When you are in nursing school you get a chance to visit different types of units and learn about areas of nursing you are not familiar with. This is the time when most students start thinking about where they would like to work after graduation.

Floor nurses

This would be those nurses that work general medical-surgical floors. This type of nursing usually involves a heavy patient load (sometimes as many as 8-12), but typically with minimally sick patients. These patients could be your broken leg, infected wound, and minor surgeries. The RN in this case has responsibility for many patients, but has the help of LVNs and aides. The charting is less frequent and these people go home….

Telemetry nurses

The nurses on telemetry floors have almost as many patients sometimes as a floor nurse (4-8), but these patients are just a bit sicker and just a bit more charting. There are usually still LVNs and aides to help on these type units as well though. The types of patients you may find here are those with uncomplicated heart caths, pneumonia, controlled atrial fibrillation, and of course this is where we send a lot of ICU patients that get too well to stay with us

Labor and Delivery nurses

This is the kind of nurse I always wanted to be but was never given the chance because I don’t have any experience in labor and delivery….Anyway, these nurses have varying patient loads depending on how progressed their patients are in labor. When they have one on the verge of delivery, that one is considered a 1:1, which means, one nurse to one patient. She does not leave that patient until delivery and clean up is done. Some stay and help the mother with breastfeeding if she wishes to do this because getting started right away is very important for the mother and baby bond. Some L&D units may use LVNs and aides, the one where I work does not. Of course I do not want to leave out the post-partum nurses! They are some of the best teachers to new mothers. They get the opportunity to show first time mothers how to care for a new baby and encourage them through the tough times. Some hospitals group post-partum with L&D making it an LDRP (labor delivery recovery and postpartum) unit.

Pediatric nurses

This is one job I know I am not cut out for. Pedi nurses’ staffing ratios are similar to that of floor nurses typically. Many hospitals don’t use LVNs or aides in pediatrics either, so these nurses stay busy. With pedi patients, parents are allowed, and in most cases required to stay with their child, so the parents perform much of the care of the child themselves (however, when I was in school I took care of an 8 month old whose mother would go out with her friends and be gone all night and leave the baby alone!).

ICU nurses

Of course I am somewhat biased here, being an ICU nurse myself, but many of these nurses truly are extraordinary. ICU nurses have lower patient to nurse ratio because of the critical conditions of those we care for. The typical ratio is 2:1, two patients to every nurse. We do have 1:1 patients frequently that will keep one nurse as busy as if they were caring for 3 patients. We are required to chart more frequently, at least every two hours. There is a higher level of stress in the ICU due to grave illnesses and dealing with family distress often. Where I work we do not have LVNs or aides to help, so we perform total care on our patients. I do like this method, because I know what meds they have and when they got them and what their backside looks like and what they ate or didn’t eat for lunch.

OR nurses

I really don’t know much about these nurses. We rarely ever see them, and in ICU it is typically not a good thing when an OR nurse is the one bringing your patient back from the OR because it could only mean one of two things, either they were too sick to go to recovery or they were coding in the OR and were rushed back to the unit so as not to count against the surgeon’s statistics…Either way, we prefer not to see them I know they do wonderful things in the OR and have to deal with the wrath of surgeons, so for this I commend them. BTW, you can read about what it takes to be a good surgical nurse from our very own Dr. Rachael Keilin:Surgical nursing tips.

ER nurses

- These nurses are the bane of an ICU nurse’s existence…Ok, I am just teasing, well a little. ER nurses are another type of special nurse that I could not be. They see the worst of the worst that comes in from trauma to burns to rape. They get very little or no report sometimes on what is headed for their door. They have to be prepared to take on anything that might come in. These nurses care for anywhere from one to several patients at once, depending on levels of acuity. LVNs and aides are used in ERs. I am pretty sure there is not an ER nurse out there that doesn’t have at least one crazy story to tell when they get home.  But some of the stuff can be boring too, like my post on flu clinic.

Now I know I left out many other types of nurses, and you are all special in your own way!

