Determined33

Dear Overthamoon, I am very sorry this happened to you, it is clear by what you have shared that you did not mean for this to happen. You weren't feeling well, and you were probably more tired than you thought you were, and your body and your brain wanted more than "a few" minutes to rest. Being in nursing school is very challenging and being a CNA is a demanding position. I don't have too much advice to offer but know that I am prayerfully supporting you. I am sure you are not the first or the last person for this to happen to. Most importantly, you are taking responsibility for your part, and you know that this was not acceptable behavior while at work. I suspect they may already know that you are a nursing student, and it seems that you are also likely a competent CNA. If you are, I am sure that they would not want to lose you, as CNA's are very important (I am an RN and I thank God for great CNA's whenever I am blessed to have them!). I am glad that your lab results will prove that you were not intoxicated, I hope they come in asap, and help clear things up very soon! Being exhausted and stressed can be manifested in ways that may seem like something else is going on, hence, they opted for additional tests. On your employer's part, they have to watch out for their selves and make sure the situation is safe. Always remember, Nursing is all about SAFETY, safety for everyone involved, especially patients, and preventing problems and errors, etc. Stay accountable for yourself and your work. At your next in-person meeting (or in an email if needed), reiterate that you understand that this was not acceptable and that you will not let this happen again. Clearly state the actions will take.... as an example... tell the charge nurse you are not feeling well and request to go home a little early, if possible. *** This too shall pass and will one day be a story for you to tell and help someone else. May God bless you now and always, never give up and never give in. ?

I started as a new grad RN in PCU and our ratio is 3:1 in California, which is great! Other states are definitely different. In my county hospital our unit was considered critical care/ICU step down, with drip titration etc. I would like to mention that when I also worked at a smaller local, community hospital in the Med/Surg- Tele unit, we would get 4 Tele patients, or 5 MedSurg patients. We had LVN's working on our unit and they essentially performed the same job as an RN except for pushing IV medications and starting IV's. This is great for LVN's gaining experience similar to an RN. The problem in my opinion is that the LVN is under an RN who has her own 4-5 patients and now the RN has to review and sign off on all of the charting for the LVN's 5 patients and it is now under her license. I think this is not a good practice overall as it is very challenging for the RN, on the dangerous side if the RN doesn't have adequate time/ or any time to get to know the LVN's patients too, yet it is essentially under the RN's license if anything goes wrong with the LVN's charting and you signed off on it (mandatory to do before your shift is over and you have an LVN assigned to you). This is my understanding and how it had been explained to me by the long term RN's in this hospital. Fortunately, the couple of LVN's I knew were wonderful and I never had an LVN assigned to me. (PS no extra pay for the RN to do this extra duty either.)

Hello Fellow Future RN's, I know it has been awhile since I started this post and last commented. School and work have been very time consuming as expected! :) Thank you all for your replies and comm ents and helpful tips. I love the AllNurses Community! Congratulations to all of you who made it into the program and to those who made it on the Alternate list! That is so awesome! When you start please put your all into the nursing program, you may miss out on several things for the next two years, but it will be worth it and YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT! I have good news and not so good news in my case: I did not get in as a first semester student to the RN program, however, I AM ON THE WAITING LIST :) to start in the second semester as I was accepted as a Transfer Nursing Student from my previous Nursing Program, YAY! Essentially, when a spot opens up for for me I will start and be done in 3 semesters. I don't know when a spot will open up, but I know it will eventually! I am really excited and I am starting to review for Med Surg and other nursing classes. Nurse BASS on YouTube has a good video on how to study for Med Surge, I took notes and it was a great review for me since I have already taken it. The Nursing Director, Nursing Academic Counselor and Nursing Front Office are very helpful. They want to help us succeed and it is important that we take Nursing School seriously and make sure that it is what we really want and we are not trying to be a nurse to please someone else. To be a Nurse is a Calling, I truly agree with this. One of my dear friends who is an RN shared this with me about 6 years ago when she knew I was going back to school to truly pursue a Career as an RN. We met as Medical Assistants several years ago and she was one of my Preceptors (Trainors). She was always very encouraging to me to pursue my ADN. I want to continue to encourage you, again as in my previous posts, please never ever give up on your dreams, and if your dream is to be a nurse, please keep on keeping on you will get there! As this same RN friend that I mentioned above said to me, when I had struggles and needed to change nursing programs, she said "you just have to get on the right train." For me that means I needed to find the program or the right route to becoming a nurse, for some that means becoming a CNA, MA, or an LVN first (ROP has an excellent 13-14 month LVN program in Orange County, CA: cost about $13,000. note: by 2018 they plan to be approved to accept financial aid through FAFSA). For some that may mean going out of state, or getting a job as a CNA or MA and than getting nursing school paid for from your employer, or finding a great bridge program that they offer to go from becoming an LVN to an RN etc. Last tip: If you are interested in applying for the SAC- Santa Ana College Nursing program: if you work at St. Joseph's in Orange County (any position- even housekeeping/cooking etc.) and you meet all of the requirements, you will get priority. They offer the employee's night classes and weekend clinicals so that you can keep working while you go to school. If you are interested in working as a CareGiver (CG) for this company let me know- message me privately if you can and want more info. If you are a nursing student, a CNA, MA, or have had good experience being a caregiver for a family member, this may help you get hired. Basically, I would explain a CG is someone who knows how to do the basics of a CNA as in a nursing home or hospital- ADL's- Activities of Daily Living, etc. Sending my encouragement and prayers to you! We are on the same team, never forget that, competition will only take you so far, be competitive in getting awesome grades and practical nursing experience, but once you have applied and are in the nursing program, help eachother out- help eachother succeed. We never need to step on someone else to get ahead in life, but we can always use and appreciate the help of others to succeed and be the best we can be! Receive the help and Pay it Forward, you will be blessed and rewarded for it in more ways than you can imagine. Take good care of yourself as we can't take care of anyone else if we don't take take care of ourselves first... :) Sincerely, Determined33

