"To Be or Not To Be a Nurse"...

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The information I am getting from this site and close friends is driving me bonkers:eek: I don't know what to do anymore, maybe look into a different profession?? First it's a nursing shortage, now the economy is down so no-one is hiring. Now LPNs and ADN's have a hard time being placed anywhere. Most nursing students just graduating from an ADN or LPN program are being forced to further there education. People have families, have to work full-time, these are expectations that are sometimes out of reach for most people.

Each school having there own particular pre-requisites, why can't this be equal across the board? Why for example does one school require Chemistry but no Speech and vise-versa. Why do all nursing students, including LPN, ADN, BSN students sit for the same exam? This has got to be one of the hardest most ridiculous (no offense, but really) feilds to go into! I mean everything is run like a circus:oornt: Where to apply? What classes will they accept? How long will it take to get hired? I don't have three years to sit around and be on a waiting list.

According to my close friends currently enrolled in a nursing program, burn-out starts in nursing school, most people are able to enjoy there college years, with nursing not so much. One of my friends hair is falling out in clumps because she say's she is so stressed out. She tells me because she is so far into the program she would rather not quit, but would love to be doing something else.

The problem is, this is the field I know I am good at! I have been a CNA since 2005 and currently work with a 36 year old quadriplegic male living with "Locked in Syndrome". I perform alot of duties an RN would such as IC, G-tube care, Trachea care, suctioning, operating the ventilator and oxygen etc...

I know I have the talent for this job, I have completed most of my pre-requisites, I just don't know where my education will take me, is this field really in need of nurses right now? Is the burn-out from work and school really as bad as most say it is, or is it exaggeration? Eveyone I talk to seems to have a different opinion about the field, where can I find some truth to all of this? Thanks for any input, sorry for going off on a rant, just very frustrating...

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I'm with you.. and I believe it would be AMAZING if schools and boards were the same everywhere.. but ofcourse that would be too simple and ofcourse they want to give students the 'run around'... I too am a student so I don't have too much experience although all I know is you can just be the best student you can and keep tracking through life the best of your ability because in facing reality so many curves are thrown at us!! I'm worried about getting into nursing school as well although I assume..that can wait till I come to that in approx. a year! In a&p I have some of the highest scores in my classes yet..yea they are stressful..and the whole nursing school situation is stressful but I guess it has to be taken in stride!! (HA..I need to follow my own advice!!)

For me I know I have the qualities that make up an excellent RN :) and this is the career I WANT! This is ALL I want!! I do get defeated at times but in knowing this is my dream I just do the best I can...and truly that's pretty much all you can do! and just keep pushing towards that goal!! Good Luck and keep on keeping on! If you truly want it and can endure it...it'll all be worth while!!

*sorry if there is spelling errors or anything! IT's late and I'm TIRED!!

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That's funny "Keep on keeping on" I remember that line from the movie "Joe Dirt". I hear ya, I have two classes left and I can start applying, but again each school has there requirements. I guess I would be better off just getting my associates degree(even though it's not really necessary) then I would be accepted by pretty much every program, but again give or take a class.

There are a few schools here that are fairly easy to get into and many of them don't require you to have many pre-req's finished such as Chamberlain and a school called Americare(LPN) both are private and very expensive. Chamberlain offers an accelerated BSN program costing about twenty thousand a year (yikes!). I think with the accelerated programs some places offer, it seems to me they put more pressure on the student and many drop out as a result, but they still have your money...

I found an interesting article about what the nurse shortage means http://www.nursingadvocacy.org/faq/nursing_shortage.html

Good Luck!

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I absolutely agree with you!! This is a ridiculous field to get into, and I am sooooo frustrated! I graduated in 2004 magna cum laude with a degree in philosophy and pre-med. After college, I took a job as a patient representative. I got some experience in a hospital setting and realized I wasn't so sure that being a doctor was what I wanted. I was drawn to nursing, but it is next to impossible to satisfy the ridiculously specific requirements each different program has!!!!!

