When I first sat down with an academic adviser a year or so ago, she looked me in the eye and said, “You have to get A’s”. The nursing program entry is so competitive that anything less puts you at a disadvantage. To anyone reading this that’s not aiming for a nursing degree, the prerequisites are mostly heavy science and math classes. This is no easy feat. Doable? Certainly, but the level of focus, sacrifice to family, friends, and any hopes of a social life are great. So far so good, but last week I had my first AP3 exam and got a (gulp) C. I missed a B by one point but it’s still a dreaded C. It’s not my norm and I know I’ll recover with the next 3 exams but it punched me square in the gut to read it once it posted. I knew it wasn’t going to be an A but had thought it might be a B or B- at the worst.
This has been a roller coaster of a ride. You successfully pass each exam over the class average and one grade hits you like a ton of bricks. Your self confidence wanes and you feel as though you’re back at the starting line. I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t some sort of a adrenaline rush when you do conquer a topic you fought you’re way through and reach an A. You feel like you can do anything. Quantum Physics? Bring it on. Dark matter? Put it right here. Then a C rears it’s ugly head like that scary clown at a kids party and suddenly you begin to wonder if you’ve been adding 2+2 correctly.
But nursing can mean the difference between life and death. At the end of the day, do want someone that did just OK adding medications to your IV? Yeah, me either.
Monthly Archives: April 2018
Is this dress too short?
What the ever-living hell is this garbage? I looked for free clip art related to nursing and this is one of the images that came up. This looks like a trashy Halloween costume you’d buy at Spirits. I mean the hat. Come on! And that clipboard. Really? I suppose I could pay for an image or become a graphic designer in my (ahem..) “free” time, but I had hoped to find more stethoscopes or scrubs. Not Nurse Ratchet meets Jenna Jameson. Come to think of it, there probably are patients out there that would love to see a nurse show up in their hospital room wearing that outfit. Breaking news- hospitals around the country are reporting a surge in over night stays and emergency visits. Get my drift?
I’d love to see some bad-ass, inked up, pink hair, scrubs wearing, cape owning nurse clip art instead. Or we could just be realistic and show the various colors of bodily fluids flanked by *&%$# for the expletives thrown around at nurses for simply doing their job and being honest with patients. Oh the possibilities!
CNA Stuff
Today I completed the registration process for my CNA I class (to be followed by CNA II class in the fall). It was surreal, but not because I’ve always wanted to be a CNA. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good job. For me it means I’m within arms reach of applying into the nursing program and having my pre-requisites completed. A year ago we moved here away from our family and friends so I could complete them on a full time basis. To see the finish line of my first goal feels incredible.
Being a CNA will allow me to work with and care for patients. It exposes me to all sorts of various scenarios and connects me to other like minded people. You don’t get into for the pay. Contrary to what you may have heard (and I’ve heard it a lot), although nursing pays well, you earn every penny of it. It’s can be brutal physically and mentally, the hours are long, and if you’re a newbie it’s likely you’ll give up your holidays to be at work.
Before we moved I reached out via an app that connects me with people in my neighborhood and asked new and veteran nurses for their two cents. What was it really like to go back to school for this field at an older than average age? How demanding is it? What kind of work can you do once you transition out of a hospital environment? How do you move up and continue to learn? I wanted honest, sage advice and that’s exactly what I got. It was insightful for both good and bad reasons but it allowed me to enter this whole process with my eyes wide opened.
I’ll try and document my CNA training experience here as best as I’m able. This summer will be pretty crazy since I’ll simultaneously be taking two online pre-reqs (8 credits total). Fortunately the CNA program I’m signed up for is 4 weeks. I have the time so I’m doing it full time five days a week, split into two weeks classroom and two weeks clinical. I’d rather hit the ground running and learn than extend it out unnecessarily. When in Rome… Knowing that this coming winter I’ll be applying into the RN program is motivation enough to push forward with a smile on my face. Most of the time. Some of the time. Most. Well, depends on the day. You know how it goes.
