Hi all, Im currently in a CC ADN program and definitely want to get the BSN to be more a more competitive applicant (I am in California so the competition is what it is). I hear some hospitals will pay for their nurses' degrees but a) I dont want to sabotage my job prospects in a terrible market by appearing less attractive than someone who already has their BSN, b) I also don't want to appear a fianancial burden to an employer while in a competitive market, and c) I was wondering if it makes sense to not enroll in my first school year, but enroll in the second, so that more of the program is being paid by the job. But that also means you are farther away from completion when you graduate and if a tuition-paying job doesn't appear it means you once again are less attractive than someone almost done with the degree and stuck having a harder time finding that first job.

I have never heard of the strategy of starting the concurrent bsn in the second year to strategize getting the job to pay for more of it. It was suggested by a fellow student, and I've always been approaching getting through the BSN as something I'm trying to get through and out of the way as fast as possible because this is a second career for me and I want to move on and get to work already. It sounds kind of weird and in my experience in other fields employers want to spend as little as possible on their applicants.

(also if anyone has experience with University of Arizona online and whether its helped you get a cali job, lmk!)

I posted in here a couple months ago looking for help as I had completely bombed my first exam in my final quarter of an ABSN program and was so overwhelmed with how much catch-up I needed to do in order to pass. I'd already failed OB and Peds in the past, was graciously re-enrolled into the program, and a third failure would have been a dismissal for sure.

My issue wasn't not knowing the material, it was not having enough confidence in myself, getting stressed out during the exam, and convincing myself I didn't actually know the right answer so I changed my answers to something incorrect. I reached out to my instructor for private tutoring, I contacted tutors affiliated with my school, I started doing 200+ questions a day from Saunders Evolve in 50 question exam format to try and desensitize myself to the exam formats.

I attended every extracurricular session that existed, contacted as many people as I could. My school offered sessions on tackling test anxiety, and recommended Mark K and Dr. Sharon's videos for test taking strategies.

A friend of mine had this board game called RNtertainment that's basically just Candy Land but with Saunders questions and the gamification of studying made it so much more tolerable!

Two months ago I was devastated, felt like I was drowning, like I was never going to see the end. I put my heart and soul into studying and gave my last two exams everything I had to try and pull my scores out of the gutter. I thought I was never going to have a future as a nurse.

Today, I received my RN license.

I’m currently in my last semester of my ADN program and we all just received our practicum placements. I have maintained great grades throughout the program and even received an award during my last clinical rotation. I have two friends in class that out perform me and 1 is top of the class.

Myself and my friends didn’t even get one of our top choices. People who have failed a semester got the placements we wanted which makes this even more incredibly frustrating. I think I would be less disappointed if I got med surg but I was placed at PACU.

I don’t think anyone understands outside of the nursing world how much placement matters considering it’s our chance to get a job offer. That’s why I’m venting here.

My school uses ATI for homework, quizzes, and exams. We have PowerPoints for lecture that are from the textbook but then even after learning those, it feel like you can’t even apply that knowledge to the ATI module tests/quizzes or you’ll completely fail. They have so much info that isn’t mentioned in our lectures.

This is my first semester and our first round of exams are coming up. I’m wondering if it makes sense to just start using the ATI books as a main study source instead of the PowerPoints they give us. Has anyone had any success with a study method like this at their school?

Yesterday was my 3rd day at this clinical site (which is amazing btw—preceptor and nurses are all great) so i felt a little more comfortable and wanted to be more hands-on to challenge myself for the day. Turn out I kept making med dose errors..

First patient: dropped a med on the ground. Nurse had to go back to omnicell to grab the med.
Second patient: Accidentally only grabbed one tablet instead of two. Computer alerted me, so nurse had to grab the second tablet.
Third patient: AGAIN, accidentally grabbed one tablet only instead of 2.. computer alerted again that the dose amount was wrong..

On top of all the other little things I could barely help her with… I felt like I was in the way most of the time. Helped with sara stedy as much as I could, helped transfer and ambulate patients, helped take out foley catheter, etc but I felt so unhelpful. I felt like a nuisance.

I felt so discombobulated all day, I kept making mistakes, I felt like I wasn’t in the right headspace.

The entire time, I was wondering if I should make a confession to my preceptor that I had made a med error three times already. Would I fail? Would they dock points? Would I have to redo this clinical rotation? They teach you in school how important dosage calc is and how it can kill a patient. I’m scarred but I’m now left wondering if those mistakes were necessary for me to learn.

