hooliebug

Hey everyone, I need to put together a new resume for job applications, and it would be nice to have something up-to-date to show potential NP preceptors for graduate school. I have some questions that I wasn't able to find answers to online: Do I add an MSN to my education list with the caveat of my expected graduation date?If I relief charge and precept new nurses, do I roll that into my work experience as a "clinical nurse" or should I create a new bullet for those roles?If I am in a committee or participate in hospital programs (like "safe patient handling champion" or "diabetes champion") that required in-person training, would I add that under a "professional development" heading or should I also roll those things into work experience under "clinical nurse"?Should I bother mentioning multiple daisy award nominations on my resume?I assume it's time to take my undergraduate leadership and awards off my resume...? ?Any insight or suggestions are welcome!

I've never heard of a fully online microbiology class. It has a lab component that absolutely cannot be done online, so you're going to have to take an actual class somewhere. A lot of community colleges offer hybrid courses (class online, lab on-site) that aren't crazy expensive.

Sounds like you have a bad case of FOMO. Try not to focus on how great everyone's lives appear to be on the surface (everyone always posts about how great things are going on Facebook and Instagram) and focus on how you're improving yourself and your life by completing this degree. I'm one of several older students in my class (30 y/o) -- "alternative" students are becoming more prevalent in undergrad programs, and being "alternative" doesn't make us losers. We just took a little more time getting to the finish line, that's all. Good luck, and keep going!

Like you, I used to panic, stutter, and forget to breathe during presentations. Fortunately, you do so many presentations during nursing school that you start to become desensitized to the pressure it. I used to practice speaking in front of my spouse/family members/friends and that seemed to help; it allows you to work on pacing and recognizing when to breathe or take pauses. Public speaking is an inevitable part of nursing. You're going to have to address a patient and their entire family some day, so better to practice and get used to it now so you're a little less anxious later on. Good luck... it'll be okay. :)

Welcome back, and good for you for not giving up!

Hi. I am an actual student (in my senior year, last semester) in an accelerated 18-month BSN program. I'm 30 with a fiance and 0 kids, and I have the added benefit of not having to work for us to survive, and... it's been difficult, but doable -- to be fair, I am a neurotic, type A perfectionist! There are people in my program in similar situations to yours and they've gotten along just fine, but they have great support systems to lean on. During my initial interview to get into school, the instructor who interviewed me was very upfront about the level of commitment it required to succeed -- the people who took this warning with a grain of salt have failed out of the program. You have to be extremely driven and focused because there's a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time, but your instructors will give you the tools to do well. You have to be prepared to make some sacrifices (missing family events, zero social life, your house looking like a train wreck, etc.). My schedule has been varied. Summer semesters are frantic (with lots of class time and slightly fewer clinical rotations) while fall/spring semesters have a slow burn feel to them (slightly fewer hours spent in class, more time spent in clinical rotations). You typically have zero say over your schedule, and people who complain about it are basically told to suck it up and make it work. You typically have 2-3 days off during the week, usually weekends and 1 random week day. My school made the admission process fairly easy, and their financial aid office made the money side of things equally simple. They were very upfront about everything I needed to know and do before huge deadlines snuck up on me. Oh, and don't be put off by every bad review you read. A lot of students are young and maybe less acquainted with how the world works, so... when they don't get their way or have a slightly less than amazing experience, they get mouthy and bitter. I hope any of this helped!

Getting a super trolly vibe from OP. Is there any way to report him/her to the moderators? S/he is being inflammatory for the sake of being inflammatory.

Male nurses are awesome and I love them. I wish there were more of them. Don't let the fact that you're male and loved by your coworkers get to your head though. In my area (KC MO), new graduates start out making $15 above the minimum wage, which is not a small amount of money. Many nurses are quick to tell us students that there isn't any "good money" in nursing but my starting salary won't exactly poverty-level wages or anything, so... there you go. Raises and bonuses and such aren't guaranteed but your future employer should be upfront about that sort of thing when you start working. Do your research. I'd only consider becoming a nurse practitioner if you actually want to become a nurse practitioner; yes, you can make more money, but your future patients probably won't be super keen on having a healthcare provider that only cares about dollar signs and not their well-being.

I think it's garbage -- overtly difficult, not reflective of how you'll actually do on the NCLEX. The school I attend decided to abandon ATI for Kaplan and I definitely prefer the change.

I can't speak to being pregnant in nursing school (or even having kids) but if you decide to accept the spot your school has offered you need to be honest and upfront about your situation before you start. There are a lot of experiences that you as a pregnant student will not be able to participate in, and your instructors/administrators need to know to keep you safe from potential harm.

Remember why you're there: to help people, not add to their distress. Giving all of yourself to someone for 12 hours and then snatching away that sense of all-encompassing comfort you've created at the end of a shift is not only unhealthy for you, it creates an unhealthy attachment in the patient. You cannot fill the emotional voids of all of your patients or you'll have nothing left for yourself at the end of the day, and you'll burn yourself out before you graduate. Maybe if you begin your day by telling yourself to temper your empathy with a little business-oriented logic it'll help you from getting too attached.

