CacaoHeart

I began applying to online RN-BSN programs before my wife became pregnant and now that she's due in March I've been accepted to my top choice program that would start in January. It looks like I can readily defer starting to next August but I'm wondering how much that will help. Either way I'll be taking paternity leave for a little while and then back to working full time. When I start the program it will be part time and completely online. I'll need to start on my BSN within the next 3.5 years per my employment agreement and finish within 7 years. If you were working full time and your spouse was about to have a baby, would you wait 7+ months before starting back at school? I'm not sure if school will be easier with a 5 month old or not, but want to make sure I can provide my wife with all the support she needs in the first few weeks post delivery. It may also not be all that great for my grades to be attempting coursework while tending to a newborn. I'm curious what experience others have to share.

As long as you don't have hearing issues, most any stethoscope will likely be fine. Many nurses at work use the disposable contact isolation stethoscopes for everything. I have always generated excess cerumen/earwax, and found that even though I can hear ordinary conversation fine, if my ears haven't just been cleaned I struggle to hear blood pressures accurately with cheap stethoscopes, much less heart/lung sounds. Early on in my nursing program I had to get my hearing checked when I initially failed the bp checkoff, and found my hearing was perfect after a good cleaning. In school I used a Littman Cardiology III, and in my final semester switched to a Thinklabs One, an electronic stethoscope that lets me hear everything I need to and more. My instructors liked it and said they'd recommend it to any future students that have issues with normal stethoscopes. If needed, 2 sets of headphones could be plugged in to listen with an instructor for a checkoff, or each person could use one earbud.

I graduated in May from an ADN program, having gone with the view that associates programs were cheaper and that I could go back and get my BSN online quickly after getting a job. While that is true for many people, if I were to do it again I'd try harder to get into a BSN program from the beginning. Where I am, two of the BSN programs are affiliated with major hospitals and they get 1st pick at ICU clinical rotations, so many of the people that get ICU jobs had multiple ICU rotations while out of my class of 70, only 2 students spent time rotating through an ICU. Of the several local ADN programs, about 50-75% of people that start the nursing program graduate, while of the local BSN programs ~97% that start finish. Having graduation delayed or having to start a new program can make an ADN program more expensive. Eight months from graduation I switched to a different ADN program because of serious issues with the first one and graduation took me an extra 2 years and $20,000 as a result. On the bright side, 100% of my graduating class passed the NCLEX on the first attempt, most with only 75-80 questions, and as far as I know everyone is now employed, with the exception of a couple that delayed applying for travel/moving out of state. I'm very glad to now be working as an RN on a good hospital floor with supportive coworkers and management. I'm applying to online BSN programs now and in ~2 years hope to be where I may have been 2 years ago had I started with a BSN program. Of course, BSN programs have limited space, and for many an ADN or diploma program may be the only option, in which case I'd say make the most of it, but definitely try for the BSN.

I recommend going to their info session to be sure, though when I started 2 years ago the policy was that AP credit was calculated as a B, which was a little disappointing but was better than nothing. Provided she takes all the prereqs with A's in most, especially Bio 168/169, she stands a fair chance of getting in, even if initially wait-listed. It would not be worth retaking English to get an A.

Last month I received an email from the NC BON with a copy of my license less than 45 hours after completing the NCLEX, before my quick results were even available. Needless to say I never bothered getting my quick results. It seems to vary a bit for everyone depending in part on when they took the NCLEX. I had all materials in several weeks ahead of time and signed up to take the test on the first available day. So glad to be done. Congratulations to you as well.

In addition to what others have said so far, in my area it seems that the BSN programs are more flexible and will work with students to make sure they make it through the program, with completion rates in the upper 90s vs 50-70%. Another issue is that the local universities with BSN programs and affiliated teaching hospitals are buying up all the small hospitals in the region and seem to be getting their students prioritized for clinical spots, so the community college programs have minimal ICU rotations while the BSN programs can have multiple per student. If you're wanting to start in an ICU upon graduation this can make a real difference. I received my first bachelors degree at a university and then went to community college for nursing school thinking it would be cheaper, and found the difference in resources and assistance to be significant. If I were to do it again I'd try harder to get into a BSN program, and if I could only get into an associates program I'd look closely at their attrition rate. I graduated last month and am starting my first job soon, so it still worked out. On the bright side, hopefully I'll be able to bump up my GPA with the RN-BSN as others mention ;-)

