RNs- good and bad please

[Hillbeans]

No, none of the CNA program will transfer to the ASN or BSN program. The reason I suggest being a CNA first is so that you get an opportunity to "try it on" before you invest $70,000 into an education that you may find out you don't want after all.

Today's RNs come out of school with a lot of nursing theory, nursing philosophy, and other esoterical stuff in their heads, but they struggle with the daily routine because they just haven't been exposed to it as much.

ITA with this - I went to school for my CNA last year looking for something that was a change of pace from my office job and tried it a few shifts and really, really was not cut out for the work at all. I am glad I only invested a few hundred dollars on my program. I wish I had what it takes to be a nurse but found out rather quickly I was not. Good luck to you OP!

 

[almburr]

DD16 is looking into the nursing field also. She has been looking into it for a long time. She is wanting to work as a flight nurse, or in a mobile hospital (in 3rd world settings). If she chooses flight nurse she wants to stay in our rural setting where nurses are in high demand for new nurses.

She is taking A&P, chemeistry, bio. and all the advanced maths. She is a Jr. this year.

 

[Judy from Boise]

Usually a flight nurse would be dispatched from a larger more urban area to go into the rural areas......if she want to work in an rural underserved area I would reccommend the BSN route, as it has a big emphasis in community and health promotion of populations, then get her Nurse practionier (MSN) in maybe family nursing, if she want to run a clinic. Otherwise she can do a more traditional role in a critical access hospital if she doesen't want private practice.

Kansas has a great history of rural nursing....those frontier nurses were something.

 

[wilderness01]

My advice to her is go straight for her BSN. I live in a large city and the opportunities are greater for the BSN nurse.

I agree that the ADN nurse is better prepared at the bedside with more clinical time, but in the end, at least around here, it does matter if you have the higher degree.

At my hospital, they won't even look at you if you don't have your BSN.

I had no "tech" experience before I entered nursing school many moons ago, so I don't know if that has changed or not. I agree with the other people who have said to have her keep her grades up so she can be competitive to get admitted to the program.

If she does decide to do her ADN, I would strongly advise her to get her prereq's out of the way before she starts her nursing portion.

She shouldn't be surprised when she goes to her first nursing class and is assigned 10 chapters to read with a test the next time she is in class. I was surprised, but this was the reality. It is very rigorous and I don't really know how she would do it if she had a lot of gen ed classes to take at the same time.

Good luck.

 

[Disney Doll]

I am a RN for 27 years, educated in a 3 year RN Diploma program...I don't think many of those exist any more. Now there are 2 year ADNs and 4 year BSNs. After I finished Nursing school and passed my boards I got a job at a local hospital and they paid for 80% of my tuition for me to continue to go to school for my BSN, so that's what I did. I chose a diploma progfram at the time because of the amount of hands on clinical time...I'm a visual learner...don't tell me how to put in a catheter...let me put it in. However, I also felt, even back then, that a BSN would almost be "entry level" at a certain point.

An ADN is somewhat limiting in the long-run/. If she finds an ADN program she likes, great...let her get at it, get finished and get a job. But encourage her to continue on for her BSN too.

The career itself...has many frustrations and many rewards. The frustrations are the same as in most peoples' jobs, I would imagine: some co-workers are slackers, adminstration does not always make the best decision, trying to do a big job with the fewest number of people possible, corporate politics, sometimes difficult patients and families. The shift work can be annoyign, especially on holidays ro weekends when people are out whooping it up and you're stuck at work.

The "pros": caring for people, being allowed to enter peoples' lives at their most vulnerable time and help them. I consider that a privelege. Assisting people to live well...or die well. I consider that a privelege as well. It's never boring. There's always something new to learn.

My opinion: every nurse should start out with a year of med/surg experience. Med/surg is basic care...the foundation upon which all other specialties are built. You develop skills & a nursing 6th sense in med/surg, which will follow you throughout your career.

 

[almburr]

Usually a flight nurse would be dispatched from a larger more urban area to go into the rural areas......if she want to work in an rural underserved area I would reccommend the BSN route, as it has a big emphasis in community and health promotion of populations, then get her Nurse practionier (MSN) in maybe family nursing, if she want to run a clinic. Otherwise she can do a more traditional role in a critical access hospital if she doesen't want private practice.

Kansas has a great history of rural nursing....those frontier nurses were something.

We do have a flight for life set up not to far from our town, since a 45min. wait for a plane to get out here may be to long. It flies to Denver a lot. They have a house for the crews to live in while they are on duty.

 

[golfgal]

Usually a flight nurse would be dispatched from a larger more urban area to go into the rural areas......if she want to work in an rural underserved area I would reccommend the BSN route, as it has a big emphasis in community and health promotion of populations, then get her Nurse practionier (MSN) in maybe family nursing, if she want to run a clinic. Otherwise she can do a more traditional role in a critical access hospital if she doesen't want private practice.

Kansas has a great history of rural nursing....those frontier nurses were something.

We used to live in a rural area and the "big" town of 12,000 people had a hospital and the flight nurses were stationed there because it sped up the response time. Often they would go out with the response crew (for a car accident) get the patients ready to transport while the helicopter was in route.