Taking on Registered Nurse Career..

CountrifiedRN · Jan 26, 2002

Sorry, I'm not from Nebraska, so can't help you with personal experience with the schools there, but if you call your local colleges, they should be able to tell you what their requirements are (they vary by school), and how long the wait is. Some schools have waiting lists that go by the order that a person signs up, and some have lists where the higher GPA's are put at the top of the list.

I'm not an experienced nurse, merely a student :rolleyes: , but I worked as a CNA on a med-surg unit before getting into the program. The experience has helped me a great deal in my clinicals and also it has helped me to understand some of the concepts taught in class. I would recommend trying to do something healthcare related, either a job, or as a volunteer, so that you can observe what nurses do on a daily basis. A few people in my program dropped halfway through the first semester, because they discovered that nursing wasn't what they thought it would be.

Good luck in whatever you decide!

janmae1950 · Jan 27, 2002

I don't know how old you are but if it makes you feel any better - I am 51 and am pursuing a career in nursing. I am still taking pre-requisite courses and hope to be in the Fall 2002 nursing school. I am going to a Community College.

I am doing what RN2bNC suggested. I applied at a local nursing home/ assisted living facility to be a CNA. They provide training and pay you while you train. They will pay for my certification tests. RN2bNC is correct in suggesting that you work in the health related field while you go to nursing school. I am learning so much in my CNA training. Also, if you work as a CNA, you will find out if you really want to pursue nursing.

Around here in Pittsburgh, PA, the assisted living or personal care homes use nurse's aides which are assistants who do not have certification and a license. They are paid less than CNA's; and most of the personal care homes allow residents who truly need more care. So I would avoid nurse's aide work and find a good facility that will pay you to train for a Certified Nursing Assistant course.

I am paid $8.80 per hour during training. After training, I will be paid $9.30 plus $.50 shift differential as I want to work the 3-11 shift. When I work weekends, I will be paid an additional $.50 on top of that. If I work a holiday, I work 8 hours and will be paid for 16. If I work 4 hours overtime, I will be paid time and a half plus will be given 2 hours regular rate pay.

I want to work 3-11 as it will free up my day to take nursing classes.

I did a paper on the 5 occupations with the most need for workeres through 2008 and nursing came in 2nd after computer science (yawn). Right now, at least in Pittsburgh, nurses are getting a hiring on bonus because they are so desperate for workers.

I am looking forward to actually working with the residents. I'm training on the long term care ward and already I adore the residents I am training with. I want so much to give those people good care and make them comfortable. One thing I've figured out is that when things get stressful with higher ups, if I focus my attention on the resident, I forget about everything else. I couldn't do that in office work. There the stress wasn't the work or the amount or the time pressure; it was the egos to contend with that stressed me out.

Good luck. I'm still very much the novice in this field but I hope I've helped with your decision.

Xenia · Jan 27, 2002

Would it be best to get a LPN first just to get my foot in earlier and have more experience?

Xenia · Jan 27, 2002

Reason being I can't do the CNA is because of my financial status.. I would take a huge paycut and not be able to pay off my bills. So that is why I was wondering if LPN would be the best choice.

janmae1950 · Jan 28, 2002

There may be places that provide on-the-job LPN training. Something to check out. You'd still have to go to school for LPN. But that's an option and pay will be more than CNA. So if money's needed now, then keep working at what you are doing and you could take your courses in the evening. I would talk with an advisors at schools that offer nursing degrees in your area and find out what and how much time the classes involve. I know that some nursing classes have clinicals as part of the training which is going on site to hospitals, etc. So this may conflict with your job.

Xenia · Jan 28, 2002

Yes.. I think I will do that.. As far as clinicals.. :) I have enough time saved up at work in which I can use up for when I start my clinicals.. The University that I'm going to does have clinicals and luckily the hospital is right next door. :)