I told my friend about it and she told me to not dwell on it because work and private lives should be separate. But for me, I am someone who always thinks about this stuff and I beat myself up for it. I now know what I need to work on.. but I feel less confident.

Should this just be taken as a lesson? Should i tell my professors or preceptor? I’ve been meaning to have a talk with her anyways on how to improve..

If so how? What were the advantages? Applying to bridge in January. Hoping for some hopeful responses but honesty even if it isn’t hopeful is what I need Ty!

I’m looking for advice from nursing students, nurses, and instructors because I’m honestly devastated by what’s happening.

I’m currently in an LPN program, and I was recently dismissed following an incident at a clinical site. The frustrating part is that I’m currently passing all of my classes, and we are only TWO MONTHS away from graduation.

From my understanding, someone reported that we were refusing to work or participate in clinical. However, the person allegedly making these claims had never met or directly interacted with us. We were not refusing to work, and I don’t feel we were properly introduced to the person who was supposed to guide us. We were eventually sent home by another employee.
There was also reportedly a claim that I had been banned from another facility that I had never even visited. I genuinely don’t understand where that information came from or why it was treated as fact.
What makes this even more frustrating is that our student handbook states that clinical hours can be made up. I’m struggling to understand why dismissal was the outcome, especially when I’m passing my classes and so close to finishing the program.
I also feel like my instructor made little to no effort to advocate for us, hear our side, or help clarify what actually happened. I understand that nursing school requires professionalism and accountability, but shouldn’t students have an opportunity to explain themselves before their education and future careers are put at risk?

It was so nerve-wracking to give my manager 2 weeks' notice, but I was getting so burnt out and found no room to grow at the unit.

+ ED tech position is going to be call-in, so i'll have so much more flexibility!!! I'm so happy I got it.

Anyone work as ED tech with school? I'm like 3 semester away from graduating, kinda freaking out.

I guess my main concern is blending well with the staff...

I know i can't be liked by all 100+ people on the deparment, but at least want to make good relationship with them, so that when i apply for new grad program, at least they can vouch for me you know?

Any tips would be SO appreciated!!!

Would you rather do clinicals with a nurse preceptor or in a group with an instructor?

I recently started an ADN program and unfortunately failed my final exam by 1.25 points, despite having an 87% average in the class. Due to the program’s grading policy, failing the final means failing the entire course, regardless of your overall grade.
I reached out to my professor and program director, but there’s no option for remediation, a retake, or an appeal. My only option is to reapply next fall, with no guarantee of being accepted again.
I’m 30, a single mom of three, and becoming a nurse has been my dream since childhood. I already have a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, but unfortunately, those credits don’t transfer to other schools. Starting over somewhere else would mean taking additional prerequisites and delaying everything even further.
I understand nursing school is supposed to be difficult, but losing an entire year over 1.25 points is incredibly discouraging. I worked so hard to get here, and now I just feel completely at a loss.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Did you wait to reapply or start fresh somewhere else? I’m not ready to give up on nursing, but I genuinely don’t know what to do next.

hello everyone! i am current junior 2 student at a bsn program and i recently just applied for a nurse tech position. i worked as a cna in an assisted facility and have had different leadership positions when i was taking my prereqs. early on the semester, i applied for another nurse tech position in which i got rejected. it wasnt a big deal for me but as i slowly progress to the end of my program, it seemed like everyone around me has become a nurse tech.

that said, im looking here for some advice to get a footing in the nurse tech program + adding clinical rotations in my resume. im also not very good at interviews so any advice is gladly appreciated!

My pediatrics and OB classes will be 4 weeks each, which seems very short. It’s two 3h classes each week but one of those time slots also needs to be used for testing each week. Idk, seems unnecessary. They could have made those classes longer like they do with my Med Surge class.
My school is already on probation due to recent drops in NCLEX rates.

I just got my notice today that I didn’t get into my nursing program that I wanted :( im feeling so disappointed and embarrassed and like im losing time. I’m 22 about to be 23 and i really wanted to get into this program because it’ll be another 2 years I just want to be done with school already. Now im set back even more and it sucks so bad i feel so behind and im worried if i reapply for the next cohort i still might not get in and ill just keep wasting time. I stopped working too to focus on my classes but i still didnt get in it’s so sad what do i do now

Edit: omg everyone is so nice thank you guys so much for all the advice and motivation! I feel a lot better im not going to give up!

