Fiddlesticks27

Thank you very much, RedKat! Very, very helpful. Maybe it's not so far out of reach after all! :-)

Hi There, I am interested in school nursing and wondering what kind of clinical background is recommended for school nurses. I have med-surg experience, plus several years of pediatrics experience in a primary care setting, along with experience in a...

Thank you, that's actually quite helpful insight. It sounds like you're no longer working in the field of school nursing- if that's the case, I'd be interested in knowing why you left- in your opinion, what are rewarding parts of the job, and what ar...

Thank you, BettyGirard! I would love to get some experience in an urgent care setting. What I'm finding is that most hiring managers for urgent care settings prefer you have some experience in an Emergency Department, which seems reasonable- but not ...

Hi All, I'm curious about and interested in wound care and have been for some time. I've been working in a primary care setting for a few years and would like to pursue a career in wound care nursing. I have a couple of questions about this path: 1. ...

Hi All, I am planning on advancing my education and career and becoming an NP. I've done a few years in med-surg and a few years in primary care. I'm wondering what kind of clinical experience would best prepare me to be an NP. I think I would ultima...

Thanks so much, lovesongajp- I'll keep looking and trying!

Thank you TraumaRUS. In your opinion and experience, do you think that an APN should have ICU and/or ER experience before practicing as an APN, regardless of the setting in which they practice? I'm trying to figure out what kind of setting I should g...

Thanks Verdeacres! Good luck to you too!

Hi All, I am an RN who has been working in an outpatient setting for several years. I am interested in getting back to bedside nursing and ultimately working in a critical care unit. I am one who likes to learn new skills sets from the ground up. Hav...

Thanks so much, EMNMRN! So you're really learning nursing from the ground up in ICU! I would think you'd have to ask a TON of questions!! Hopefully your colleagues are patient with you. I keep hearing ICU is hard on your back- are you finding that to...

More questions for you, EMNMRN- so then I take it that you learned telemetry/reading rhythm strips, all the different lines and all the meds on the job? Did you have a fairly long orientation? How was your nurse preceptor? Do you typically have just ...

Thanks so much, EMNMRN! Is your plan to become an NP or CNS?

Hi All, I'm 35 and have been an RN for 10 years. I've done a few years of med-surg and some outpatient nursing/ care management. I've always had an interest in critical care, but admittedly, have felt slightly intimidated by it at times, thus have no...

Thank you, NurseOnAMotorcycle!

Hi All, Ive been working in primary care for a while and am looking to get back into acute care in the hospital. I'd like to land a job on a med/surg tele floor and get some good tele experience. Other than working on a tele floor, what do you recomm...

Thank you Maevish. No, I don't do well with the sick-to-the-stomach approach. If anything, I'd run the risk of trying to learn too much and trying to be more comfortable than is realistic before applying to the unit. I'm a little on the Type-A side a...

Thank you pedseraprn!!

Hi All, I'm looking into pursuing an RN-to-BSN completion program. One thing I'm noticing is that many face-to-face programs seem to include Pathophysiology, Pharmacotherapy, and other more science-oriented courses, whereas the online programs seem t...

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply, Elissa. It's a privilege to have this kind of communication with a nurse who has so much experience and insight, such as yourself. What I do know about myself is that I love intellectual stimulation and ch...

Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond. I too am interested in lower cost and convenience of the program. Guess I just wanna make sure I don't sell myself short on skills I may need later... If I later went on to earn an MSN would it be assum...

Thank you, Altra. That may be the case. However, I've noticed this same discrepancy at my local university as well, University of Southern Maine- specifically the in-classroom RN-to-BSN program lists Pathophysiology as a requirement before beginning ...

Thanks thmpr!

35 is not old. I just wondered whether it was older than most nurses to just be starting in a more intense/specialized nursing field such as ICU- I'm learning quickly it is not!! I had thought that nurses in their 40s and 50s working in the ICU had p...

Thank you, Sydryth. And I most assuredly would not have a 'know it all' attitude- if anything, I'd need to work on not feeling overly intimidated!