CherylRNBSN

Oh my gosh, you have an embarrassment of riches here. Lucky enough to have two potential career paths. Prepared to pursue either. I have been a nurse for a very long time, and while I (mostly) love it, it sounds to me you clearly have a passion for music. You must pursue your passion. You will regret it if you don't. You are young enough that you have time to decide if you WANT or NEED to choose a different path. Since you clearly love teaching and music, BE a musician and BE a teacher. You must do this first. If you find that is not really want you want or need, re examine your goals. My Dear, you have the time. But... once you hit mid-thirties, reassess and seriously examine where you are and what you need/want. You would still have time to pursue nursing or medicine. After that, things get harder. TiME becomes an issue, family responsibilities become an issue, aptitude becomes an issue. Money becomes ever more an issue. Pursue aptitude and passion first but don't forget money and time. My two cents! Best of luck to you, my musician friend and possible fellow nurse.

Hi everyone, I am looking for any advice from all of you who have applied. I rec'd by BSN from UAB and want to apply for Spring. Here is my concern: my overall undergrad GPA is only 3.02. However, my last-60-hrs is 3.62. I am concerned that I may not be very competitive! Does anyone have any data on their admission statistics? Dare I hope any preference would be given for alumni? ( I have a sense that is a no...) I applied at Univ. of Southern Alabama and was denied. The admissions counselor informed me that they looked strictly at overall GPA, and I was not going to get in without a 3.5. So I am looking at other programs. I would appreciate any thoughts or advice. Thanks, and good luck to everyone!

This happens EVERY DAY. I work on a floor with LPN's who are not allowed to do IV pushes, hang blood, TPN, or start chemo.We each have 6 pts., but I must do those tasks. And the LPNs usu. leave work before I do, as a result. My girls have some male teachers. I doubt they would be comfortable inserting ear rings.

Dear Brand New Nurse, Allow me to address your ill-conceived comment. I will be 48 in one month. I have 7yrs. med surg experience and 6 yrs. critical care experience. I MANAGED a medical practice for 2 yrs. But after staying home to raise children (much like you, child), I returned to floor nursing after a 12 yr absence d/t divorce. I am VERY happily back at work on the floor. And doing very well, thanks to my years of experience. Can you imagine returning to work after a 12 yr. hiatus? Will I remain on the floor forever? No. I will return to school for post grad work and move on. But for now, I am VERY thankful for the opportunity to resume my CAREER. I ENJOY nursing, I enjoy my patients, and I enjoy colleagues of ALL ages. Your comment about being "on the floor at age whatever 50 or 60" is extremely arrogant, ignorant, and ill informed. It smacks of ***entitlement***. My dear, you are precisely why new grads get a bad rap!

Ha, I'm calling b.s. on that. It all depends on the individual nurses.

I can't believe they said that to you! It's none of their business. You are job searching, and you have every right to cast your net far and wide! I would NOT want to work at that hospital. Remember, YOU ARE CHOOSING THEM AS MUCH AS THEY ARE CHOOSING YOU! You are interviewing them, too! I'm stunned. Good luck!

Not sure where you are going with this, but it smacks of ageism. Any nurse should be evaluated on her PERFORMANCE, not her/his age. I am in my forties, and need glasses. A friend of mine, a psychologist, wears a hearing aid. You are prob in your twenties to pose this question. I know some great surgeons in their sixties and seventies. How long did Michael DeBakey work before he retired? Most nurses retire themselves by sixties, and prob only a few work til in their seventies. Management assessing EVERY nurse on their performance. 'Nuff said.

