KatieD

Sounds to me like Shannon is doing something very noble... she wanted more of a challenge, and decided that she'd find it in nursing. I think Shannon will end up being the type of nurse that people like me, who've had their critically-ill child cared for months at a time in hospitals, will later call her admins and make sure that something is done to positively recognize her hard work and dedication. Prmenrs sounds like yet another of those (only my son has a heart problem, he was not a premie). In fact, we came across many like her in my son's first (almost) 8 months of life. We still are in doctor offices and hospitals regularly. I have made it a point to ask admins to recognize persons who do good (even wrote to the newspaper once, and mentioned persons again when we made the front page of the paper). HOWEVER, I think some people here ought to know, that people like me also make it a point to let admins know when they are treated like yet another headache for the nurse. I think we all know that nurses do 99% of the work with the patients, so I expect the very best. If we don't get it, I don't sit back and take it. Prmenrs said some very important things in her posting. She said "my babies" and "our families". She refers to them as if they were her own. THIS is what makes a good nurse, and what makes people like me ask that they be positively recognized for their hard work and dedication. The folks who detest their patients and take it out on them, the people are out there who will speak up about this, also. Just keep that in mind as you work in the profession that you chose!

Shannon, I'm not a nurse, thinking about going into nursing, though, and I thought I might answer your original question, about how you could become a good nurse. I read some of the other posts here, and they remind me of the one negative experience I had while dealing with my son's heart condition. The nurse who posed that problem was reported, and action was taken, believe me! Our family has been in and out so many times, that we are well respected where we've been, especially by the higher ups and the nurses who are in supervisory positions. So, persons who behave in that manner, maybe they can also learn from what I am going to say about what made a good nurse in our eyes. Our nurses while my son was hospitalized (many lengthy, times in his not-quite 8 months of life), were (all but one) wonderful!!! Yes, they were overworked, they were tired, and they were very busy. No, they were not at our beck and call, but they did apologize if something took an awfully long time, they truly seemed to care for my son, and they were respectful when we had a request (such as holding him, despite the fact that he was on the ventilator, but it had been a week and a half at that point). The good nurses did not treat you like an idiot, they helped you to become informed about what the equipment in the room was, what it was there for, and how to read all the #s. They didn't assume that you didn't care, or assume that you already knew. They asked on about EVERY visit to the room if there was anything they could do for us, get for us, etc. They treated my son as if he was their own. They would talk to us as humans, and not just another person taking up their time. They made sure if we had questions they could not answer, that they paged a doc. or wrote it in my son's file for someone to answer later. I truly felt comfortable letting my son stay overnight with the nurses, and us going back to the Ronald McDonald House. The only time this didn't happen, was with the negative experience, and then, I wouldn't even leave his room to go to the bathroom or eat, unless someone else from my family was on watch. My only son's life was in their hands, and if someone had the attitude like the ones I've seen here... I asked to have them removed from my son's room and not to be returned. In less than 8 months, we've racked up over $200,000 in medical expenses... with that kind of money going out, he ought to have the best care, and most times, that's exactly what we got. The only thing else I can say, is treat these patients (and their families) as if they're people you know. Treat them as you'd hope your own family would be treated if put in that predicament, and you'll be one of the nurses whom people like me call the big boss' and say "You know Nurse ______....he/she was absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!!! Let me tell you what he/she did for my child......I hope that you can find some way to positively recognize his/her work."