I'm in my last semester of my senior year (accelerated BSN program) and I can safely say 90% of the people in my class (myself included) are bumbling, awkward, and self-conscious when it comes to many aspects of nursing. The practical skills we learn in school aren't mean to put us on some grand pedestal of higher knowledge, they create a foundation on which we can build ourselves up. Based on my conversations with various preceptors and nurses I've shadowed over the last year, I get the feeling confidence (and "common sense") comes with time and practice. I think nursing draws more caring people than super self-confident, go-get-'em people. There are a ton of avenues to explore in nursing that don't involve bedside care if you find yourself utterly hating it, but a lot of those avenues require bedside care experience. I guess you need to sit down and reflect on why you chose nursing in the first place and decide if you can stick it out for a few years while you explore other potential opportunities. Either way, good luck. And remember you're not alone in feeling the way you feel.

I would wait until after you graduate from your BSN program and pass the NCLEX before applying to graduate programs. Many graduate programs require potential students to have a current unencumbered license to apply, and you'd look pretty foolish if, for whatever reason, you fail the NCLEX and have to explain that to a selection committee. My advice: slow you roll, wait until winter.

You may want to get in touch with a few CRNA programs/schools that you're interested in to discuss your concerns. Some may not care what your non-nursing GPA is like -- unlikely, but you never know. You can always err on the side of caution and retake classes with poor grades (C or below), which is probably what I would do. I've heard CRNA programs are highly, highly competitive, so you should probably do everything you can to make yourself more valuable to potential schools.

I'm not sure many jobs like what you're describing exist; however, I get emails from school constantly about volunteer opportunities in hospice/long term/acute care facilities. I imagine these volunteer positions don't involve much direct patient care since you wouldn't be certified to do anything but it may at least show admissions people that you've got empathy and want to get involved in the field. Same question as Cherokeegirl08, though. What program are you applying to that allows you to bypass a BSN or ADN program?

I'm in a class of ~46 students. Most of the class is young (early to mid-twenties) but there are at least 10 of us in our late 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s. It's definitely not uncommon nowadays to have more than a few "non-traditional students" in nursing school.

There are a ton of TEAS prep books floating around you can check out that may help guide you in what to study for the science portion of the test. When I took it years ago, I went to my local discount book store (Half-Price Books) and picked up a few of the most recently published ones, read 'em, took their practice tests... then I took the TEAS and realized it's pretty random which questions you get. You'd be wise to study general biology/chemistry/healthcare stuff (Khan Academy is a great resource!) but I vaguely recall getting geology questions and the odd physics question in there (which I definitely got wrong). Best advice I can give is don't panic when you're in the middle of the test. If you think you got something wrong, let it go... Self-doubt is no good. Have confidence in yourself.

I'd agree with the above comments; ask questions if you don't understand something (even if you get the stink eye from people in class -- staying quiet only hurts you in the long run), study every day, watch Khan Academy videos, and check out the "... Made Incredibly Easy" series of books on A&P.

Hah, I just answered this question on another thread. I'm currently in nursing school and I don't recall feeling "prepared" for Anatomy and Physiology, even after taking Introduction to Biology and Cellular Biology. Chemistry didn't help me with anything whatsoever; I only took it as part of my current school's prerequisite requirements. The best advice I can give to pre-nursing students is to start pouring over content on Khan Academy or another reputable education site. Anatomy is A LOT of memorization for the sake of memorization (unless you plan on going into orthopedics, but I'm not personally about that life) but Physiology will come up over and over and over again as you go through nursing school courses (like pathophysiology, health assessment, pharmacology, etc.). Good luck.

I'm currently in nursing school. Biology may help a little. I took Anatomy and Physiology separately over two semesters; from what I remember, there may have been a brief review over cellular biology at the very beginning of each semester but all subsequent content was brand new to me (aside from random, general knowledge I picked up over the years). Chemistry has not helped me whatsoever, not even for pharmacology (because we never get that deep into medication structure; it's 99% medication effects on the body/body's effects on the medication). Some schools require it, however. You can start prepping yourself on Khan Academy videos/content.

I declined my spot; all of my eggs are in the Graceland basket now. I just found out tonight that I have an interview with staff members on Tuesday, yay! [RANT] I was initially told by MCC that I got into the ADN program but not under the option I applied to, which isn't supposed to happen according to the information on their website. I tried calling, emailing, and showing up to their office to get more information but got nothing. NO ONE responded to me for over three and a half weeks, then I got a random phone call from 'Evelyn' who informed me that I did get into the program under the option I originally chose, and then proceeded to tell me about the mandatory orientation four days before I was supposed to be there. SO! No, thank you. I'm not dealing with that nonsense for the next two years. After nutrition and statistics this spring, I'll sing and dance and cartwheel off of that horrible campus and never look back. Good luck with whoever's running the program now, I hope you have an easier time of things than I did.

Hey Lilacs, glad to hear you got registered for classes and such. How did all of that go? Did you go to the meeting today?

Although I've been accepted into a local ADN program, their administration is atrocious and I'm honestly considering biting the bullet and going for my BSN at Graceland University. Any KC area folks that have gone through their BSN-RN program care to share thoughts, feelings, warnings, praises? Thanks!

Okay, real talk. I have no idea where my immunization card is, so I'm guessing I have a lot of vaccine titer tests in my future. Is this something I can stroll into a lab and request all willy-nilly or do I need a physician to get the ball rolling on it? Getting an appointment with my PCP is particularly challenging these days, so I'm just trying to get an idea of what I should do/need to do. Thanks!

No offense taken! I am honestly hoping that everyone who got accepted is talented and brilliant and smart because I'd rather not be in this program with literal mouth-breathers, you know what I mean? If my GPA is on the low end, I'd be okay with that if I'm surrounded by people who will keep me on my toes. I'm just ... all around concerned about how this is going down.