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A glass of chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon is the only thing I have to look forward to around 5 pm. I have a glass every night and maybe a few more if I'm not working the next day. It doesn't negatively effect me. I even get up and run at 4:30 the next morning. It's the running joke on our unit that my husband hands me my glass as I walk in the door.

The most important thing is planning ahead. That means meal planning, grocery shopping and prepping your meals and snacks. It's worth it for your waistline and your pocketbook. I am a huge proponent of exercise. It is necessary whether you need to lose weight or not. You are about to embark on a profession that requires you to be physically capable.

Take the withdrawal and learn from it. And, no more excuses. You either do the work or don't join the program the second time (if your school allows that). If you feel that you will be the same type of student, with the same work ethic, don't take a spot away from someone who will put in the effort.

On my unit! I am a new grad at 44 and am another inpatient oncology nurse. We have a lot over the age of 40, and the younger ones are all married and pretty serious at this point. No partiers, other than us old wine drinkers.

Not enough to counteract the bad eating habits I am now developing as a nurse. I used to be a marathon runner and was very healthy. Now, I'm too tired to go for a run more than 4 times a week and am gaining weight at quite a clip.

You'll get through it. It doesn't really get any easier, but you just adapt and go with it. I graduated in May and am working as a nurse. I can still remember half of class crying after that first week. I didn't. I waited until second semester, and a D on a test to break down and threaten to quit. As far as the study groups, I tried to join 2 different ones and didn't enjoy it. The first just gossiped and wasted my time. The second was so serious I thought maybe my life actually depended on a 100%. I did my own thing and ended up with 2 A semesters and 2 B semesters and am very happy with those grades. Do your own thing because you know what works best for you.

We did, and thank god! Practicing venipuncture on a fake arm doesn't prepare you for a vein that moves, and a person that jumps as soon as you poke them. Or someone who is afraid. It is an important aspect of nursing school, in my opinion. I let almost everyone in my class stick me for their first time because I have amazing veins. Then, they moved on to harder people.

Now. :)

Is getting hired as a charge nurse when you are a brand new grad normal for nursing homes? I'm thinking this is crazy.

Personal trainer, then stay at home mom. Started nursing at age 44.

I am an oncology nurse. I'll hug any patient that needs a hug. My patients are dealing with a lot and can be very emotional. If something as simple as a hug can make a difference in their day, I'm happy to do it.

I wanted to end up in oncology. I pursued oncology, got a job, and regret nothing. On rare occasions, we get a med surg overflow patient. I may not be completely up on everything but I can cover a shift for someone. I struggle with the occasional psych overflow patient because I'm just sucky at it. But, again, I just do the best I can.

I know it seems ridiculous, but it does take longer to get the ADN, then bridge to the BSN than it does to just go straight for the BSN. The big difference is price. My entire BSN degree, going the ADN route first is a total cost of $23,500. I am only paying $2500 of that because of scholarships and tuition reimbursement through my job. I took all my BSN prereqs during my ADN program and only had 2 more classes to take this summer, after graduation. I have to take 11 classes during my BSN, all online and will go ahead and take a full 2 years to do it. The beauty of it is that I got my job, in a hospital, after graduating with my ADN and can work during the whole BSN program. I like that I will be 2 years ahead in on-the-job skills and experience. I didn't go into this whole nursing thing thinking I would end with ADN, so there weren't any surprises for me. It is what it is. Good luck with everything. Remember that it's all temporary and in the end, you will be a BSN-RN. :)

It depends on how much time you have and how much money you have. I chose the ADN route and am now in my BSN bridge. My ADN was paid for by scholarships, but would have only been $11,000 in total. Then, I got my job in my hospital and will get $10,000 tuition reimbursment through the hospital. My bridge is only $12,500, so my total out of pocket payment for my BSN will be #2,500. Not bad at all. It will end up taking an extra year but well worth it.

While in nursing school, I worked as a CNA in a hospital on weekends. So, that was 14-16 hours per week. I was also in the honors program and was taking extra classes for that so I averaged about 18 credit hours per semester and 9 or 10 for summer semesters. Oh, and I'm a wife and mom. Did I do it? Yes. Was it hard as he**? Yes! But, it was a temporary situation, and I knew I would be more hirable by working.

Make a quick phone call to HR in these hospitals and find out.

People that are happy don't need to talk about it as much as people that are unahppy. I, for one, love, love, love being a nurse. It's an amazing profession. I am not overworked or underappreciated in any way. I do have bad moments but they are outnumbered by the good and incredibly ones. Don't worry.

What made you decide to become a nurse? There is usually a patient story in that, whether it is you as the patient or a family member. Talk about that. Have you taken care of a loved one?

As far as skills, you'll be fine. You'll get them in clinicals. However, you may have a tougher time finding a job at the end of school. My cohorts that didn't work struggled a little more to find that "in". Many of them searched longer, or took jobs that weren't their first choice, second choice, but only choice.

Out of our original 64 I think we lost about 7-8. Then, in our second year, LPN bridge students joined us, and filled in those spots. So, we ended with almost the same number we started with. The worst one was the student that made it the full 2 years, and failed out of the program on the very last final. We are still sad about that.

As long as you are covering both in your lecture, you should be fine for NCLEX. As far as which clinical to pick, I feel that I had more learning and hands on care in peds. OB was a lot of standing around, waiting. I only saw one baby delivered, only did a couple of dilation checks and we were just kind of in the way of the nurses. In peds, I learned how to deal with children, and more importantly, parents. I saw a lot of interesting things.

If they have fluids running continuously, I still aspirate at least once per shift. I need to fully know what I am working with.

Thank you for your post. I am a new grad and have been in oncology for 5 months now. I have actually cried with a few of my patients at this point. I am touched by them all and blessed to be a part of their lives, even if it's the hardest part. I just hope I help them in some small way, whether it be pain relief, a hand to hold, an ear to listen to their fears, or the professional nurse who argues with their doctors on their behalf. I think you are in the right place and your emotions are completely normal.

The expensive school won't benefit you in any way. Is there another BSN option? It seems so time consuming to me to go from LVN to ADN to BSN to NP. Do you have a local university to skip the ADN step?

I think you should follow your heart and do what is right for you. Nursing is hard and if you don't like it in school, you'll despise it in real life. Get your business degree and a cosmetology license and open up that business.