Calling all nurses! (Or nurses-to-be)

[Gina]

It's a lot to think about. Start by calling the nurse recruiter at a hospital near you. Tell her what you've told us. She will be able to answer your questions in a much more specific way.

SO helpful, Laurie!! Thanks for so much great info! There are several large hospitals pretty near me, and I will definitely call the nursing recruiters and see what they say. I would have never known to do that -- thanks so much!!

 

[momtomatthew]

ANother RN here. Got my BSN 11 years ago (GULP), and my Masters in Health Admin. 6. Worked in ICU for several years, then became a Director of Critical Care. Finally moved into a house supervisor role (loved it). Did some teaching at a community college when we moved to PA. Then went to work for a nursing publishing company writing nursing reference books. Quit that job in April to become a freelance clinical editor/nurse writer- best decision I EVER made.

I loved nursing and the flexibility it gave, but I don't miss the politics, the patients, the families, or the problems. I love all the doors open to me now with my degree and background in nursing- and it's always changing!

 

[npmommie]

Quit that job in April to become a freelance clinical editor/nurse writer- best decision I EVER made.

oh tell us more about what you do, sounds interesting! what publications do you write for?

 

[momtomatthew]

oh tell us more about what you do, sounds interesting! what publications do you write for?

I mainly work for Lippincott Williams & Wilkins doing ome of their books and an online nursing procedure product. I do a lot of research, making sure things are current and up-to-date. I also have done some Continuing Education articles and tests for various online companies.

I love this job that lets me stay at home with my son and still use my brain!

 

[Beka]

I mainly work for Lippincott Williams & Wilkins doing ome of their books and an online nursing procedure product. I do a lot of research, making sure things are current and up-to-date. I also have done some Continuing Education articles and tests for various online companies.

I love this job that lets me stay at home with my son and still use my brain!

So YOU'RE the one responsible for that med-surg book of mine! That sucker weighs over 11 pounds!

 

[jordansmomma]

We are staying at All Star Movies per my dd's request. We stayed at Pop last time. Next time we go my ds will be able to chose where we stay within reason. We will be there December 12th until December 19th, my parents and grandparets get there the next day to start our Grand Gathering. Our trip is a survived the first semester of nursing school and my birthday celebration rolled into one.

Good job in surving the first semester. I see you are in PA, I am in WA but wanting to relocate to PA. Do you go to a community college?
I am just trying to find the right college to go to and apply to this year.
I just want my options opened in case I do plan to relocate myself and my kids.

 

[Disneylover79]

I really appreciate all the responses! I wish I could say I wasn't more confused now. I'd guess I'd better clarify a couple of things, though!

The degree I will have is a Bachelor of General Studies. No matter what path I decide to take, unless a bag of money falls from the sky I *have* to work, fulltime. As it is, I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to fit in the student loan payments that will start in 7 months -- finances have gotten a lot tighter in the past 4 years.

I need to figure out which program would get me into healthcare the quickest, so that I could then work in the general field and hopefully get some sort of tuition assistance for a higher nursing degree.

For the past several years I've been the Office Manager for a small HVAC company, and finishing this degree was mostly to set a good example for my now-13 year old son, as well as just to be able to say that I finished. But now I'm thinking that I'd really like to actually try and do what I've always wanted to do.

So that's where I am.

Thank you guys SO much for the food for thought! I welcome it all!


-gina-

If you have a Bachelors degree in anything then you should be able to use some of those courses towards your BSN...call you local university and see what they have to offer...if you wanted to get in the healthcare so you could gt your tuition paid for then you could jump in as a CNA then they can help you pay for school (this is what I did) I started as a CNA in '98 and now I am done and I only owe them 18 months...

 

[Judy from Boise]

I am done with my MSN and I am waiting for my letter to test to come in the mail any day now....then I will sit for my Acute Care Nurse Practitioner license.

Congrats and good luck !

 

[Mandychelle79]

Good job in surving the first semester. I see you are in PA, I am in WA but wanting to relocate to PA. Do you go to a community college?
I am just trying to find the right college to go to and apply to this year.
I just want my options opened in case I do plan to relocate myself and my kids.

Yes I go to a community college. But just a warning, at least in western Pa its very difficult to get into a nursing program. I had a 3.75 and was admitted on my second application. There were people who had a 3.5 and were on the waiting list.

 

[xCourxCorex]

So YOU'RE the one responsible for that med-surg book of mine! That sucker weighs over 11 pounds!

Haha I was thinking the same thing about my Fundamentals textbook

 

[Jsme]

My DD is 16 and she hopes to be a RN.

 

[xCourxCorex]

Nurses, I need your opinions!

My school has obtained free H1N1 vaccines and plans to have a mini-clinic for only the nursing students on Tuesday. They say that one clinical agency is requiring their staff to have the H1N1 vaccine, and those that do not get it are required to wear a mask during patient care. They also say that if you end up at a hospital that requires the vaccine and you have not been vaccinated, you will be removed from clinical (aka, you fail that course).

I have gotten my seasonal flu vaccine already, but I was against the H1N1 because I just felt it was rushed and not tested enough before it was released. Now I'm scared that I will end up at a hospital that requires the vaccine, and I really can't afford to fail this semester, especially for something like this.

SO i ask you, what would you do in this situation?
Thanks so much!

 

[npmommie]

Nurses, I need your opinions!

My school has obtained free H1N1 vaccines and plans to have a mini-clinic for only the nursing students on Tuesday. They say that one clinical agency is requiring their staff to have the H1N1 vaccine, and those that do not get it are required to wear a mask during patient care. They also say that if you end up at a hospital that requires the vaccine and you have not been vaccinated, you will be removed from clinical (aka, you fail that course).