I had all the pre-reqs necessary to get into med school, but apparently not to get into a nursing program!? There's seriously something wrong with that! I recently attended an open house for an accelarated BSN program, and apparently, I have to take a history course! How do you graduate school without a history course of some sort. You can't! - but b/c the class doesnt match the EXACT pre-req the program wants, I have to retake history. No exceptions.

Oh, and the year long sequence of organic chemistry that I took (and got A's in) does not match their LOWER one-semester course sequence of organic the program requires. So, I have to re-take that class as well. Ridiculous!

So, students work their butts off to get into nursing school. They work their butts off once they are IN a program. They graduate, and can't even find a JOB? There is something seriously malfunctioning in the field of nursing, and I'm beginning to feel like maybe the root cause is not due to budget cuts, a nursing shortage, etc. I'm beginning to think it starts at the very foundation of a nurse's career! If we (potential/current students) are this jaded by nursing already, there is something wrong with that! I'm with you....to be OR not to be a nurse? That is the question!

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So true!! *my dad and I always joke that I should just become a doctor because apparently it's easier*

LOL

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Specializes in Home care.

I just wanted to cry after reading your post because I share the same emotion and feelings. They were offering an LPN program for 10 month and the tuition was 10,000 no finical aid ("because the school was new and nonprofit?")After passing an entrance exam, I met with the director who went over the program. I started school in January 07 weekend class from 8-4am. I was always the first one there very excited to learn. I received all my paper work and was told to apply in Connecticut to take the state board, I did. I was so excited; I could taste my license and feel my dreams as a nurse coming true. Connecticut received my paper work and information from my school. Then the letter for my test date came in the mail. I dance and sing to my family and friends. I took review classes and study with Kaplan online. Then the rumor started, the students were piling up in the directors office…why? The school is a fake, it was not accredited. Finally a month before my test, I received an email from Pearsonvue that my test was unscheduled. I died and came back to life. The rumors were true, to make a long story start, lost my money, everything down the drain. .

So, I ask my self do I rebuild again what someone destroyed? Or move on to something else.

That’s my story!

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That is a horrible situation! I'm soo sorry to hear that! If it is something you want to do.. you should go for it! You did get some kind of experience...and if your that determined.. you CAN DO IT!! Good Luck!!

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Sorry to hear that Noela08, I hope you find a good school in your area that is accredited. There are alot of those scams going on these days, ,many people are finding themselves in your situation. I believe thie issue with everyone having a difficult time getting in has something to do with all of the scams going on. It is giving the scammers an opporunity to take as much money as they can. The difficulty of getting into a program can make someone choose one over the other for fear they may not get into another program, kind of unfair. Good Luck to you, I'm sure you will make it:specs:

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Specializes in Home care.

Thank you for your word of encouragement. I do plan to rebuild my future. I am schedule to take a few test, in hopes to start a program in January 2010, I enjoy this site... many ppl, (including my classmates) has experience what happened to me and we give each other hope.

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you put my exact thoughts into words...and I would love to hear some positive feedback to your questions but I dont think the pre-nursing thread is where this belongs...I would love to see it posted to the 'veteran' nurses on the main board and hear their opinions!

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There will always be rumors. It will never end.

I, for one, have not heard of ANY ASN students having to further their education straight out of school. They are able to be placed the same as a nurse with a BSN. There seems to be a common misconception that a BSN does so much more for you when getting hired. In some areas it does, but for the most part it doesn't. LPN, yes. I have heard that here. Hospitals are phasing them out.

The thing is, nursing is not the only major/degree field that graduates have a hard time finding jobs with. Well, for one, the economy is still having a hard time recovering. No one is able to find a job these days. And second, you get what you put in. I know plenty of people with a BSW, BS, etc that aren't able to find jobs.

The main thing to remember is: why you want to go into this field. Do it because its something you know you will LOVE with your whole being, not because you are guaranteed a job. I admit, I am deathly afraid of not being hired straight out of school. However, that is something I am willing to risk in order to be one step closer to my dream. No school guarantees you a job upon graduation. Its up to you.

And what is this about all nursing students sitting for the same exam? LPNs sit for the NCLEX-PN. Students from ASN and BSN programs sit for the NCLEX-RN. Of course the latter sit for the same exam...they are both striving to be RNs. Why wouldn't they?

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