IEDave

My take: depends a LOT on which CRNA program you're aiming for. Yeah, your overall GPA's going to be a bit low, but you also have solid professional chops to offset that. My experience is that commitees will usually work with you on GPA issues - you may have to retake biochem for example. IMO the big issue is going to be your competition. In a top-tier school, it's going to be a tough sell. Lower tier, not so much. And...timing. If you're applying with a bunch of overachievers, you'll get aced out. Middle of the road applicants - you're in. End of the day - apply to several schools & see who bites. You just may be pleasantly surprised!

Pretty accurate for me - just about the last person you'd expect to be a nurse.?

Looking forward to the responses on this one. I am but a newb LVN, but in a former life was an IT guy. Bachelor's in CS, 23 years experience, yadda yadda, yadda. The minute I go into an interview situation, it's the same thing - "You oughta go into Informatics..." and the whole spiel; usually ends with "don't call us, we'll call you". Couldn't we just cut to the chase and tell me "No"? Anyway - you gave me one solid piece of info, namely that an Informatics degree by itself might not be enough. One of my biggest challenges in IT was that while I had a solid CS background, I had almost no business background. One of my first CS professors pointed out that it'd be a real good idea to have a dual degree in CS and something else. Wish I'd have listened. Might look into Nursing Administration should I opt to go that route.

One of the perks of a) NOC shift, and b) looking old is that I can hit the store during "seniors only" time, which is right after I get off work. Get there right after the shelves are stocked, pick your brand. TP, meat, frozen fruits (heck, I can even score durian fruit if you're among the brave), beans, mac & cheese...it's all in the timing. ?

Depending on where you are, call ahead first. I'm an LVN in Southern California, and every LTC/SNF is on lockdown. Nobody but essential staff in or out of the facility, period. As far as whether you wanna dive into this right now, frankly it's your call. Got 2 CNA's that were moonlighting at a facility that got nailed hard with COVID-19 and are on mandatory leave of absence from my current facility (asymptomatic, but have been exposed) and a couple of nurses in my circle (not current co-workers, BTW) sound like they're infected. We're short on PPE & cranking pretty hard to keep up, so you'll be diving in the deep end right now. Really, a public health clinic would be your best bet, or a doc in the box; something outpatient.

Ookay...PrettyNerd, your story could've been written by me. Got my LVN license in May, 2017. Was fired TWICE, am currently on my 4th nursing job. Yep, it happens. Intellectually one of the top students, NCLEX-PN in 85 questions, yadda yadda yadda. Then...reality. I won't bother with the gory details, suffice to say that a co-worker described nursing as being in a parallel universe. They're absolutely right - check your preconceived notions at the door. In my case, after 5 months of feeling sorry for myself & wondering if I'd ever get this figured out - started applying and had a job in just under a month working in a group home with developmentally disabled kids/young adults. Then, got a call from a former co-worker from the second place I got fired from - they needed a nurse, bad. $6/hour salary increase with full bennies, much more forgiving management, and a goodly portion of the staff are from that other place (sounds like there was a real bloodbath over there). So...it happens. I worked in IT for just under 25 years, so I've earned my chops in the employment world. In nursing, the rules are just different. Don't assume you're unhireable - you've got, what, 10 months on your resume? That'll work - just get out there and apply. A family owned SNF may be what you need, or hospice, or home health, or...mostly, just get out there and apply. Guaranteed, two months after you start the new job, the headhunters will be after you. You got this. ----- Dave

Just to muddy the waters further... Once upon a time I had a BS in CS (Bachelor's in Computer Science) with a 2.76 cumulative GPA. By hook & by crook, got accepted into a CC VN program (here in California, you get an LVN license instead of an LPN license) and...failed out. Redid it, and was a Dean's List student for the entirety of the 2nd go around VN program. The take home on this is, of the 3 degrees I hold (AA in CS, BS in CS, ASN in Vocational Nursing) the one I sweated bullets to pull off... was my ASN. Don't assume that going to a "mere" community college will make it easier. It won't be. Nursing school is difficult by design, because the profession is difficult. In your case, I'd look seriously into getting a CNA certificate and picking up some part-time hours on the floor first. You'll get the opportunity to see first hand what nursing's all about, before you decide.

