contemplations

Thank you for the response! I was starting to worry.

Hello! I am still only a student, so I cannot give you information on what nursing is like in Ohio. I can, however, tell you about living there! ** I am most familiar with the Cincinnati, West Chester, and Mason areas, but this will still be mostly relevant! In Ohio (at least in my experience), we commonly joke about how we are the "fly-over" state--we are not typically considered for travel and vacation and are usually perceived as boring. My family has a vacation home in Florida, as well as plenty of relatives who reside there. So, I have had my fair share of experiencing Florida. To be completely honest, the majority of things you do on a regular basis in Florida can still be done over here--you just have to be willing to look for it. Entertainment & Attractions: Mason is a relatively new area. It is very clean, family-friendly, safe, and has an excellent public school system/district. The school district in Dayton that I am aware of is, unfortunately, rated poorly... It is only a short commute from Dayton (half an hour, or under an hour, but really depends on where exactly in Dayton) and is host to plenty of attractions: King's Island (Mason, OH) - An amusement park with several thrill rides and record-breaking coasters. It also has an award-winning children's area inside of the park, as well as a connected waterpark featuring waterslides, a wave pool, and a lazy river among other things. Main Event / The Web (both in West Chester, OH, but this is a very short drive from Mason) / Scene75 Entertainment (Dayton, OH)- Your typical indoor recreation centers... go-karting, laser tag, mini golf, gravity ropes, mini-bowling, zombie escape room (actually pretty interesting even for adults), and food. Liberty Center (West Chester, OH) - Brand new outdoor mall with fairly good restaurants, stores, and a luxury cinema--Cobb Liberty Luxury 15 & Cinebistro. You can have dinner or dessert while watching your movie. Tickets are the same price as the average theatre; meals range from about $10-20+. RiverScape MetroPark (Dayton, OH) - Beautiful park. In the winter, there is ice-skating. It goes along the Great Miami River and has a lot of fountains. Great to go to with children as well. Museums (Dayton, OH) - If this is something you are interested in, Dayton has several of them! Cincinnati does, too. YMCA of Greater Dayton There are also several parks that offer paddle boating, kayaking, mile-long walks and biking trails, also including playgrounds for children and fishing spots--Five Rivers MetroParks, Orchardly Park, Winton Woods, and Voice of America, to name a few. Shopping: Since you are coming from Florida, I'm assuming you are familiar with Publix grocery stores. The equivalent to Publix in Dayton would be Kroger. There is also Meijer which is almost like Wal-Mart in size, but generally cleaner. Note: Wal-Marts over here tend to not be clean or friendly. I, personally, avoid entering them--Kroger and Meijer will pretty much be the same price with a better atmosphere. The best mall that I am familiar with is Kenwood Towne Center. Very clean, a wide variety of stores in many different price ranges (from Aeropostale to Gap to Michael Kors to Nordstrom...), and is safe. It is in a better area of Cincinnati. Unfortunately, I think the malls in Dayton are dead. Dining: As far as eating out goes, there are numerous options, from fast food to upscale steak houses. This largely depends on your budget, but there are options for everyone! ------------- If you want to know anything else, or anything more specific, feel free to ask! I would love to give you more information, but it would help if I knew what you were looking for/interested in, or whether your daughter is a child, teen, or adult!

I am still a student, however, looking at the curriculum guides for the programs at my school, it's strange how different they can be. My university provides three undergraduate nursing options--an Associate's Degree, a Bachelor's Degree, and an RN-BSN transition for ADN grads. I plan on going the ADN -> RN-BSN route. After comparing the curriculum guides, even when I complete my RN-BSN at the same school, I will not have taken several courses that the BSN requires for graduation. But, why is this? Both paths result in the same bachelor's degree awarded by the same university. These are a few of the classes I will not have taken that the standard BSN requires: 1. Introduction to Chemistry & Biochemistry. 2. Pathophysiology (for nurses) 3. Intro to Genetics for Professional Nursing Practice 4. Nutrition Yet, I will still be awarded the same degree as the people who were required to complete those courses and more. I understand that the RN-BSN is designed to be completed faster, however, these courses do not sound "unimportant" enough to simply be omitted from the curriculum completely to achieve a shorter time. In this example, why are the students receiving different levels of education for the same degree? I would love to hear more opinions on this!

That's funny, yet smart. Haha. :) That sounds awful. Have you ever tried to leave? Or are there no better options? And by "going out" I really just meant eating out for dinner, going to a movie, or going to the mall! Thanks for sharing! It's not that I disliked that answer, I simply misinterpreted the tone of it. But I am a pretty realistic person, so I understand that a career in nursing is not going to necessarily be fun and games! Thanks for elaborating more on that matter. I'm glad you have your holidays off now! I may not have that issue though, as my family and I celebrate holidays that are nontraditional for the vast majority of people in the U.S. (we are of Islamic faith), so I would most likely have no problem getting those days off. Thanks for sharing!

I think I would treat it in the same respect as you when you say, "like a business." Also, it's nice to hear that you have time for travel, as I enjoy doing so as well. Thank you.

The reason I chose to ask about working nurses rather than students was because I figured that, even though nursing school may be very difficult, it's more likely that someone could complete it and end up unable to handle the actual job. I could be wrong, though! Thanks for sharing with me.

Does this make you regret your decision to become a nurse? Would you do it all over again? Thanks to everyone who has posted thus far.

The beginning of your post appeared satirical to me--as though you were writing off the idea of this thread. I am genuinely sorry if you did not have any negative intentions, as I was under the impression that you did. I do not hold grudges and will gladly apologize for any misunderstanding. On a side note, written words do have a tone. According to literarydevices.net, "tone, in written composition, is an attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience. Tone is generally conveyed through the choice of words or the viewpoint of a writer on a particular subject." Thanks for your contribution, nonetheless. I still appreciated it.

While I do not doubt that at all, I merely claimed it was the general tone of her initial post (from my own perception of her writing style and word choice). I have since apologized for any offense that may have been caused. Thanks again to all of the new posters! I really do appreciate all of the responses.

I'm glad to be reading more positive experiences! Thanks for sharing.

I am quite positive I wrote that you may have had a terrible experience. You came across as rude and debilitating in your initial post, however, I am not here to fight or argue, but rather gain insight. So, I apologize if I happened to offend you. Thanks to everyone else who has posted. It's really interesting to see how different everyone's experience as a nurse is.

I specifically mentioned my understanding of the widely differing experiences everyone will have in order to avoid the stating of the obvious, given fact by others; hence, I claimed to be seeking a general idea. I am sorry that you may have had a terrible experience, nevertheless, thank you for sharing!

I'm glad things are getting better for you! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for your insight! I wasn't even aware of work-from-home options for nurses. I'll definitely have to research that more! NightNerd, thanks for sharing! It's very reassuring to read positive experiences after seeing nursing professions ranked "above average" in stress level on certain websites.

Hello, nurses! Before I officially decide to go for nursing school, I wanted to get a general idea of the lifestyle of a nurse (though I know it differs for everyone). So, I have a list of questions and I would really appreciate it if you could answer any of them for me! Please include what type of nurse you are! How often would you consider your work life to be stressful? How stressful? Do you believe you have a healthy family life? I'm a family-oriented person and wouldn't to completely sacrifice that for my job. How much time do you have with your family? What mood do you return home in most often? Do you feel like you have time for going out? Thank you in advance for any answers you are able to provide!