kirbi

Personally, I think you want an awful lot and aren't willing to make many sacrifices. 15 months? Hardly no time at all. Put it in perspective and suck it up! But, it doesn't much sound like you will, so you may as well go ahead and take out loans. You think you're stressed out? "Three billion people — half the world’s population — live on less than $2 per day, unable to meet their basic human needs. Malnutrition, lack of health care, illiteracy and substandard housing breed desperation, disease and daily suffering. Poverty traps future generations in a vicious cycle without hope or opportunity. In an increasingly globalized world, no one is immune to these problems. Most people living in developing areas are self-employed. An individual wakes up each morning knowing that he or she must figure out a way to eke out a living, whether it be by milking buffaloes, re-selling items in a market, making tortillas, weaving baskets or other similar activities. Even though they work from dawn to dusk, there is no money left over to expand their businesses or improve their quality of life. All that they earn goes toward basic survival. But why is this? In general, it is because local money lenders are often the only available capital source, and they provide business loans at exorbitant annual interest rates of 300% to 3,000%. Under this system, virtually all of the person’s financial gains are passed directly to the money lender. The individual does not reap the rewards of his or her own hard work." http://www.unitus.com/wwd_whatismf.asp Be grateful you have the opportunities you have and such a high standard of living. Private school, indeed. kirbi

Since you are only working part-time, I am sure it can be done without too much difficulty. You will need to work hard. A&P2 is a lot of work. Algebra,,, well, I thought Algebra was a fun class but not everyone thinks so. The health class sounds interesting and doesn't sound too heavy. I think you should go for it. my 2cents, kirbi

My school used a point system too, but it was sort of based on GPA. They gave you so many points for each A, B, or C you had in your pre-req's. Then, you also had to have a certain GPA in your science pre-req's and another GPA for the non-science pre-req's. Plus, you could get points for taking more than 12 units and for being a CNA. Technically, you could get in with one C in a science course such as A&P. Then, there was a lottery system for 10% of the space available. I say "technically" but in reality there were 280 applicants for 80 slots and they started at the top of the point range and pulled people top-down until they reached their quota. Nobody, except the 8 lottery folks, got accepted with less than a B in their pre-req's and straight B's wouldn't have gotten you far either... you had to have over 75% A's to get accepted. Anyway, they "used" that system when I got in, but they have since changed it to go mostly by overall GPA, extracted GPA, penalties for number of "withdrawals" on your transcripts, etc. They will still have the same pool of candidates, just a little different way of determining how they divvy up the slots. I think if you had A's in everything else, one C would probably be okay. Sorry I don't sound more optimistic, but many programs are derned tuff to get into! kirbi

If you do decide to drop the class, do it early in the semester. Some schools allow you to "drop" the class early with no penalty, but if you wait you have to take a "withdrawal" which can be a very bad thing when trying to get into nursing school. Some schools penalize you for having "withdrawals" when evaluating your academic record. Mine just started and thankfully that happened the semester AFTER I got accepted because I barely made the cut as it is. I agree with the poster who suggested you calculate the grade you could possibly get with the remaining points in the class. If you can only now get a "C" or lower, I would drop the class IMMEDIATELY (if there is still time to do it without penalty) and retake it next semester. It's very very difficult to get into nursing school with a "C" in one of the prereq's.... not impossible, just damned difficult. My 2 cents! kirbi

Good luck to you! I hope this works out for you this way, 'cuz I DO NOT recommend taking Algebra and Stats together. You really need to be solid in Algebra before starting Stats. kirbi

HELLO! Assault and Battery is a criminal offense! You absolute did the right thing. I am sure, in their more lucid and mindful moments, like perhaps in a court room, administration would have to conceed that your actions qualify as "making a difference" even if it wasn't to their liking. kirbi

When I found out I was accepted into nursing school, I did a google search on "Why I love being a nurse". Most of the hits I got were for sites about "Why I hate beign a nurse" This was the first site that had a lot of positive stuff to say about it and I have been hooked ever since. I have learned so much just from these boards! :) kirbi

It does kinda give folks the impression that there is only one nurse in the whole ER and that the place is swarming with docs who do pretty much everything, including occasionally following their patients home to make sure they are taking their meds. Now, in REAL LIFE, I had an ER doc call me on the phone the next day to explain some test results and tell me how important it was that I take the medication he was prescribing for me, which was rather shocking. But, if he had showed up on my door step, I'm pretty sure I would fainted dead away. kirbi

Due to the community need here in our county, the community college ADN program did just that and accepted an additional 20 students this semester, making our class size 80. They hired extra staff and the local hospitals said bring 'em on in and made room for us at clinicals. Plus our local state university BSN program is only 4 years old, getting ready to graduate it's first crop this year. kirbi

just to clarify: i mean this in a general sense, not you specifically. it sounds like you are articulating yourself very well here! :) kirbi

that whole "feeling bad for them" thing is a guilt trip. it is a perfectly healthy response to feel angry when someone is trying to manipulate you. ignoring it doesn't do you or them any favors. be courageous... speak your truth... simply, calmly, without apology or agenda. "when you really tune into how you feel when you withhold your truth to protect yourself from conflict and loneliness, you will discover that honoring yourself by telling your truth, without blame or judgment, is deeply empowering. you will feel on top of the world when you finally have the courage to speak your heartfelt truth when your intent is to support your own and others highest good." effective communication: telling your truth... or not - by dr. margaret paul. http://www.innerbonding.com/index.lasso?did=content&content.article=55

They say that public speaking is people's #1 fear. Like most things, though, it usually does get easier with practice. kirbi

YAY! Congratulations!

[quote name=lpn2bee05 but ya know---my classmates actually thought I was the one in the wrong, because "poor...." ...and with my luck i end up with that type on my 1st job....:chair: [/quote] "Helping" is doing something for someone that they are not capable of doing themselves. zSB(3,3);if(!z336){var zIsb=gEI("adsb");if(zIsb){zIsb.style.display="inline";zIsb.style.height="0px";zIsb.style.width="0px";}var zIss=gEI("adss");if(zIss){zIss.style.display="inline";zIss.style.height="0px";zIss.style.width="0px";}} "Enabling" is doing for someone things that they could, and should be doing themselves. I think its important for a nurse to understand the difference for oh so many reasons. kirbi

When someone gets into a habit of always asking me for things, especially without reciprocating, I have learned to set boundaries, whether it be friends, family or co-workers. You have the right to say "No" without explanation, excuse or reason... just plain "No." There was a great book out about 20 years ago or so called "When I say No, I feel guilty" that deals with this topic and assertiveness. It's still a great read. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553263900/002-9874843-5108833 kirbi

I live in CA and we had to submit criminal background checks to the school and to all hospitals where we do clinicals.

It's on a skills assignment on documentation. We're given "commonly used phrases" that we're supposed to translate into standard English. Kirbi

Good for you for going to the Dept. head! Don't you worry for a minute about the rest of the class! You just do what you need to do for you and let the rest of them worry about themselves. It's YOUR education at stake here, not your popularity... you weren't planning on running for Student Body President anyway, were you? Keep yours always focused on the goal! Kirbi

Thanks Fraggle and landonsles!

Hi. First semester ADN. I need assistance deciphering the meanings of two phrases, please. I looked in the books and on the net, but couldn't find anything helpful. 1. "3 way pressures" 2. "Preop on call to OR" Any clues would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! Kirbi