So many avenues open to you. Becoming an EMT is quick, and will get the adrenaline rush of being a first responder. Lots of valuable experience in emergency care that you can use while attending nursing school and then for job applications, which will protect you against the dreaded "exp. required". My path: LPN, then ADN, then BSN. I have never had trouble finding work, even after being out for 12 yrs. to raise kids. My point is, that you can gain experience in healthcare immediately. Work as CNA, EMT, or paramedic. Get your feet wet. I got BSN with ZERO in student loans due to CNA/LPN. Good luck!

please understand that you LOVE your mother. While you will care about (some!) of your pts., you will never love them as you do your mother. So that emotional vulnerability will not be there. Rather, you will likely find comfort in helping others who are navigating grief, sickness, and loss. B'c you know firsthand what that feels like. You will hopefully appreciate and realize the opportunity to pay it forward. Nursing will provide you an opportunity to do that work from an emotional distance. You will not feel that emotional when it comes to caring for strangers.

If you were only making out, they should NOT have fired you, IMO. A reprimand should have sufficed. If that is all you are guilty of, I wouldn't give this another thought.

Let's not make this into some catastrophe for nurseAdam. Was it poor judgement? AbSOLUTELY. Who here has not been guilty of that? Perhaps not in this way, or even in our professional lives, but we those of us who have lived long enough and are introspective enough, will realize our own failures and shortcomings and mistakes. If his behavior is a PATTERN, then it merits a tongue lashing and repeated terminations. Time will tell. Adam, you made a mistake. ONE mistake does not render you un-hireable, a bad person, a bad nurse. It renders you...human. Just like the first Adam. Welcome to the club of human foibles. Learn from your mistake, forgive yourself, resolve to move forward. I hope you will follow the advice of Tina, RN, b/c it is spot on. I can almost guarantee you the very worst thing your ex-employer will say is "Not eligible for re-hire". They will v likely leave it at that. And Tina's response covers that v nicely. All these strangers on All Nurses can judge this one behavior, but they CANNOT judge you. YOU MUST DO THAT YOURSELF. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE (or maybe not, that takes time, some people never know who they are, use this to find out. Take a good look in the mirror. Do you like what you see? If not, get going, and get growing.) Use this miserable, embarrassing experience to answer those questions. Who am I? What do I value? What do I contribute? What are my goals, my motivations, my strengths, my weaknesses? If you do that, you WILL be okay. Better that okay. This too shall pass. Best, Cheryl

Out of all other posts, this one has the very best and simplest advice. And it's honest.

Sorry, guess I'm just from med-surg, where EVERYTHING is your responsibility.

Earrings that are not replaced can cause the piercing to close, necessitating a re-piercing. New piercings can become infected, easily. To me, this is personal hygiene. Unlike make up, or clothing or "accessorizing" . It involves a disruption in skin integrity, and potential for infection. Patient teaching is a cornerstone of nrsg practice. I would therefore teach the child how important it is to keep earrings in place, until healing is complete. I am guessing this would take a solid yr. for children. I would inspect ear for s/s of infection, disinfect earring, and reinsert. All the while teaching student/pt. how to do this for herself. I am not a school nurse, or a teacher. These are just my opinions about the matter.

OK, well, I have to speak up for teachers here. They are EDUCATORS. They are busy EDUCATING. Personal hygiene...SCHOOL NURSE. They are just as busy as we are...

Are you serious? Who the &@#( has time to SLEEP? You must be working in some podunck hospital in the middle of no-where, where nothing is happening. Seriously, who has time to sleep?

As a mother of two school age children, I truly feel the earring should have been reinserted. I allowed my 11 yr old daughter to get her ears pierced, and OMG, we had a terrible time. I also had my ears pierced about that age, and had to have them re-pierced, b/c the hole closed. This also happened to my daughter. The issue is, these children are growing, have super great, healthy, fast DNA, and the holes close rapidly. So the earring needs to be in almost ALL the time. As they should only be wearing small studs at this age, I'm sure what the risk during PE is that would preclude earrings, tho admittedly, my child got hit during PE and it did hurt. But that was b/c it was a fresh piercing. While the ear is healing, that is an issue. But we all know Olympians compete while wearing earrings! So sports is not the issue. The issue is that the earrings need to be in place for the healing to occur. The longer they are out, the more traumatic the reinsertion. I do not consider this any different from my duties as a very busy med surg nurse. I put dentures in, remove them, give oral care, etc. Just this week, I provided a pt. with normal saline and specimen cups so she could remove her contacts before surgery. These are personal hygiene issues, and very much , I feel, my responsibility. Do I have a million other things to do and tons of charting? YES. But you do what the "patient" needs at that time, and reinsert the earring. Then move on to what's next. The pt. needed the earring reinserted.

