OMG.. Nursing School is so STUPID
Started by ashedd
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That's even better. I love the gay men at work. They're like girls but better, if that makes any sense. 😉
No no no I'm not a troll.
Why not RN first? Cause the LPN is half the time and I could be working faster... and my school is not NLN accredited for rn's, only lpn's. There is next to no chance getting a job in a hospital w/o an NLN rn. Has to do with magnet status and such.
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Nope, we(lpn's) only do nursing homes.... oh oh I'm sorry "skilled nursing facility".
It was my intent to get the LPN out of the way, get a job, do a bridge to RN, apply to NP school.. then wish I had went to med school
So why not just get the 4 year degree now? There are very few undergraduate level PA programs left, you'ree probably going to need a bachelors to move forward with this. Also if you get the RN degree you might find the more challenging education a little more appealing.
Or, if you have some time in service, any thoughts about enlisting in the medical side of the military? After all, the PA degree was origionally designed for Navy Corspmen. Did you recieve an honorable discharge?
Your right! There are not as many helicopters in the civilian world as the military. So job prospects are slim, plus I would need a civilian license. Then there is the whole crawling around in fuel tank's on a 120* ramp, constant dirty finger nails, smelling like jet fuel, etc etc. I'm not interested in being a mechanic for living anymore. Plus the most you could make for an airline(no helicopters) is around $47 an hour. And those pay rates are few and far between. Gosh, the one NP I know personally makes $75/hour at her part-time job. Dunno what she makes at the hospital.
I am being medically discharged, it's a long process. I could likely go back in if I had a BSN, NP, PA, or MD. They LOVE those people and will waive anything(Peg leg, glass eye, etc). But seriously, the military bends over backwards for officer medical types.
No you can't be in love with it! That avatar is for a few select people's eyes only!!!!
If you would like to go back that would be yet another reason I would vote for pushing through a BSN rather than leapfrogging from 1 year degree to 1 year degree and hoping to eventually start a PA program in maybe a decade. The Nurse Corps is a really good deal if you have some time in service, and the faster you start the faster you make Flag/retire.
Ultimately you know yourself best, of course.
How are drugs, the military, or homosexuality troll topics?
They are controversial.
Trolls enjoy trolling with controversial topics to spark a debate.
Thanks everyone for the help so far.This has got to be a troll.
-drug addict Former, but thanks for the support.
-military On my way out. There are a LOT of us gay's in the military.
-homosexual Since birth, good thing the medical field has a lot too, kinda like the military.
-nurse vs. physician I didn't start that part of the thread, others did.
All these are clearly troll topics. Actually your comments are troll bait.
If my avatar and your avatar had children, I am sure that it would result in a smurf. 😉
If my avatar and your avatar had children, I am sure that it would result in a smurf. 😉
So true!! Smurf children are so hot.
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OP, I am an RN who has worked medsurg and labor and delivery. I am currently in my pre-reqs for med school. I'm not sure how far you are into nursing school, but I think you are about to hit a wall. If you think that because you have RN behind your name that you will not be lifting and cleaning up pts you are sadly mistaken. I do more lifting with my laboring moms because of epidurals and position changes due to fetal heart decels then I did with my 600 lb med surg pts (of which I had to have 4 other nurses and 2 techs help put on a bedpan). If you cannot wrap your head around the long bs called a nursing diagnosis then how do you think you will be able to manage a pt that is currently in ESRD with CHF, Afib, DVTs with a K+ of 6.7 that is also in withdrawl from various narcotics alcohol that he uses to cope at home. Now multiply this number by 6 or 8 and that is what my pt load was on a daily basis. Nursing is not for the light hearted. If you want to be a MD/DO then do it now, you will always regret it and try to measure up if you don't, but MD/DO and nursing school are 2 things that cannot be compared, 2 different levels and theories of care. And by the way, don't waste your time with LPN, it is a waste of time, RNs get really annoyed doing your admissions and pushing part of your narcs b/c it is out of ur scope. And from my experience in surgery, surg techs have very little pt interaction, the pt generally doesn't participate in their surgery 
so yes you will be exposed to healthcare but only in the form of an OR. Sorry for the rant, just my 2 cents.
so yes you will be exposed to healthcare but only in the form of an OR. Sorry for the rant, just my 2 cents.
