Heloisea3

I am a former teacher who changed careers to nursing. I decided to go back to school for nursing because it has more flexibility than teaching. I didn't have a problem getting teaching jobs, but I got so tired of some of the things that take place within the educational system. For some reason, I think many people think that teachers have it better than most because they get holidays and summers off. While nursing certainly has its pros and cons like any other profession, I can honestly say that I am so glad that I went to nursing school. I find it to be much more flexible, better paying, and rewarding than teaching ever was for me. I also find it less stressful than teaching. Of course, nursing can be incredibly stressful, but it is just a different type of stress. For me, it is easier to manage than the stress of teaching. That is just my own personal opinion. As for the student loans, I really understand how you feel. I took out loans for undergraduate and graduate school. When I went back to school for nursing, more student loans was not an option for me. So, I chose to go through the RN program at my local community college so that I could afford to go without more student loans. The hospital that I am working at now will pay for my RN-BSN program. I think that was a wise financial decision for me. Of course, I would have loved to get my BSN right away, but it just wasn't financially possible for me to do that. I cashed in my teacher's retirement when I quit teaching and used that to pay for my school and to live on until I graduated. I was extremely nervous about doing that because I knew what it would mean if I ended up hating nursing. I would have to start my retirement all over if I ever go back to teaching. Fortunately, you are young. You have plenty of time to decide what you want to do. If you feel like you would like to go to nursing school, you should go for it. You are right about the teaching jobs. Although I really didn't have a problem finding a job, there were more available at that time. Right now, school districts are under a lot of pressure to cut teaching staff because of the economy and their budgets. So, a lot of new grads are having a hard time finding jobs. It is getting difficult to even find jobs as a sub in many districts. They are getting an overwhelming number of applications. Anyway, whatever you choose, I wish you lots of luck.

This is so true. When I graduated from nursing school last May, I asked one of my clinical instructors for a letter of recommendation. It took several months and a few reminders before I was able to get a letter from her. When I finally got it, she had put my name in the first paragraph and another student's name in the second paragraph. I pointed it out to her and asked as politely as possible if she could rewrite it with just my name in it. Finally, a few weeks later, she gave me another recommendation letter, but that one looked like a middle school student had written it. There were multiple spelling and grammar mistakes, so I never used the letter. I would have been too embarrassed to give it to anyone. Needless to say, I gave up on getting a letter from her. Other students who requested a letter of recommendation from her found themselves in the same boat. Sad, sad, sad!

I can really relate to you. I am pregnant and due June 7th. I am also showing, so it is obvious that I'm pregnant. I graduated May of 2009, but I did not start appyling until December for personal reasons. I must have put in 100 applications or more. I would sit down for hours and put in for multiple positions at every single hospital I could think of within driving distance. I couldn't even get a call back. Finally, I applied at one hospital that I had not considered before, and I was hired right away. I was shocked. During the interview, I did tell the nurse manager that I was pregnant. You are not required to, and many people advise against it. However, I told the nurse manager that I just wanted to be up front with her because I know she had to schedule new nurses to be with preceptors and to plan for our orientation, etc. She seemed to really appreciate the fact that I was up front with her, and she hired me on the spot. If you want to start working right away, I would keep putting in as many applications as possible for every kind of position you think that you might even be remotely qualified for. Whenever I applied to a certain hospital, I would appy for every single position they had available unless they specifically required certifications that I did not have or years of experience. I know it gets really discouraging after a while, but keep at it, and hopefully, someone will give you a chance. Good luck with your job hunt and your pregnancy.

I think working in an IVF clinic would be a wonderful opportunity. I'm currently 5 months pregnant thanks to a wonderful doctor and nurse at an IVF clinic. I think the nurses at fertility clinics develop a unique set of skills that you don't have an opportunity to use in other settings. Quite a few of the procedures are performed by the nurses. All of my internal sonograms were done by the nurses. They also do IUIs and assist with all of the other procedures such as IVFs, ICSI, GIFT, etc.. All of the education about fertility meds, administering my injections, and other stuff was done by the nurses. The nurses at my fertility clinic love their jobs and have no desire to return to work in a hospital setting. I talked to them about it while I was going through treatments. I think you'll find that you will stay busy at an IVF clinic, but it certainly isn't the pace that you will find on a med surg floor. As another person said, there are A LOT of emotions involved, but I think you find that in all areas of nursing. As one person mentioned, I wouldn't count on working just 9-5 M-F, depending on the clinic. EVERY single thing in fertility treatments is monitored and timed specifically for each person. Many of the meds are timed according to a patient's cycle, and the procedures are performed within a very narrow window. This window can involve hours, not days. So, that means that many clinics do procedures on weekends because if they don't, it can ruin a patient's opportunity to conceive for that month. If you get an opportunity to work in a fertility clinic, I think you would find it very rewarding. I would jump at the chance. I don't think it would be difficult to move into another area of nursing later. Other nurses do that. Anyway, I just wanted to put in my two cents. Good luck with your interview. What a great opportunity.

