jchilds

It can be hard at times but it's doable. It sounds like you're doing fine. Hang in there! :)

I like this one. I was born there, I wonder if I got any "visitors" like some of the little ones in this thread.

These are so awesome. Love em!

I feel your pain too OP. I'm coming on my final semester for my BSN. My wife is a 5th grade teacher, which means she brings a lot if work home and works late often, and we have twin 1 yr old girls. I just finished my Critical Care class and I never had time to start studying before 8:30pm at the earliest. The kids need so much attention and I want to be with them too. Now that its summer I have no class, it's my day off, and I'm going to sit in my dark living room and enjoy the quiet house. I just wish that bird would shut up outside.

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means"

I'm a little older coming into this game. I will graduate with my BSN one week before my 39th birthday. I think that many of the "old school" values that my father's generation passed down (he grew up in the Depression era Deep South) are gone for the most part. I try to really work hard at whatever I'm doing. Not being to best is ok, not trying to be the best isn't. I have two toddlers of my own and I plan on installing a lot of those "old school" values I them. Who knows, maybe one day the nurse they precepted might be. Inserting my Foley.

How about San Antonio?

I have looked at what each class ahead of me was doing and it has scared the ***** out of me. If you're program is like mine they will start you off with relatively small bites though you will be drinking from the firehose. Each semester will build on the last, try not to stress over getting to practice skills, your assessment is your bread and butter!

Working will help. I work as an aid too, before nursing school I'd never worked in a health care setting. It helped me with a lot of exposure. Are you doing an ADN or BSN program? Try to find an externship as you get closer to graduation.

Congrats on getting in! Nursing school is hard as all ****. If you have kids it's only more so. I have twin one year old girls and at times I feel like I am one deadline away from really breaking. Don't mean to be a downer, my coping skills are in the toilet. I'm sure you'll do great! Good luck to you!

My school sold us kits for $40 that included one. I would get one in the$20 range and a penlight and scissors. I wouldn't get a super nice Littman because: a. It might get stolen, and b. you may decide you don't want to continue and your stuck with an expensive stethoscope; though I hope the latter doesn't happen. I also think getting a good cheaper one will make you work more to assess your heart, lung, and abdominal sounds. When you get a good one later you will appreciate what you've been missing. Good luck to you!

Good guy for taking the hit for you. :)

I guess it was because I didn't know them and I hot boxed them. (they were still waiting for discharge instructions when I left). I will burn a whole through the couch watching tv with my wife and laugh my butt off. As for the round of vitals their nurse asked for one more.

Oh know. In fact this happened less than 30 sec after the doc left! I couldn't leave fast enough.

I'm in my 4th semester of my BSN program, working as an aide for a local hospital. Today I accidentally farted in front of a patient and his wife; a very nice older couple. They were awaiting discharge instructions and I went in to get one last round of VS. I was so embarrassed I had to avoid eye contact and leave as fast as possible. Thankfully I was sitting 1:1 most of the day!

I have been wearing running shoes, but I'm going to just get a good pair of issue combat boots. Once you break them in they're like butter.

That's disgusting and wrong. I say report it and start looking for a new job.

What a *******!! I'm glad you were able to shed the dead weight. I am in my 4th semester in my BSN program and I would kill for that opportunity! As for males students/PCAs, I'm both and I bust my *** when I'm at work or at clinical. I take pride in being a team player. Maybe that is an exception, maybe it's due to my time spent in uniform. As for school I feel like my instructors are fond of me but none of them cater to me. I don't like generalizations like this.

I suggest looking for a job as an aide. Many hospitals will hire nursing students as aides after they have completed the fundamentals course in your 1st semester. If you can find an externship that is great too. Good luck!

Thanks y'all! My first one went pretty well they seemed to like me a lot, though they said I wouldn't hear anything for a couple of weeks. My next one is on Monday and if they make an offer I'm snapping it up!

I guess he had the music in him!

I have two peer interviews coming up for externships, one for a Neuro-Tele unit and one for an MICU. Any advice are maybe some questions I should ask ? Thanks

I'm working as an aide while in nursing school and I really try to bust my hump. But I have always given everything I have to whatever I'm doing. This ain't my first rodeo,I have 15 years military service under my belt and I have worked in all kinds of environments. The last reply said it best: pick your battles. I would add to do your best and with tact, encourage what the standard should be.

I'm also doing a psych minor, graduate in December. Depending on your school it really isn't that many more classes. Aside from the psych classes in my prereqs, I only had to take three more. More education is always better than less I say. And as you will find in clinical psych is tied to a lot even if your patient's admitting diagnosis isn't psychological in nature.