pknurse

Many times what you learn in school is different from what the hospital abides nurses to. Hospitals have policy and nurses must follow policy regardless of what your textbook states.

I have a BS in Biology and got a ADN. I am in a ADN-MSN program right now that ladders you to BSN and then you continue on with your MSN. There are a ton of programs out there that offer a MSN if you have an ADN and a bachelor degree; it is meant to address nurses who are entering the field as a second career.

This is the solid answer. Whatever the policies and procedures of the hospital are what must be done. You can actually receive disciplinary action for not following policy/procedures even if it aligns with evidence-based practice (e.g., aspirating on an IM injection).

Straight up - because people's lives are in your hands. If you have any respect for that notion, you will persevere. Thank about the bigger picture.

Most RN-BSN programs actually don't look at your nursing courses (e.g. pharmacology, med/surg, etc.). They look at your undergraduate classes like biology, anatomy, speech, statistics, etc.

What most nursing students do not know is that hospital policy/procedures overrides whatever you are taught in school. Nurses are held responsibility for following policy/procedure of the hospital - not what is in your nursing book. And often times they vary greatly. I have been to hospitals where aspirating during an IM injection is mandated by policy; my current hospital says that aspiration isn't necessary. A nurse can get fired for breaking policy even though their practice is consistent with "the book."

Be engaged and help out with my other patients. The "best" students aren't the ones who are "super-smart." The best students are inquisitive and investigate. I had a student who couldn't answer one question about pharmacology I threw her way and knew very little about her patient. Instead of taking it in stride, she looked up the drugs really quick and then asked the patient why he was there. Both were ingenious of her, and I even let her do procedures with my other patients because like I said, She didn't want to "know it all," she wanted to experience it all.

I won't deny that the cost is horrendous; however, I have known a fair amount of WCU graduates get jobs. E.g., I heard about ten WCU (North Hollywood) graduates are now working at White Memorial in LA. So yes, they do get jobs. But does that mean they are guaranteed jobs? In 2012, an associate director told me that my nursing school had a "100% hiring rate within six months." Out of the fifty of us who graduated, only five are working. So proceed with caution. Make connections and network.

Per the TOS of this website, we can't "reveal" such information. However, if you go to a Barnes and Noble/Nobel and go to the Nursing section, the Kaplan books about the NCLEX-RN will give you sufficient information about The Decision Tree. If you believe the Tree is a be-all, end-all for the NCLEX-RN, you will be sadly mistaken. It is rather a strategy that works for all higher-level (above passing level) questions and even then it does not feel like the "secret weapon" Kaplan totes it as. It works for many Kaplan NCLEX-RN questions - but I question its validity on the actual board exam.

I suggest you read The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It's a novel about self-actualization, not taking what people say at face value, and being your own person regardless of speculation, rumor, and conjecture. I do not believe AllNurses is a good website. I think it has the most convoluted advice imaginable and it is incredibly narrow-minded. If you want a good gauge of nursing as a career, go find five well-established nurses [in real life] and ask for their opinions. Trusting everything you read on the internet to be true and objective is naive. And really ask yourself, "What is the demographic of AllNurses?" Really dig down and read the posts: You have old nurses berating nursing students for venting about their days; student nurses speaking grandiosely about the one patient on med/surg who they cared for - as if that single experience is a predictor of their career; you have new grads too afraid to call HR; and you have old nurses complaining about their preceptees. Plus, how many freakin' times can you ask, "Does the PVT work?" because you just accept the fact it works?

State schools (e.g. CSUs). Go to your state's BRN website, look at accredited RN-BSN programs. WGU is cheap - however, that depends on how long you want to finish it in. The shorter time, the cheaper.

However, if the chart is ever audited (e.g. medical billing office), Omnicell/Pyxis will show the medication removed while the patient MAR will show the medication wasn't given. In general, most hospital stays/medications are pro-rated per clinical pathway.

Does not matter what drug it was/is. Stealing is stealing. Refer to the Disciplinary Actions portion of your state BRN site and browse people's files (which are public record). Nurses receive actions for stealing medicines like Zofran.

1. ISP - Accelerated College Science Program Courses and Classes, Learn Science in Months Not Years (Whittier, CA) 2. Accelerated BSN or entry-level MSN program. 3. ABSN, look into Mount St. Mary's College in Los Angeles, CA. ELM, look into CSUDH. Look everywhere. I am incredibly doubtful you will find one close, and that's implying you even get in. Case in point, two friends applied to MSMC for ABSN. One was a 3.3 GPA student with zero healthcare experience, the other 3.9 GPA with tons of experience. The former got in. It's almost luck of the draw (among other things like interviewing, etc.). If you have the money, look into West Coast University. In general, those state schools (e.g., CSUs) don't look "kindly" on BSN applicants with other degrees because of the sheer amount of credits you transfer in with.

God is good

Pretty much the same as you. Your peers going to a campus to take the classes don't necessarily have it easier; they just have a live professor telling them what to do, where to go, and how to write whatever they need to turn in. Online classes are incredibly independent (read this/that, watch this/that, write about it) whereas on-campus classes are more structured. In my online program, my one class alone consisted of 25 people and has dropped to less than 20. I was told it would go down to 10 by the midterm due to the sheer amount of self-study required, and I already know five people dropped out because they could not work the website (BlackBoard).

Infection Control! It's a huge field that's growing. Our Infection Control RN basically does rounds on all the floors and "audits" (checks out?) the precautions rooms among a billion other things.

And even if this "fire" is real - if people talking "bad" about you is enough to put it out, it was probably never strong enough to begin with. Causing change means moving mountains. If it was as easy as one would think, then changes would happen all over the country in hospitals without so much as lifting two fingers. But no, the truth of the matter is that those who want to change the world are willing to endure for little reward out of a sense of what they believe is right. Do you think MLK, Jr. and his vision was well received? I think not.

Yes, but this is the internet after all, and as far as I'm concerned what is "learned, shared, and networked" is often times hearsay with little to no evidence to its veracity.

Please, don't be that guy. You know what I mean. That guy who wanted to start a "White Club" because of all the culture clubs in college.

It's true about anything in life. We as a community should not be responsible for justifying the original poster's life choice in so much that I believe allnurses should include a clause in their TOS banning posts about "should I be a nurse?". Hell, this website is against legal advice - why should we provide insight about whether or not a preson should be a nurse? I'm not going to devalue his or her goals in life, but if he or she is resorting to allnurses to make that decision to pursue a highly-rewarding career that will require emotional, physical, and perhaps spiritual investment, then maybe they need to recant his or her mindset. Don't take me as a "miser" - I encourage anyone to pursue their dreams. However, when I read posts that are basically, "validate my future," I have to stop and reply. What I'm getting at is - if OP is so determined, she won't care about her weaknesses - she'll rise above them. She doesn't need anyone to tell her what she can and can't do.

I have a degree in biology and I worked in the back of a department store picking up trash all day for $8. I had no problem with it because it was honest, hard work. Don't be so entitled.

If I have to convince you, you have no business being a nurse.

I'm not accusing you of lying, but there is definitely something missing from your story.

This is my story as well: No experience. Built good relationships. Worked hard. And this is anecdotal, but I think that having no experience gave me the best of both worlds: I wasn't marred by the jadedness that came with experience (e.g., I wasn't a know-it-all), and I wasn't encumbered by disappointment that came with unfulfilled expectations.