cdmccarthy

I've been debating for a while on whether to post this, but I think if I was on the receiving end of this I would want to hear it. My mother had cardiothoracic surgery in July of this year and was expected to have a 1-night stay in the trauma ICU and then a 3 or 4 day recovery in a step-down unit. Long story short, that isn't what happened. She ended up in a coma with multi-system organ failure with no obvious cause. It got to the point where the family had a meeting with her attending physician where he told us that things were not looking good and that we should consider withdrawing care in the next 48 hours. She began receiving dialysis during these 48 hours and made (what several doctors called) a miraculous recovery. She came out of the coma, her cardiac function improved, and the rest of her organs followed suit. Despite her 30+ days spent in the ICU, she has no related medical problems to speak of. During her time in the ICU, the nurses were amazing with her and with us. She received incredible care and the nurses were super attentive and always willing to answer the family's never-ending questions. I don't think I could ever thank you guys enough for the care you provided and the compassion you showed. She would not be here if it weren't for you. I would have lost my mother if it weren't for you. So thank you. Thank you thank you thank you. I was inspired to begin my own nursing career during the time I spent in the ICU with my mom. I already have a biology degree, but I'm finishing up a couple pre-reqs now and applying for a nursing program next year. You guys did that. You changed my mom's life and you changed my life. I hope someday I will become the kind of nurse that you all were.

This question is for any current or past student at Florida Southwestern State College (formerly Edison State College) in Fort Myers, Florida. I am planning to apply to the ASN program for either Fall 2016 or Spring 2017 admission cycle. I am getting married in October 2016 and will be spending Wednesday-Sunday at the wedding destination. Is it realistic in the first semester of nursing school to take that much time off? Would I be missing clinicals or is it all didactic? Would I be able to arrange my classes in such a way to only have class Mon-Wed? If missing that much time is impossible I will just wait and start the next Spring, but I'd rather get started sooner than later. Thanks!

The current plan is ASN then an RN-BSN program. My grades aren't good enough for accelerated BSN programs and there aren't any in my area anyway. I figure I'll get the ASN and maybe try getting into per diem work with that while I do an online RN-BSN program and keep working in my current field full-time-ish until I have the BSN. I'm lucky to have the flexibility I do and I'm going to try and take advantage of that while I don't have any kids. Thanks for the input!

Hello all! I received my BS in Biology about 4 years ago and after watching my mom spend 30+ days in the ICU, I've decided I want to make a career change and go into nursing. I did okay in school... have about a 3.0 overall. Most of my struggles were with physics, calculus, and organic chemistry. Everything else I got As or Bs in. I have most of the pre-reqs already done for the nursing school I'm applying to (ASN program) and think I have a really good shot at getting in. The only classes they consider for the GPA are their 9 pre-reqs (6 of which I have completed with 5 As and 1 B). I have the A&P series and nutrition left before I apply. I would probably apply for either Fall '16 or Spring '17 admission cycle. NOW. That being said, how helpful is a background in hard science going to be during nursing school? I've taken upper level classes in microbiology, virology, biochemistry, genetics, physiology, and cell biology. I am wondering if those will serve me well in nursing school, or since those were theory classes will it basically be useless that I have taken those courses? I'm wondering mostly about understanding the didactic nursing material (pathophysiology, pharmacology, etc) and not so much about clinicals. Since graduating I've worked primarily as a microbiologist and have done about a year of chemistry. Thoughts? Thanks!

Maybe I should have included the fact that I'm 27, have a bachelor's in biology already, and I'm a career changer lol. In hindsight that was probably pretty relevant.

For those of you who have successfully navigated into your nursing career, what advice would you give to yourself when you were about to start nursing school? What could you have done or did you do during nursing school that helped you find your first job? What is something that isn't talked about but happens in nursing? Or something that is always talked about but you never really ran into? What makes a new grad more hireable? What non-nursing skills make you a better nurse? Spill it, ladies & gents!

Windsurfer, I never said that I thought the answer I was given was incorrect. I say "because bureaucracy" because the intention of requiring micro 2010 is presumably to ensure students in the nursing program have a basic grasp of microbiology. Outside the realm of paperwork and yes, bureaucracy, I would say that taking an upper level microbiology course (and actually having been employed as a microbiologist for that matter) demonstrates that I do indeed have a basic grasp of microbiology. Requiring something "because we require something" is sort of the definition of bureaucracy. I understand that a school cannot individually review every single person's transcript and work history with a fine-toothed comb, however when an exception to the rule is presented I would like to think that common sense and reason would prevail. Nursing school is about attention to detail, but my guess is that it's also about common sense. PS - I truly enjoyed your mockery of my vague pronoun use of "she", followed by your very own use of "they". Thanks for the chuckle.

I have my bachelor's of science in Biology, so I have taken most of the pre-reqs that my target nursing program (ASN) requires. They are as follows: ENC 1101 - got AP credit in high school, took ENC 1102 and got an A MCB 2010C - took MCB 3020C, got a B BSC 1093C - have not taken BSC 1094C - have not taken HUN 1201 - have not taken DEP 2004 - A STA 2023 - A PSY 2012 - B+ Humanities - A Upon first glance at their requirements and my college transcripts, I'm thinkin "great, all I have to take is A&P and nutrition because *surely* they'll accept the higher level micro class and I'll ask about about the english comp credit". Overall, it's looking like I'm in great shape right? So I email the nursing department at the nursing school I wish to attend asking about how the ENC and MCB credits will work considering my circumstances. They admit based on a point system, she tells me, and they score in 3 categories: how many of the pre-reqs have you completed (they require completing only 2 for admission and the rest by the time you graduate), GPA in pre-reqs, and HESI entrance exam score. So she tells me that my ENC credit will count toward number of pre-reqs taken but not toward GPA. They will not consider using my ENC 1102 grade, which I initially assumed they would do. And she said to get them to accept my MCB class I would have to go through a "credit review" and essentially prove the classes are equal, but that they probably will not accept the credits. So now I have to take some BS, lower-level micro class because bureaucracy. *sigh* So I'm calling shenanigans. Any of you had something similar happen with pre-reqs?

Thanks for your responses. I have done my research on the admission requirements and competitiveness of the school/program to which I plan to apply. The ASN program is a less competitive program, or it will at least be easier for me to get into. They only look at pre-req GPA (which I have a 3.77), not the overall GPA. Thank you for the advice!

Hello all! First-time poster to this forum, so please forgive me if this has been addressed in other threads. I am a non-traditional pre-nursing student. I received my BS in Biology in 2011 at a Florida university and have worked as a microbiologist since then. I am making a career change and will be applying for an ASN program to start Fall 2016. My undergrad grades were not stellar (2.97 cumulative GPA, mostly because calculus and organic chemistry kicked my butt) so I won't be applying to any BSN or ABSN programs. I plan to to an online RN-BSN bridge program after I complete the ASN. Now, to my question. I've done some browsing on this forum and I've seen a lot of complaints from new grads about not getting hired for many months after graduating/ taking their boards. I am looking for advice on what I can do now and in the next few years while in nursing school to make myself more hire-able when I graduate. Volunteering in a hospital? Using my RN (ASN) to work in a non-nursing position at a hospital like patient transport?