OcMurse93

This kind of stuff happens all the time. Nursing school teaches you two things: how to pass the NCLEX, and how to NOT kill patients. Its pretty presumptuous to claim that people saying I need XX to pass the class, "aren't trying." I had several classes where I only needed a 60% or so on the final to pass the class and it was actually a relief. I still tried my best to know the material, but having some relief that you need a 60% to pass instead of freaking out that you need a 95% to get an A is way easier to cope with. News flash: the students that get all A's in nursing school vs the students that get all C's still take the same test. I got a 3.00 in nursing school and passed the NCLEX at 75 questions in about 45 minutes.

Every nurse I have spoken to, (even the people who are hiring BSN nurses) all say it literally doesn't matter where you get your BSN from. As long as they are accredited, hospitals don't care. You can do an online RN-BSN program in less than a year for some programs. I did an ADN program and am working on my online BSN while going to work and practicing nursing. It takes less than 1 year and not to mention how big the price difference is for a community college vs a CSU.

It depends on where you are going to school. My ADN program was 15 out of 60 or so were guys. The numbers keep increasing every year

I haven't done either, but what I can tell you is to look at this as a job interview. Does that hospital/surrounding hospitals hire new grads into that department? In southern california I typically see hospitals wanting L&D nurses to have some experience already. If nobody is hiring new grads for L&D in your area, then I would definitely go to the ER. My current position is all because I have experience working at this hospital from school, so choose wisely.

As someone who lives in SoCal. If you do your CNA, you will only be able to work in a nursing home, if you are lucky. No one will hire you as a CNA in a hospital without experience, and that is what I dealt with. Additionally, CNA work is considered first semester RN experience because that is the first thing that you cover in an RN program. It might not increase your chances as much as you might think working as a CNA. I never landed a CNA job prior to nursing school, but I worked my butt off for my ADN, made sure to have my ACLS and NIHSS before graduation and only took me about a month to get a job at a very reputable hospital.

For my program, LVN to RN students entered the program during the second semester. There was maybe 2 or 3 spots if they were lucky. It is expected that they still have the same foundation of medical knowledge as the regular RN students, so all of the prereqs were still required. How well they did in their prereqs was also what determined who actually made it into the program.

a disgruntled patient upset that their roommate is flatlining and annoyed that they keep having to get out of bed to mute the alarm

Why are you emailing them? Do they not have a phone number? Hell, I would even try going in person

If a regulatory mechanism is compensating for hypotension, it would attempt to bring the blood pressure closer to the set-point (roughly 120/80) as possible. Once that was achieved it would no longer be attempting to raise the blood pressure. You would be more likely to have a bp slightly under baseline than full-blown hypertension. Additionally, i do not know where the OP is getting the "low potassium = high sodium" from. I am not aware of them having an inverse relationship. So the information given may be incorrect.

For my program, teachers give you a copy of the test with correct answers bolded after you turn in your scantron. Some offered rationales, while others did not. If you stayed after school for office hours then you could get your graded scantron back and a copy of the answer key to understand where you went wrong.

Assuming hospitals in your area even offer summer externships.

I can totally relate. It really wears down on you after a while. Imagine working 5 days per week making minimum wage with the same issues, its not fun. Before I graduated, myself and my 2 other siblings all worked in the service industry so we never got to see each other for holidays, ever. We ended up just modifying how we celebrated holidays. We celebrate Thanksgiving on Wednesday, Christmas on the 23rd or 24th (depending on schedules), etc. Sometimes it is not feasible for everyone, but this worked for us. Who says you have to celebrate the holidays on the actual day? lol

I really don't think it has anything to do with your gender. It probably has a lot to do with you only having an associates degree. Also, the fact that your 22 years of experience is in urgent care. Depending on where you apply to, that could affect your chances. A lot of hospitals want recent acute care floor nurse experience. The bigger hospitals especially will almost always pass you up for a nurse with their BSN regardless of age or gender if they are magnet status.

I feel for you. It really pays to thoroughly research a position before accepting an offer. I usually use glassdoor.com or ask around. Patient reviews on yelp are also a good way to gauge the culture of a hospital. Make sure you put some time to research this new position and do your due diligence this time around.

It is your responsibility to seek out learning opportunities. IV insertions are the hardest to do in school because a lot of patients don't like students doing them. Speak to your professor expressing your desire for more opportunities for IV insertion.