nikxi36

Same!

MSN RN here. I did go into an entry level program with a non-nursing background. I initially thought I wanted to work bedside and ended up doing that for a short time (outside the hospital) before getting into case management. I do suspect my MSN helped me get into case management sooner but I also had an amazing opportunity available to me after doing a year of non-hospital bedside nursing. Sometimes luck and a little networking can come in favor. I used that experience to get into outpatient clinic…where ALL of my coworkers are ADN/BSN. Look at the MSN curriculum. It often times has very little to do with the ADN/BSN/skills curriculum (depending on what the focus of your MSN program is.) It’s more about philosophy, theory, research, leadership, systems, public health, health promotion as a concept. This was my experience. It was a bird’s eye view of nursing practice rather than hands-on, clinical application. Let’s not forget that nursing is a philosophy and is NOT all bedside practice. Show your future employer in non-hospital jobs what you see of nursing beyond the hands-on application and what you bring to the practice. If ultimately you don’t want to be at the bedside, keep that in mind when you’re pursuing your next job. Take the path that makes the most sense. A master’s might help but it probably won’t be required if you’re simply looking outside the hospital and honestly there are jobs outside of the hospital that you will apply your nursing experience you do have. What would I do? Maximize the experience I have, apply like crazy for non-hospital jobs, and in x-time apply for the masters degree IF the curriculum truly interests you and it would be something you definitely in your career path will want to accomplish. FWIT, I feel like once you’re on the path you want to be on (which could just be landing one job!) you won’t need the masters. You’re welcome to DM me. Good luck!

Patient leaving AMA.

Yep. It looks like Jim took that Admin promotion.

Nursing is a way of thinking and very conceptual in nature. I would make up scenarios to answer in Quizlet to meld the concept with something I might encounter in real life. I was silly and creative in some of it, which took the edge off when I was reviewing it later. The first step of connecting the idea to reality and then repetitively visualizing the scene helped solidify the concept in action. It’s great if you do this in multiple ways— get creative! That’s exactly what nursing tests are gonna throw at you.

Yes, agree with this too. This is deeper than just your isolated situation. It is widespread and it will not be changed. I know that doesn’t really give you any grounding but I hope it gives you some perspective. Please don’t forget, none of this will even matter! Once you are licensed, the world is your oyster.

OP, I get what you are saying. I think I still have PTSD from my nursing school experience myself. Some of it due to these types of things. Here you reached out to AllNurses for some perspective and a lot of these folks are dismissing your feelings and at best minimizing them. Some of this is patronizing! Come on Nurses, let’s do better for our future. it’s NOT the grade itself, it’s NOT the principle of the other student, it’s the shakiness of this grading system. When you contacted your professor, the purpose wasn’t to nitpick but to bring light to what is a systematic issue in nursing school. (This kind of stuff bothered me too!) How are we supposed to learn/grow from criticism if it’s all, well, random ? Unfortunately it’s not just your school or your professor. This is likely to happen again and again. Take ALL your grades with a grain of salt. I was really disheartened by most of these posts to you. Maybe people forgot what nursing school was like because it’s just been that long or blocked it out of their memory ? Try to reckon with the randomness of the grading. As monumentally important as it is while you’re there, once you finish these grades won’t matter ONE BIT! Then you’ll be singing the tune of these responses. Sending you lots of love! It will be over soon, I promise!

Here’s the thing…it’s not the same. I think you are looking at nursing being completely skills based and it’s not. Nursing is largely a philosophy and that is what you will gain with the RN title. I have no doubt you will be an excellent candidate and achieve these goals! Don’t discount nursing along the way.

Yeah they actually had us sign something that said we wouldn't work more than a 0.5! Curious if you can tell me more about the masters half cuz we're coming up on that now.

@farminnurse Honestly it kind of depends on the semester...and how much you're willing to put in to maintain grades. If you were getting straight A's before, you probably won't anymore unless you put in the SERIOUS time to maintain it. I know all the posts I read when I was applying said how much work it would be and how tough it was. I brushed it off because I was coming from a situation where I was working full time, working on my prereqs, and volunteering. I dropped all of that to focus solely on this and I am still busier with just this program than all of that before. It is surprising how much they expect us to take on. That being said, apply and see what happens! It's a competitive, TOUGH program but it's short so for me it was worth it for that reason. If time isn't really an issue for you, the BSN program might be a better way to go. I know many of the BSN students are able to work. A few of us do too, albeit super minimal. Don't ask me how :) The other thing to consider is what is your long term goal? Are you wanting to work as a floor nurse? Admin? NP? The MSN designates you for a leadership role so there's little reason to do this program if that doesn't align with your goal as well. I hope that answers your question! Feel free to PM me!

Perhaps this is a question for @Nursing16lr, but does anyone have any insight on our schedule for the first year? I have a dog that I like to let out mid-day and am having a very hard time finding a house for us to rent in the area that my boyfriend works in Puyallup.

Curiousrei, I sure did! I was not waiting for long

Curiousrei, thank you for looking that up! I've been unable to log in so far. We are going to eat, sleep, and breath school this summer! I'm really excited for clinicals! I'm actually a little surprised that we'll start that in our first quarter.

Nursing16lr, can you tell us what the schedule is like in that first quarter? I'm trying to figure out logistically if it would be better to move to Puyallup or Tacoma. I have an older pet that needs care in the middle of the day and I've been fortunate enough to live close to my work up until this point :)

@Nursing16lr, thank you so much for dropping in here. Any information you could share would be much appreciated! I did get wait listed and I'm wondering if you or anyone you know might have advice on that. I'm not sure if there is something I can do to help strengthen my chances of coming off the wait-list and getting accepted. I'm finishing out my final pre-requisite...does that have anything to do with my wait-listed status? You didn't indicate which year you're in currently, but as far as your class schedule, what was your first year like? Did you or do you plan to work part time in your second year? If not, your third? I'm curious also if you knew what you wanted to specialize in when you applied and if your plan changed? Thank you again for taking the time!!