RNstudent15

:) Well that definitely makes sense. Maybe like someone else said after I get a little experience under my belt I'll be in a better position to figure it all out.

As far as NP's go, do they usually just work in a family practice office or do they also work in the hospital setting? Maybe in the long run the hours of working in an office would be nice, but currently the goal for me is to work in a hospital. Possibly the ER if I can keep up.

I start my associate RN program in January and I'm super excited. But I also know that I don't want to stop there... I want to continue on with my education but I'm torn on exactly what it is that I want. I'm sure I'll know more once I start my clinicals, but currently I'm pretty sure I would like to work in a hospital setting. But I'm not sure if I want to stop when I get my BSN or continue on to become a Nurse Practitioner. I was wondering if any of you had any advice. I know I still have plenty of time to figure these things out, I've just been thinking about it a lot lately and would love some input from people who are actually out there working in the field.

I second this! I only used this book to study with and I made a 91 on my test! Best of luck!! And congrats on moving to southern florida! I want to move there after I get out of nursing school :)

Thank you guys so much! That's the only part I want sure about. Now I just need to practice :-)

I'm about to finish my CNA class, and I'm preparing for my test and I was hoping to maybe get some advice on it. I'm not too terribly worried about the written portion, it seems pretty straight forward. But what does concern me is the skills portion. Not that I don't think I'm capable of completing the skills properly, but there's so much that goes in to the test taking portion that I'm getting worried. My teacher told me that we need to say as close to possible each step on the skill as we perform them, which is not that hard... but there are a few that I'm not sure if we need to actually do or just verbalize. Like maintain courteous interpersonal interactions at all times. Do I need to chit chat with the "patient" as I'm taking the test, or just verbalize it. Maybe I'm thinking too much about it. Help? :)

Well I wish you the best of luck in Nursing school! I hope that I'm as lucky as you come this fall. :)

Congratulations... that has got to be so exciting!! :)

Thank you guys! :) Looks like if I want to be an ER nurse I have a lot more education than just my nursing program.

I have heard that once you get a job nursing that you had better have picked which area you want to work (like pediatrics, maternity, icu, ER) b/c it's really hard to move around. Well I won't know until clinicals which area I really want to work in, but the ER seems like it'd be an interesting place... my question is, do they have any special certifications/degrees that you need in order to work in the ER?

I am only a pre-nursing student myself, but the only advice I can really give you is to just follow your heart and have confidence in your decisions. You can't think about all the possible bad outcomes of your job before you even start. But if you do find yourself thinking about those, at least give yourself some credit and think about all the good you'll do. How many lives you'll change. From what you say you're a smart person, don't doubt yourself. :) you can do it!

Lol. I can only imagine, but hey... that's better for job security. :)

Haven't fully decided on an area yet, but I definitely want to be on the Gulf Coast. I love their beaches.

My school doesn't offer them separately. I think it makes sense to take them together. I'm not sure how difficult your classes would be but I think it would be smart to take them together.

No problem. You'll do great :-)

Let me ask you, is the nursing job market down there Extremely competitive? I grew up in Florida and want to move to South Florida after I graduate.

We were allowed to use calculators, but don't worry, from what I do remember the actual math part of it was simple. It's just a matter of equations and fun stuff like that.

I took it a while back and if you're good with math it's pretty easy. I was a huge slacker when I took it almost 10 years ago and never studied or did any homework and still got a B.

I took a sign language class in high school and absolutely LOVED it. I'm having a hard time finding out if my college offers it though. I'd love to take that on top of Spanish. I find myself trying to sign along with songs even after so many years :)

Tennessee :)

I think the bones were easier because you have far fewer. Now in my A&P 1 class we didn't have to learn all the little bones of the hand and feet, just that they were carpals/tarsals, metacarpals/metatarsals, and phalanges. with the muscles though, I just tried to associate the names with things that I thought were funny, it made it easier to remember their location.

I agree with you. Every time I tell someone that I'm going to school to become a nurse they mention how well they get paid. But to be honest while it wasn't the reason that I wanted to go into nursing, it is reassuring to know that I will be able to be independent and care for my son on my salary alone (once I finally get out of school). But like you I'm not excited about the money, actually taking care of people is what excites me. And I really want to work at a children's hospital so helping make a sick kid's day and taking care of them is what really pushes me to be successful.

That's what I keep coming back to. I'm currently in TN and around here it's definitely used a lot.

I took the Hesi a2 exam on the 20th of Feb and was pleasantly surprised by my grade (91.67) and I figured I'd let you guys know how I was able to get such a grade. I've been out of high school for 12 years now so I was really worried that I wouldn't do so hot, so I bought the book "Admission Assessment Exam Review, 3e" and honestly I didn't start studying until about 3 days before the exam. This book however completely prepared me for the reading, vocabulary, grammar, and math. At the school I'm going to however we didn't need to take the chemistry or physics portion of the exam so I skipped over those sections. But taking the sample tests and reading over each section really helped. Good luck to anyone about to take it, and just relax, it's easier that you might think. :)

Firstly I should introduce myself, hello all.. I'm currently finishing up my prereq's and hope to start the RN program at my school next spring (their nursing program only starts in the spring). I'll finish my prereq's this semester and so I still have the summer and fall semester before I can start nursing, and I don't want to take a semester off. So I was thinking that I could take a foreign language. What language do you guys think would be the most beneficial for me to learn?