DBlack1

Well, that time of the year has come around and I need my 15 hours. This is my first full year out of nursing so I must get them on my own. Are there any great places to look for these hours. I found a place called myfreece.com, but it isn't really free. I am really not concerned by the price, more so I am interested in the quality of the courses. Has anybody used the previously mentioned site and what did you think about it? I would also like ideas on what I should take to keep up to date with current nursing trends since I am no longer in this line of work. I am kind of excited to take some courses because it has been so long since I have even read anything dealing with nursing. THanks

In the big scheme of things I think he means 5k isn't much. I bought a new truck in august, it's already worth $10,000 less than what I paid for it. That $5k isn't sounding so big. I know people with TV's that cost more than that. I am PRO making yourself happy. If this makes you happy go for it. I think plastic surgery is great. If you want to change it and it can be changed then do the damn thing. I personally like women with smaller boobs, around a B or a C cup. I know a few women who were A cups that upgraded and they were really happy. I saw a before pic of one and it was a great investment IMO.

Well, I'm glad that you aren't a lemming like many out there today. You also have quite a age gap on my generation, and I'm afraid your logical approach isn't shared by a large group of people my age . I hate making broad generalizations, but your points are correct. People do need to work together in a relationship. Divorce wasn't always considered "hip" or okay. The times have changed, society changes, but not always for the good. There are negatives in the article posted, but damn there were a lot of positives "back then". I think even setting the article aside, I still would rather have been a husband in that era than present. The same can be said for raising a family.

I understand/agree with most all of that, but the american society is kind of like of a herd of cattle. What they see is what they believe. Values change, morals change, the media displays this everyday. I like numbers. They are real, and I understand them. No relationship is easy, but people see "everyone" around them quiting, so why don't they just get a divorce. I know a handful of what I consider happily married people. I couldn't count the number I know who have more than one divorce under thier belt.

I'm not going to argue my ideas on the liberation of females. The divorce rate will be in the 80% range before I die and the # of marriages will be greatly reduced. American's have developed a attitude that will not work with marriage. I know 30 year olds that are on their third marriage, you think they would have figured it out by now. Blame what you want, and say that women back then weren't happy "back then". Ask the next generation of kids what its like to have 3 step dads before high school graduation. I don't want a slave for a wife, but a woman who could be a real woman/mother would be nice. I see too many kids getting shuffled around these days. Women might lose the ability to be motherly one day.

Times have changed. If things were still this way the divorce rate wouldn't be so high.

I went to school with some girls that purchased cosmetic surgery with student loans. I thought it was funny, but the interest rates were better than a credit card. I have a bud who is 100k in debt, but that is for a Masters in Finance from LSU. He made around 60k his first year out, and could be in the six figure range in as little as 4 years. Well worth the debt. My aunt is a pharmacist, makes around 150K a year, and is still paying 30 year old student loans. I have none. I would have ate peanut butter/jelly every meal if I did need the loans. My brother attended The Univ. of Colorado at Boulder for a semester and stayed in the dorms. His room mate had over 100K in debt on a liberal arts degree and still had a couple semesters left. That my friends is very dumb.

Good career, doesn't seem to be too hard of a job after seeing what they did in the hospital. The school work is pretty difficult. Gross anatomy could be fun and hard at the same time. My ex wife was in a DPT program when we divorced. Pay is great right out of school, but in my research it seems to top out rather low for the amount of time invested in education. I know a PT in law school due to wanting more money. I know the local hospital doesn't pay PT's what I think they should earn (60's), but they don't seem to have a problem retaining the PT's they employ.

I think being a male makes this even worse. Almost every night I went to work I had a patient ask if I was working towards becoming a MD. I got tired of explaining myself so I just told them I didn't even graduate from high school until I was 20 (which is true), and my 2.8 college GPA wouldn't get me into any med school I know of. I hate school. My parents never gave me any grief about it, but they did want me to further my education.

Just CEU's. I'm not in a position to work 4 extra days a month. I'm glad my state doesn't require hours worked, because I might just have to give up my license. Life is so funny. I started college as a finance major before switching to nursing, now I wish I had the finance degree. I don't regret going into nursing, but I could use the finance knowledge in my business. I have as much time invested in the finance degree as the RN degree (2 years).

Thanks for the ideas. No agency nursing is done in this area. Too many new graduates to fill the spots, which is also one of the main reasons the pay is so bad. I would still work a day or two a month for a decent wage. I'm going to talk to a few people I know and see what I can come up with, but I have a feeling I am not going to be able to work as a RN.

So you worked 24-26 days a month? Thats not possible for me to do. I feel twenty days a months is plenty, and the list of things I miss about nursing includes working 12 days a month. I was working almost 100 days less a year than I am now.

I really needed to better explain my skills definition. I can pick up things like IV's and such rather quickly if needed. It didn't take me long the first time. I am mainly worried about a loss of knowledge, ie: what to do during certain dysrhythmias, etc. If I don't think about this stuff for 20 years there is no way I will remember it. I guess I will just have to teach myself all over.

