alltheway2013

Hello all! I am really hoping to gain some advice and truths. I have been searching high and low on ways to become a CNM with my stats. A little background is this..my true passion is midwifery and women's health. I can see myself delivering babies and working in a clinic doing it all; women's exams, sex education, contraception and conception counseling, etc., with all age ranges. I get very excited and giddy inside when I think about my future doing these things lol. One day opening my own birthing center to do this in the far far future. I currently work med surg, just hit my year mark as a RN and am currently in a BSN program and should graduate in April. What I worry about is my terrible GPA of 2.89 over all. I have been in school for 10 years in which I obtained first my BS in Psyc and then ADN. So with all the hours I have accumulated making all As in my BSN will not bring up my GPA that much so that is issue number one. I know some programs you don't have to have a BSN I just don't know if its worth spending the money to apply and not doing the BSN? The second thing I worry about is the use of midwives. I live outside Houston Texas and there are a handful of midwives. What is the projected growth? I spoke with a midwife who owned a birthing center in my area but closed down 2 years ago due to finances. Do I take the chance and hope by the time I am done I will have job prospects? If you read this far thank you so much :) I know I could just apply and take my chances but I like to hear what you all have to say. I am thinking in the mean time on trying to get a L&D position and becoming a doula. Of course I have so many thoughts of I should have done this or done that and started by career path a lot sooner but that life right. Got married and had my awesome children so I don't regret it. Thanks!

Hello everyone! So I am joining you guys in this class. Its my only second course but from what I have been reading I figured I wanted to go ahead and get it out of the way! Good luck all

Well my first year of nursing has been a ride! I started off at a skilled rehab center and really liked it but needed hospital experience. So after six months I left the skilled nursing and went to a hospital I knew was trying to get back on their feet...well after 5 weeks orientation the hospital closed its doors suddenly...So here I am jobless with only 8 months of nursing experience and....now 6 months pregnant...is there any hope for me right now? My head is spinning and just feels unreal I am applying to other med surg floors at all hospitals but fear my pregnancy is going to be a big risk for them. I know I can tell them how this pregnancy is my third and have no need to take days off or have not let it hinder me working at all but am unsure if I will be able to find anything. Its so unexpected and my husband is even in process of finding a job...so I guess when it rains it pours. Just hoping someone will give me a chance.

I am so happy to hear all of your stories and glad mine could help. Yes family drama lol is daily! I work day shift 6-2 which is very very nice! The DON just spoke with me the other day about getting more acute patients and how I felt about taking the whole hall to equal up to 34 patients. I had to really think about it and told her higher acuity is great but I didn't think it would be a good idea for one nurse to take on that many. As of right now I am able to go in each pts room and at least spend a couple minutes to assess, yes just a couple minutes for some, mainly my knee replacements.. but can fully assess my more sick pt's with current ratios the way they are. I think with 34 pts that would just be ridiculous and cut down on care. I do love it but go back and forth about what to do as far as my future. I want to become either a womens health NP or CNM and figure LD experience would help me get into those fields but am still researching. Also I am 2 months pregnant and changing jobs probably wouldn't be beneficial since I have a great schedule lol :) Thoughts?

Hey all! I am starting Nov 4 in Nurs 3645 RN-BSN. So ready to get started!

Hello all! I love this site and just wanted to share my 4 months experience of working as a brand new nurse in a LTC/SNF. I started off my first month with one week of orientation on the "long term care halls" where I had close to 60 patients. I was really overwhelmed and could not for the life of me get everything done on time. But let me mention this as I know not all facilities have them. I do have med aides and a treatment nurse, so that, im sure makes a world of a difference. After about a month and half I got moved to the rehab/skilled hall where I have up to 22 patients. Here I have done many many skills like insert IVs, IV meds, insert foleys, ostomy changes, Peg tubers, IM injections galore, Resp tx, PICC care and removal, among numerous other things! I have had to call codes, perform CPR, assess sudden changes in pts and of course call docs and input orders. I have loved it and think it was a great start to my nursing career. In the beginning I heard it all from, nobody will hire you to you will lose your skills...this is not true at all! It took some time to find my mojo but I have and enjoy going to work. I will say you have to be determined and strong enough to be able to stay. In the short 4 months I have seen many come and go. I wanted to share because I know alot of new grads are in the position of needing a job but unsure of where to go and hear the negatives of starting in SNF/LTC so here is a little positive. Yes I know having the med aides and tx nurse is a HUGE factor in my positive experience, but I am always on the move and hardly sit as there is always something needing to be done. I will admit that I am getting bored at times because it can be repetitive but for now I am okay with it as i go through my RN-BSN program and plus have my baby :) I will eventually leave after the birth but for now it works.