OP, I am an RN who has worked medsurg and labor and delivery. I am currently in my pre-reqs for med school. I'm not sure how far you are into nursing school, but I think you are about to hit a wall. If you think that because you have RN behind your name that you will not be lifting and cleaning up pts you are sadly mistaken. I do more lifting with my laboring moms because of epidurals and position changes due to fetal heart decels then I did with my 600 lb med surg pts (of which I had to have 4 other nurses and 2 techs help put on a bedpan). If you cannot wrap your head around the long bs called a nursing diagnosis then how do you think you will be able to manage a pt that is currently in ESRD with CHF, Afib, DVTs with a K+ of 6.7 that is also in withdrawl from various narcotics alcohol that he uses to cope at home. Now multiply this number by 6 or 8 and that is what my pt load was on a daily basis. Nursing is not for the light hearted. If you want to be a MD/DO then do it now, you will always regret it and try to measure up if you don't, but MD/DO and nursing school are 2 things that cannot be compared, 2 different levels and theories of care. And by the way, don't waste your time with LPN, it is a waste of time, RNs get really annoyed doing your admissions and pushing part of your narcs b/c it is out of ur scope. And from my experience in surgery, surg techs have very little pt interaction, the pt generally doesn't participate in their surgery
I'm jelly that you work in OB. 🙂
"I'm jelly that you work in OB. 🙂 "
It's a fun job most of the time, but when its bad, its bad. Our unit does couplet care, but I prefer the l & d or the sections, I like to be doing something all the time so post partum doesn't keep me busy enough unless they're hemorrhaging or something unfortunate. So I assume you're wanting to go GYN/OB?
It's a fun job most of the time, but when its bad, its bad. Our unit does couplet care, but I prefer the l & d or the sections, I like to be doing something all the time so post partum doesn't keep me busy enough unless they're hemorrhaging or something unfortunate. So I assume you're wanting to go GYN/OB?
You are seriously one of my favorite members of SDN. You're so damn reasonable and always hit the nail right on the head. Just had to say you rock.
As for the OP- you didn't say exactly what it was you don't like about your program. At least I didn't catch it.
I get the impression (I apologize if it's inaccurate) that you're feeling pressure to find a good solid, decent paying career- period. I also get the impression that you have an interest in health, disease, etc., but you're not super familiar with the many types of careers in healthcare and exactly what they entail in the real world (as opposed to TV). So you made a leap and jumped into an LVN (?) program and it was not at what you expected or hoped for.... amirite?
Since you're asking strangers to evaluate your situation as you've described and offer some tips- this is what I've got to offer:
Slow down a sec and don't do anything rash such as quitting your program just yet. Just stick it out (how long is it, anyway? a year?) and do the best you can. Meanwhile, start taking a closer look at what else healthcare has to offer that may be a better fit for you. You might decide you don't like healthcare at all (It's defintely NOT for everyone, ain't nuthin wrong with that either). Try to get an entry-level job in a healthcare setting, or look for volunteer positions if you have to. See if you can arrange to shadow various types of healthcare workers. Give yourself the opportunity to gather your information and figure out what appeals to you and what doesn't. Then, decide where you want to go from there. You'll have your LVN license by that point and even if you don't want to work as one, at least you have the benefit of legit healthcare experience that can help you pursue something else AND it demonstrates that you've successfully completed a program of study.
Also you mentioned you've struggled with substance abuse and have ADD. Those are potentially disastrous for you. You must have all that wired down tight. Like seriously and effectively managed. If you're not there yet, then that is your priority.
Best of luck! 🙂
I promise you, personal experience has shown (many times over) that your statement does not have much to do with anything.
So very true. My personal experience is porn, though.
Sad, but true.
I can relate to the OP's feelings about Nursing school. It was not a good fit for me. If it is truly NOT what you want to do then you'll have to withdrawl from the program. However, if you push through the rest of the program, keep the end in sight. When you get employed as a Nurse, most of the time the CNA is responsible for bed baths, etc.
