Was your nursing program in a dangerous area?

Pneumothorax, BSN, RN · Dec 3, 2011

i go to school & work at a teaching hospital downtown, theres all sorts of sketchy people hanging around there and have been some incident recently of robberies, & assaults...but the solution to that problem is travel in groups and try not to go out at night if it can be helped.

sapphire18 · Dec 3, 2011

there was one time i slipped and fell, fell really bad, on an icy sidewalk under the elevated tracks on my way to clinical in my little nursing student uniform. three or four big ugly looking guys, some of them drunk, rushed me. they picked me up, dusted me off, said, "you ok, nursey? you ok? you want us to help you to the door?" turned out they loved nurses, because the public health ones were about the only ones who were good to them.

once i had my little public health bag over my shoulder in the elevator in the projects. coupla mean-looking dudes got on. "you da nurse?" "yes, i am." "thought so. nurse took good care o' my grandmaw. nobody give you a hard time here, cuz you da nurse."

these and a couple of other incidents made me look a lot less at the surroundings and more at the people; it was a real eye-opener and i was ashamed of my former fears.

love this!! i've also had "mean, scary-looking" guys come up to me and start making conversation bc they have had good experiences with nurses! i have a big interest in public health thanks to some of my former nursing instructors and clinicals, but unfortunately i have moved away from the (big) city that i love and now live and work in much smaller cities, but i would love to get back to it if and when i move back to a bigger city! (not that smaller areas don't have public health needs, but the more diverse populations of big cities is just where my interest is:))

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Dec 3, 2011

there's a vignette in one of the sherlock holmes stories, i forget which one, in which holmes and watson are on a train traveling through the countryside to go to investigate something. (remember, the author, a. conan doyle, was a physician.) watson looks out at the peaceful landscape, the little farm houses, and remarks how lovely it is. holmes replies that in his experience there is greater evil perpetrated in private in such places than in the most crowded london slum. that has always stayed with me.

Cuddleswithpuddles · Dec 3, 2011

GrnTea,

Stop being so awesome and fun to read. My kudos finger is tired.

cogath · Dec 3, 2011

Yes, as well as several of my clinical sites. A few students were car-jacked while parking this semester. As in grand theft auto: Get out of the car or we'll shoot. We are in a big city though and many of our clinical sites are in even worse areas, working with vulnerable populations.

caliotter3 · Dec 3, 2011

BSN program at a university campus located downtown in a large city. Parking garages were dangerous day or night. Blue lights at call boxes located around the campus. You could call for an escort at night if you felt you needed it. Most of the time students would walk to the parking garages in large groups. What one would expect at a campus located in the middle of downtown. Homeless and intoxicated persons wandering around all day and all night. Robberies at the outside ATM machine. Rapes and assaults. Nothing to be surprised about.

Pneumothorax, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2011

i went to college in a big city at a time where women hitch hiking were getting assaulted. that didn't give me any more money in my pocket for bus fare so i kept doing it. i also spent a lot of time in "bad" areas of town because that's where the hospitals were. i walked strong, confident, and tall, and nobody ever gave me a hard time.

there was one time i slipped and fell, fell really bad, on an icy sidewalk under the elevated tracks on my way to clinical in my little nursing student uniform. three or four big ugly looking guys, some of them drunk, rushed me. they picked me up, dusted me off, said, "you ok, nursey? you ok? you want us to help you to the door?" turned out they loved nurses, because the public health ones were about the only ones who were good to them.

once i had my little public health bag over my shoulder in the elevator in the projects. coupla mean-looking dudes got on. "you da nurse?" "yes, i am." "thought so. nurse took good care o' my grandmaw. nobody give you a hard time here, cuz you da nurse."

these and a couple of other incidents made me look a lot less at the surroundings and more at the people; it was a real eye-opener and i was ashamed of my former fears.

i agree with you. not all the people are bad. but, its still good to keep a watchful eye and ear out. its like going to pet a lion at the zoo, ya they are cute and fuzzy maybe even mean, but im not gonna walk up to one to find out if its gonna bite my hand off or lick it and purr:lol2:

hmjensen · Dec 4, 2011

I'm from Northern California and I'm sorry but there is no way in hell I would go to school in Oakland. Hell, if it means running out of gas or stopping in Oakland to fill up, I'd rather get stranded on the freeway. As far as Michele Le's murder, that was a different situation altogether as she was personally targeted by someone she knew...that poor girl. Do you have the option of moving further up north where it's cheaper to live? We have several community colleges near Sacramento that offer an ADN, most of which are in perfectly safe areas...plus you would save money not being in the Bay Area. Just a thought. Good luck!!

noahsmama · Dec 4, 2011

I'm from Northern California and I'm sorry but there is no way in hell I would go to school in Oakland. Hell, if it means running out of gas or stopping in Oakland to fill up, I'd rather get stranded on the freeway.

There are parts of Oakland that I feel that way about -- like anywhere near the Oakland Coliseum. However, most of Oakland is quite nice. Every major metropolitan area has both bad and good neighborhoods, and Oakland is no exception.

However, it's fine with me that some people feel about Oakland as you do. If more people knew how great it is here, those $700K starter homes would be going for $1M. Thanks for doing your part to keep the price of real estate down in my neighborhood. :lol2:

hmjensen · Dec 4, 2011

You're absolutely right. A lot of big cities do have bad reputations because of their bad areas. I didn't mean to offend anyone by my comment and I apologize if I did. I guess I only know the areas I have been through and applied that experience to the whole city. Oakland is actually has the closest CRNA school to me and I have no idea what to do either.

ChristineN, BSN, RN · Dec 4, 2011

I went to nursing school in a large metro city, with my nursing school located in one of the less than ideal neighborhoods. There was a homeless shelter right behind the nursing school building. That being said, I never felt unsafe. The school building was kept locked so you needed key card access to get in, and we had security there at all times. Even when classes would get out at 9pm I never had a problem.

So even if there have been a few major news stories of things that have happened to a few students at those schools, I feel as if you could probably be safe and you would be ok. I also had clinical at the school's affiliated hospital down the street and never had any issues. I would park my car on the street, walk a couple blocks to get to clinical, no issues.

starmickey03, MSN, RN · Dec 5, 2011

Keep in mind that bad things can happen to anyone, any time, anywhere.

I grew up in a HORRIBLE city and moved out of state and now go to a school in a "bad" neighborhood. Im fine.

Its pretty much all about how you carry yourself and who you associate yourself with.