It's been ~3.5 years since my last post on this thread but I thought it'd be useful to provide an update. I ended up switching programs which delayed my graduation by 2 years and continued studying nclex style questions throughout both programs. In the last month of my program I started playing with NCSBN Learning Extension's review program, figuring it would be useful to be acclimated to questions written by the same people that write the NCLEX. Upon finishing the last semester my school had everyone do a 3 day live review with an ATI instructor, 6+ hours per day with a manual to review afterward. We had proctored tests throughout the 5 semester program and were shown how to do focused reviews on whatever areas we were weakest on. After the review I studied for an hour or two per day for a few days, then I went to a nursing conference and for the last two weeks before taking the NCLEX I barely answered any questions or reviewed material, feeling there wasn't much left to do. To bring my mind back to NCLEX readiness I did a single 90 minute practice test two days before the real thing. Upon walking into the Pearson Vue office, taking it slowly, 75 questions and 90 minutes later I was done. Less than 48 hours later my state board of nursing emailed me a copy of my RN license :-) Just as planned 3+ years ago, I took the test on the first day I was allowed. So glad to be done with that part so I can move on.

I started in a 4 semester community college program in which preceptorships were only for a lucky 20 or so of 60 students, with everyone else having regular clinical. I ended up switching to a community college with a 5 semester program and 120 hours of precepting was a requirement as part of 800+ clinical hours. I'm grateful for the experience though it seems people manage ok without it. I worked up to a full load of 4 patients and was able to get to know the unit well enough that I happily accepted when the manager offered me a position.

If you have trouble hearing patients speak, you need a hearing aid. If you only have trouble hearing through stethoscopes, look into electronic ones. If I haven't had my ears cleaned recently I have trouble doing manual blood pressures too. It is worth seeing an ENT doctor to figure out what is going on with your hearing so you can figure out how to proceed. I had my hearing checked when I failed a BP skill check off in nursing school and found my hearing was perfect as long as my ears had just been cleaned. Without a recent cleaning, I heard the diastolic stop 4 points higher than my instructor did, and she wanted me to hear it within 2 of her. I use a littman cardiology III and was considering a thinklabs digital stethoscope that both my instructor and I could listen through for skill checkoffs but thankfully was able to pass without that. I was disappointed to find the thinklabs ds2a model discontinued as the company moved on to higher end models, but I see people sell them on ebay and am still tempted to get one at some point.

Snow tires would be my recommendation if wanting to pay for an improvement in snow driving performance. In practice I drive a front wheel drive (much safer on snow than rear wheel drive) Saturn sedan that I paid 3 grand for almost 10 years ago. I don't yet have snow tires but just make sure the tires are replaced when they show enough wear, and only drive when I have to on the snow. Along these lines, I enjoyed a Mr Money Mustache article titled "All Wheel Drive Does Not Make You Safer", written by an author dealing with snow in Colorado who recommends snow tires. I'm not sure if posting links is frowned upon, but it can easily be found via google.

I would not describe working as a CNA to be low anxiety, even when you have good management. I've been a CNA for 7 years now, first in assisted living, then home health, and for the last 18 months in a hospital while making my way through nursing school. I've cut down to one day per week while in school not only to have time to study but to give my body a break. Some of my home health client assignments were low stress, but with the low pay I barely broke even. Most career CNAs that I work with either have a spouse with a good income or they work 60 hour weeks and expect to never retire.

I'm happy to see other long term weight lifters on here. I'm a 30 year old student nurse (having worked as a CNA for 7 years now) and have been lifting weights since age 7. Hearing NPR talk about the high rate of back injuries in nursing renewed my commitment to continuing my program of squats, deadlifts, and overhead press, along with rock climbing, yoga, and partner acrobatics, a sport that involves lifting friends in the air. Tendon/ligament strength can take years to develop. At work I do my best to always get help as needed, have the bed at the most optimal height, and use whatever equipment is available, and I'm hopeful that building strength in more ideal conditions will help protect me for the moments at work and in life where form inevitably isn't perfect. Even as a 185 pound male weight lifter, I feel a need to do everything I can to make sure my back is protected. Maybe more so, given that people may try getting me to lift more for them. I'm actively looking at what nursing career options will be most sustainable for my body. Many of my hospital coworkers are getting injuries from pushing computers around 12+ hours per day for charting/giving meds.

Delaying having kids. Reduced social life. My wife and I have been together 7 years, I'm 30 and she's 28. We're trying to wait on having kids until I'm done with nursing school, hopefully May next year.

Agreed. The program I first went into had only 1 official prereq, but then there were 10 courses that gave points toward admission depending on your grade, and if you didn't take most of them and get mostly A's you weren't getting in. This was only made clear in the info session.

I have a cardiology III and found that I still had trouble hearing well through it until I realized I needed to get my ears cleaned ;-) My doctor has me put a mix of half hydrogen peroxide half isopropyl alcohol in my ears once weekly. Go more than two weeks without it and I start having trouble hearing through the stethoscope again, even though it takes several months of no cleanings to notice any issues in day to day conversation.