Advice for Nursing Students: How to Thrive at Clinical Rotations

My unit at a community hospital has a great number of nursing students from two RN schools and one LPN school. While the staff greatly appreciates having the extra hands on our short staffed unit, there are certain things we do not appreciate.

Here are some do's and don'ts of interacting with the nursing staff at your inpatient clinical rotation sites. These are just some suggestion based on my observations... Read More...

Nursing School. Did you work?

I have been working on getting my pre-req's for the last 4 years and I finally applied and got accepted into the RN program. I should be happy, but I am worried about having to depend on my fiancé to take care of my 6 yr. old daughter & myself while I do the program for 2 years. Did you work through nursing school? Or did you live on Ramen for 2 years? Or both? Read More...

Why do you want to be a nurse?

If you are one of those people who replies with, "I want to help people.", you are in trouble. You need to come up with a better answer. Tell us why you want to be a nurse? If you can convince us you can convince anyone. Take this opportunity to practice ... to fine-tune your answer ... don't be afraid as we are all learning. Read More...

Nursing to Med School

Has anyone actually considered this path? If so, where are you now? Are you in nursing school in hopes to continue on with the education? What is your opinion of it? Read More...

A Mile in Their Shoes

Part of patient care is the person's well being emotionally. So save the judgement. A facility should feel safe. If you have patients who are emotionally upset over their perception of care, this can add to an already difficult patient assignment. Not to mention it is wrong and mean. A nurse is only as good as a patient's perception is a relatively new concept in nursing practice, but a concept that is not likely to change any time soon. With that in mind, a few words of wisdom... Read More...

Dressing for CNA School Interview

I have my appt. to start nursing school tomorrow through the Red Cross - very nervous and not sure what to expect or how I need to be dressed. Also, I have one tattoo on each one of the tops of my ears, should that effect my interview or any advice on covering them? Is it okay to wear jean to your appt for nursing school? Read More...

I got the scholarship!!!!

OMG!!!! So, back in early August my school sent out an email telling us about a scholarship through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation called New Careers in Nursing. It's a $10,000 scholarship that my school received funds for 5 students.

I JUST got an email stating that I am one of those 5!!!!! Words cannot express how happy I am on SO MANY LEVELS!!!! Read More...

It Only Takes a Smile.

Sometimes when we work in the hospital, where we are accustomed to patient’s dying, we become a little desensitized, even if it is one of our own. Sometimes nurses are so focused on their patients that we forget to care about our cohorts, our coworkers, on whom we depend. It costs nothing to lift one’s eyes up, and give a brief smile to say hello, and go back to our work, in general. Occasionally there are extraneous serious reasons why we cannot do this. I write this article about one of our own who passed suddenly. Read More

ADN or BSN Please give me your opinion!!

I have recently decided to change my career path. I would like to become a nurse and I initially thought that getting my ADN was the best route but now I feel a bit conflicted. I do not have a degree but I do have many credits from another college. After reading many posts on this blog I see that people advise against getting your ADN over a BSN due to the fact that more employers are requiring it. Should I get my ADN first or just go for the BSN? Does anyone know of BSN online programs out there that offer at least the prerequisites online? Read More...

Anyone doing well?

Seems like all I have been seeing lately are people saying how bad they are doing.... Anyone doing well and want to share? So many negative Nancy's out there! Read More...

Confidence

Confidence is an integral part of being a successful nurse. Confidence and ego are 2 entirely separate things. So lets focus for a minute on the confidence you need to be successful. It takes a special person to be a nurse. But a nurse who is not afraid to continually learn and grow in this profession is confidence at its best. It may seem overwhelming to take on a course of study in nursing. Too many "what ifs". Too many "vents". Too many patients and not enough time. Deep breath, and dive in... Read More...

If you have kids, when do you study?

Single mom with 16 month old... The only chance I have to study is at night after she goes to sleep which is fine. But she wakes up so many times during the night and each time it takes 30 mins + to get her back to sleep. I can only imagine how I will fare if I get into a nursing program. I'm taking micro now. It's my last prereq. I feel like this is a lost cause. Anyone gone through something similar. How are you able to study with kids? Read More...