Random Tidbits
Right now I’m writing randomly. I’d like to have some kind of rhyme or reason to that and so will eventually get that figured out. For now I’ll write as I feel inclined. The past two days were spent in the MRC trying to work through Algebra. The difference this week versus the last is that I had a study buddy. I’ll back up a bit.
At the start of class it was just me. None of my study partners for my science classes were able to sign up. When you’re used to having a study group, it feels pretty weird to take a challenging class by yourself. I can be social but with math- much like my other classes- want to be sure I pair up with someone that will put in equal time and effort. Earlier in the day I was in the Science Resource Center and overheard a student in AP1 asking how to study for it. The first question out of my mouth was, “Do you have a study group?” AP1 involved memorizing all the bones including the whole skull, know the difference between a tuberosity and a tubercle, how nerve signals are conducted etc. It’s a lot to take in. If you fall behind, you drown. It’s sink or swim.
Study groups are invaluable. They support you, talk you off the ledge when you’re losing your marbles because you feel like your brain is at full capacity, and know when to laugh to lighten things up. They are worth their weight in gold.
So yesterday a friend and fellow study partner in my AP3 class had a pretty crappy instructor for his math class and so switched into mine. It made my day. Having another person to spend countless hours at school makes it so much better. I can only imagine that once I’m in the nursing program, just how necessary this will be. This core group of people are now my friends. We spend as many hours in class and studying together as we would at a full time job. So the people matter.
Nursing is not an easy track to take. It’s brutal. Finding a group of people that get the humor in memorizing the Latissimus Dorsi as the “Michael Phelps muscle”- is everything.
No vacancy upstairs
If my brain had a flashing light on it to signify whether I was ready to learn or it was full, I’d have a bright neon sign flashing, “No Vacancy” right now. I spent 6 hours today practicing math. Honestly, the last thing I want to do right now is blog but I promised myself I’d keep this transparent and straight forward.
I’m in math 65 because I don’t math well. So before hitting intermediate algebra I need to brush up on stuff I had quite some years ago. Since I’m a visual/ kinetic learner, I need to practice this stuff over and over until I get it. Which means spending hours in the Math Resource Center (MRC). Between this and my AP 3 class where I spend hour in the Science Resource Center (SRC and in the same building as the MRC), do that math (badumbum) and you’ll see that I’m practically spending all my waking hours at school this term. In the same building. If you were to ask me what 3+ 3 equals I’d probably look at you with a blank stare and potentially start drooling at this point.
My other half and I want to move to Seattle. It’s our dream. To get there, I need to get through school since the cost of living is so much less where we are now. So every hour I’m sitting in the MRC or the SRC or am feeling like a TUC (Total and Utter Coward- I just made that up, it works, don’t judge)- I need to remind myself that Seattle awaits. All the fun things we want to do there are at the end of this seemingly endless tunnel. It’s a little thing but even looking at neighborhoods we love or new one’s we’d like to explore, breathe fresh air into my deflated body and perk me up like a flower seeing the light of day.
So for now, I’ll eat my mishmash of a dinner, watch something fluffy on TV to distract my brain from the fact that I have my first math exam tomorrow morning, and dream of that city skyline that is waiting.
I don't math..
I have a long term hate-hate relationship with math. You read correctly. No love going on there whatsoever. I’d rather have all my nose hairs extracted one at a time than do it. That’s how deep the hate runs.
My nursing program requires that I take intermediate algebra for entry into the program. I’m required to work my way up to statistics for my bachelor’s degree. While I can sort of, maybe , possibly see the use of statistics in terms of research and understanding clinical studies, I can’t for the life of me understand how any college administrator thought it would be reasonable to add algebra as a requirement. I’ve heard that it prompts critical thinking- really? Isn’t that all most college courses and certainly any advanced math class? Conversions- there’s an applicable class. It’s needed for medication dosing. At what point will I be taking care of a patient and think, “Wow, I’m going to do a line graph to to help this person. Algebra is one of those use it or lose it things. So once I’m out of the program you think I’ll be able to do any of this stuff without referencing a book? Big, fat nope.
