N.S.46

Joey, My heart goes out to you & your daughter. Hold in your heart that you were with him & he went peacefully. He was not the only one who fought the brave fight, you & your daughter did as well. Please allow yourself to grieve. We are all here with you & for you. May God bless you both with a peaceful future. HUGS!!!

I know how important support is at this time. You and your family are in my prayers. Bless you!

Congratulations!!! :balloons: :balloons: Best of Luck to you

I haven't started my clinicals yet but I'm nervous even though I used to work as a nursing asst. I'm afraid I'm going to be a little "out of place" being an older student nurse. Could some of you give your advice, opinions and/or experience with "older" nursing students. Thanx

It seems like we are all sailing on the same ship. I, too, stress about my grades. I absolutely MUST get that "A". We need to lighten up on ourselves or we will be burnt out by the time we get to the nursing program. But on the other hand, it shows that we are hard workers, competant, & high achievers. We will make the BEST nurses!

The hospital I worked at combined the two. Though we did get more medical than surgical, when we did get surgical, it was usually 2nd day post-op. I know the nurses weren't happy when we got surgical pts, either pre or post-op.

Go For It!!! :) I'm 46 & started my pre-req's for nursing last semister. I have wanted to be a nurse for years but life happened & was unable to go to school. I now have the opportunity to fulfill my dream & I'm going for it. I won't be able to qualify for the nursing program til 2007, a little bummed but I'm not going to let that stop me. I worked in a hospital years ago & I'm going to use the extra time to do volunteer work and/or work part-time to regain experience as I've lost a lot of my skills. You are NEVER to old to fulfill a dream. I do feel for you that your wife isn't being supportive. I hope she changes her mind. My hubby is behind me 110% & feel blessed for that.

I agree with the other poster. Make sure the credits from the tech school will transfer, most do not. I would stick with the community college or see below. If you want to take CNA classes, the Red Cross offers them at a much lower cost than a tech school. Go to the Red Cross web site, the info is there. Good Luck.

I'm not a nurse yet, but I've seen/heard all of the afore mentioned when I worked as a nursing assistant. My pet peeves: 1) Being asked...What do you mean you were busy? Everyone sleeps at night. I don't think so!!! 2) I was blessed with nurses who would help when I needed them, but don't ask the other assistant to help, she's busy with the one light she answered all night, while I ran my a** off with the other 30 odd pts. 3) When they leave the floor during a crisis, or at any time for that matter & don't tell you they are leaving. Yes, this happened to me. 4) Being told their pts. were just checked, she goes to lunch (or where ever) & having to go behind her because you know they weren't. I could go on & on but that's it for now.

I've read most & cried through some of the posts so I decided to share my story, much briefer than real time, I hope. In high school I started working at our drs. office as a file clerk. Had always done well in school in the sciences. His nurse encouraged me to go to nursing school. Flash forward a few years, marriage, child, divorce, remarriage, he got laid off, had a chance to go to school. Enrolled in a medical assistant program. Loved it & my instructor. Graduated at the top of my class with a very bitter husband. My mother passed from CA out of state & I wasn't able to be with her. Devastating. Worked at a medical clinic for a short time but was stuck up front which I wasn't crazy about, I wanted to work with the patients. Got a job with a cardiologist & loved it. I was always fasinated by the heart in school. Worked there for a while until a friend from the school I attended said she was appoached about a job at one of the hospitals. There were 2 openings & did I want to go with her to apply. We did, got hired because we were willing to work part time & 3rd shift. I started out with a combined position of nursing asst. & unit sec. & eventually got the full time position. I found my place on the Med/Surg unit. I had wonderful nurses to work with & they were willing to show me how to do tx., pass meds, change IVs, & at one point gave me my own patient. I learned so much from them. It was those wonderful nurses who encouraged me to go to nursing school, the 1st time. Applied to nursing school, got accepted, worked full time, attended school full time until the then husband decided "he couldn't take it any more" & was packing his bags when I came home from work. Mind you, he still wasn't working :angryfire . Flash forward, life happened, had to quit school, quit my job to "make the marriage work" & moved out of state since he got a position back with one of the big 3 (Dumb move, literally, on my part). Flash forward again, marriage failed, moved back to MI, got a job in a shop to support myself & my son. Moved to AL to care for father, remarried (a wonderful man), moved back to MI, tossed around the idea about going back to nursing school. Started our own business, got out of it. Got a flier in the mail that a nearby school was started an LPN program at that particular campus. Hubby called & had them send the info. I enrolled, started pre req's & hope to start the nursing part in the fall of 2006, if accepted. Whatever you do, don't give up on your dream. I'm now 46 yrs. young. My hubby is behind me 100%, always encouraging me on. He says when I start talking about when I worked at the hospital, he can't shut me up & he sees me glow. The experiences in my life happened for a reason, I'm a firm believer of that. When I think back to being with a person who died with no family, but they didn't die alone. Holding the little old lady's hand for just 5 minutes at a time while running between other pts., but knowing I was able to give her some comfort & ease her fear about being in the hospital. Pts. apologizing for throwing up on me, they were so sick they couldn't help it. Taking care of the man I took to the smoking lounge who had a seizure, I was able to handle the situation on my own until help arrived, & the drs. thought I was his nurse. I sure was proud of myself for that one. Yes, you run your @ss off, don't get lunch most of the time, & have a ton of paperwork to do, but I'm going into this with my eyes wide open & I can't wait to have a patient again. I want to go into either geriatrics and/or hospice. When it's all said & done, it's the little things that make being a nurse worthwhile. And it's NOT true that the patients sleep on 3rd shift, at least not on a Med/Surg floor .

It's nice to know I'm not the only "wiser" (I won't say older ) person going into the new career of nursing. Cheers to us!!!

Hello Sirena922, I also live in MI & taking pre-req's at Davenport for LPN. Which campus are you at if you mind my asking. I'm at the Warren Campus.