devyn renee

Lower GI bleeds smell absolutely foul (imagine wet dog food and diarrhea mixed together and heated up in the microwave). I have yet to experience anything beyond a stage II pressure ulcer but I'm pretty sure a stage IV on the sacral region would destroy me. PT's with really bad jaundice creep me out EXCEPT the newborns, they're cute regardless of the zombie-esque tinge. Also, extremely swollen testicles are so scary to me; I'm talking like so swollen they engulf the entire member and all you see is a foley coming out of two misshapen melons :barf01: I love watching the nurses suction PTs and cheer them on when they "get a good one." We had one pt recently whose suction canister looked like the Mexican flag. YUM. We also had a pt who decided it would be fun to fiddle with his foley and his urine came out looking like hawaiian punch. EXTRA YUM. Despite all of the gross things listed above the only thing I have ever gagged at in the hospital (thus far) are trays with half eaten food. YES, I know, I'm a weirdo, but the sight of a lukewarm, half eaten slice of turkey with mashed potatoes and veggies strewn all over a plate with gravy mixed into everything and utensils stuck all into things just makes me want to PUKE ALL OVER THE PLACE. I have excuse myself from a room once, take a seat and a deep breathe and tell myself I have seen much worse. ALL OVER A SLICE OF COLD TURKEY

I would say don't limit yourself on the type of degree you will be seeking. Regardless, an RN with a BSN and an RN with an ADN are both RN's and in almost all situations the make the same pay. Apparently some hospitals are only interested in hiring BSN's but is definitely not the case for all facilities everywhere. Finish all your pre reqs, apply to as many nursing schools as possible, and then pick from there once you gain acceptance. I personally am only applying to ADN programs because they have significantly higher nclex pass rates than the BSN programs in my area and they will be much easier to get into as a transfer student. Also, I have been volunteering in a mid-sized hospital for about a year now and the majority of the nurses, including the new hires, are ADN nurses. Our facility actually recruits new grads from certain local CC's (and not the universities) because they are well known for producing awesome nurses. I would say do your research and go for the degree offered by the best school of nursing you can get into, that will most likely be your best bet.

Minty Girl, you are not alone. I go to LBCC (also in CA) and it took me until my third semester to get into any of science pre reqs and I just BARELY got in. My anatomy professor was kind enough to let in 25 people off the wait list and I was 21st. It was similar for Chem. My fourth semester I got completely locked out of micro and physio (I was like almost 40th on the wait list for both classes) even though I had 47 semester units under my belt and registered the third day of priority registration. I now have 64 units and just managed to get third on the wait list for physio AND I have to go all the way to Compton to take micro because I wasn't going to be able to get in at LBCC AGAIN for the fifth semester in a row. The only advice I have is research the professors at your school to see how many students they let in off the wait list to give yourself the best chance of getting in and research other schools near you to see how impacted they are compared to your school. At my school you get to register the first day of priority registration if you're a notetaker for a DSPS student, so make sure you talk to admissions to see if there is anyway to increase your priority. When it comes down to it you have to do what you have to do to get to where you need to be. If this is what you really want you'll find a way! Good luck to you and GOOOO TARTARS!!!!

Not sure of the specifics but I was looking at my CC's graduation rates and they were around 10%. It looked at all students and was based on how many transfered to a four year university or earned a degree or certification at the school in less than 4 years. Since our school has about 25,000 students this really didn't surprise me. I really don't think it says anything definite about your school's nursing program, our school only accepts around 60 students a semester for nursing. Even if they all graduated "on time" it would barely make a fractional difference in our graduation rates. Personally it took me two and a half years to complete my pre reqs for nursing and if I get accepted on my first attempt, without a wait list, it will still take me around five years total to finish the degree. According to how my school conducts their studies even though I have graduated with a degree I did not do it "in a timely manner" and therefore I will not be one of those 10% who "graduated." I'm not sure if you're school does the same as mine but that could account for the seemingly low rates.