I work Med-Surg. It's 1:6 (in the South), and it's TOO MUCH. It really ought to be 1:4. 1:5 would be "okay". 1:6, I RARELY leave before 8pm, and way too often it's 9pm. And I have EXCELLENT time mgmt skills. Good grief, what is the ratio on your NY hospital?

Last time I called in sick with a very obvious head cold, they asked me if I had a temp. Seriously? Why? I already felt guilty about calling in, don't know the point of asking if I had a temp. It annoyed me.

I AGREE! But how does this happen, where does one begin?

Yikes, Brandon, that's harsh. We all must "find our own path". I agree with you there. But few people do it ALONE. I know I have personally needed others to inspire and guide me. I daresay that you can also (hopefully) recall, and appreciate those who have guided, encouraged, and inspired you. New grads, young people, and yes, even us older, more experienced people, still have lots to learn. I do. WE ALL DO. So if I have the privilege of being able to help someone who is struggling, I will do so. But, admittedly, I welcome that role.Perhaps you do not. I consider it a role of teacher, healer, MENTOR. Maybe helping someone reframe something. Maybe helping them deal with reality. Maybe helping them realize that discouragement can be a learning experience itself....WHY are you discouraged? What VALUES lie beneath the discouragement (i.e. WHAT IS WRONG? How do you think you can contribute to "fixing" it? What do YOU do to make this better for others?) There are no pat answers. There is only an opportunity for growth and understanding. We can only help, or hinder, this process. OP is where he/she is. I'll meet her/him right there. I won't tell them to grow up, I'll help them do it.

Isn't that ILLEGAL? RUN for the door.

I've just reviewed, on Excelsior's website, the varying state's/stipulations required. Looks they are mainly concerned about people lacking OB/GYN clinicals (and something else, can't remember). But I agree w previous poster, who said some members of SBON are concerned w lack of clinical hrs. I do NOT mean to inflame anyone by saying this, but I am fairly certain I could have passed the NCLEX after completing the pre-req's and having 7 yrs. as LPN in hospital. Excelsior only documented what I'd already learned. That is NOT to say going thru program wasn't beneficial, and I did not learn things. I DID. Mostly I learned that a HUGE part of education involves "hoop jumping". I lamented the hoop jumping at University of Alabama yrs. later during BSN, when I had to ask my...forget what she was called, but it was like a chosen internship...I chose transplant. I was assigned to carry out duties that mainly involved filing and transferring pt info into her phone or laptop, can't remember. BUT IT HAD NO CLINICAL EXPERIENCE OR VALUE. I had a paper to write regarding a clinic experience, and had to ask her "Could I PLEASE come to clinic one day and actually SEE some transplant pts so I can write this paper?" (My school expected me to be in a clinical environment for this.) So I did. For one day. The rest of the time, as I was supposed to shadow a mentor for clinical experience, I....filed and entered data. But I wrote the stinking paper, thinking all the while I am PAYING for this, and receiving no clinical experience. (please know, NO knock to UAB. Fine program, I did NOT complain, so they had no opportunity to address the issue. It is more a complaint against the clinical co-ordinator of the transplant program who chose to make me ...file. But I actually understand this is rather common.) HOOP JUMPING!

Graduated WAAY back in 1993. I remember knowing, at that time, there were a couple of states that wouldn't license you. I thought CA was one. Don't really understand their rationale for licensing people up until 2003, what's up w that?

The California thing... not an issue for me, but I wonder what would happen since I have since rec'd BSN from University Of Alabama? Would they still deny me licensure based on initial degree? I am about to enroll in Master's program, too. My goodness, Excelsior was great for me, but I would hate to think I couldn't move to any state after subsequent degrees at public universities... Anyone know anything about this? (Not that I'm planning on moving to Ca).