I agree, Shanna. In my current position, I have taken over the positions of two full-time people from last year. The district had to pay for it, so they hired one person to replace two. Both persons were in their positions for long periods of time (the shortest being 15 years), so most of the materials were their own personal belongings.... which leaves me with almost nothing to teach from. However, my job depends on whether, with no materials, I'm able to get the lowest kids in class (who don't yet have IEP's, but most are on the list waiting to get one) to pass proficiency testing at the same rate as the average students in class. What an amazing feat that would be, if it were possible. It may be possible with the proper teaching tools.... too bad they aren't provided. I'm not sure, because I've only been in one profession, but I would imagine they're all stressful. My quest has been to find out whether people in the nursing profession would do it all over again. So far, the only people who don't seem like they would, are people on this board. Perhaps I am lucky to live where I do... because I've spent time around many nurses in the past 8 months.... and, as I said before, all but one would do it again. The 1, I never asked, because I wished she hadn't done it in the first place. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be one of the ones who says "I wish I hadn't done this"... but I sincerely think I will enjoy nursing, and helping people in that manner. I'd like my work to be judged on how well I do my job WITH the required materials. I'd also like to be paid for the hours I put in. Who knows.... I just hope for the best for you and I both, Shanna... we don't live too far from each other, with you in KY and me in OH.... perhaps we're stuck in the teaching cesspools. I wish you the best as you pursue your nursing degree. I haven't started on mine yet, and I'm going to wait until I talk to someone at the hospital before I do. Hopefully this turns out much better than what I'm presently doing.

NurseKelli, Thanks for your response. I wish we could afford for me to take the time off and be an at-home mom, but unfortunately, that's beyond possibility. Lots of people post about rotten hours. I have no idea what your situation is like, but the place where I am planning to go works three 12-hour shifts per week. This would allow me to be with my family a lot more than I am right now. Even if I put in overtime, I'd have 3 days off a week. As it is now, I have hardly any time with them due to the fact that my teaching contract has been violated and I am not allotted the planning time I'm supposed to. So, I do all that at home. There is a class-action that the Teacher's union filed, partly on my behalf, because of all the violations (that's only one very small corner of this iceburg). SO, to say that I know nothing of working many hours and not seeing my family would be false. Also, I have no idea what the pay situation is where you all are, but I can tell you that what I'd be paid hourly as an RN would be so much more than I'm getting now. Right now, I work 10 hour days, and also put in countless hours on weekends/weeknights once I'm home. However, I'm only paid for 6 3/4 hours of work. To actually be paid for the time I put in would be such an enormous improvement. Also, with the nursing shortage, people are saying how they're doing the job of 2 people.... I feel your pain. I was hired into my current position to replace two full-time teachers. I was flat out apologized to by the Asst. Superintendent today, who is the person who oversees my position, and I was told there won't be any changes next year because of the budget. Not only that, because of the way the proficiency testing is going, and the fact that people who know nothing of education are making all the laws, the persons in my position may all be forced into other jobs before too long. I am sure that politics plays a part in every profession. I don't expect that to change. I do, however, expect that I will be paid for the hours I put in. It would also be nice to have the instruments I'd need to do my job, because right now, I'm not provided with those. I have been asked by many people to stay in teaching... so I have decided to go to work for the local hospital sometime soon, and see what I think of it. I may do VERY part-time for right now (which means 12 hour shifts on my weekends).... and if nothing else, it will help pay the bills, and maybe even give me money to pay for more courses (regardless what field they're in). I guess this way I'll have some idea, however small, of what's out there, and I can make up my mind about next year with a more informed decision.

It is a very scary situation, Reg06. It says a lot about our society, and why other countries look at our society in disgust. The things that are the most important in life, are looked upon with the least respect. Things that really shouldn't matter so much are put up for all to see, and people worship these lesser aspects of life. When a person on welfare can deliver child after child.... and never pay a dime toward the bills...... and in the same city, a hard-working person who goes to work every day, and tries to live life the right way spends years paying off the birth of one child. Meanwhile, the welfare recipient is rewarded with even more money, as a gift for having yet another child they can't afford. It really says a lot about priorities!

El, Thanks for the thoughts. I like the idea of the gratitude journal. In an earlier post, someone asked what exactly I dislike about teaching... I found something in my e-mail that I think is a nice answer to the question: Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning. Not only that, I'm to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity, behaviorally modify disruptive behavior, and observe them for signs of abuse, drugs, and T-shirt messages. I am to fight the war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for guns and raise their self-esteem. I'm to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship and fair play, how and where to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook and how to apply for a job, but I am never to ask if they are in this country illegally. I am to check their heads occasionally for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of potential antisocial behavior, offer advice, write letters of recommendation for student employment and scholarships, encourage respect for the cultural diversity of others, and oh yeah, teach, always making sure that I give the girls in my class fifty percent of my attention. I'm required by my contract to be working, on my own time, summer and evenings and at my own expense towards additional certification, advance certification and a master's degree, to sponsor the cheerleaders or the sophomore class and after school I am to attend committee and faculty meetings and participate in staff development training to maintain my current certification and employment status. I am to collect data and maintain all records to support and document our building's progress in the selected state mandated program to "assess and upgrade educational excellence in the public schools." I am to be a paragon of virtue larger than life, such that my very presence will awe my students into being obedient and respectful of authority. I am to pledge allegiance to supporting family values, a return to the basics, and my current administration. I am to incorporate technology into the learning, but monitor all web sites for appropriateness while providing a personal one-on-one relationship with each student. I am to decide who might be potentially dangerous and/or liable to commit crimes in school or who is possibly being abused and I can be sent to jail for not mentioning these suspicions to those in authority. I am to make sure ALL students pass the state and federally mandated testing and all classes, whether or not they attend school on a regular basis or complete any of the work assigned. I am to communicate frequently with each student's parent by letter, phone, newsletter, and grade card. I'm to do all of this with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a 45 minute or less plan time, and a big smile on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps in many states. Is that all? And you want me to do all of this and expect me to do it without praying?

First to JenMarie... There are MANY reasons I'm not liking teaching right now. I'm not sure what state you're from but Ohio just re-did the standards and it is even more difficult to get a child services who needs them. Their IQ has to be lower than ever before. Along with that, they've put in the 4th grade guarantee (which will be changing, and it will be similar to that for EVERY grade level, but only newer teachers are affected)... but your job is on the line for things you have NO control over. Also, with what I'm paid, and with no tuition reimbursement, I can not afford to get my master's in the required time, for teachers. Then there's always the fact that you're hired on "who you know" and not "what you know". I could go on and on... there are so many reasons that it's not for me. I, like ShannaB, know plenty of teachers who are just biding their time. THey're retiring ASAP, and taking cuts in retirement pay just to get out of the system. ShannaB... like you, there are so many reasons I am interested in nursing, the first of which is the interest I've taken since my son was born. We joke that we did 'do it yourself nursing' for a long time, with all the care he required. Thankfully, now, other than his scar, you'd never know he had a problem... although he'll have open-heart surgeries throughout his life, unless enough research is done that it can fully correct his problem. As for the money... I know I won't make much money in either field ... but money was not my motivating factor, or I would have NEVER been a teacher, especially in this area! My 1st year teaching, I made enough to pay rent, my car payment, and I had $100 bucks left for the month... to divy up between food for the month, gas, electric bills, etc. I didn't get into teaching for the money, and that's not why I'm interested in nursing. However, being paid for the hours I work is a motivating factor. I get tired of putting in 10 hour days (plus time at home that I'm doing work for school) and being paid only for the required 6 3/4 hours. Also, many other professions (nursing included... depending on where you live) offer tuition reimbursement. They have that here, and that was definitely a helpful bonus to the fact that it seems like something I'd enjoy doing. Well, it's off to start my day... hope ya all have a good one!

FIRST OF ALL, Thank you ALL for the very honest responses! I am probably going to start out by being a PCT in the local hospital here (as soon as I decide where I'm going to fit that into my schedule). I want to get some background, and be sure this is what I want to do. I am positive that I want out of teaching, as I can't afford to stay in it. I enjoy working with people, but can't afford the professional development with no compensation for it. I'm not sure I made myself clear on why I wish to get into nursing. I suppose the main thing that made me think of nursing was my son. I had thought of other things, when I initially decided to get out of education. However, my mind kept turning back to all the people who've taken care of my son during his 7 months of life, so far. I have asked many people if they truly enjoy what they do... and all nurses so far have said yes. In fact, the only one I did not ask, is the one we had a negative experience with, and I believe her actions spoke for her. (A syringe with pain meds was slammed down in front of me to give to my son, with hardly a word spoken, just 4 days after his open-heart surgery, and after he'd lay in my arms screaming in pain for 2 hours while I waited on her to bring it.) I realize the hours are long, and difficult. I realize it's emotionally trying. I think the people who've compared it to what they think teaching is, don't realize that I put in 10 hour days just at work, not to mention the paperwork I bring home. The weekends are not free of work, neither are holidays. I am just not in the classroom doing it, I'm at home with it. I bring home the emotional trials, as well, only not with life and death (unless it's in an abuse case where our hands are tied, and the abuse is allowed to continue by the mixed up system we have). I know it won't be an easy road, but I enjoy a challenge, and I desperately would like to help others. I especially would like to be a able to watch out for newborns, so that they aren't given discharge papers, and then just an hour later, they are barely being kept alive, because no one noticed the signs of the heart defect. Even the American Heart Association doesn't do much for heart defects, the #1 birth defect. So, I guess this is just one more way that I'd like to do my part to help people. Perhaps I have a glorified idea of what I'm getting into, but I sincerely hope not. I guess only time will tell. So far, though, it seems as though only one person who's responded would not do it over again if able to go back in time. I think those are pretty good odds. You won't find that in the education system, not in this state, anyway. Thanks again, to everyone, for your honest replies!

I have another question.... for those who've worked in several different areas... which was your favorite? I think, right now, that I'd like to work in the OB... and a lot of that feeling comes from the fact that my son's life was saved there. I've spoken with the people in the OB locally, and they all LOVE it in the OB. Since I'm going to need to get my foot in the door while I go to school... I'm looking at PCT jobs for part-time while I finish my teaching contract. There are openings in med/surg (which I've seen mentioned fairly often on here), telemetry, and emergency. I don't know where I will ultimately end up, once I have my license... so I'm just wondering how people like it in different areas? Thanks again to all who've responded so far!

Thank you all for answering my question. My son, 7 months old, has been in and out of hospitals/doctor's offices (because of his heart) more times than I can count. I always find myself thinking back to the nurses who saved his life (whom we still keep in touch with). I think about how hard it was for the one to come tell me that my first-born child had turned blue and they didn't know what was wrong. I think about how we were told by the surgeons... that if we'd been home... my son wouldn't be here. I think about how little people are informed about Congenital heart defects... and how I asked several times about his funny breathing and was assured that things were fine. I think... maybe ... it may take 30 or even 50 years... but I may be able to notice the signs in someone else sooner, and their child won't have near the problems my son had. I truly enjoy working with people (as I said earlier, I'm a teacher right now)... but the politics of teaching... and lack of tuition reimbursement, makes it impossible for me to stay in the profession. I have met so many nurses in the past 7 months... and only had ONE negative experience (which is an incredibly good thing, considering how much time we've spent in hospitals/doctor's offices). I guess I am thinking of turning to nursing because I became fascinated with what happened to my son, and I want to learn more. I want to help people the way that we've been helped. I admire the work, and would like to be a part of it. I know people hate working the weekends, but I'm actually looking forward to that, because that means I will have more days during the week to spend with my son, and my hubby will be with him on the weekends. For now, I am still looking into what program to take... I'm thinking MSN through OSU. I am also going to apply at the local hospital for a PCT position. I know it's not glamorous... but it's a foot in the door, and in the direction I hope to be going to. SO, again, thank you for your encouraging words. I'm glad to hear that even though the stress and the wear-n-tear can get to you... you'd still do it again! I look forward to hearing from more people.

I, too, have been looking into distance learning. I'm not sure what they have for the route you're going... I'm probably going to go the MSN route through OSU. You may want to look into that and see if they have what you're looking for.

Today's the first time I've come across this site. I'm considering a major career change, and looking to possibly get into the field of nursing. I am curious as to how many people who post here would do it all over again, if given the chance? I have put a lot of time into what I'm currently doing (teaching) but can no longer afford to stay in it (due to pay, lack of tuition reimbursement, amount of time between required degrees). Also, my son was born with a congenital heart defect, and it has prompted me to learn as much as possible about CHD's, and the medical field in general. So, I'm wondering how many would go back and do it all over again? Thanks, in advance! Katie