Wildcats9

I'm probably not going to have the most popular opinion here and while I wholly understand GAD, I would suggest finding a job in nursing that immerses you in and forces you to practice the skills you're most lacking confidence in. On a daily basis! EVERY nurse goes through that. If one tells you they didn't, they're lying. Or they are seriously lacking empathy and probably shouldn't be in the medical field if they aren't concerned about hurting a patient. I am fairly new to nursing- have only been working in it a handful of years, however, I was a nontraditional student and went back to school for a second degree nursing program in my mid-30s. Like you, I was scared to death to take blood pressures, because my sister complained about her arm hurting the very time I attempted to practice. I still don't like starting IVs. When I graduated, my first job was purposefully in dialysis, because I knew it would force me to get comfortable sticking patients multiple times a day. Luckily, their veins are like straws.... But it was great practice and I got very confident. I learned to give medications in their CVCs and how to clean them, change the dressing— none of which I would have had the skills to do prior to the job. Fast forward a couple years, I've been working in orthopedics. I have now just finished obtaining my RNFA certification (first assist) so I've learned to suture and assistin surgery. I was completely intimidated in the operating room but I have grown leaps and bounds over the past year. You are not going to learn anything overnight and I still get anxiety every night before I have a case the next morning. But I know as I continue to gain experience and do it regularly,I get more confident and comfortable. Yes, you need a supportive team. Instead of letting floor managers interview you, interview them. How supportive are they? Will they help you grow and be successful? How? You have a lot to offer based on your background. The skills will come, but you have to practice and believe in yourself. It is not easy. It will induce anxiety, but you can do it! Stop letting GAD hold you back and becoming a scapegoat. You went through a lot to earn a nursing degree, I would fight to keep it. Yes, there are other career avenues to explore but you've obviously done something well to be getting these opportunities. While the cardiac gig may not be the right choice, I do believe you could do it. Again, with practice and with tine to learn. THe EKG readings and pattern recognition will come in time as you see them regularly. Again, just my 2 cents but don't discount your ability to learn skills.

I just accepted Dani's friendship, so hopefully that will fix my fb issue!!

When I tried to join the FB group, it says the content isn't available right now.... Any thoughts?

I'd like to be added please-- my name is Beth Stevie.

Anyone have an idea of what the course schedule will look like during the first year? I believe a couple of you have mentioned having friends in the program already & im trying to understand what life might entail for a year. During my interview, they asked if I understood I'd be committing 60 (yes, SIXTY) hours between clinical and classes, which did not include study time. I'm a little freaked out by that....

Finally! Got my acceptance to CNS track. Good luck to everyone! Look forward to hearing from future classmates!

Congratulations on graduating! Which track did you go into and how do you feel about your experience with the program? Words of wisdom to share? I applied to the CNS track and I've read some posts on this blog that some people had issues getting jobs as CNS because they hadn't actually developed the expertise experience to be considered a specialist in the field, so they were basically earning the same as BSN prepared nurses. I am most interested in the gerontology aspect but domworry it could be a liability to have the CNS designation in the short term.

Ugh!! It's so frustrating! The state of Texas core courses required are a joke! Tech didn't want to accept a graduate 600 level bio-stats course in place of stats 200 here. The course catalog matched verbatim what needs to be covered in the course AND the classwork was applied towards epidemiology/healthcare case statistics!! They said they could look into allowing it but there were several other courses that I needed to have. I'm just over it!! Texas gov/history, art history, etc will not have an impact on how well we could perform as nurses (or most any other careers in general). It's utterly ridiculous. I'd understand if we didn't already have undergrad degrees. I also found the different pre-reqs required across the numerous programs to be frustrating-- aside from the Texas core requirements, some programs require zoology, CNA certifications, TEAS test or HESI, GRE, etc. with the urgent need we face for nurses, there should be a standard core of requirements.

I have all my eggs in the UT basket. I didn't apply to any other programs, mainly because I need to stay around the Austin area and since both my bachelor & master degrees are from out of state, I would have like 8 core courses to take just to earn the BSN. Looking at the timing, it's roughly the same amount of time for me to get into the AE-MSN vs any of the other nursing programs around here. TX Tech's 1 year would have been my second option but all the Texas core for the bachelor's degree just wasn't worth pursuing. So, if I don't get in, then I'll re-evaluate. But this waiting is getting agonizing!!!

S my UT status still says in review but I noticed that on my dashboard page that there's a new "summer 2017 housing" view details (even though I won't be living on campus). It is not the tab across the top, it on dashboard tab. Did anyone else notice their dashboard changing like that?

Congrats to all receiving their interviews! I had mine this morning for the AE-CNS. It was with 2 professors (one tenured & one assistant, I believe). They were very welcoming and easy to talk with, it was very relaxed. It lasted roughly 40 minutes and we started almost 20 minutes late. They had not seen my application so I assume they have no biases or preconceived opinions. They asked about conflict management, goals, whether I had worked with any CNS's previously, and what I felt I could bring to the program. Good luck to everyone going forward! PS Hi Cory!! Hope your interview went well!

If anyone has done their CPS interview, is there anything we need to take with us for our interviews? How was it?!! I have mine tomorrow at 11. WOOT!!!

Just got my interview invite for CNS track! I requested times on the December 1.

Were both of you applicants for the NP track? I've not heard anything since the email requesting our information for the initial background check. Just trying to gauge whether any of the CNS applicants have scheduled interviews.

My UT application stratus says I'm "still under review" and no interview scheduled yet. I'm wondering if everyone else's reflects the same thing? I applied for the CNS, so relieved to hear that y'all haven't heard anything yet either. I'm starting to panic a bit.... Good luck to all and Happy Thanksgiving!