arojumper

Hey everyone! I am a nursing student and have less than a year and a half left to go (yay!). I am currently working at a local hospital in the registration department as a PRN employee. I am having some difficulty with this job because it is very stressful, I feel that they don't really support my nursing school career, and I get scheduled for very weird hours that send me further into exhaustion and don't allow for as much study time as I need. I am kind of venturing on the idea of either working for a staffing company as a CNA (I have heard they are very very good around here for working with nursing school schedules and pay between $15-$17 an hour) or even roughing it out and not working at all. I am just getting very burnt out on my job and I am to the point of when I am not in school, I am working which means I am not spending time with my young girls or getting enough study time in... I am doing well in school, but I am to the point where I just can't do it all (mentally or physically) and something has got to give. If nursing school or my girls started to be effected negatively because of my job in registration, I would never forgive myself. I am worn the heck down, my friends. What I am asking is if I wanted to get rehired at the hospital I currently work at as a nurse, would that chance be very slim if I put my two weeks in? I just want to make sure I keep my opportunities open when I become a nurse and don't want to close any doors by throwing the towel in at my current job. Thanks so much for any advice! You guys are great!

Sorry. I know it is not a "license". I meant certification.

Whoops typo... *currently

Hello! I am current,y a nursing student and have a little over a year left... I have my CNA license, but have never worked as a CNA. I currently have a pretty good job working PRN as a registrar in a hospital. I have been contemplating working as a CNA to add to my resume when I actually apply for a nursing job... the only thing stopping me is my current job pays decent and works with my school schedule... I was wondering for those of you that are RNs, did being a CNA help you get a job as a nurse? Or did not being a CNA make it hard to get hired as a nurse?

Well... I would keep applying to every school that you can... It will probably take some time to get into a program with a transcript like that, I won't lie. BUT what you can try is maybe a for-profit college? Like here in Colorado we have Concorde College and you can get your RN degree from them and I don't think the requirements to get in there are too hard, but I'm pretty sure that your credits don't transfer to other schools. And I don't believe they are accredited by major accrediting bodies like CCNE or ACEN, which would then make it more difficult for you to get hired. But it is still worth a try if nursing is what you really want to do, I think! I would just focus on your current school work to prove to the schools you are applying to that you are serious and just keep applying! Hopefully you will get in.

Who else feels like there is barely anything out there about the Kaplan entrance exam?? That is why I am posting this to help the cause of fellow students trying to get into nursing school that are required to take this exam:) I just took mine today! I hope anyone who was stressed out looking for information on this exam comes across this post and I hope it helps you. First, let's talk about the average scores... This was a big question for me and I think it's a common question for others as well. From what I have noticed (note that there are no official average scores I can find; this is strictly from my own observation of online searching and asking questions), a lot of schools have a cutoff score of anywhere from 62-69 and it seems to be that if you're in the mid or upper 70s, you have a good score. I have also found that few people have scored over an 80 and I have not talked to anyone yet that has scored in the 90s... There are only 91 questions on this test out of 4 different categories (reading, math, writing, science) so you don't have much wiggle room for missing questions. I have also noticed that a lot of testers feel that they bombed the science part... I saw scores online that were commonly in the 50s or low 60s for science. I will be honest with you. The science was HARD. It was very specific and with only 20 questions in the science, it's hard to say what you will encounter so study it all! Okay, now let's talk studying. I bought the Kaplan study guide edition 6 off of amazon. From what I have read online and on this specific website from other testers, I was not the only one that was frustrated with this study guide... This study guide is apparently not only for the Kaplan. Like if you buy a HESI study guide from Elsevier, the material is geared for you to pass the HESI. The Kaplan study guide is meant to be a study guide for the HESI, Kaplan, and the TEAS. I wish there was a study guide that was geared specifically for passing the Kaplan and only the Kaplan. I will also warn you... the practice questions for the science in this study guide were pointless. Only ONE of the practice test questions in this book applied to the test. That was a little frustrating. The science is all A&P-emphasis on the physiology!! Do not make the mistake I did and study your face off with physics :). I did not learn the only 4 categories on the Kaplan until a few days before I took the test. Whoops. I learned lot of new things about physics though... I probably will never use them, but hey... I'm a little more educated now in that area now, I guess. The Kaplan study guide did have good information, but I wouldn't waste your time on the practice questions. Just read read read, take notes, and use your best study skills to retain all of that information. I took A&P 1 and 2 (got high Bs in both classes) and still struggled with the science part if that tells you a little about how tough the science was. My suggestion to you is Youtube "Kaplan Nursing entrance exam study". There are so many helpful videos if you're a visual learner. Those helped me the most. Make flashcards also. They really helped me. The math was sooo simple. Addition, subtraction, decimals, division, multiplication, ratios, fractions, and word problems. I only got a few conversion problems, but if you're going into nursing school it's probably a good idea to know your conversions anyway... Reading was harder than I thought it would be especially since that is the area I excel in. I would utilize the practice questions in the Kaplan study guide for that just to brush up your skills. Writing was the same way. I took the HESI and found it to be easier than the Kaplan, but that's probably why the average Kaplan scores are lower than what I have found the HESI scores to be. Good luck, fellow students ? p.s. my poll was supposed to go all the way up to 100, but I messed it up. This was my first time making a poll and I don't think there's a way to go back and edit it. Maybe we can start a new poll in a different thread sometime. Whoops! Sorry, guys!

I took microbiology, human growth and development, human nutrition, and english comp 1 with a&p 1. I actually did surprisingly well considering I worked full time and have 2 children under 3 years of age. You just have to stay focused and make it priority to do well. I did them all online and loved it. This forum is a huge helper. Everyone is so willing to help and give advice. I would recommend having an online study buddy, someone in your class or even this forum. That way you can converse over email when it is convenient for you and help each other out and give/receive support. You are going to do just fine!! Good luck :)

Thank you for everyone's replies! Everyone on this site is so helpful. I'm going to take my HESI entrance exam and if my score is good enough, I am going to go ahead and treat myself with a nice stethoscope :)

That is interesting... why did the people who had the cheapest ones do best?

Wow! Good to hear! I think I am going to go ahead and buy a good one. I might as well learn with a stethoscope I will be using for my career anyway right? And I might as well get one that lets me hear a more quality sound. I think you're right! College is expensive, might as well make the learning experience a little easier with a quality stethoscope! :) plus I really want one

Do you think it's worth getting the cardiology III? Or do you think I will be okay to get a classic?

Thank you for your reply! I'm happy to know you still use yours and it is good quality. I also like your advice as far as not letting anyone borrowing it :) I've heard people have a habit of snagging the nice ones

That is good to know as well.. Thank you.

That is very good to know! Thank you! This may be a dumb question, but are they cleanable?

That's what I was thinking! Every thing I have read online says that people have had their littmanns for years and still use them! So that is good to know! I think it will be a nice present to myself for making it into the program!