Best of luck in your endeavours.
Best of luck in your endeavours.
True. But you gotta remember if that cna is busy (most likely will be) with their other 16 baths they gotta do,who do you think will be helping them if not giving a few by themselves? You got it, the nurse. RN,LPN, student, whatever, if that old ass horny man in room 132 needs a bath and the cna is backup, oh you will be entertaining him.
Heh! I LOL'd when I saw the bit about the nursing diagnosis book. Most of my classmates piled both NIC and NOC into a large sacrificial bonfire after graduation.
As a nurse who IS switching to MD, I can vouch that nursing is a field full of fiercely-defended fluff. Whoa, that was a lot of alliteration. No, but there is a certain mentality of making nursing "its own art," and the result is often coming up with a lot of books about nothing and a lot of folks with a tragically superficial understanding of the actual science behind clinical decisions.
I have enjoyed my time in nursing, but it would never, ever be intellectually stimulating enough to make a career of. The hours are great, I've made some great friends and I really enjoy my patients, but in all honesty, I never would have done nursing if I hadn't gotten pregnant sophmore year in college. I'd originally planned to major in physics and go straight to med school, but I heard this thing about how babies tend to, you know, need food and diapers and stuff😉 so nursing was a good solution- finished school, got great job with plenty of time to finish pre-reqs, got some clinical experience. All in all, a good deal, but only because I didn't hate it- I just knew it was a stepping stone.
OP, if you DO hate it, don't make yourself miserable. Ask yourself if there's a direction you could take nursing that will be enjoyable to you. For instance, do you like public health, research or administration? Would you be willing to put in a few years of bedside time in order to do something more at a later time? If not, I might suggest that you push on for now, load up on pre-reqs for PA school or whatever you decide to do next, and then just move straight on to that after graduation. At least you'll have a degree and some options at that point. I think whether NP is a good option for you depends on what you're into. For instance, if you're into anesthesiology, nurse anesthetist school is one way to get a very similar experience without as much headache as medical school. You also have to ask yourself, will it bother you if MD's look down their noses at you? Will it bother you that you truly may not known as much as an MD-prepared coworker? If not, if you just want a good job with decent hours, good money, intellectual stimulation and patient contact, and could care less about the naysayers, then go for it.
Personally, I know and work with a lot of NP's and MD's. Even the best NP's just don't seem to have the knowledge base that an MD does. I'm sure there are exceptions, and don't get me started on the idiot residents I've stopped from killing a patient more times than I care to count. So sure, there are exceptions to the "who knows more" conventions.
As a nurse who IS switching to MD, I can vouch that nursing is a field full of fiercely-defended fluff. Whoa, that was a lot of alliteration. No, but there is a certain mentality of making nursing "its own art," and the result is often coming up with a lot of books about nothing and a lot of folks with a tragically superficial understanding of the actual science behind clinical decisions.
I have enjoyed my time in nursing, but it would never, ever be intellectually stimulating enough to make a career of. The hours are great, I've made some great friends and I really enjoy my patients, but in all honesty, I never would have done nursing if I hadn't gotten pregnant sophmore year in college. I'd originally planned to major in physics and go straight to med school, but I heard this thing about how babies tend to, you know, need food and diapers and stuff😉 so nursing was a good solution- finished school, got great job with plenty of time to finish pre-reqs, got some clinical experience. All in all, a good deal, but only because I didn't hate it- I just knew it was a stepping stone.
OP, if you DO hate it, don't make yourself miserable. Ask yourself if there's a direction you could take nursing that will be enjoyable to you. For instance, do you like public health, research or administration? Would you be willing to put in a few years of bedside time in order to do something more at a later time? If not, I might suggest that you push on for now, load up on pre-reqs for PA school or whatever you decide to do next, and then just move straight on to that after graduation. At least you'll have a degree and some options at that point. I think whether NP is a good option for you depends on what you're into. For instance, if you're into anesthesiology, nurse anesthetist school is one way to get a very similar experience without as much headache as medical school. You also have to ask yourself, will it bother you if MD's look down their noses at you? Will it bother you that you truly may not known as much as an MD-prepared coworker? If not, if you just want a good job with decent hours, good money, intellectual stimulation and patient contact, and could care less about the naysayers, then go for it.