Here is the list of clients that are on the Group One web site. You might try some others that are not on this list. You should also request a copy of the information they have about you and write a response to it if necessary. Here is their web site. http://www.gp1.com/ According to their web site, this is their list of clients. I guess they don't post the complete list. All Saints Foundation All Saints Health Foundation All Saints Integrated Affiliate Baylor All Saints - Fort Worth Baylor ASH Allcare, Inc. Baylor Center For Restorative Care Baylor Center For Restorative Care - Garland Baylor Health Care System - Bryan Tower (Corp) Baylor Health Care System Corporate Office Baylor Health Care System Foundation Baylor Health Care System Professional Office Building Baylor Health Enterprises Inc Baylor Health Enterprises LP Baylor Health Network, Inc. Baylor Health System Homecare Baylor Health System Surgicare Baylor Heart and Vascular Center Baylor Heart Vascular Baylor Institute For Rehabilitation Baylor Medical Center at Carrollton Baylor Medical Center at SouthWest Fort Worth Baylor Medical Center Ennis Baylor Medical Center Garland Baylor Medical Center Grapevine Baylor Medical Center Irving Baylor Medical Center North Irving Baylor Medical Center Waxahachie Baylor Medical Plaza (BMP) Inc Baylor Pedi Specialty Services Baylor Regional Medical Center of Plano Baylor Research Institute Baylor Specialty Health Centers Baylor University Medical Center Children's Medical Center Of Dallas Health Texas Provider Network Gastroenterol HealthTexas Provider Network - Baylor Norman Regional Hospital ODC Therapy, Inc. Our Children's Center At Irving Parkland Hospital Texas Heart Hospital Southwest - Baylor

Group One has this list of clients on their web site. Are JPS, Texas Health Resources, Kindred, and HCA hospitals not part of Group One? I don't see them on the list. Client List We currently provide employment verification services for the following companies or facilities. All Saints Foundation All Saints Health Foundation All Saints Integrated Affiliate Baylor All Saints - Fort Worth Baylor ASH Allcare, Inc. Baylor Center For Restorative Care Baylor Center For Restorative Care - Garland Baylor Health Care System - Bryan Tower (Corp) Baylor Health Care System Corporate Office Baylor Health Care System Foundation Baylor Health Care System Professional Office Building Baylor Health Enterprises Inc Baylor Health Enterprises LP Baylor Health Network, Inc. Baylor Health System Homecare Baylor Health System Surgicare Baylor Heart and Vascular Center Baylor Heart Vascular Baylor Institute For Rehabilitation Baylor Medical Center at Carrollton Baylor Medical Center at SouthWest Fort Worth Baylor Medical Center Ennis Baylor Medical Center Garland Baylor Medical Center Grapevine Baylor Medical Center Irving Baylor Medical Center North Irving Baylor Medical Center Waxahachie Baylor Medical Plaza (BMP) Inc Baylor Pedi Specialty Services Baylor Regional Medical Center of Plano Baylor Research Institute Baylor Specialty Health Centers Baylor University Medical Center Children's Medical Center Of Dallas Health Texas Provider Network Gastroenterol HealthTexas Provider Network - Baylor Norman Regional Hospital ODC Therapy, Inc. Our Children's Center At Irving Parkland Hospital Texas Heart Hospital Southwest - Baylor

I just graduated in May and passed my NCLEX in July. For personal reasons, I won't be starting work right away. However, I would really like to volunteer if I can, but I am not even sure where to start. Where can a new nurse volunteer? I live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and would like to volunteer as a nurse. Is this possible? Any ideas?