I had to do a head to toe assessment on Monday at clinical, and during the assessment, my resident grabbed my waist and pulled me to him and told me to “give him some sugar.” I pulled back and said no, that it wasn’t appropriate to act that way. I continued my assessment and when I looked down at his hand, he was trying to touch me inappropriately. I stepped back, almost didn’t finish the assessment because I was uncomfortable but I took a deep breath and told him to stop. and told the nurse and she said “Yeah, he’s just like that.” So I finished up the assessment. Which I’ve been in healthcare for years, I know how residents can be, I know they say and do things that’s aren’t appropriate, but really? That’s all? Because clinical can be stressful and tiring, I’m already there for 12 hours, not being able to just do what I’m there to do is even more stressful. I know it’s a “get used to it” kind of thing, it’s just annoying. How do you guys deal with your inappropriate residents/patients?

[edit] This is a geriatric patient, NOT a resident physician. Resident is just the term for people who live in LTC facility.

I’m planning on applying to 2 ADN programs and 1 ABSN program in my area. I would much prefer ADN because of the cost. Would it also be worth to apply to some out of state and move if it meant starting school sooner? I know everyone’s situation is different but would it be doable to work full time while doing an ADN?

I’m working as a para educator right now and I will be 23 by the time I’m done with pre reqs, I’m not in a huge rush but I don’t love my job and would just like to keep the pace moving towards being an RN.

hey everyone, i need a little advice from anybody who can provide a sound opinion. (post might be a little long) i have been in school for pre-reqs and this is my last semester, im 22 y/o. I just recently paid off my 2015 infiniti q50 in august. however, the car is no longer working, and it hasnt been since august, i have been ubering to work. i have to replace the valve body every 8 months or so, and i have had to replace it twice in the 2 years i had it. my LPN program is set to start january 7. as of right now, i am working a full time & seasonal part time job that will end january, i live at home, and i only pay my phone bill & the insurance for my car. however i will need a car as i cannot uber to work, school, clinicals & back home as it is very expensive.

during nursing school i will have to keep a full time job as we have to be covered with insurance the whole program and insurance through a job is cheaper than the marketplace. my job already said my schedule can be accomodated to work around my school schedule which would be 4-10 pm 2/3 days a week. so id have to get off at 2:30 or work on the days im out of school.

the question here is idk what to do about my car situation. i have like 4 options here. 1, i could lease a car as there are a lot of car lease deals available at the moment. 2, i could just finance a reliable car that at the end i will own, like acura, honda, toyota etc. 3, attempt to fix my car again would require me to either let infiniti replace the valve nody (no guaranteed fix and this will cost me about $4000) or replace the transmission and valve body completely from an updated model (also isnt a complete fix) or buy a beater car. i thought financing would be better as this time around school is paid for and i still have to be working anyways. i plan on going back to school after my lpn to bridge over and do bsn. so i think getting a beater car to turn around and get a car note when i graduate to then have to pay for school, and a car, and car maintenance and fees, but i have roughly 2 months to figure this out and this is all very daunting on me right now.

Hey everyone!

I have just been accepted into my university's Nursing program and will begin this Spring. I was given 14 days to complete my background check with Complio and now I have 5 days left to submit. I have been trying to get past slides 4 and 5, which ask you to choose a race and sex and to verify what you chose. Every time I select a race and sex and move on to slide 5, everything resets and it's as if I'd never chosen a race or sex at all. I've called Complio/ADB and my university's nursing lines multiple times since Oct 7 (I've even sent them multiple emails), and at this point I don't know what to do. I would go in-person tomorrow, but they're not open on Fridays, and they actually haven't even posted their hours anywhere so go figure. Transportation is a bit complicated for me also, to make matters worse.

Has anyone else had this problem? What do you recommend I do? Any help or advice would be much appreciated!

I wasn’t quite sure what flair to put this under but I’m hoping some people might relate. I’m in my first semester of an ABSN and so far I’m doing really well I think. My only problem is that during any validations or skill checks off immediately after I finish and my professor tells me how I did I can’t seem to stop myself from getting overwhelmed and crying or something. I’ve always been my own worst critic but no one else in my cohort has this problem and I don’t want my professors to think that I’m too emotional or anxious to actually succeed in the nursing world after school. Obviously I know this isn’t a “quick fix” kind of problem but I really want to be better.