Take any A student who’s weakness is algebra and watch them be reduced to near tears trying to figure out slope and y-intercept. I’ve learned and memorized every bone and muscle in the body. I can tell you how the heart pumps blood but ask me to solve for y and you’ll quickly see my lips curl and my eyes glaze over.
This is a money maker for colleges. Nursing programs are highly competitive to get accepted into. Day one of meeting with my academic adviser I was told “You have to get A’s.”. A’s are worth the most points and so B’s are not bad but they won’t put you at the top of the selection list. It’s that competitive. Out of about 250 qualified applicants, 80 will make it into my school’s program. Chemistry, Biology, three Anatomy & Physiology classes, on top of the other basic requirements (Writing, etc..) and maintaining an A average – that’s no easy feat. Throw in CNA I and II classes most of us are completing and the random math classes you’ll never use and you have a recipe for a stomach ulcer.
There’s only one thing I despise more than algebra- it’s spiders. But more on that later. For me, this term will be spent in the math tutoring center, sweating profusely until it’s behind me. Excuse me while I grab the Kleenex.
CNA
To get additional points for entry into our nursing program, you can obtain your CNA license. Some go on to work as one and some only want the points. My plan is to obtain both my CNA I and CNA II. Nursing students are an interesting lot. We all tend to ask each other why they chose what can be both a rewarding and brutal profession.
During my first term last year I asked this question to a fellow classmate. The words, “I hate people” exited their mouth and it took everything I had at that moment to contain myself. This person wanted to further expand the scope of her current job and this was the path she chose.
I thought long and hard about this. This person might be someone treating my friend or family member. But they are not invested in the compassionate side, only in the additional money and expanded job scope. Anyone that knows anything about nursing would know that you really don’t do this for the money or because you hate people. Yet this person is going to occupy a spot in a highly competitive program, treat patients during the clinical portion of it, all while faking their way through the human side of it.
Another classmate said they were aiming for a nurse anesthetist program because they “get paid the big bucks to sit there”. I was floored.
There’s been discussion (perhaps more just rumors) in nixing the interview portion of the admission process for our program. I don’t get it. How do you gauge someone’s communication or demeanor on paper or through a multiple choice test? These two students are smart. On paper they would probably look pretty appealing. Given the shortcuts these two like to take and lack of any kind of people skills, I’d question how you’d measure or determine that from a piece of paper.
We’ve all had good and bad nurses. The good ones- they are – I don’t even have a word for it. They give 110% of themselves to their profession. The bad one’s feel burned out and the passion they may have once felt, is gone. Don’t get me wrong- I’m not saying everyone has to be Glenda the Good Witch. But you do have to have empathy and a certain level of compassion for the person you’re treating. You get people at their worst and they want care. Not a robot.
These two people will be applying in at the same time I will so I’ll grab the popcorn and see how the interview pans out.
College Success
If I could somehow include the poop emoji with the title of this post, I would. So there’s this class my college requires you to take. It’s called “College Success”. That’s right- you too can be successful in one term for the going price of around $500. Sounds enticing right?
If you’ve lived on your own, paid for school, or worked a job this should be a hard pass. I love school. Everyone should have an opportunity to go to college. What everyone should not have the opportunity to do is to pay $500 for a bullshit class. Isn’t the whole experience self driven? You pay or take out loans. You work, you have a driver’s license, pay rent. I’d like to know what bonehead sat at a table and thought it would be a great idea to have students shell out even more to pay for a fluff class that can’t even begin to touch the level of responsibility you reach once you get to college. School as an adult is self driven. You have to motivate yourself to get out of bed, go to class, and do well. Sure, you can get C’s and sail through but even that take some kind of effort.
When my adviser told me this, I laughed and asked if over 20 years of living on my own and my cumulative life experience would suffice? Could I Clep my way out of it? Unnecessary classes bug me more than people chewing loudly with their mouth open (that’s for another post..). Last I heard there were enough people complaining about it that they just might consider dropping it. Here’s hoping.