I just graduated from Tarrant County College with my ADN in May, and I had no problems finding a job. I only know of one person in my class who doesn't have a job, and that is because she hasn't started looking for one yet due to personal reasons. A lot of people in my class were hired by THR, Baylor, and JPS for a variety of positions. I know people in my class who were hired for Psych, Med/Surg, ICU, PCU, L&D, OR, etc.. I work for Harris Methodist. It is a wonderful place to work, and they will pay for your RN-BSN. They have a special deal with UT Arlington so that their ADN nurses can do the RN-BSN program there. They really encourage all of their nurses (RN and BSN) to continue their education. I think that most of the people in my class plan to finish an RN-BSN program. Many, including myself, have a bachelor's degree in another area and decided to get their ADN for reasons related to time and money. I got my ADN because I didn't want to add to the student loans I already have from my prior degree. Like you, I plan to get my BSN, but I am thankful that THR will pay for it. If you are able to go ahead and get your BSN, that is great and all the better for you, but if you decide to get your ADN first, I'm sure you will find a job. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.

:yeahthat:

Thanks for the responses. I would like to start this fall, but I don't want to commit to something without all the details. I appreciate the info.

I have been trying to find the cost of the online RN-BSN program at Texas Tech. I called once and they told me to look on their web site. I looked for a long time, but I didn't see anything about the cost. So, I emailed them and asked again for information about how much the tuition and fees would be. They answered my email by sending me a link to their web site which has information about the RN-BSN program, but no information about the tuition and fees. Does anyone know the cost of the program there or where I can find that information? I am really interested in their progam, but the price is a big factor for me. Thanks.

Txgal is right. The jurisprudence exam is the easiest test you will ever take. You just go to the BNE site to take the test and look up the answers as you go. A lot of them are common sense as well. Congrats on finishing school. Welcome to Texas!!

I went to a job fair back in March, and several of the nurse recruiters from the various hospitals were very blunt about not having any openings. They would say they didn't have any openings or that they only had one or two openings for new grads. I started applying back in February and was finally offered a job back in March. Most of my classmates who have jobs were hired between December and the end of March. The students who started looking and applying later are having a lot of trouble finding positions. It seems like the majority of hospitals around here have filled their GN/nursing internship positions already. I don't know of any still hiring at this point. Maybe there are some in Dallas, but not around Ft. Worth. I don't know why some hospitals are even bothering to go to the job fairs if they know they don't have any open positions availabe. I know this is frustrating for those people that go.

Good luck! I hope you have a fabulous day.

I agree. I have always been taught that those are not the type of questions you ask during an initial interview. It makes it sound like your interest is all about the compensation and not the company. Of course those are important considerations, but I would ask HR about that and not the nurse manager. You might want to ask: What type of support systems are in place for the nurses? Could you describe the internship program that you have here? What are the hours, expectations, etc.? What is the management style on this unit? What do they do to encourage/provide for professional development? How would you describe the team work on this unit? If I talked to the nurses who have been here for a long time, what would they say are the best things and the worst things about this unit? (I asked this and got a great response from it. I got the idea from a book on what questions to ask during an interview.) What kind of opportunities are available for the nurses to serve on committees, etc. (I would end with a question like this because it shows that you want to be a team player and participate in unit activities.) Anyway, this is just my two cents worth.

Candiam, I don't live in the Temple area, but I just wanted to say :ancong!: :hpygrp:

I graduate in May, and I just accepted a position in Ft. Worth that starts in June.

Good luck! Working as a CNA will definitely give you a leg up. You will do great!:wink2:

