lifelonglearner23

Great question, which means you are giving this lots of thought and asking folks what their experiences are prior to making your decision. I have a bachelor's degree in management and MBA; and had a very successful career as well. Then I decided I wanted to fulfill my calling. I researched what options were available to me and the costs associated with each option. I decided on a BSN accelerated program, but still had to redo all my prereqs prior to being accepted. Nursing school for me was a full time gig, but it was very rewarding. I start my first full-time RN job at a teaching hospital next month! Only time will tell where I will "end up" because life is a journey and for now I'm enjoying each phase. By the way, patient care is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. I remember a very good friend of mine telling me "I can't believe they pay me to do this." She was an RN for 40 years! After my first clinical day I had the same feeling. Yes, there is lots of yucky stuff, but when a patient says thanks they mean it and you know it! That is the best feeling in the world. And it is often the smallest of gestures. It takes determination to get to nursing school, to get through nursing school and to be a nurse. But the rewards are unimaginable. Best of luck on your journey.

I just want to express my disappointment in NCLEX results not being able to go to more than one state if you desire to be licensed in multiple states. It doesn't really make sense to me that things can be held up because organizations can't "play nice." My situation is I passed NCLEX, applied for a KS license, but my school has still not sent anyone's official transcripts (2 weeks post graduation!). That means no license. Thus the state I got hired in can not give me a temporary license. It looks like I will have to wait another 3-5 days once KS does get them! At least MO (the state I will work in for now) can help me out by issuing the temp that day; if I drive up! Does this make sense to anyone? If there is a nursing shortage it seems like one of the simplest things we could do is have NCLEX go to all states you want to send that initial application to! Just for the record, I'm glad I will be a nurse (soon!) because I want to make a difference and take a stance. This is the kind of stuff I would like us a whole to fix - small changes can make big differences.

Quick results and the state board check list!

Passed! So happy. Biggest take away for me was, trust yourself. I study hard, work hard and like to double check. I'm excited to start my new job in cardiac critical care on June 2!

I set my NCLEX date today for next Thursday, May 8th. I feel queasy! I will keep studying almost done with VIRTUAL-ATI but I can say I don't think I will ever feel completely READY. It is like that very first clinical when I was praying all the way, Lord please do not let me hurt anyone. I want to help people. Then I remember what an AWESOME day it was. I hope this will be the same. Breathing in and breathing out. Open to additional suggestions!

I will begin my nursing program in January 2013 and the reason I want to be a nurse in LTC! Things change, so I am trying to keep an open mind but your hit a lot of great points in your article. Thanks for sharing, from a wanna bee!