tritons09

I never experienced stigma from anyone but the expectations of my peers and instructors (if they found out) was much higher. For me, my own personal baggage was my biggest issue. I finished my bachelor's in science before discovering nursing...I was pre-med, took all the classes that would look good on my transcript, was trying to be 'groomed' for med school the best way I knew how and just didn't make the cut. But, turns out, nursing was a MUCH better fit for me. It wasn't any less rigorous of course work (sometimes harder in some ways!) but there was a sense of 'not living up to my own expectations' I had to let go of. Nursing is not Medicine and Medicine is not Nursing, they are distinct but interdependent specialties...once I realized this, everything changed. Would I consider DNP or maybe even taking another crack at med school? Maybe, but the 'new' of nursing school hasn't worn off yet and I'm still enjoying my new career path

Hi All! I'm in my last year of my associates degree for my RN in California (San Diego) and am starting to look at the job market out of state since we're both tired of So Cal and love the PacNW. My husband and I are hoping to make a move up to Portland but I've been hearing that it's suffering from the same kind of job market we have here in San Diego...lots of nurses, lots of openings but not enough experienced nurses to fill vacancies, lots of competition. I'll be jumping into a BSN program as soon as I graduate (already have my BA) but am not sure about opportunities such as registry or long term care just to get some experience before applying to a hospital (though I hear OHSU has a new-grad program for BSN RN's) Any suggestions as far as employers to consider, routes that would lead to a hospital position or additional certifications to consider to increase my marketability as a new grad would be VERY much appreciated!!

Hi CalemoEKG! Thanks for the response! From everything I've been told it sounds like Kaplan students have a very good rep. while doing their clinical rotations with hospital staff so I'm excited to get started. Since I'm transferring in some credit, I'm going to be hitting the ground running...how many hours a week are you actually in class? when do clinical hours start?

Hi y'all! I'm in the process of applying for the RN program starting up in January course at Kaplan...I was curious to see what others who recently started the program think of things so far and if there're any recent alums who can give some of their impressions from their experience at Kaplan (would you recommend it/not/why?) and their current job prospects... I already have a bachelor's degree but, by itself, it doesn't amount to much in terms of job opportunities...that said, already having my degree blocks me from getting into public and private school BSN programs period. The only local option I found was to do a Master's at USD for something like $80,000. While I'd have a master's it wouldn't be an MSN and I'd only be getting an RN and a graduate degree out of it for more than what I'd be paying at Kaplan (since I'll be getting some of my GE's transferred in). The other option was community college but with the immense waitlists just to get the pre-req courses I'd need done and then getting through the waitlist it'd be years before i'd even be able to start. I'm curious to see if anyone has other ideas that would allow me to stay in San Diego, but would be cheaper than the full cost of Kaplan... I'm not really concerned too much about the cost. I got my bachelors from UCSD, a public university and as an in-state resident...my combined costs of tuition, books, fees and housing was just shy of $25,000 so considering Kaplan isn't subsidized by the tax-payers it's not that exorbitant of a tuition price-tag for two years @ $54k, especially considering it's a science degree