RNinC

Thank you all for your input! I was thinking more about mentioning it my cover letter (rather than on my resume), but decided against it! Unfortunately, my application did not make it to the next level. The good news is that I am going to a career fair tomorrow.

Hi! I am currently working on an application for a Mother/Baby unit. Is it a bad idea to mention my own baby? On one hand, there is nothing quite like personal hands on experience with a baby and breastfeeding (emphasizing lactation in my application because I'm working towards my IBCLC) and it also explains a large gap in my employment history. On the other hand, I don't want them to think I will be unreliable because I have a child. I know that legally they can not discriminate against mothers, but I've always been told it's sort of a don't ask don't tell situation. Any thoughts?

Are we supposed to use the same answers on the first few questions of the work sheet each week?

I'm in the art class now. There are a lot more outside requirements than I thought there would be, because of that it will end up being the lowest grade I've gotten through the entire program. Oh well. The DB posts are pretty easy, weekly quizzes are easy with unlimited tries, 1 pt extra credit available each week by doing an extra DB post, and there are weekly "journals". The journals are what have bitten me in the butt. You are supposed to go view different types of art and take a photo of yourself with the piece of art to prove you did it, then you have to write 600 words about it. A few times I wasn't able to do it so I missed out on the points.

I'm going to be focusing on a community issue and I am also a little confused.

This is only slightly related - I have to say that I am not that impressed with this class already. Just for the fact that they are asking us to watch a video (from 2003!) about the nursing shortage crisis, specifically how bad it is in California. I lived in California. I applied for jobs where there were 2,000 applicants for 3 positions. There is an un/under employment rate of 47% after 18 months in California, meaning 47% of the people that graduate from nursing school will not be working as a nurse after 18 months. I'm in a different area of the country now and it's not looking much better. I really wish people would stop perpetuating this idea that there is a nursing shortage and that nursing is so in demand. The number of for-profit schools that have popped up across the nation since 2005 is insane. They're graduating hundreds of students every 3 months. There are plenty of nurses. If there is a shortage it exists only because hospitals don't have the budget to hire/train new nurses. **Stepping off my soap box and getting back to this weeks DB**

I'm in!

I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I emailed my adviser to be sure that the 2 courses I am signed up for in the fall were all I needed to graduate and to also see what I needed to do to graduate and this was her response - "Assuming you receive passing grades in the classes you are registered to take, you will have completed all of your course requirements this Fall. Just be sure to apply for graduation when classes begin (and before the deadline of Sept. 30)." And congratulations!!

There are actually 2 professor "F"s. A male and a female.

I only called her once before the semester started (thinking it was important and not that she just wanted to tell me to read everything twice and with my finger under each word). I do not think you need to actually call her, although 10% of your grade is "professionalism and participation" so it might not hurt to at least call once so you look like you're actively participating. Obviously I don't know how I've done on the P&P portion of the grade yet. Just do your best to figure out when the assignments are due. Open the examples/details AND the rubric and use that as a guide for all of your papers. (I literally open both documents and try to make mine a mirror). For one assignment I only opened the rubric and was dinged for not having something from the details page and vice versa. Is your textbook online? We had to take a weekly quiz (though she eventually changed it so the due date for all quizzes/connect assignments weren't due until the end) and drag and drop grammar activities that take forever and are only worth a few points. They are not too difficult, though. You can use the book for the quizzes. The book won't really help with the connect assignments but you can do those more than once. You'll be fine. More than anything you'll just be frustrated by the assignments (since they are not APA and have nothing to really do with furthering any writing skills you would need for nursing) and the layout of blackboard. But it is still doable. Don't be like me and stress yourself out unnecessarily. Most of the grading isn't too tough and, even though ridiculous, the assignments aren't actually difficult.

I'm not sure it should matter. If she already has her license (which you have to have to be in the program) then having a BSN shouldn't make a difference with the nursing board. You do not have to walk in order to get your diploma. But you should talk to your adviser about any other requirements to finish up your degree.

PM sent.

For me it was a combination of the assignments, TA, and the fact that I wasn't working in a hospital (went straight from my ADN to this BSN program). Almost all of the assignments were writing about personal experiences and/or interviewing coworkers/managers. The TA wouldn't respond to any emails and when she did her answers were vague or unrelated.

I think leadership was the most difficult course for me. I didn't do horribly in the course, it was just difficult.

Even with a few rough quiz scores I wound up with a 93%! I really didn't think this class was that difficult.