I don't believe that males entering the profession will tolerate the poor pay as well as the females, and is a reason many males leave the field. I graduated with 5 other males, and a year later two of us are out of nursing.

Well, I have come to the reality that I probably will not be going back to nursing for many years, if ever, and I want to keep my skills/knowledge up. I was only a RN for around 9 months and worked med/surg night shift. Since my fathers death in April I have taken over ownership/running the construction company with my mother, who ran the business with my father over the last 20 years. Even though I am not happy with my location, everything else is pretty great. I feel guilty about leaving something I spent a good amount of time educating myself in. I don't really have a lot of time invested in nursing, but it is not something I want to forget about. I want to keep it as a back up plan, and would actually like to teach one day if possible. I considered taking prn work at the local hospital, but they wanted me to come in atleast 4 days/nights a month. I could do this, but to be blunt about it, I feel it takes away too much time for the amount of financial compensation. What is a good way for someone to keep up a general knowledge about nursing as a whole? I don't want to be clueless, but I know that I can't keep up with everything as much of nursing changes with time. Has anyone here taken a extended vacation from nursing only to come back years down the road? Any advice is appreciated.

I did like the guy you know. I studied a couple of hours a week for a month and went and took the test. I really just wanted to feel the test out so to speak. I failed in 120 something questions. Next go around I did all the questions on my Kaplan disk and all of the questions on my saunders disk, some set twice if I was weak in that area. I didn't spend more than a hour reviewing meds because I didn't think they were that important and didn't see but one or two on the first attempt. The second time it took me right at a hour and 75 questions to pass. Know delegation, assistive devices, and anticoags. The priority questions were easy to me, but the first go around I got like 5 assistive devices questions I had no clue on and apparently missed them all.

Pretty much a southern thing I reckon. It pretty much means standing your ground and letting them know how it is. Simply put "I respect that you are more experienced than I am, but this doesn't allow you to walk all over me, and you don't sign my paycheck". "I will also not stand for any negative comments about my lack of knowledge in a certain area as I am more than willing to learn what I do not know". "If you cannot add something helpful please mind your own business and ****".

First time I took the Kaplan review course and answered half of the questions on the disk, along with reading two-thirds of the book. I failed. Second time I did every question on the saunders disk and finished the Kaplan disk. I bet I did around 5,000 questions over a two month period while still working weekend option as a tech. I also reviewed my weak areas twice (peds/resp/cardiac). I passed in around one hour and 75 questions. All I did other than the questions was review a thing suzanne sent me on delegation. I didn't actually review meds as I felt overwhelmed by the amount of material needed to feel 100% in that area.

I have noticed some programs don't go by just the first time pass rate. My school had a 85% first time pass rate, but I believe it was 95% after the second try. It took me two attempts to get it right, but the second one only took one hour and 75 questions. It is amazing what a little studying will do.

You work with the number of women you are going to be around, there will always be one with a chip on their shoulder or a know it all. I only work with one of the eat their young type, but after telling her how the cow eats the cabbage, I don't see any more problems in my future.

The 75% rule was there to keep the students whose knowledge wasn't up to par on the material out of the clinical setting. A instructor who has a student who is doing poorly in class will need to spend more time with the failing student out of fear of a mistake being made due to lack of knowledge on the students part. This in turn takes time away for the students who are passing and need help in clinicals. I personally don't think it was a good idea to do away with it. If someone has to make a 90% or higher on the rest of the tests to pass the odds are greatly against them.

Ask your doctor if xanax is right for you. I know a few who have needed it for test anxiety

3 pt gait = Advance the crutches and the Affected leg 2 pt gait = Advance the R leg followed by the L crutch The cane is the proper length if the elbow is bent 30 degrees. Know immunizations for infants/peds.

Level 1 was the most difficult due to me BOMBING the first test and struggling to pick my grade up to a 75% by mid term (which I heard is no longer required). Three tests to go from a 53 to a 75 did not make for a fun time. I had to pass the final to pass the first semester and managed to get a 81. I hated maternity & womens health, being a guy and all, but I got through it. The second year was hard, but I enjoyed the material for the most part and that made it a little easier.

Monday-Friday I would do anywhere from 50-250 questions a day. I did the areas I was weaker in more than once and would also read my med surg book if I had any doubt of my understandingo of a particular area. I think in all I did around 3,000 questions not counting the few areas I did twice. The first time I failed I was below the passing standard in basic care and comfort, and near the passing standard in all the other areas. The reason I didn't do well on the first test is because I had 4-5 questions on assistive devices that I didn't have a clue on. If I would have done saunders the first time I would have probably passed because it answered all my assistive device questions. A tip: In a immunosupressed pt. if you see 5mm duration with ppd for a tb test it is considered positive. Edit: GOOD LUCK on your second attempt. It is just a test.