Grengemly

Agreed. I believe I stated that the previous posters had made valid points. Not arguing. Stating my experience. Thanks.

After 2.5 years on med surg, I too recently left the hospital setting for a clinic. I'm a few weeks in and, so far, ZERO regrets. Some people don't thrive on med surg. I kept trying to "stick it out" thinking that someday my anxiety would improve. It didn't. When I finally started getting a *tiny* bit more comfortable, the powers that be decided to start making me charge...anxiety immediately through the roof again. Some previous posters have made very valid points (less money, experience, etc.) but you have to do what is right for you. I didn't realize how miserable I was until I left. Both my husband and teenager have commented that I am a completely different person...in a good way. There are so many opportunities in nursing, find what works for you. Best of luck!

I am currently charging nights on a 24-bed unit (med surg/tele/ortho). Although day shift has a dedicated charge nurse and unit sec, nights does not. I am expected to take a full load of patients. That means five on a good night, seven on a bad one (I refused an eighth last week). Between bed requests, family members, tele, lab, and the occasional doc calling, along with staffing matrix, and gathering enough information on the other nurses patients to give charge report, I feel like I am constantly behind and am unable to give my patients even the basic amount of attention they need. Since taking over charge a few months ago, I absolutely dread going to work. I told management I didn't want to charge, was told there was no one else to do it (we currently only have three non-traveler nurses on PM). I left the charge phone outside one of my Covid rooms last week and listened to it ring twenty two times before the house sup finally gave up. I have a job interview tomorrow. Praying I get it.

Have you looked at WGU? Very reasonable tuition, flat rate per six moth term, so you can take as many classes as you want. I am fifty-two (although I have only been a nurse for a couple years) and have found the program to be very doable, even while working full time nights and having a teen. It isn't "prestigious" but it checks the box you need to check! ?

I would love to hear how this program is working for you! I am considering the RN to MSN option in Nursing Education at WGU as well. Do you like it so far?

I graduated almost a year ago at 50. Was offered, and accepted, a job before graduation. In my area, age hasn't proven to be much of a problem. Our hospital requires participation in a two year long Nurse Residency program for all newly licensed nurses. Bedside nursing can be physically demanding and I am TIRED, but I blame that more on working night shift than on my age.

I have been considering WGU, thank you for the recommendation!

Very true. It is a benefit, even with the contract.

Good points, thank you! As I was trying to get myself up from a kneeling position on the floor of my patient's room yesterday, it did hit me that I am no "spring chicken".

Would you get a BSN if it was not required? I am a middle aged (if I live to be a hundred) new ADN nurse. I work at a smallish hospital in a rural area that does not require a BSN. The hospital has no plans to change this policy. They do offer tuition reimbursement for nurses that want to purse a BSN, if that nurse is willing to sign a contract to work for the hospital 5-7 more years after obtaining the degree. They also pay a (whopping) $1 more an hour to nurses who have their BSN. I hope to work about 15-17 years before retirement. I would love some thoughts about the benefits, or lack thereof, of spending the money and time pursuing a further degree given my...ahem....advanced age. I recently ran into one of my former instructors and her opinion was that, in our area, the BSN wouldn't really pay off unless my interest was in management (it's not). She brought up MSN and teaching as an option. (We are also home to a community college with a great nursing program.) I told her that I am still dreaming of the day when I get through a shift confident in my skills as a nurse, can't imagine that teaching someone else would ever be a reality.

Nursing school is a microcosm of the work-world you will be entering. There will always be people that you feel are getting by with something or getting preferential treatment. The operative words here are "you feel". While it is your opinion that they did not deserve these awards, your instructors felt differently. Such is life. Hanging onto resentment over something that is not hindering you in getting a job, doing your job, or living your life, seems to me to be a waste of time and energy. Just my opinion, of course, but life is too dang short to sweat the small stuff...and in the big scheme of things, this is definitely small stuff.

I have not worked during the program, other than one day a week the first semester. Most of my classmates work, at least part time. I am an older student with a supportive husband. We are not high income by any means, but are fortunate that our house is paid off and we don't have a car payment or credit card debt. (Both the house and the old cars are falling apart though!) My tuition has been covered by partial Pell grants along with a couple other grants and some small scholarships. I also saved up a few thousand dollars from my previous job before starting school. I think this is only of the only "pluses" of being an older student, life is a bit more settled and stable. There is NO way I could have not worked during school twenty years ago.

Thank you, good advice. I am in my last semester (c'mon May!) and for the first time, I am struggling a bit. I think it is due to trying to cover the whole chapter, when we average 5-7 chapters per exam, instead of using the objectives to narrow it down. Do you think note cards are still worthwhile if the info is concise? Or concept maps? And thanks for what you do. I know y'all put up with a lot of grief, but (most) of us students do appreciate all the work you put into making us successful.

OP you didn't mention if you had any previous experience working in the medical field? If not, that may have been the reason you were scheduled with a CNA. Our clinical instructor made sure that those of us who hadn't worked as a CNA previously (me and about half of our class) had one day with a CNA in order to get a good feel for the hospital, what the CNAs do, where things are, etc. It was a good way to get acclimated and it won't put you "behind" your peers at all, if that is of concern to you. It certainly gave me an appreciation for the amount of work they do and it was useful, for me at least, to practice the basic tasks on a person instead of a simulation mannequin.

I'm currently taking AP2 over a five week summer session (Only five more days to go, yay!) and have found Crash Course videos (on YouTube) helpful for an overall "big picture" before reading the text to clarify and go into more detail. Good luck!