I just wanted to thank everyone for their responses! I have definitely become much more vocal with the nurses since this all happened which is definitely a good thing, especially for the patients I come in contact with. I know that everyone makes mistakes but for whatever reason I still kept hanging on to this one and hearing from you all made me feel a lot better. Although there really isn't all that much we can do in the hospital as volunteers I get better at what we do do every day which has got to be worth more then the few times I mess up. Much love to you all! :heartbeat

I took anatomy (our school teaches anatomy and physio separately instead of a&p1 and a&p 2), general chemistry, human development, critical thinking, and psychology. I believe it was 18 units total and I got A's in all of the social science classes and B's in both anatomy and chem but I did miss a ton of classes and could have easily gotten an A in chem. It really comes down to obligations though. I live at home with my mom, no children, no bills, no job, so school is pretty much my only priority. It is definitely doable but you're really the only one that knows if you'd personally be able to handle it. Good luck in your studies! :heartbeat

I am not familiar with that school in particular but the CSU system is an absolute mess right now so I am going to assume that, yes, it is probably very difficult to get into. If you're a transfer student it is going to be even harder since they already halted transfers for this Spring. I know my local CSU, Cal State LB, is almost impossible to get into as a transfer. Also as of Fall 2013 all majors at CSULB will become impacted and on the news it has been saying that the CSU system might have to cut over 6,000 students in the next year if they don't find any money soon. I don't mean to discourage you but it is scary out there for college students now. I personally am not even going to apply to any CSU's for nursing and am instead going for CC nursing programs since I have done all of my general ed and pre reqs there. Good luck! You're most likely (like the rest of us) gonna need it! :heartbeat

Since I am also a pre-nursing student and the OP mentioned volunteering I assumed she was look for the same "experience" I am, which may or may not be the same thing you interpreted it as. I thought she was looking for any kind of patient interaction that would help her prepare for nursing school not necessarily land a job since that is somewhat far in the future for both of us. As you said before, I think we are once again comparing apples and oranges.

The people that see it that way are the ones who quit halfway through the training for the program. I have been in LTC care facilities before but before volunteering the last time I had been in a hospital was when I was born and they scared the crap out of me. If you can even get into CNA classes down here the only places that seem to be hiring are LTC and that wasn't the experience that I needed. We obviously have significantly less training and therefore significantly less responsibilities in the hospital. We are not assigned to certain floors and given 50 patients, we stay on one floor and assist the nurses. We are never alone and it gives us a lot of time to ask questions and learn instead of just going through the motions. We also are only obligated to complete one four hour shift a week which is very appealing since I am a full time student. I am doing significantly more hours now because I'm not taking any classes, but next semester I can drop down to only four hours a week if I choose. Also the hospital I am currently volunteering at is where my CC does their clinicals AND there is a scholarship available where if you volunteer at this particular site you can gain automatic acceptance into one of our local nursing schools and are guaranteed two years of work at the hospital after you graduate. Is that enough reasons for you why I "work for free"?

Leenak, may I ask what is making you doubt yourself all of a sudden? I am pretty prone to self doubt as well as overwhelming anxiety and bouts of depression, especially when I look to the future. I know all this usually stems from me over-thinking things and if I can keep myself from looking too far into things I can usually keep myself in a good state of mind. I don't know you personally but I'm sure if you've made it this far you can definitely handle nursing school and eventually being a nurse. In the end you really just have to do what feels right for you. I hope your semester off will help bring you some clarity and peace of mind with whatever you decide to do. :hug:

I wanted to start off by saying that I'm a pre-nursing student and not an RN or anything else like that. I volunteer at a hospital near my house and am considered a "clinical volunteer" basically meaning we help the nurses with CNA type duties. I've been on the ICU for a few months now and I absolutely love it. The problem is that a couple months ago I was helping two nurses move a rather large pt from a cardiac chair back onto his bed. Somehow I ended up being the one pulling the pt as the two nurses pushed from the other side and most of the lines were on his arm closest to me as were all of the pumps. I have been in charge of watching the lines while moving a patient like this before but this guy was hooked up to about 8 different pumps and it was totally overwhelming. I straightened out all of the lines but one and I could not for the life of figure out where it was going, it was tangled around his arm and underneath him and it was just all over the place. As I was trying to figure it out the nurses started pushing him towards me. I should have told them I wasn't ready but I'm just a volunteer and it was clear they wanted to get this done quickly so I helped pull him over without saying anything. Long story short, the line I couldn't straighten out was attached to the guys PICC line and when we transfered him to the bed the lumen completely snapped off of the line. It was a bloody mess and the pt was obviously in pain and they ended up having to D/C the whole line. I just still feel so bad about it and I feel like the whole thing was completely my fault for not speaking up. My BF has tried to convince me it wasn't my fault and that watching the lines should have been the nurses job but I don't know. I have been on that floor a lot longer than most of the other volunteers and most of the staff think really highly of me and I feel like they trusted me and I let them down. I think mostly what I'm looking for here is how do you guys deal with it when you mess up? I just feel really bad about the whole thing.