Personally, I know and work with a lot of NP's and MD's. Even the best NP's just don't seem to have the knowledge base that an MD does. I'm sure there are exceptions, and don't get me started on the idiot residents I've stopped from killing a patient more times than I care to count. So sure, there are exceptions to the "who knows more" conventions.
You win the prize for best advice
If only I wasn't a troll 🤣
The things that interest me at this point are: urology, research, primary care, women's heath(believe it or not). RN/LPN would definitely be a stepping stone to something else for me, mid-level practitioner/MD, CRNA. I knew a guy who was a perfusionist that always tried to get me interested. So who knows.
Just got off the phone with some military types, the big green weenie might screw me out of school right now... good thing is I can not be deployed. But they can sure put me on active orders locally, even with a pending medical discharge.
At a minimum I think I will ditch this LPN school. If only I had the energy to go into details about that place...🙄
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Yup. Nursing schools indoctrinate their students to hate doctors on day one. I have a close friend in a direct entry NP school and you wouldn't believe the invectives that their instructors throw about doctors. You'd think doctors eat babies and strangle grandmas.
Meanwhile medical schools try to indoctrinate their students on "health care is a team" and kumbaya.
No wonder the nursing unions are kicking our asses. Many nurses already make as much as primary care physicians on an hourly basis and yet the public thinks doctors are greedy and evil, and that nurses are saints as if they're making minimum wage or something. The only ones I know making minimum wage in health care are the poor general surgery residents pulling 90 hr work weeks. And now Obama is going to make Medicare cut ACGME resident payments by 50%. That's going to do wonders for the physician shortage.
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I had no idea, before nursing school, that nurses and doctors were sooo separate. Gosh, seems like the nursing union/group's will not stop until NP's run the hospitals. Just seems to me like the nurse corps is trying too hard to be doctor look-a-likes. Imagine if they can get the insurance companies/medicare to match their pay with MD's. That is what turns me off to NP vs PA. I get the impression that NP's have to walk this line between nurse AND practitioner, but without being identified as either. At least with PA's you know where you stand.. you align yourself with the MD/DO. For better or worse.
I am not wanting to start a np vs pa debate... so please don't call me out for being a troll.
See you were editing while I was replying lol.
90 hour work weeks AND crappy pay PLUS malpractice insurance is what scares me away from med school. I dont think it's unreasonable to NOT want to spend more than a 1/3 of your life at "work".
The ONLY NP that I have ever seen who "hated" MD's was a midwife. She did not work for my hospital, she did home births and her patients wound up in the ER. She was nuts. Every other NP I have met works for a doctor and they love the role they are in. I don't know where people come up with this NP wants to take over BS. Its not the majority of the NP's out there. I have never had a nursing instructor in nursing school or for the limited time I was in the NP program bash doctors, not even once.
Healthcare is a team, and anyone, RN/NP/MD/DO who doesn't play along is going to have a rough road ahead of them.
My boyfriend was is the exact same position as you. A couple of months into nursing school, he felt very discouraged. He wasn't interested in what he was learning, and felt like dropping out.
But he kept at it and finished and got a job in an ICU in August. He applied to CRNA school 2 months later, got in, finished his year in the ICU (actually it was about 9 months, from August to May), and now he is in CRNA school and is loving what he is learning. And in 2 years he will be making a pretty decent salary.
I think you should do the same. Find a CRNA school that only requires 1 year of ICU experience, and apply as soon as you can. Good luck!
But he kept at it and finished and got a job in an ICU in August. He applied to CRNA school 2 months later, got in, finished his year in the ICU (actually it was about 9 months, from August to May), and now he is in CRNA school and is loving what he is learning. And in 2 years he will be making a pretty decent salary.
I think you should do the same. Find a CRNA school that only requires 1 year of ICU experience, and apply as soon as you can. Good luck!
