Nursing Major

[dee_vang]

Hey everybody!


I'm will be attending my first year of college in Fall 2009 and would like to major in the Baccalaureate Nursing program.
I am going to the college of St. Catherine located in St. Paul, Minnesota.


I was wondering if there are any Nursing major students here who can share the experiences about this field and such. It would be very helpful to get some heads up about Nursing ( Any type).

What should be expected becoming a nurse?



Thanks a whole bunch!

 

[noungning]

just curious, why don't u do one more? for your masters?

 

[BaBeeLaiLai]

just curious, why don't u do one more? for your masters?

Isn't it two more years for your masters? Anyways my friend is doing her last year for nursing a BS degree that is. Be prepared to take a whole lot of Science and Anatomy classes. You will be visiting and playing with dead bodies too. Those are reasons why I can't do nursing...I suck at Science and I can't stand dead people. Imma chicken.

 

[judyp]

im in an accelerated nursing program, getting my ADN in october.

definitely for your prerequisites, expect for the science classes to be the most difficult. now, i don't know how your program selects their students for the program, but the BSN program over where i live is based on GPA, so if your program is based on merit, then aim for an A in your prereqs! the most difficult prereq classes for me would have to be physiology. i took that dang thing twice because i passed with a C the first time around and i was trying to get in whatever program i could at the time so i wanted to bring up by GPA. the required classes are usually english, math, critical thinking, chemistry, anatomy, physiology, microbiology and maybe one or two others and of course your GE requirements. it took me about 2 years to complete all the prerequisites to get into the program.
as far as the program, it is HARD WORK. this is when there is no time to fool around. you need to buckle down and get serious. you have to be very determined and dedicated to get through these classes. you have lecture class as well as your clinical rotation where you do your "hands-on" work at the hospital under supervision of your RN instructor and other RNs who are employed at the hospital. you will ALWAYS be tested on medication math because something that small is HUGE in nursing. as far as the tests in lecture, it is completely different from tests you will have ever taken. it is all critical thinking and you will understand what i mean when you see it.
anyways, i absolutely love nursing and i hope im not too worn out after this program to go for my BSN and possibly NP (Nurse Practitioner). you can do soo much with nursing and you will find that you love bits and pieces of different areas. but you will find an area that you want to dedicate your whole time to and for me, i found 2 areas that i absolutely love. when the time comes to apply for a job, i think i'll know for sure. at least i hope so. lol.

and as far as the comment about visiting dead bodies. im in a different program and we don't 'visit' dead bodies. sure you'll sometimes take care of a patient who ends up dying and you will have to provide postmortem care. thats all part of nursing. you see life begin and you see it end. anyways, study hard and good luck to you!!

 

[aikoden]

omg!! you dealm with science.. eeek im alrite in science but i cant remember much.,. >_<..

oooo iono if i wanna major in nursing anymore....

goodluck in college... ^_^

 

[hanjieun30]

I'm also a nursing student and I'm studying here in the Philippines. I'm only about to enter my 2nd year. That's the time that I would be really exposed to the hospital (which I am very excited ) I'm almost done with my prerequisites and out of all them, anatomy and physiology is where I've concentrated a lot. in my university, anatomy and physiology is taken up as a single subject so it's a bit hard for me. But what I did was, I always read the textbooks. Reading had helped me a lot to pass that subject. I read the book before the semester began... since my sister is also taking up nursing and she's a year ahead of me, I'm getting lots of tips and advices from her.

like judy said, study hard and good luck!

 

[judyp]

omg!! you dealm with science.. eeek im alrite in science but i cant remember much.,. >_<..

oooo iono if i wanna major in nursing anymore....

goodluck in college... ^_^

don't let the science classes scare you away from nursing. im not a science person myself, but you learn and you pick it up. don't let that be the reason to sway away from nursing. if you want to do it, you just do it. but you have to want it. ^_^

 

[Diamend]

lol aikoden of course u have to take science if u wanna be a nurse lol if it's somethin u love then u gots to stick w/ it! man i was just sayin how deres so many nursing majors around dis forum and somebody started a thread on it lol

 

[noungning]

Isn't it two more years for your masters? Anyways my friend is doing her last year for nursing a BS degree that is. Be prepared to take a whole lot of Science and Anatomy classes. You will be visiting and playing with dead bodies too. Those are reasons why I can't do nursing...I suck at Science and I can't stand dead people. Imma chicken.

actually there's a 5 year program at certain schools for the masters.

well just for those that are going to nursing school and want to keep something in mind...

those that graduate as an RN, but only went to school for 2 years... u aren't able to further your position until you finish 4 years... i.e. those thinking of becoming a clinical manager will need at least a bachelor's degree. however because of the high interest in nursing because of the shortage and etc... many are entering this field and to get a masters if possible is the best thing to do so u can advance urself much faster than the average RN.

although you might not like dead bodies but like the nursing aspect... or even if u don't like dealing with people period but yet you like the science... RNs actually have many positions they can hold that doesn't have to directly deal with clinical stuff.

i actually work with an office with about 80% of RNs, they are RNs because it's federally regulated that they must be RNs. there are many administrative jobs for RNs and hence why there are so many people entering nursing but yet clinical is STILL in shortage... because they aren't really just hitting the clinical side. however, again, u'll need a bachelors in nursing...

my sister is going to school for nursing... we shall see if she ends up being a nurse lol

 

[judyp]

^^ you don't need a bachelors in nursing. with a bachelors you have more opportunities to advance and manage. you can get a nursing job with an associate.

