SNmurse

I am a practicing LPN in the good ole state of Missouri, and I'm currently pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Health Sciences (End goal is to get accepted to Medical School). I know that exposure in Health Care as an LPN is great experience, but currently I am working in a Nursing Home (Our Hospital doesn't employ LPNs, sadly), and I'm wanting to broaden my experience while helping out my community. I have volunteered at my local Clinic, but I want to experience Emergency Medicine/Services, as well. My question is... Does anyone have experience in volunteering as an EMT or volunteering in an Ambulance and aiding with triage/emergencies? As in, are there any steps I would have to take? Would I have to take EMT classes? A background of my education - I am an LPN, I was a CNA for 2 years, I have an Associates Degree in Healthcare Management, and an Associate's in Pre-Medical studies. Thank you :)

I'm with you on this, I take my NCLEX tomorrow and the anxiety is killing me.!

I believe you are simply over thinking it (which can be a no no!), your Nursing Philosophy is what you believe in, my philosphy is; To always be compassionate and caring, to care for the over all being of my patient (physical and emotional needs) as well as being their advocate and speaking/standing up for them when the need arises. Everyone's is different, you'll figure it out!

I believe in a higher power and hold life and nature in high regard (not like the hippies would ), I hold life as sacred but am not defined or devoted to any one religion, just kind of my own path! With that being said, I respect and observe other people's religious beliefs, like if they say a prayer, I'll bow my head and say amen and what not.

Awesome! I wish I would've kept a journal of mine, but I was attacked by care plans 99% of the time!

With lab coat on Q. Doctor? A. Nope, I escaped from the mental ward upstairs and they haven't found me yet!

I came in through an odd way...My Mom is a Nurse (LPN) and works at a local Nursing Home, at the time I didn't have a job and my mom said I could get on at her facility as a CNA, reluctantly, I did. I had NO idea what I was getting myself into, but it was amazing. I had a team of 8 residents, 5 totally dependent on me. They would always tell me how thankful they were that I was their Aide and they would give a whole-hearted thanks for the hard work I did for them and they were SOOOOO appreciative! No matter how mad I was at the world, my residents made it all go away and it was then I had decided to pursue medicine and went to LPN school and here I am, a 23y/o LPN just starting his life long career. By the way, I did NOT realize there was a section dedicated to the Male Nurses and I have to say, it's really awesome!

I was actually treated with high regard from Doctors as a Student Nurse, whenever they would perform a bedside procedure, I'd be the only student to observe. I know it isn't fair to the female students, but I took it as an excellent learning experience and payback for all the harassment I had received from my classmates.

Ours were Geriatric - 6x6h Med/Surg 1 - 2x12h, 2x6h Med/Surg 2 - 2x12h, 2x6h ER - 2x12h, 2x6h ICU - 2x12h, 2x6h Surgery - 2x12h, 2x6h Surgical - 2x12h, 2x6h Mental Health - 4x6h OB - 2x12h, 2x6h Public health - 4x6h Home Health - 4x6h Team Leading - 6x6h ................................. Can't remember the rest of my clinicals, sadly... It really depends on how long your clinicals are (hour wise) and what days of the week you go. For us, we did ours with Tuesdays and Wednesdays for 2 weeks in each clinical until towards the end and then it went to Tues/Wed/Thurs for 2 weeks until clinicals were done ETA: We started our clinicals in January and they finished in July

Our LPN program started with 30 or 31 (can't remember), we graduated with 22 students. Looking through the history of the drop rates, it's usually 3-5 people/school year

:) Congrats! It's the start of your life long career! I'm done with clinicals/classes and graduate Thursday! I know what you mean about too much "spare time", I've actually been napping a lot (have to get back all the sleep I've missed!) haha...I wish you luck in your career!

Thanks guys! I'm actually kind of emotional to have reached this milestone in life! And you guys who are just starting school; it can be tough, but keep your head up, stay positive, and the year just flies by! It feels like yesterday, I had stepped into the classroom for the first time with people I've never met before, only health care experience was as a CNA. Made some really awesome friends though! (Only guy in class wasn't too much fun, but I learned a lot about women!)

This week is the VERY last week of being a SPN, my Graduation comes this Thursday and I am nothing but smiles! Our program is 52 weeks and I've had various hardships come up (Oh, life, how you smack us in the face sometimes), but I've done it! I've overcome any and all obstacles in my way, performed skilled nursing with increasing confidence (caths, ivs, suctions, NGtubes) and before I knew it, we come to the end. All I can think is, what a long strange trip it's been! With that being said, I feel I owe a HUGE thanks to everybody at Allnurses, I used to read through countless threads of other students, practicing Nurses, and anything else that may have caught my eye. There were times when I was down and I read about another student going through the same thing I was going through, I seen a few threads about experienced Nurses telling us their stories, and giving us the encouragement to continue, and it all helped increase my motivation and willingness to finish what I had started. A big thank you to everybody here, you may not know it, but you had a huge impact on me and aided in me getting to where I am and to go further on.

Calm down! Deep breath! I found my job a few weeks ago and I don't graduate until August! As far as working as a GPN, I can't answer 100% because it depends on your state's legislature, but in Missouri, graduate nurses (Whether LPN/RN) can work up to 60 days without a license, however, if you take your NCLEX in those 60 days and fail you can no longer work until you pass your boards. My honest opinion is take some time off! Take a semester off, get a job relax a little and get right back into the game! As for school, just look at it this way, you are 4 weeks away from earning something that you've been chasing for this past year, LPN school isn't a joke, by far the hardest thing I've done, and I know for a fact other people feel the same way! You can do it! Best of luck!

As far as supplies go, most (if not all) of ours were covered by our tuition and provided by the school, but I'm sure this will differ per program policy. You have the basic stuff, stethoscope, bandage scissors, WATCH (I say that in caps because I've gotten in trouble for not having one a few times now, haha!). As far as BP cuffs, I'm sure that will depend too, but our Program is against it, we were told to use in house equipment at our Clinical sites because readings can vary between equipment and want to effectively remain a controlled way of gathering data (same for SPO2 monitors, etc.) Some stuff that isn't needed but helps so much; Flash Cards (Alternatively, there is a program for Android phones called Flash Card Max, it costs like 2$ for subscription but it lasts for 1 year, you can make flash cards on your phone/computer and sync it to your phone and use them as virtual flash cards, a few of us delegate parts of study guides out so we can all effectively study together and get it together quicker, something to think about.) High lighters to help with notes A day planner (school may provide one) A nice clincal bag for all your stuff A rolling bookbag...those books are heavy! Audio Recorder (this depends on your learning style, if you are an auditory learner, go for it!) A diary/journal to complain about stuff (not trying to scare you off, but some days you will hate virtually everything you see, it's just the nature of the job!) That is all I can think of at the moment. I wish you luck in school! It's not the easiest thing in the world, but it is damn sure worth it! The last piece of advice I have is have some support system for when you need someone to talk to, make some friends and enjoy your first steps in a life-long journey of an amazing job.