114 CRNA schools now exist pumping out 1000 grads a year, tuition now becoming >$100,000. This field will quickly lose its luster for all the wannabe MDs who "accidentally" ended up in RN school.
OP, do you really think its a good idea to get an LPN, RN, then PA degree (i dont even know what that degree is called... P.A.?). You will have spent a few years on each and those few years is time you are not making any money and paying tuition. Why not just apply for whatever professional school you actually wish to pursue as a career?
What this man says is true. 😎
Re OP: You can still consider DO school. In fact, private MD schools are also not out of reach if your stats are good. HOWEVER: You do not have a Bachelor's. How do you know that you will have the mental strength required to complete DO/MD school? PA's in fact do a lot more clinical "stuff" and procedures than NP's. Certain PA routes will also lead to surgery assistance, and they are qualified to provide care in lieu of the physician's physical presence, if they are supervised.
An NP will have more autonomy. A PA will know a lot more biomedical and clinically relevant procedures.
Do consider that RN's can go into the CRNA route (nurse anesthetist), and that will be a much better lifestyle than simply nursing.
If you go into medicine with the attitude that you want to work banker hours, then I don't know what to tell you. Perhaps look into primary care clinics? Certainly, you cannot be a doctor unless you become a dermatologist...
Until you end up in a hospital and are begging for attention when the physician has long seen you in the a.m. Until a nurse must make split second decisions on your behalf and you do realize how thankful you are this profession even exist. Until a loved one of yours, wounded, on the battlefield and nurses keep soldiers alive until they reach base to be seen by a physician. Until you realize for their humble service, they ought to be paid much more. Like every profession, there are good and bad nurses. Those who realize late it was not for them. Those who also sense how ungrateful people like you are. There are probably a few bloated courses in nursing, but...
You want to be a physician? I'm curious to read your personal statement to see how humble you say you are. But since your avatar shows some curves... I'll go easy on ya. 👍
StudyShy actually is a nurse, FYI. I work as a CNA and I see every day that there are amazing nurses who are overworked, underpaid, and often have more to do with a patient's recovery than the physician does. That said, becoming a nurse when you really want to be a physician is not going to fulfill your desire to practice medicine. If you are a floor nurse, you WILL be wiping a lot of butts and administering the meds that a doctor prescribes. There are times when nurses do have to make split-second decisions, like if a patient codes, but these are fairly rare occurrences. Most of the time being a nurse is just dealing with your patients' bullsh*t. Now I absolutely agree that nurses are way underappreciated, especially by physicians, but there is truth in StudyShy's statements.
I have lived for nearly five months in a hospital when my brother had cancer. When I couldn't be there, I was hoping someone would actually tend to his care and I was pleased to see someone come soon when he called for morphine. FYI I gladly wiped his butt and I understand this is certainly not a glamorous part of nursing (and prolly would want to do it just for a loved one).
I suppose just posting snippets abt the negatives of a job certainly w/o elaborating too much doesn't give much credibility. But coming from a direct source, she certainly knows what she's talking about... but I hope she's a good nurse.
This, has convinced me to become a nurse. Thank you!
On a side note, I know a nurse who just got her online Phd (in education) from Capella University and she now introduces herself as doctor to everyone. I mean everyone! Even at Starbucks. LOL Plus she is one dumb chic so it is fun to hang out with her.
If you compare a physician with 10 years of experience to a nurse who has 10 years of experience, I think the answer will be obvious. However, if you are going compare a nurse with 10 years of experience to a first year resident, I think you are just plain stupid.
D
deleted393595
Fascinating. So while a doctor's diagnosis addresses the cause of the patient's symptoms, a nurse's diagnosis addresses how best to care for the patient?
If you want a 40 hour job, I would not recommend a medical profession. Also, please see this thread:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=669248
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=669248
Which states are you referring to?
My boyfriend is not paying anywhere near that for his tuition. And he has a total of 20 people in his class. Also, they just shut down the only other CRNA program in the state. This is in Atlanta by the way. So he will have absolutely no problem finding a job when he graduates and considers himself very lucky to have this opportunity.