 

[aikoden]

**coughcough** i'll just have to see wat i wanna be.. im still clueless.. >_<

interesting though ^_^

 

[noungning]

^^ you don't need a bachelors in nursing. with a bachelors you have more opportunities to advance and manage. you can get a nursing job with an associate.

right, you can get a nursing job with associates, CNAs are mostly associates, there are also a great number of RNs with an associate's degree. however, they will only be working in a clinical setting. i work in a hospital and know for a fact that if they only have an associate's, they cannot work in administration. they'd need at least a 4 year degree or able to commensurate with their amount of experience which is greatly over 10 years.

sorry for the confusion...

another thought, if you want $$$ you need to be an RN... but if you think you can handle being just a CNA be prepared to work your ass off for very little pay and working 10s of hours of OT to make your check as big as an RN.

RNs gets it better than CNAs in many people's aspect because they are the ones that can administor medication and etc while CNAs are just basically to wipe people's ass. in other words, there are many levels to this medical/clinical ballpark... and the ultimate gem would be the doctors.

CNAs does 90% of the dirty job, RNs does about 8%, Drs. about >=~2% (thinking of an ER clinical aspect) which a majority of the people that goes thru a nursing program will have to get their hands on experience in

RNs with an MBA also exists and they basically range from doing engineering work with the engineers that doesn't deal with patients what so ever to being directors of various departments in the hospital.

i wish i had the passion for schooling... i might get somewhere in my life. but unfortunately i lack passion for everything. -_-

 

[judyp]

^^ lol. sorry, i thought you meant that you need a bachelors in nursing to get a job period. but a correction, you don't need an associate to be a CNA. i was a CNA straight out of high school. you just need to go to school to get certified.

 

[aikoden]

wow i never knew that cnas do that.. i thought it was only rns.. >_<..

interesting.. i wonder if i'll have the passion to stay in school.. hmmmm...

 

[hanjieun30]

^
I'm sure you will, aiko... as long as you love what you are doing ^_^

 

[noungning]

a good advice to anyone who ponders being a nurse... go volunteer at a nursing home... if u can survive that: butt wiping and all... u'll love the job lol. but precaution - RNs are cranky in nursing homes, don't choke em!

lol yes, u are right judyp, you don't need anything to be CNA besides certification... i keep mixing the info up.

my coworker's sister is a CNA, she makes a lot less than an RN and she works LOTS of hours LOTS! i believe 50% less. she works sometimes even 12 hour days... but to me... i don't think it's worth it... OT or not... it's pretty hardcore and can drain your life to the core.

 

[aikoden]

hehe i hope so donna..

i took care of my grandma when she was still alive... i still remember some useful stuff from what the nurse and my cousin taught me... so i think i'll do alright-ish..... but hmmm if wat u say is true bout them cranky RN nurses.. hmmmm... **coughcough** iono wat will happen to them lol.. hehe..

 

[numluver]

My sister is a RN, she has her AS and its her dream job lols. She gets 4 days off and only 3 days of work. She gets paid 30 cents lesser then a RN who has their BS. It depends on wat time and days you are willing to work. She had to work hard durring skool because they give her all the crap they can hahaha to scare ppl off but when u really work its nothing like going to skool. So nursing is a good career for you if you do decide to become one.

 

[noungning]

i don't think it's to scare u at all numluver, it's just to use u! lol it's true, and it's sad... but it happens.

nursing students when they are under their internship should be aware they will be USED to the max. well just think of residents... they work well over what they are supposed to during their residency aka internship. they work 80 hrs+ and they get SHIT pay. true fact of life. but it's to look on the bright side that when this is all said and done, and when they get to become that doctor, they'd find that it was worth the over kill. not sure if you get pay anything for nursing internship though because i didn't do any work with nursing students, just residents.

 

[judyp]

i don't know the difference between the extern or intern. but i've never heard of nurse interns. there are however, nurse externs and yes, they do get paid for it. def not even close to what an RN makes. i think its like half of it. i've been trying to apply for a position, not for the money, simply because i want more clinical experience. i feel like i am not getting as much clinical experience and skills as i would like from just being a nursing student so i have to branch out and look for more experience.