Hi everyone! I'm a first-semester student in an accelerated nursing program, and I'm really struggling with pathophysiology. I feel like I'm having a hard time understanding and retaining the information. I've tried YouTube, NotebookLM, Claude, and ChatGPT, but nothing seems to be helping much. Does anyone have any study tips or methods that actually worked for them? I'd really appreciate any advice!

My program just assigned us practicum placements that are well over 100 miles each way for my classmates and I, over a 2.5 hour drive. Not to mention, hardly any of us got the area we wanted. The administration missed the deadline to get our placements at local hospitals, and now we’re suffering from their mistake. Personally, I will have to wake up at 3 am and probably won’t be getting home until 10 pm, leaving only 5 hours to shower, eat dinner, prepare breakfast/lunch/bookbags for my kids for school, and go to sleep, only to wake up again at 3 am and go through it all again. Some of my classmates have already discussed their worries, and my school sent out a passive aggressive email this morning telling us to basically suck it up. Has anyone dealt with something like this with their program?

I truly think I’d enjoy working in OT so much more because of less stress but when I look into the OT masters programs in my area it’s SO expensive.

COTA is offered at my local CC but it doesn’t seem like I’d make enough money in my area so now I’m considering RN..

I know there’s more opportunities in nursing but the math and high stress scare me!

Has anyone heard of a community-based nursing program? Where clinicals are community-based and not in a hospital? I heard they exist but it's hard to find because all that comes up is community college or community health or something else.

Just need to vent. Had clinicals Monday. Was at a rehab/skilled nursing facility. Not a particularly nice one, but not a particularly non-nice one either. End of the day, I went into a patient's room with 2 of my cohort, J and C and our instructor (who was there to observe, but also is the sort who isn't afraid to get her hands dirty). Pt. was under enhanced contact precautions, gloves, gowns, masks. We were there to change the patient's brief, change the linens, clean him up, get him dressed, etc. Pt. was more comfortable in Spanish than English and J was translating and doing communication with him. He tells us he's in pain, 10/10. We start to examine him. We take the covers down and find that he's got compression hose on which he is not supposed to be wearing in bed. One of them has a hole in it and there's an edema the size of a goose egg sticking out of it. Teach looks _pissed_. She tells us to get started on making him comfortable and goes to talk to the CNA and RN. I start checking the patient more closely. The top of one compression hose is rolled down below his knee. I palpate his calves. The one with the rolled down top feels like an overinflated balloon, its purple. Teach comes back, still looks pissed. I show her the top, and tell her I'm going to take the hose off. She does not look less pissed. I roll the top up, then slide them off. There's a 1x0.5cm groove around his leg. There's a stage 2 pressure ulcer where the roll was lying. I was angry already. Now I'm at least as pissed as Teach. Pt. tells J he's already feeling better, pain is receding. I check the cap refill in his toes. Sluggish, but manageable. And we get to work, change the brief, change the bed, clean him up, get clean clothes on him.

I felt like I had done something good. I felt angry as hell. This afternoon, driving home from my lab classes, all of that kind of fell on me like a load of bricks. I started crying in the car. I got it under control. I'm ok. It was just pent up stress, but I feel better sharing it. On the one hand, I'm proud of myself and my colleagues. We walked out of that room drenched in sweat, emotionally drained, etc. But we left a patient in there who was no longer in pain, was clean, was in a clean bed, comfortable. We found a real problem and we fixed it. But I know there's every chance in the world when I'm back there next week I'm going to find the same thing either there or somewhere else. We did our job, and we took care of our patient and I'm still just kind of numb. It was rough. And the patient was the nicest, gentlest person you could imagine. He never complained, never snapped at us, despite hurting and, from what I saw, undoubtedly hurting bad. He was grateful. And that's almost the worst part of it. As much as I like being appreciated he shouldn't _have_ to be grateful for this. He wasn't owed 3 students and an RN late in the afternoon on a Monday. He was owed decent care in the first place.

I'm not having a crisis. I'm not questioning my choice to enter the profession. I am questioning at what point I tell somebody at that rehab that if I find that patient mistreated again I will call the fucking cops on them. I know there's no point at which I can do that without wrecking my potential career. I am not sure I care enough about that compared to how I feel about my patient.