Lanceman

I'm starting an ADN program in Spring '06 as well. Just went and took my drug screen and got fingerprinted today. All I have left to do is get my physical done Friday and get a titer test at the health department tomorrow. I just got out of the military after six years so this will be a second career for me also. I'm still in the reserves, couldn't bring myself to let those retirement points be wasted, my luck I'll probably get called back in the middle of the program. I hear ya SMK1 on those fees adding up. I will be out of pocket over $2,000 just to start the program but my GI Bill will eventually reimburse me after I start. The total program will be almost $6,000 but that isn't bad considering that is about one semester at the private schools around here. Good Luck everyone :)

The program I am applying to is brand new and the class starting this Spring is their first. Well they just announced all the pre-reqs and such in August with the application deadline in October. Well a RN friend of mine was talking to one of the CNA instructors from the same school's Nursing Department while they were doing clinicals at her facility. She was told that they had received 250 applications but only 12 qualified for the new RN program so far (I qualified so I am one of the 12). They have 25 spots to fill. Apparently they are worried they won't get enough people to qualify. They are supposed to be sending out acceptance letters next week so I'm not in for sure yet but it looks good from my standpoint (I hope they don't cancel the class due to lack of students though). I think it caught some people by surprise that they stood the program up that fast and most don't have the pre-req's completed. I had done a bunch of common pre-req's and co-req's for RN programs over the last few years and happened to already have everything done when I decided to pursue an ADN and this opportunity came up. Just wanted share, talk to you all later. Lance

As long as both schools are in the same state (I am am assuming both are public institutions) you shouldn't have any problem transfering classes from one to the other. Going from one state to another can be a hassle sometimes and even trying to bring public university credits into a private one can be tricky.

I just finished 6 years in the military as an electronics technician and the decision is in the hands of the RN program selection board at this point. Should find out by the beginning of Nov. for the Jan06 start date.

THe program I am waiting on acceptance from factors in GPA along with many other things. They award "points" for GPA, HESI admission test, prior work experience, co-requisites completed, and support courses/electives completed. Out of 100 points possible I have 57.5. It sounds bad but it is a decent score considering I don't have any prior healthcare experience or training. Mine is boosted because I have many of the co-requisite and support electives done and that brought my score up to around where some of the people with healthcare experience are sitting at. The application process is made to favor LPN and CNA applicants. Luckily for me it looks like not that many have applied for the program this year.

I turned my application package in near the end of September, should know something around the 1st of November. The College here is standing up a new RN program and this will be the first class. Since it is a new program and we are in a rural area there have only been about 60 applicants for 20 spots. Things look pretty good, I had a 3.7 GPA and all the pre and co-reqs (except microbiology) completed in advance. Everyone applying to the program took the HESI Admission Assessment in September and I got the 3rd highest score (91%) There were some sub-70 scores so that eliminated some people right off the bat. I was told my "points" total was one of the highest so we'll see what happens. With it being the first year of the program I imagine there will be some bumps in the road for everybody because I don't think they get accredited until after their first class takes the NCLEX. The admission process happened so fast for this new program from the time they announced the new program to the application deadline that many local people that wanted to apply didn't have all the pre-reqs needed so that is one reason for the smaller applicant pool. Good Luck everybody

I looked it up on salary.com once, major cities had compensation packages approaching $200,000 per year, mid size cities around 100-150k and smaller places in the 50-100k range. It's all about location and size of the facility. When I say compensation package I am talking about pay, benefits, bonuses, etc all together. Not a bad check but in a big corporation or major hospital could you even imagine the amounts of buttkissing and backstabbing that would have to be done to achieve that position :) j/k

Seems like everyone is in agreement that they couldn't work in people's mouths all day. That's probably the answer as to why they get paid more right there. I certainly couldn't do it, dental-related work is about the only thing that creeps me out. As far as nurses making too little, they only make so little because they allow themselves to be paid that little. They are not indentured servants (in most cases) and could always travel or move to a more lucrative area if more money is desired. The policeman in my small town start out at $23,000 a year. Most get some experience and move to the bigger cities nearby where they double their income, but with that they more than double the risks they take and crap they deal with. Supply and demand.

Does the bitee have a legal right to defend themselves from the biter ? If I am ever bitten they will easily be able to obtain a blood sample from the nose of the biter :) Seriously I would at least call the police and have them arrested for assault, customer service goes out the window at that point.

We actually had a facility director tell us one time that if a Union was brought in the parent company had already decided they would shut the facility down. It's in the south they pretty much don't tolerate unions here, regardless of what the law says.

In my opinion, in any environment, bullying is a part of life. It is like any other human behavior, it is natural. That doesn't mean one has to be passive or run away from it but it will never go away. You see bullying in everything from government to religion to education to overall life in general. There will always be dominant and passive people. Life is not and never will be "FAIR", besides life is only temporary, don't take it so seriously, make it work for you and don't let it work you :)

If anyone ever physically touches you or hits you with a thrown object you have every right to call the police and have them arrested for assault. I wouldn't be thinking of a lawsuit, I would be too happy seeing them taken out of the hospital in handcuffs after I agreed to press charges :) To be honest if someone threw something or hit me out of anger the police wouldn't be able to get there fast enough, there would already be a brawl in progress......

Yeah thats why they let just about any other profession in the world go straight to a masters without any real work experience. Nursing shouldn't be any different. Pharmacists and Physical Therapists don't have 10 years experience under their belt when they get a Masters. If someone is motivated when they are younger, in school mode already, and has less responsibilities then they should get all the education available to them while they have the chance. I'm thinking of switching my major to criminal science/criminology anyway. About have decided nursing is not for me. I have been in the military and in law enforcement and both didn't seem half as under appreciated or stressful as the nursing profession. At least in law enforcement the abusive public one encounters can be put in their place (within the law of course), you get to yell at people sometimes, and occasionally get to tackle someone and put the cuffs on 'em, they oughtta let nurses do that :)

I don't mean anything bad or damaging to their career, etc. I'm talking about just giving a little stress back. My current supervisor used to pitch little fits and ridicule an individual's job performance in front of them and everybody. One day about two years ago, during one of these little rants 4 of us pulled out little pocket notebooks and just started taking notes of his behavior. He stopped and asked what we were doing. My co-worker stated "just taking notes on your behavior for our files". Then we stopped writing and someone stated "please continue". For about a month he was a perfect angel and to this day doesn't do the public butt chewings. Our employee evaluations got a little better also. Anybody else got anything similar....... I'm saving my idea about leaving union brochures in the breakrooms and common areas until I'm on my way to another job. They would be having meetings all month trying to figure out how to stop a union from coming in :)

It probably won't last long when they can't get an agency or travel company to come to their hospital. Travelers will just go somewhere else. After their agency takes their cut the nurse would probably be looking at making the same as a staff nurse, not going to get many travelers/agency nurses that way for sure. Two of the top incentives for travelers are housing allowances and higher pay, the company can't do that on 40 dollars an hour. Here's an article from the hospitals about travel nurses and what they pay. http://www.hpae.org/whatnew1020041.htm