Thanks bluegeegoo2, its good to hear you went straight out of school and stayed :) I know it will be different than what I am used to but I am ready for the challenge

Okay so I know I have read numerous threads about SNF stress and how bad some facilities can be but is it wrong for me to be excited! Yes I know as May grad I will go throug that honeymoon phase but even after all the horror stories I have heard or read I still feel ready to start! I wouldn't mind going to a hospital as that is what I am used to from clinicals but im not dying to and the SNF sounds decent to me. Good schedule which would allow me to continue on to school and still have time with my 2 and 5 yr old. I know it is going to be stressful, hard and I will probably cry but I love interacting with the older population and will go on to become adult/gero NP anyways so figure it will be great exposure! My best days in clinical were when I was so busy I didnt have time to sit As a new grad did anyone start at SNF and end up staying for awhile? I have printed out some of the flow sheets posted here and read tips so I am trying to prepare myself in every way. I am terrified of making a med error though with so many patients!! On another note, is hospital experience required for MSN programs?

Hello! I am an RN adn new grad this month and like others have not been successful in finding a hospital job. So I have a job waiting on me to become grad nurse at an SNF but also an interview at Davita. I have heard negatives regarding both for new grads but at this time I have to take what I can get and ASAP. So from your experience and opinions, what is the better of the two for a new grad? Thanks

Hi. I have been mostly looking at RN-MSN because I wasnt sure. You make a good point about most areas wanting BSN, I live near the Tx Med Center so even surrounding hospitals say "BSN preferred" Yes I have done research and that was something I was concerned about. Those I have spoke with in this area say both have hard times finding jobs but WHNP are used more frequently. Hoping the need increases in the coming years, I am willing to relocate if need be I did find a WHNP/ Adult Gerontology NP dual program so maybe that is an idea for me. My passion is womens health and delivering babies would be amazing but if I had to choose CNM or WHNP I think WH would fit me, I have not really looked into FNP yet. Thanks

Hello all! I am so happy to be graduating from ADN this week :) I am here asking for help regarding pathways to WHNP. I have a job lined up at a SNF (not ideal but have to get some financial load off my husband ASAP). I know for sure I want to further my education but dont know if I should get BSN before MSN... I hope to work for the next year or so while prepping everything to apply and hopefully find job in L&D or womens services. So is it worth the money to get a BSN to make me more marketable while waiting on getting MSN or do I stick with ADN and the jobs I can get while working on MSN? Also with 2015 being the year of DNP, how does that effect this decision? A little background on me that has impact on my decisions are my 2 and 5 year old and my age of 30 also living in South Tx. I do have an amazing support system! Oh and sadly my undergrad student loans are about 50K...I have a Bachelors in Psych Thank you so much for whatever advice you give, good or bad :-)

Wow thank you so much for your input. I was not sure how to add volunteer experience and locations and such so thanks :) Looks so much better

Hello all! I am excited this is my first post :) I have my resume and it just feels so elementary! Could you please look over and give suggestions? Thank you all so much Oh I graduate May 9th from ADN!! Me, Myself 123 County Road 456, Somewhere, TX 78910 (H)777-777-7777 ©777-777-7777 hotmail.com OBJECTIVE: Seeking registered nurse position in medical surgical acute care setting with high interest in neurological or cardiac critical care nursing. Strengths include; Skilled in critical thinking and culturally competent evidence based care Reliable and flexible with scheduling; adapt easily to changes Energetic, motivational and leader dedicated to top quality patient care EDUCATION 2011- Present A Pretty Cool School Associates of Applied Science- Nursing, anticipated graduation May 2013 May 2009 Another Pretty Cool School Bachelors of Science- Psychology CLINICAL EXPERIENCE Acute care, Helping Others Medical Center, Helping All Hospital, Medical center Critical care, Helping Others Medical Center, Medical Center Pediatric Long Term Care, Children's hospital 600+ hours clinical experience Participation in healthcare team to plan and provide quality care Cared for mechanically ventilated patients Developed and implemented teaching plans for patient and family Organized and managed multiple patients in timely manner Successfully demonstrated sterile procedure techniques WORK EXPERIENCE 2008 - 2009 Beautiful Health Clinic Beautiful, Germany Medical Assistant Documented patient information in Electronic Medical Record Assisted healthcare team in procedures and care 2001-2007 Yummy Food Somewhere, Texas Waitress Trained new employees in proper cash handling and safety Praised for teamwork LICENSURE/ CERTIFICATION RN Licensure- anticipated date June 2013 BLS Healthcare Providers- American Heart Association- expires Feb 2014 ACTIVITES 2013 Very nice - Womens health clinic event 2008-2010 Red Cross Volunteer - Army post hospital medical assistant 2006-2007 Child Helper - Houston Chapter