tracimom

How hard is it to get hired. I'm taking the test and really just want on, to do something different than med surg. I'm an LPN though. I saw on their site that several positions other than Med-Surg are open to LPN's entry level. But at work I'm hearing it's hard to get on, the med test is a bear etc.

I have another crazy thought...after hours of really thinking this over...if it's impossible so everyone seems to be saying, to get in to any of these schools...then why bother? Doesn't someone have anything good to say about the process of getting into school? Any positive stories that don't involve the perfect student, or an LVN finally making it to the much coveted "RN" status? Geez guys give me a wee ray of hope!

If I have to I'll commute out of the city as well.. I lived in Tyler for awhile and their schools were good.

My plan is to apply everywhere...then see what happens. I was just wondering what the general wait time is, how hard it is to get in..etc. I noticed there are 7 schools in the dallas area. I have average grades...B average..I'm not killing myself for the 4.0 and i'm not killing myself worrying about getting in as many nursing students do. I want to get in, but I'll get the ulcer in school, not waiting to get in! I have a few more pre-reqs allowing time to bring up the grades. Just wondering how bad it is out there...I know in New Orleans it's pretty bad, but there aren't near as many schools. Thanks for the info! Any advice would be great!

Anyone going/have gone there? Problems getting in. Horror stories? (I'm in Louisiana and I ask because we have a college here that the admission staff loses everything and that seems to be the norm.) How long does it usually take? Waiting lists, etc. Typically nursing school questions. If they have a LVN-BSN track. Thanks for the info!!! Traci

how about the pay for an LVN? I'm getting ACLS is two weeks and considering pals.

What is the starting pay in Dallas for an LVN anyone know?

Where is parkland? We're looking in the Plano area, places like Euless and Grand Prarie. I liked the fact Baylor pays their employees health insurance, I pay $300 a month now, for really crummy insurance. I want the best training though and I plan to finish school at UT Arlington. I have a semester left before I can apply for BSN, I'm an LVN now. Do these places generally pay diffs for ACLS and PALS? Thanks for your help

update.... the cna I was discussing in the original post was fired last week. What amazes me about this is she was totally devestated. Shocked that it had happend. While I'm sad she lost her job, I hate that for her, and I really do. She didn't need to be on the floor questioning the nurses and telling family things she shouldn't have. I am upset with the way it was handled. I think anyone in jepordy of losing their job should at least have an inkling before they get fired. Isn't that what write ups are for?

How far is Plano from "Dallas"? I'm a certified doula as well as an LVN so I do better with babies and mommies. However at the present I'm on an oncology floor.

I don't know if this has been addressed, but what should you expect as far as pay as an LVN in dallas. Also...we're not very familar with the area and if any has any info on neighborhoods, schools etc. I would greatly appreciate it. We're looking at Irving, or Arlington. Thanks :)

Where I live *louisiana* you'd be fired for identifying yourself as a nurse. That's like me telling a patients family I'm a physician, I know the patient better than he does, however does that give me the right to tell them I'm the doctor...same thing.

I'm in a hospital now...however I've worked LTC. One gets sick and tired of being yelled at by family members because their loved one was not taken care of properly. I've seen CNA's pretty much do whatever they've wanted because they knew they weren't going anywhere...you end up with DON's telling you to write it up...ok...but that never seems to help, and you end up doing extra paper work on top of the mountains you have. So I left to go to the hospital. Where i've had a CNA tell me she wasn't getting admit vitals...that was my job. No my job is to assess them. However now I just get the damned things, it's easier than getting someone to lay down her magazine to get them. In my hospital they are only responsible for 10 patients. And I should also mention I was a CNA part time while in school.. COME ON. I did my job without constantly being prodded. We are all adults. Including the CNA, we must be accountable for our jobs. All of us.

To the CNA above who just said "lay off of them" because of CNA's like I just mentioned in my post above, I prefer to work without CNA's. I'll be done with school in a year and I'm going to an ICU position to avoid having a CNA. I much rather be responsible for the total care than spend half of my shift following an adult to make sure they've done thier job. Now I'm not slamming on the good CNA's there are some. But they seem to be few and far between. For every one great CNA there are 10 bad ones. It's a horrible feeling to have a great time during the down time of the shift with your cna and an hour later realize she made up most of your I&O's. I just rather do it all myself. Then if something is wrong, or not done there is only one person to blame.

I read some of these posts about crappy CNA's. So I just thought i'd throw in a war story as well.. I still can't believe this happend, but here it goes. So I had a patient on the oncology floor die, his wife of 50 years at his bedside. He was late 70's I think...so she calls for help, me and the RN I was working with went down to the room and here comes the CNA *one of those older ladies that's been a CNA forever and knows all*, no pulse, no apical pulse or any heart tones for that matter, respirations that were just reflex, no gas exchange was happening, and they were sporadic at best. He then had a muscle spasm in his left arm. So none of us are saying much, the wife is crying "is he gone?" He's clearly gone, but the RN is still assessing before we say anything. The CNA pipes up "Oh no honey, see his arm that must be a pulse, he's fine" I thought the RN was going to have a stroke, you could see the vein pop out of his forehead. Of course this sweet man was gone, and his wife was devestated. I cannot believe the nerve of the CNA to just jump in there and then later question us as to why we were upset with her.