I have gotten my seasonal flu vaccine already, but I was against the H1N1 because I just felt it was rushed and not tested enough before it was released. Now I'm scared that I will end up at a hospital that requires the vaccine, and I really can't afford to fail this semester, especially for something like this.

SO i ask you, what would you do in this situation?
Thanks so much!

I am not 100% positive, but pretty sure no hospitals in massachusetts are REQUIRING their workers to get the vaccine, they are encouraging it but I don't think it is a mandated thing.
So is your school mandating you get the vaccine?
this is tricky because the hospitals have contracts with the school to allow nursing students in for clinical, if they deny you for this you could push back on it if you are really opposed to getting the vaccine.
If the school decides to mandate the nursing students get the vaccine I suppose that is a different story. but if they are just offering it, not requiring it I dont' see why or how they would pull you out of clinical when it isn't mandated for health care workers in general.

 

[xCourxCorex]

I am not 100% positive, but pretty sure no hospitals in massachusetts are REQUIRING their workers to get the vaccine, they are encouraging it but I don't think it is a mandated thing.
So is your school mandating you get the vaccine?
this is tricky because the hospitals have contracts with the school to allow nursing students in for clinical, if they deny you for this you could push back on it if you are really opposed to getting the vaccine.
If the school decides to mandate the nursing students get the vaccine I suppose that is a different story. but if they are just offering it, not requiring it I dont' see why or how they would pull you out of clinical when it isn't mandated for health care workers in general.

It is a requirement at Mass General, which is one of the major clinical sites for next semester, that's why my school is pushing it so much - because a lot of students will probably end up there.

 

[Princessbaby]

I am a week from graduating from my LPN-BSN program and I just came back from taking my RN predictor exam and based on my scores I have a 94% chance of passing boards- which I think is pretty good since I have been in bed really sick for the last several days (the school deadline to take it was coming up so I had no choice but to take it sick!)

I had to share!! I am so ready for school to be done (so is my family!)

 

[Hillbeans]

I just took my CNA skills exam earlier today and think I did well. I could see her marking down my skills and saw I had met all the guidelines, just wasn't sure if during the one skill I mentioned that I provided for privacy, but I did on the others. Got a 91 grade for my class.

 

[Goofycampers]

Nurses, I need your opinions!

My school has obtained free H1N1 vaccines and plans to have a mini-clinic for only the nursing students on Tuesday. They say that one clinical agency is requiring their staff to have the H1N1 vaccine, and those that do not get it are required to wear a mask during patient care. They also say that if you end up at a hospital that requires the vaccine and you have not been vaccinated, you will be removed from clinical (aka, you fail that course).

I have gotten my seasonal flu vaccine already, but I was against the H1N1 because I just felt it was rushed and not tested enough before it was released. Now I'm scared that I will end up at a hospital that requires the vaccine, and I really can't afford to fail this semester, especially for something like this.

SO i ask you, what would you do in this situation?
Thanks so much!

Personally, I'd get the vaccine. While we are not required to get it at work, we're certainly encouraged. I'll get it if I can, so far it hasn't been very available in my area. My kids have all gotten it though and they did just fine. I think the scare over this vaccine seems unwarranted. The complications of the disease are scarier to me. A school nurse in our area died this past Sat suddenly and unexpectantly, she was actually recovering from H1N1. to me that is waaay scarier.

 

[Judy from Boise]

I am a week from graduating from my LPN-BSN program and I just came back from taking my RN predictor exam and based on my scores I have a 94% chance of passing boards- which I think is pretty good since I have been in bed really sick for the last several days (the school deadline to take it was coming up so I had no choice but to take it sick!)

I had to share!! I am so ready for school to be done (so is my family!)

How exciting! Hope you feel better....

 

[Judy from Boise]

I just took my CNA skills exam earlier today and think I did well. I could see her marking down my skills and saw I had met all the guidelines, just wasn't sure if during the one skill I mentioned that I provided for privacy, but I did on the others. Got a 91 grade for my class.

Good for you! Many of the best nurses I work with started as CNAs.

 

[laurie31]

Nurses, I need your opinions!

My school has obtained free H1N1 vaccines and plans to have a mini-clinic for only the nursing students on Tuesday. They say that one clinical agency is requiring their staff to have the H1N1 vaccine, and those that do not get it are required to wear a mask during patient care. They also say that if you end up at a hospital that requires the vaccine and you have not been vaccinated, you will be removed from clinical (aka, you fail that course).

I have gotten my seasonal flu vaccine already, but I was against the H1N1 because I just felt it was rushed and not tested enough before it was released. Now I'm scared that I will end up at a hospital that requires the vaccine, and I really can't afford to fail this semester, especially for something like this.

SO i ask you, what would you do in this situation?
Thanks so much!

I got the vaccine for myself and my children. If you have no concerns about seasonal vaccine, then you should know that the H1N1 vaccine was made exactly the same way. There just wasn't time to add the H1N1 strain to the seasonal vaccine this year. It is supposed to be one of the included strains next year. It's not some weird new vaccine. It's just the flu vaccine made with the H1N1 strain, while this year's seasonal vaccine has three other strains.

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/flu_vaccine_updates.htm

The flu vaccine protects against the three main flu strains that research indicates will cause the most illness during the flu season. This year’s influenza vaccine contains three new influenza virus strains.
They are:

A/Brisbane/59/2007(H1N1)-like virus;
A/Brisbane/10/2007 (H3N2)-like virus;
B/Brisbane 60/2008-like antigens.

Note that the 2007 H1N1 in this year's seasonal vaccine is different from the 2009 H1N1.