Anyone who has completed nursing school can tell you where they have floundered in their education. These could be big mistakes, the school they chose, or small mistakes, “boy, I didn’t read that instructor very well.” But, here are five possible pit-falls that, in my experience, might be worth side-stepping… • *Gain some first hand knowledge of the field before choosing ...

Erin Downing is a 23 year old University of California, Santa Barbara graduate who will begin an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in September 2008 at Samuel Merritt College. Before pursuing nursing school, she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biology. In this interview, she shares her experiences, in her own words, with NursingLink. h4. How did you decide ...

What happens after you get hired? How do you make a success of yourself? The first year on the job is often the toughest for new nursing graduates, especially those who work in hospitals. In fact, new nurse graduates account for more than half of the turnover rate in some hospitals, according to a study published in 2007 by Johns Hopkins ...

The alarm goes off at 5:30 am, and you could swear you went to sleep five minutes ago. First a quick shower, followed by the finishing touches on that homework assignment due tonight over coffee and breakfast — if there’s time. Then it’s off to work, a solid eight-plus hours of time where you’re busy with charts, rounds and other assorted ...

[photo:180621]So you've decided to become a nurse, and it's the best decision you've ever made. Your life now has purpose, and you can't wait to have a job where you help people, handle new and challenging situations every day, and make a respectable living to boot. However, there's a problem. You can't get into nursing school. That's the biggest stumbling block ...

So what can you do to make your transition from nursing student to working nurse easier and your first years on the job more satisfying? Here are some issues to ask about and consider before and after taking the job. Ask About First-Year Nurse Turnover Rates High turnovers indicate how the employer treats first-year nurses, Benner says. Turnovers higher than 20 ...

You are one of the most powerful sources of information. You have gone to school for at lease a dozen years, you may have worked at various jobs after school during the summers, you may have gone to places and met people who taught you many lessons in living. You may have married, returned to school after a personal experience with ...

Given the nursing shortage, it's unfortunate that nursing schools reject many eager prospective nurses each year. In 2007, nearly 31,000 qualified applicants were turned away due to a shortage of faculty and resources, according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. In Maryland, nursing schools are "bursting at the seams," says Tracy Jamison, director of admissions at the University of ...

1. Be Prepared In your first semester of nursing school, the only way to be successful is to hit the ground running. The only way to hit the ground running is to be prepared. Make sure you've bought all the required books ahead of time. Make sure you have a plans in place to manage your time. Have kids? You better ...

You will need to consider several factors when you choose a nursing school. What might be important to some other nursing student might not really be a concern to you. Therefore, you need to choose a nursing school that fits in with your career plan, budget, and other considerations. Arm yourself with a book and a pen and use this article ...

It's been said that life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. That's kind of what it's like for people who decide to become nurses after they've already gone to college. Perhaps you loved books so much you became a Literature major, happily earned a bachelor's degree but something didn't feel right. Sure, you could get a job ...

There are nursing programs in the largest universities as well as the smallest community colleges. There are even online programs! So there's bound to be something for you. Here are the questions to ask yourself when selecting a school. Should I get an ADN or BSN? Deciding whether you want to go for an associate’s degree or a bachelor’s degree is ...

By now you know that there is a nursing shortage. What people don’t think about is the shortage of nursing instructors that goes along with this. What does this mean for you? It means that you may be facing waiting lists and steep competition among prospective nursing students. You will need to do everything possible to make sure you get to ...

Nursing Clinicals clinicals to be stressful at first. You worry about whether you will make a mistake that could actually harm a patient. Nursing students joke about this (“I made it through clinicals today with out killing anyone!”) but the truth of the matter is that you can find yourself in some very stressful situations. Mental Preparation Be prepared for an ...

Noopa Kurian already had a degree in travel management and a job in her field when she applied to the nursing program at Stony Brook University. What she says she didn't have was job security. "I wanted to know that wherever I go, I'll be able to find a job," said Kurian, 28, of Lake Grove, who expects to earn a ...

Anyone who's completed nursing school can tell you where they floundered in their education. These could be big mistakes, such as choosing the wrong school, or small mistakes, like not "reading" an instructor very well. Nobody makes it through school without a few blunders, but if you follow these five rules of thumb, you should be able to avoid most of ...

The stress level of nursing students is higher than those in most other academic programs, and some studies have even suggested that their stress levels are higher than their counterparts in medical school, social work and pharmacology programs. The workload of nursing students is profound—not only maintaining academic studies and a clinical practice, but also a work/life balance that is important ...

Heading back to school for a nursing degree? Interest rates may be low for federal education loans, but don't let that lull you into complacency about the need for a budget, advises an article in a recent issue of Advance for LPNs. Among the commonsense advice in the article are these tips: [widget:340] • Send in your loan and scholarship forms ...

You will be happy to find out that getting hired is truly “the easy step.” In nursing school, the employers come to you. as you will find yourself at many career fairs, with nurse recruiters from local hospitals trying to entice you with their cool pens and magnets. Do not be dazzled! Decide what you are looking for before the recruiters ...

Albert Einstein once said that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. With all the classes and care plans and tests, it’s easy to get into a study rut, studying the way that makes you feel most comfortable. But if you keep studying that way, and you’re grades aren’t improving ... change it ...