True dat. Being "one of the girls" was, and still is, a real eye opener. In some ways I find it utterly fascinating to sit down and just listen to the conversations, because prior to being a nurse a lot of the topics were "hush-hush". As a nurse...um, yeah. Doesn't particularly bother me, 'cause at the end of the day I don't have to go home to any of it, being single. Staying out of it at work, still very much a work in progress. - Dave

As far as nursing being beneficial to a male; in my case, eh, sorta. As noted above, because my profession demands that I be able to communicate with people without losing my cool, that helps. What helped far more was losing 115+ lbs. of accumulated triacylglycerides from my adipose tissue (in English, I'm a whole bunch thinner). The change in how I'm treated is nothing short of astonishing. I still don't date, primarily because I'm planning on doing the LVN to RN bridge in another year-ish. Really don't want to put someone thru being ignored for 2-3 semesters. As far as girls/women being shallow - frankly, I'd say it's about equally true on both sides of the sex divide. I was pretty much an equal opportunity punching bag at 295 lbs. and as a nurse, well doggone it I still am. ? - Dave

Congrats, Calliope - my experience is if they're gunning for you, if you're paying any attention at all you've got a good 1-2 months warning. Look for behavioral changes in supervisors (suddenly getting nicer is a bad sign). End of the day, "trust your gut". They hammered that concept in throughout nursing school; I was terminated with cause 4 months ago because I didn't heed that (short version, DON and I did not get along, I was terminated for an apparent bogus charge). Gave myself some time off to regroup & plan on changing venues shortly (as soon as I quit having fun not being deluged with text messages?)

Don't have to tell me twice - did it for three years before moving up to LVN. Got one of my classmates a CNA gig at an LTC facility I was working in. Came close to passing out a couple of times, 'til I gave her some tips on how to pace herself. Vastly underrated in their importance, and I don't begrudge them a bit of what they get. Wish I could give 'em more. ❤

I admit to not having researched the issue, but part of the reason that collecting roadkill for human consumption in California was illegal had to do with the possibility of abuse by poachers. This has been an issue off & on for decades. In principle, I'm all for it (and I'm waiting for the day when someone turns in a set of antlers off of a skunk) since as mentioned previously so long as it's freshly killed & processed promptly and correctly it's a valuable source of animal protein.

Nice! Congratulations - a 3.66 means you're in the running. Out here in the San Bernardino/Riverside area some CC's are random selection & some are points, I don't know of any that still have wait lists. Big thing is what kinds of scores your competition is racking up. Get a bunch of people like me (prior B.S., LVN with 1+ years experience & good grades) and you may be out of luck. Hang in there, I'm not one of your competitors. ?

Not really possible to say, because it varies so much from CSU to CSU. Best bet is to speak to a nursing counselor at the campus(es) you're applying to. My "seat of the pants" assessment is that it wouldn't be considered a repeat, and so long as it didn't have a negative impact on your GPA you're good.

As for me, I was terminated just under a month and a half ago (long story, but it boils down to a toxic relationship with a DON, and an accusation of not charting something that didn't happen) and reading this post really made my day. Really wished I could've gone back to the facility and gotten a video of the following: (1) Put a fall mat outside the night entrance; (2) Find an empty bed; (3) Spread out a Hoyer sling on the bed; (4) I lay down on the sling with my personal belongings; (5) Get 4 of the staff to pick me up with the sling; (6) Open the night entrance door; (7) Have the staff run down the hall, carrying me in the sling, and throw me out the door onto the fall mat; (8) Have them all shout in unison "AND STAY OUT!!!"; (9) Slam the night entrance door shut. That would have been a proper termination! The terminated would've bought pizza for that one. In any case, I opted to use all the lovely overtime money I made because the DON refused to hire replacement staff until after the state survey occurred to keep me financially solvent while I finished up a prereq class for admission into an LVN to RN bridge program. Got contacts to back me up (2 of the 3 RN supervisors) and looking at moving into hospice, which is my dream job. So...not hurtin', and was warned about nursing's rather vicious reputation. Lessons learned, and movin' on.