NursePick

Actually, all three hospitals in my area hire grads in the OR and ER. In our program, we do have some choice as to where we precept in our last semester. I'm trying to make the most educated decision so that I might end up somewhere I like and possibly increase my chances of hiring on after graduation. I know that you don't just get to walk into any position you want. That was not my question.

I graduate in 9 months with a BSN and I'm still on the fence about which area of nursing I want to practice. I know that I want either ER or OR. Now it sort of comes down to the typical schedule for each and how they correspond with my family life. I am 35, married, and I have 2 children. I have spent a great deal of time away during the last 3 years of school and now I'm hoping to have more money and time to do things together we have not had the luxury of doing. From what I am hearing around our hospital facilities, OR is Mon-Fri 0630 to 1530 with 2 weeknight on-calls and 1 weekend call a month. ER is 3 12s. Can some of you share what your schedules are really like? I'm also interested in hearing your opinions on each specialty to further help me weigh the pros and cons and choose a practice most appropriate for me.

You don't put a company on hold when you have monthly expenses. If I do that, I might as well sell it. This is how I pay my bills and my tuition when financial aid is not available. I have wind back in my sail so I'm just gonna push through one more year, and then yes, my plan is to do three 12s and have the other 4 days for business or whatever. And it will make a wold of difference when papers and documentation isn't always due or exams to prepare for, etc.

I want to thank each and every one of you for your encouraging words. I am so glad I posted on here. You all have helped me realize that it's okay to be passionate about more than one thing. I can be a great nurse and a business owner. You know, I thought back to the day I got my acceptance letter to Texas A&M's nursing program and how incredulous I was...that I had actually pulled it off after losing my shoe store I built and ran for 10 years...when I hit bottom and started all over again with 2 little boys at home to raise. Now, 3 years later, I have a new business and an inevitable nursing degree. One more year of this...one day at a time...I'm going to have a bachelors degree, and that gives me chills. I'm sure over this next years I will continue to experience tearful, self-doubting moments. But, the tears I shed when I walk across that stage will be worth it. God bless y'all. Thank you for lifting my spirits :)

Thank you Mrs, Hope, and Everline for your words of positivity and encouragement! I feel like I have no one to relate to in nursing school which worsens my feelings of doubt. I am by far the oldest in our class with an average age of 20. I own a party rental company specializing in inflatables...bounce house, waterslides, concessions, and much more. I had to come up with some creative way to pay bills through school and I knew I couldn't be on someone else's clock while in a nursing program. So when I rented a bounce house for my son's birthday I decided to buy one. We now have 17 units, clown entertainers, outdoor cinema, and DJ/karaoke service. We are also the only legal, insured and state inspected bounce house rental company in our area and very proud of that. As you can see, it's not in my personality to quit something. If I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it with all my might and I want to be the best...the gold standard. But, I'm so far from that in school. I made all As before nursing and now I'm all Cs/Bs. If I had started this company before I went back to school, it would be 3 times the size it is now and I would have never even pursued nursing. So that has to mean something! There has to be a divine reason that I am still on this path. Obviously I have been very passionate about nursing or I would not be here...I would not have made the grades I did, or been accepted to a very difficult program to get into. But the wind in my sail has ceased and I feel like I'm stranded in still water. My professor just emailed and said she found a day for me to make it up, but that email also came with a tremendous guilt and reminders of how this is a professional program and shame on me. It was insulting and reiterating that I don't deserve any rewards for working 7 days a week, going to school, and raising 2 little boys. There's no room for error and there's no sympathy. Now I don't even want to go on the trip because she's made me feel so unprofessional. She could have made the adjustment when she was writing the schedule because I gave her my days of absence last semester in writing - she was clearly teaching me a lesson. Lesson learned. No, I don't take great care of myself. When I get out of class or clinical I have customers I have to call, quoted to submit, paperwork, bills to pay, marketing, etc. Then I pick up my kids, get their homework done, supper, baths, and then to my studies. Not a lot of gym or me time. On a bmi chart I am technically overweight, so of course that contributes to my diminished self esteem.

I know what the expectation is and this is the first time in my college career that I requested a miss. It's my brother's wedding, however, and I did not set his wedding date. Do you really believe my uncertainty means I should not be a nurse? And I'm not being a jerk, I really want to know. If it is not normal for anyone to question their decision at any point in school then you may right. It may have been a slam dunk decision for you.

I have one year left until I graduate with my BSN and I am questioning my place in this field. I am in my mid 30s, married with 2 kids, and I have own my own business which I started in order to pay for nursing school. My business has grown exponentially though and has left me wondering sometimes why I'm doing both. I'm running myself completely ragged managing all of the above, but I keep telling myself not to give up...I've come to far! But because of all of my other responsibilities, I have not excelled like most of the other students. Their lives revolve around nursing and nursing school. I don't even know what type of nursing I want to practice and graduation is right around the corner. The other students have become so passively competitive that I'm really not even friends with anyone anymore. I have already gotten off on the wrong foot with my professor on the first day of this semester because I have a vacation planned with my husband and requested a makeup for the clinical I am going to miss. I haven't had a vacation or been away with my husband in 6 years - I emailed her the days of my absence last semester before the schedule was made and she said ok if I find someone to switch with. This morning I got an email from her denying my request and reminding me that this is a professional program and my choices effect other people as well. Well there's a $3,000 trip down the drain. Does life get better after nursing school? Is this a representation of my nursing career? I would love to hear some stories from you guys on your experience in RN school and transitions afterwards. Did you ever second guess your decision to pursue nursing?