That is how I got my job, I emailed a hospital to ask about openings, they emailed me back to set up an interview, at the interview I was hired on the spot. That may help you to become more than just another faceless applicant

In my experience males don't usually fit in very well, the female nurses may treat you nicely, but in the end you are still a man, and there is a barrier that exsists because of that. The exception seems to be with the gay males, they are frequently welcomed with open arms and treated like one of the girls.

We had 5 males in a class of 29, only one was gay. The gay male nurse is such a ridiculous stereotype anyways. Out of all of the males nurses that I have worked with only a few have been gay. Most male nurses are just men with families to support that are looking for a good paying, stable career.

You mentioned age specifically, may I ask your age? Some companies may hesitate to hire/train someone if they feel that they won't be working for their organization for very long.

Would any of the nurses that have told you about the awful things she is saying regarding you and your husband be willing to go to administration with you? If you can get one or two to go with you, then I think that you should go in and make a complaint about her. Also, if they are willing to testify in court, you can sue her for defemation of character. A celebrity has to prove a statement is untrue in order to sue for defemation, a regular person just has to prove that a defamatory statement was made. As far as the theft of drugs goes, you may want to report what you suspect to your states board of nursing, and allow them to investingate it. Lastly, if you do decide to confront her, then do so with a witness that you can trust, that way she can't go to administration making wild claims about you.

I think we have all been there before. As time goes by you will become faster at doing the paper work, and you will streamline your nursing skills (med passes, etc) to where they won't take so long to perform. Before you know it you will be mentoring some new grad, and you'll wonder when it all became second nature to you.