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I think you (or the CNS you're quoting) and I have a different idea of what it means to take care of a patient...it doesn't just mean the number of minutes spent in a patient's room. If you're having a stroke, heart attack, get in a major car accident where do you go for your care--a nursing home or a hospital? By the CNS's logic, you can get all the 'care' you need at a nursing home where the care is RN-driven.
Of course I don't spend as much time in a patient's room as the nurse does...that's the entire point of having a nurse. As any nurse will tell you, the minute-to-minute tasks of caring for a patient (giving meds, getting vitals, monitoring a patient's condition, assessing for patient changes, etc) is a full time job. MORE than a full time job. By hiring a nurse it relieves an MD of those responsibilities so they can focus on the other portion of patient care--examining, diagnosing and treating the patient which is, again, in itself a full-time job. I would love to have more time to spend with the patient...but I also think that both the nurse and patient would prefer I take care of the patient by focusing on figuring out what's wrong with the patient and how best to treat and care for them. Just because I don't spend 12 hours in the patient's room doesn't mean I don't spend 12 hours taking care of the patient.
Medicine is a team sport...there's too much to do and too much expertise needed (and too many patients) for one person to do it all. To provide good medical care that you need great nurses, doctors, therapists, and case managers all working together, all "taking care" of the patient in their own way.
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Seeing as this thread is still here..
1) CNAs, LPNs, other.. typically clean up crap and take care of the dirty work
2) Sometimes nurses have to do it, because CNAs, LPNs, others aren't there and you've got to do it then.
3) Oh, I wouldn't doubt nursing school is stupid, but that's what you get when you choose a field a couple notches below a medical degree.
4) I'm a previous CNA. I know the terrors. I say its time for you to wise the hell up and be glad you will get paid well to be a nurse. Someone has to clean the ****.
And seeing as the general public still considers nurses to be a profession (unlike CNA), you probably won't get bitched at as much and called a grunt.
1) CNAs, LPNs, other.. typically clean up crap and take care of the dirty work
2) Sometimes nurses have to do it, because CNAs, LPNs, others aren't there and you've got to do it then.
3) Oh, I wouldn't doubt nursing school is stupid, but that's what you get when you choose a field a couple notches below a medical degree.
4) I'm a previous CNA. I know the terrors. I say its time for you to wise the hell up and be glad you will get paid well to be a nurse. Someone has to clean the ****.
And seeing as the general public still considers nurses to be a profession (unlike CNA), you probably won't get bitched at as much and called a grunt.
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I know a ton of nurses (including my wife and mother), and you're exaggerating. I know a few NPs who have knowledge comparable to some physicians, but not any BSN/ASN/LPN.
I love nurses, but their education was somewhere between 1/6 and 1/3 of what mine is. Like Tired pointed out, their training also focuses on a different aspect of their care anyway.
New residents are a poor comparison point. Not only do they have much to learn about medicine, they just don't know anything about the specific hospital they're in. Of course the nurse knows where everything is.
No. Many of those people have been regurgitating the same incorrect information that whole time. There's no renewal exam for nurses in my state, and you just have to pay a fee to keep your license active.
That is interesting about LPN's. At my hospital, the nurses who have been around for a while and only have LPN's are being forced to obtain their RN's, while new-hire LPN's can only function as CNA's until they get an RN.
I think floor nursing is tough for 2 reasons:
1. depending on patient load, it can be pretty fast-paced between administering meds, assessments, admit/discharge paperwork, and other stuff if the aide is overloaded. plus keeping up with the absurd amount of charting for all of this.
2. your shift can be miserable if your patients are very needy, not necessarily medically, but in a demanding/prima donna way. especially the ones that ring the call button every 5 mins for pain meds.
So true...especially evident in the academic arena. Also seems to be very evident among my own gender, at both the practice and academic levels. Which I've never quite understood; I take pride in the fact that I am very good at MY job. I prove my value by being skilled in my own duties. What the heck would I bring to the table (as a nurse) by trying to be good at someone else's (i.e. physician) job? How would I be of benefit to the patient by trying to do your job, when I am neither trained nor expected to be doing so?
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