The particular program I am in is considered a "clinical internship" by the company that recruits us but as far as the hospital is concerned we are volunteers. I put "clinical internship" in quotes because in the end we are volunteers and I am pretty sure they call it that just to attract more people. The whole "PFT. I'm not a VOLUNTEER I'm an INTERN." It's true we can't treat patients (that would be absolutely horrifying since we only have about 15 hours lecture and 15 hours clinical training) but we do get a significant amount of patient contact and we do care for the patients. Also I see what nurses do 20 hours a week and I know it is a far cry from CNA work which is mostly what we do as volunteers. I've been in the ICU for about 6 months and I have learned a ridiculous amount about nursing so I don't think it really matters that I don't get to "treat" patients I'm there to work hard and learn and that's what I do! I was just trying to let the OP know there are really good volunteer programs out there where you can get a lot of hands on experience with patients.

Pretty much everyone I know who wants to go to nursing is going for CNA certification so that is a another option. CNA work honestly isn't very appealing to me so I was looking into EMT-B while I wait for nursing school. In my area you only need to take a 3 unit lecture and 1.5 unit lab class to be certified so you'll be finished in one semester. From what I've heard from past EMT-B's and what I've read online it seems the pay isn't particularly good (starting out it is usually a couple dollars per hour above minimum wage) but I think the experience would be great for nurses-to-be. I feel like if you can handle the stress of being an EMT out in the field you can do anything. It is also significantly easier and cheaper than some of the other options you listed although they do tend to pay more. My BF is currently going to school for pharmacy tech and the program takes over a year to complete. I'm sure you could do it faster at one of those for profit schools but I'm scared to even look at how much money that would set you back. Since you intend on going to nursing eventually I would say just pick something that you are going to enjoy doing since it is hopefully only going to be a temporary job. Good luck! :heartbeat

I may have misinterpreted what you said in your original post and I am willing to admit that I also admit that I was not very clear in my own post. I am familiar with the CCNE position on the DNP but it doesn't sound as concrete to me as it does to you obviously. The 2015 deadline sounds more like a goal date to me and I honestly have a hard time believing that all masters NP programs are just going to poof out of existence in the next two and a half years. I also don't think it is likely that if a school choses to retain a masters level NP program after 2015 and their governing BON allows NP's with masters degrees to practice in their state that the CCNE will withdraw their accreditation from that program. I don't think any of these things are set in stone and the way you conveyed your information made it seem as though they were, hence the "spreading rumors" bit. I apologize that that comment offended you as much as it did but I believe you also should apologize because I have a strong feeling that you wouldn't have chastised me the way you did in your last post if I was a couple decades older.

If you just want to work in L&D as an RN you do not need a masters degree, HOWEVER if you want to actually deliver babies in the L&D you need a masters to be certified as a Nurse Midwife. This degree focuses a lot more on babies and their needs more so than a NP program. The rumor that schools will be phasing out masters degrees in nursing is just that, a rumor. There are currently only a handful of schools in the country that even offer these degrees so it's not even remotely feasible that in five years ALL SCHOOLS and ALL HOSPITALS will only teach/accept doctorate degrees in nursing. I have been volunteering in a local hospital for almost a year and I have never seen one person with a doctorate in nursing. I am personally opting for the ADN route because I live in CA and the CSU system is just an absolute mess right now. Also, spots for transfer students in their nursing programs are almost nonexistent. I am lucky that there are about ten community colleges within 20 miles of my house so it will be just all around easier for me to earn my ADN and then do the RN-BSN bridge at our local CSU because that program is not currently impacted (although all programs at that school will become impacted Fall 2013 so who knows). If a BSN was more accessible to me I would probably do that because It would take me less time than the ADN-BSN route especially since a decade or two down the line I would like the option of becoming an NP which will be easier in old age if I already have my BSN. Good luck in whatever you choose to do and hope this helps some! :loveya: