goalie35

My graduation date is the 14th of Jan and I am starting my job on the 9th. I will be working on a Med/Surg floor at a stepdown hospital or long term acute care hospital. I will be starting my bridge program in Feb. There is no time requirement as to when you can start the bridge program. I am actually going through "The College Network" to get my ASN and then my BSN. I know several of my classmates that have jobs in hospitals and others that chose LTC because of the $$$$. You will need to decide which is better for you, getting the experience at a hospital setting or making more $$$ right out of school. As far as your prior schooling, it depends on what bridge program you choose. If you go through Excelsior, then yes it will help and you will not have to spend as much and you might be able to get done in less than a year. Good luck with your school.

I just graduated from LVN school in TX and I am working at a stepdown hospital or longterm acute care hospital as a med/surg nurse. I will be able to push IV meds, but i will not be able to draw blood from a central line or hang blood. We had a lot of my class get jobs in some form of acute care setting. Keep in mind that you will make more $$$ in LTC as an LPN/LVN than you will at a hospital. Good luck with your school.

I am really sorry that you feel that way. I am a male LVN student and I am about to graduate in December. I personally look for every opportunity to do any procedure that I can. All of the nurses that I work with request to have my back with them the following day (if they are working). I actually split the patient load with my nurse and require minimal supervision. I fully admit that I do not know everything and I am always asking my nurse questions. I never pass up any procedure that is offered my way. I feel that you have to have that kind of attitude in order to be a good nurse and the only way to do that is to practice, practice, practice. I have seen severl RN students that do not show very much initiative to do patient care, they are more concerned in following the charge nurse and doing paperwork. Maybe the difference is in that. I really enjoy the attitude of all the nurses that I work with, they all say that it is there responsibilty to teach the new nurses the profession. If we are not taught the right way to do things (which does not always mean the text book way), it just mean more work for you when we need help to cover the patient load that we have when we are your co-workers.