donwood1

I was also disappointed in the tone of this response to homeopathy on a message board ostensibly frequented by those who passed at least one class each in pharmacology, biology, and pathophysiology. The tone is not derisive enough.

I'm just going to point out you use the credibility of the CDC here when it bolsters your argument, while spending much of your initial post listing reasons you think it is not credible. This would matter if this whole post was a good faith argument instead of "just asking questions" concern trolling, but ah well.

And if you choose not to get other vaccines, your job is threatened. Are folks allowed to opt out of Hep vaccines at your institution? Allowed to mask instead of getting a TB test? The amount of mental gymnastics one needs to do to try and make your argument sound reasonable should be a red flag. This is a radical, out of the scientific mainstream, anti evidence based decision you are advocating for, one that is currently harming real people. I try to be a big advocate for my patients' bodily autonomy. They absolutely have the right to refuse, and I do not see it as my job to change their beliefs. I do, though, have a duty to very clearly explain there will be consequences to their decisions and what those consequences might be, "up to and including death." Choose not to get the vaccine? Fine, but there are consequences to that decision. No patient-facing care. And stay out of my workplace so I can concentrate on my job and not on the slim chance I could bring your COVID home to my kid too young to vaccinate. Make what decisions you want, but quit whining about the fact they have consequences. If these are just your current positions, reexamine them. If they are your principles then live them. Living your principles involves trade offs. Grow up.

It seems like this is pretty common. I am in the same boat and will start summer classes soon and take 18 credit hours in the fall (yikes). But, then I'll (we'll) be in nursing courses in the Spring and pretty much from then, on.

Oh, I need to update my profile! We moved to NJ last year.

Felecian is significantly more expensive but has offered me an almost half off scholarship which brings it close to William Paterson.

I did the same. I am one (ONE!) credit short of graduating from ECC but I'm listed as a sophomore, too. I think the thing is there are special pre-reqs for the nursing program. I believe we are allowed to contact our advisor early April. By weird cirumstance I found out I was accepted to the Nursing program but was not at all ready to start the nursing courses in the fall. Luckily, they start some nursing classes in the spring too, so I won't waste a year, but i'm currently trying to figure out if I can take courses in the summer, which I *need* to do. So, all I can advise is to stay right on top of it to avoid surprises. I was pretty bummed out for a couple days before I could work with them to get a realistic plan set up (w/summer school every year, btw).

Thank you. They are within a point, lol! Both are good, I'd just like to know if there are any intangibles one way or another.

I have been lucky enough to get accepted to both programs. Does anyone know if one is more well respected than the other. Or, anything else I should know before making a decision? I will be transferring in.

Just received my packet today. Good luck, everyone!

The only different perspective I might add is as a 48-yr-old who is back in school for nursing after another career. I am assuming you are a college-aged person. When I was college-aged, halfway through, I realized the program I was in was terrible, the professors awful. The thought of spending another two years was unbearable. I dropped out. Several times over the years I thought of going back, but it would be two or three years, maybe five! I wouldn't be done until I was 27, later, 33! later, 40! Those ages seemed far off and I didn't go. Looking back, I could have been a decade or two into another career right now. I love being a carpenter, but with a degree, in ANYTHING, I would have had 500% more options when the booms busted over the years. I clicked on your post because I have a deep fear I may end up in the same boat. I can tell you, though, facing the same dilemma from a different point in life, that what seems like an empty platitude is true. Education is something nobody can take away from you, even if you never use it. It won't be long before you're laughing at how worried you were about this. (I'd also add to what others said above; you'll still have a bachelor's. Your best bang for the buck, should you decide to change everything up, is probably to finish out, get the degree and apply for a masters program in whichever other field you want to try.)

Hello there, I found this post by searching for ECC on the forums. I am transferring in from out of state and wondering how folks like it there. Did you get in to the nursing program? Also, do many people at Essex transfer out to Rutgers?

I don't have any nursing specific advice to give, as I am just a student as well, but I have worked as a carpenter for 20 years and there are places you can learn, and places you can learn only that you don't want to work there. Skilled people enjoy passing knowledge on to bright people who are interested in learning. They were once that learner, and it is rewarding and kind of funny to be on the other side of it. Unskilled people are only interested in one category of knowledge: What Do I Need To Know To Get By. This includes the easiest shifts to work, the pushover managers and every little detail of policy that might help them do less. They will see you as competition, which is wrong, because you are playing a completely different game. But the real reason I want to comment on this thread is that I thought about nursing for a long time, but only started school last year after my experience with a nurse during my father's death. I have no idea how skilled that nurse was, or how smart, but I do know that nurse was a strong advocate for my Dad when my Dad was helpless to advocate for himself, and that is all that mattered to me. It made a huge difference. You will, of course, learn better ways to deal with problems as you get more experience, but I hope you never lose the intensity of your advocacy. Just, you know, maybe package and aim it more wisely. Hey, that's something I'm still learning 20 years into my first profession. Best of luck to you.

I'm 47 this year and only two semesters in to my prereqs with two more to go before I can apply to the nursing program. I have had similar doubts. Two things: First, for a lot of people, our 47 is not our parent's 47. I obviously have no idea what your situation is, but I still play softball twice a week, and though there is nothing like sports to showcase the humbling effects of ageing, I can still play the outfield, I just don't play center field anymore. Those that keep themselves somewhat fit are years "younger" than people were at the same age a generation ago. Again, your mileage may vary. I have no personal familiarity with the physical demands of nursing, but as a carpenter, I know a guy at 65 who still works like a banshee and guys at 35 who are broken down and out of shape. The 65 year-old works at it, in the gym 5 days a week w/pilates. With a little luck and a lot of work you can control the physical side of things. Second: A former college dropout, I have realized in this last little stretch of college just what my folks were trying to tell me all those years ago: You can't go wrong going to school! Even if I never set foot in a nursing class, the process of learning something I didn't have to learn for work has already been transformative. I see myself differently. I see the world differently. I agree with a poster above that the older folks have done better, in general, than the young kids in the classes I have taken. I think part of it is that young people can take the process of learning for granted, having been forced to do it for so long. As an older person decades removed from that, it is a real gas. Best of luck to you and my apologies for the long post.