I have not graduated yet. I have 5 weeks to go, and I'm counting down to my graduation on May 15th. (yay) However, I though that I would reply since you haven't had an answer yet. First of all, every nursing school and program are different, and that can have a lot to do with which subjects or classes are the most difficult. If you asked all of the students who started with me in my program which class was the most difficult, I know for a fact that over 90% of them would say Pediatrics. We lost about a quarter of our class that semester. I believe, however, that this is primarily due to the poor pediatric instructors that they have at my school. Of course, that doesn't apply to every instructor, but to the majority of them it does. My clinical instructor for Pedi was very good, but the classroom instructor wasn't. That makes a huge difference in nursing school. Another reason that Pedi was so difficult is because children are so different. Things can change so quickly with them. For me, the assessments seemed very different as well. By the time you get to pedi, you have already been working a few semesters with adults, so when I would walk into the room and look at their vital signs, I would almost feel a sense of panic. For the first few weeks, I had to keep reminding myself that these vitals were normal for kids. I was also terrified of doing something to hurt them. Of course, I don't have kids, so that may have been a factor for me. I thought the semester was emotionally difficult as well. We were at the children's hospital, and most of our clinical time was with children who either had cancer or heart defects. I don't think that every school does that, but mine did, and it was heartbreaking. I admire pedi nurses because I couldn't do that job for the life of me. As for the easiest class, that is hard to answer. None of them have been easy. As far as content, I guess my first semester (Foundations) was the easiest. OB is the semester that I enjoyed the most, though. I loved it. I also loved mental health. This semester, my last one, has also been great because I can finally see things coming together. I have a phenomenal clinical instructor and great instructors for my classes. The classes have been overwhelming because of the amount of content that we have to cover. They are not difficult because the subject is so hard to understand, but they are difficult because you have no idea how you are going to manage to remember all of that material before the test rolls around. But, you gradually add to what you know and then you get to a point where you can see things coming together and you can remember some labs, drugs, etc. without having to run look at your book, pda, etc. When it comes to clinicals, it is ALL about your clinical instructor. When you have a good instructor who truly cares whether you learn or not, then your clinical experiences shouldn't be so bad. However, if you have a bad clinical instructor, it can make your entire semester a living hell. Forunately, I have had really good instructors that I have been able to learn a lot from with the exception of my med/surg instructor who was a complete basket case. When you get into school, try not to rub elbows with your instructor. I know it is horrible, but I have really tried to go out of my way to be on the best of terms with every single one of my clinical instructors. I just don't need that added stress in school. I have witnessed several cases where a student has been tormented, belittled, and even harrassed by a clincial instructor, and it was sad. Sometimes there can be really big personality conflicts between students and instructors. Try not to let that happen. Just go to clinical with the expectation of learning the most you can. Don't complain, whine, or question your clinical instructor (unless it is something involving patient safety, of course). Just do whatever they say to do. Anyway, I hope you have a really great experience in nursing school. I'm sure you will.

When I took the test, there were WAY more physical science and general/life science type questions than there were A&P, Chemistry, and Micro questions. There were only a couple of very general A&P, Micro, and Chemistry questions. Be sure you understand how the science diagrams/graphs work. There were quite a few of those.

The TEAS test is not that bad. It covers Reading, Math, Science, and Grammar. The math covers fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios and proportions, and basic algebra. The reading and grammar are very basic. The science covers micro, chemistry, A&P, life science, and physical science. Honestly, though, I only had 1-2 A&P questions and just a few micro questions. It seemed like the majority of my science questions were about life science and physical science. If you study the study guide, you should be alright. One thing that may help you is to practice some math problems. The test is timed, and quite a few people run out of time and the math section. So, practicing problems makes you a little faster at finishing them on the test. As far as the nursing department is concerned, they focus on the math and science scores. They weigh those more heavily than the reading and grammar. Do not stress over the TEAS. I'm sure you will do fine. Good luck on it. :)

I don't think you will have a problem finding a position with 5 years experience in the ICU. I have been searching and applying for graduate nurse positions, and it seems like there are jobs for experienced RNs available, but not many for new grads. I don't know much about the hospitals in Dallas, so I won't comment on those, but you might want to try Harris Methodist in Ft. Worth. It is a magnet hospital. Some of the other hospitals in Fort Worth are Baylor, John Peter Smith, Plaza Medical Center, Kindred, and Cooks Children's Hospital. I would avoid Kindred, though. John Peter Smith is a teaching hospital, and they are working on becoming a Level I trauma center. Most of the nurses that I have talked to who have worked at JPS and Harris Methodist Fort Worth have had really positive things to say. As for the jurisprudence exam, there is nothing to worry about. I am graduating in May, so I just took it. A lot of the questions are common sense. Others are easy to answer because you can have a seperate window open and look through the Nurse Practice Act while you are taking it. It covers legal and ethical material. I haven't heard of anyone failing it. It took me about 45 minutes to finish it. Good luck with the test and with finding a position here. I hope you like Texas.!!!