Correction on my initial posting: You only need to walk-in ONE COPY of each of your Official Transcripts. The reason I thought you needed two copies is my friend attended the free nursing workshop and it was recommended that you use an official copy for yourself to complete the online application as you will be inputting several course codes/names. However, if you have access to your unofficial copy you can just use the information from there as it should be the same (feel free to confirm that by calling the Admissions office of the school you are requesting it from). I don't want us to spend more money than we have to on ordering transcripts. :)

Dear Thaokate, Thank you for responding!! Congrats on completing your application! I just submitted my application this evening. Cypress does accept applications TWICE a year so that is great for us! If you click on the link that I originally posted and than on the left hand side click on Registered Nursing Brochure and that will confirm it for you. If you haven't been able to already, I recommend that you read through all of the many informative topics along with the documents that are available. It helped me greatly and I think it will help you have a better understanding as well. In regards to the program being tough- ALL Nursing Programs are tough, but don't let that intimidate you for a second! It is worth all of the hard work, effort, and sacrifice you will be making, and if you really want to be a nurse to help and heal people than you will be successful! :) I was in a 4 year BSN Nursing program with 1.5 years to go and I did not make the 80% average necessary for the Mid Term, Final and 3 quizzes; I ended up with a 77% average in Med Surge. So, yes it was extremely hard but I learned and experienced so much! I am also a person that needs to put in more time to study and typically work harder than others, and I know it, and that's okay! Some classes will be easier than others, but you will always have to put the time in and make Nursing your priority. We are going to be saving lives and we need to know what we are doing. I hope this helps you as I want to encourage you and anyone else who may be struggling to keep on keeping on no matter what! :) That is exactly what I am continually striving to do! We can do this! Prayers for you and all! Sincerely, Determined33

Hello Future Nurses! I am applying to Cypress College ADN program for the Spring 2017 semester. Are you? The on line application date is from September 1st to 10th only and than you can walk-in two copies of each of your official transcripts to the office by Oct. 1st or so. I have heard good things about this program and have a friend went through the program at age 48 or so. Use address below for more info! Registered Nursing Getting into Nursing School is tough, but we have to be tougher and NEVER EVER GIVE UP on what we want. I will not regret not becoming an RN one day because soon enough I will be an RN! You are all in my prayers! YOU CAN DO THIS! :) NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD and I believe and have seen in my own life that GOD HELPS THOSE WHO HELP THEMSELVES! So...take those classes, repeat them if you have to, kick butt and get A's and B's, and fill out those Nursing Applications! I have seen too many people change their majors just because they are failing Chemistry or another class in the middle of the semester, its rediculous. Let us never give up on our dreams and what we know that we are called to do! YOLO! :) (you only live once!) Sincerely, Determined33