I will be graduating from the TCC nursing program in May (knock on wood). Like all nursing programs, you will have good professors and bad professors. You just have to work with what you have and pray that you get through it. That being said, I am overall disappointed with the nursing program at TCC, and I know that many other students that started with me feel the same way. I do think they are attempting to make some positive changes for the new people that are coming into the program and for those that are a few semesters behind us. However, I personally feel that my class has been thrown under the bus several times by the nursing department. I really regret not going to a different school. I know there are people who will argue with that, but that is just my opinion. I am happy that I have made it to my last semester, and I will be glad to be finished in May, but that doesn't mean that I have to recommend TCC to people. I chose to go to TCC for financial reasons, but I should have just bit the bullet and went somewhere else instead. There are several reasons that I feel this way. The primary reason is that a group of students were caught cheating last semester and were allowed to stay in the program. In response to the cheating, the professors completely changed the exams in a "we'll show you" fashion, and a HUGE number of people ended up failing Pedi because of it. A lot of other students barely passed by just a few points. Meanwhile, the cheaters moved onto their last semester and will be graduating with us in May. It really hurt us to see a lot of really good nursing students who had been doing well up to that point fail because of that. The majority of those who failed were not people who had struggled in nursing school until this happened. Of course, you expect some people to fail each semester (that's just the way it is), but not that many. I think that TCC really needs to evaluate the effectiveness of some of their staff and make adjustments. I'm sorry, but when a professor gives a test and only 3 people pass it, there needs to be some changes. That is just my 2 cents. I know a few students who have failed out of the program at TCC and managed to get into other programs. While they feel like their other nursing programs are equally as hard as the one at TCC and have good and bad aspects to them, they feel like the other programs are more supportive and they are better prepared with things such as pharmacology (TCC doesn't require a pharmacology class). I do not mean to suggest that every single thing about TCC is bad. I have had some good professors, and I have learned a lot. I have also managed to get through the program without failing anything as have many of my friends. However, based on my experience over the last two semesters, I wish I would have went somewhere else, and I will never recommend the program at TCC to anyone. Yes, I know that I will probably get flamed for my response, but I have a right to my opinion. I would recommend that you try to talk to as many first and last year students as you can from each of the programs you are considering. Nursing school is hard, and no program will be easy, but some have more resources in place to help students than others. I am sure you will be fine no matter which program you get into. To be fair, here is what I consider to be the pros and cons of TCC: Pros: good variety of clinical experiences high NCLEX pass rate (the pass rate is very high and better than many other schools around the area) some good professors (I would say half are good and half are bad.....same as most other schools) Cons: The bad professors (some of them have no business teaching, but this is found in all nursing programs) TCC does not require pharmacology, and they do a horrible job teaching it. Other schools are way ahead on this. TCC tends to make ALL students suffer for the behavior of a few (ex. can no longer print in the nursing computer lab because of one student, assembly for all students because of one student, a quarter of the students failing a class 3/4 of the way through nursing school because of a few cheaters.)

I took A&P I and II over the summer with Dr. Vu at the Southeast campus. It was a tremendous amount of work, and he is very tough, but I felt well prepared when I went to nursing school. I will be finishing the nursing program at TCC in May, and I still stay in contact with Dr. Vu. He is a wonderful professor. I know there are people who will say not to take him because he is too hard, but most of those people are just trying to take the easiest classes/professors that they can take so that they can have their A to get into nursing school. I got A's in both of Dr. Vu's classes, and I learned so much. I have a bachelor's degree, so I have had a lot of college classes. Dr. Vu's class was by far the hardest class I've had (with the exception of Pedi in nursing school), but he is hands down the best professor I have ever had. I'm not sure which campus you want to go to for your class, but I'm sure you can find a great professor at all of them. Also, if you have not taken them yet, I recommend Mr. Matthai at the Northeast campus for Micro and Dr. Patrick at the Northeast campus for Chemistry. Both are wonderful professors. Good luck to you.:wink2:

I talked to the nurse recruiter for Texas Health Resources today when he was at my school. He said that the starting salary for new nurses is $23.50, but I didn't ask about the differentials. He said that some of the hospitals have bonuses, but each hospital is different when it comes to those. I did not ask about differentials.