People start nursing school at many different times in their lives. For some it comes right out of high school, for others it is after they retire from another profession, and then for the rest of us it happens somewhere in the middle. I started nursing school after I had my four children and was getting a divorce. I needed a way to support my children. My mother and sisters were all nurses and so that seemed like a good choice.

I am thinking about this because a student nurse at work recently asked for advice about what she should do. She was contemplating quitting school; she only has 6 months or so until graduation. She was telling us that she was too stressed and she just couldn’t stand to be away from her children any longer. She thought maybe she should quit school and get a job waiting tables so that she could be free of the stress and see her kids more. If she could make it 6 months she will be a registered nurse (RN) and be able to support her children on her own.

Nursing school is hard on almost everybody I think. I don’t doubt that most everyone considers quitting at some point, but you really should stick with it, because the rewards will be so much greater if you just get it done. If you put it off, chances are you will never get up the nerve to go back. So, as I said to the student, please don’t give up, stick with it! You will be glad you did!

(This is a guest post by Jacob Kelton.)

There is a lot of advice and input on the internet about what it takes to get into nurse anesthesia school. I would like to add to this advice from personal experience. First of all many people freak out and put too much emphasis on GPA. I am not saying it is not important but this will not solely get you into a nurse anesthesia program. When you apply to a school you have to remember they are interviewing a lot of applicants. The school I attended interviewed around 800 applicants. You have to be well rounded as a student and a nurse.

1) GPA- lets address this. You have to have a 3.0 or higher in your last 60 hours of school. This is usually nursing for most applicants. Your grades are averaged on a points system by the program. You will have a number of points given based on your science GPA, nursing GPA and overall GPA. This means you have to be well rounded. So yes the A&P from freshman year can bite you in the butt. You can also counter this with a strong nursing GPA; it all depends on the points awarded.

2)  Clinical Experience – they want to know if you have the experience and how you think. Most all schools want you to have 2 years of ICU experience at least. Some get in with less but it’s not common. What ICU do you need to work in? Preferably a busy one but emphasis seems to be on Cardiovascular and Surgical. What it is going to boil down to though is when you walk into the room to be interviewed by a group of highly educated nurses and doctors is, do you know your stuff? They want to know how you think. Your clinical experience prepares you for the interview. I attended school with nurses that worked in Medical ICU, Surgical ICU and Cardiovascular ICU, even a couple from a CCU. This told me one thing; they want you to know what you’re doing and be well rounded in your knowledge and are able to critically think during an interview.

3)  Tests and certifications – A way to help reassure the interviewers is to obtain your CCRN certification. This is required now for most all schools. Also, I would like to talk about the dreaded GRE. Yes, it sucks and they know this too. The GRE is an elimination tool. It will not make you and it will not necessarily break you. If you score well meaning 1000 or above, it will help you by showing you are a well rounded individual. If you score poorly, which in my opinion is anything 850 or below, it is not going to help you. This does not mean you will not get in if you are otherwise well rounded as an applicant. My advice is to prepare by doing a review course or brushing up before taking this test and do your very best. Do not let it beat you down though.

4)  Competition – Finally you have to look at the program you are applying to. Do they except a lot of applicants or not. This is important. If a program only takes 60 applicants but interviews 800 then the competition is fierce and your overall application needs to be strong. If you are applying to a large program who takes 120 or more students, then you make squeak in with a lower GRE or whatever weak point you may have. This is the best advice I can give but there is a lot more to be said whether it be about the interview or the actual program and what to expect. Good luck!!!

Choosing a nursing school is among the most important decisions you will make in your life.  Here are some aspects that in retrospect I think are very important to review before you finalize your decision on a nursing school.

1. How much time do you have in your schedule? Are you going to have to attend night classes around work? (Like me are you a mother that has to make arrangements around baseball games and piles of laundry?)  This is such an important factor to remember because the homework in nursing school is very extensive and requires a lot of time with one’s nose in a book.  Make sure the curriculum is flexible enough to meet your needs.
2. How are your finances? There are many different nursing schools that vary greatly in price just like any college or University. Check with your local community college, many offer an excellent education in nursing without the price of a State University or private school. There are different ways to fund your tuition if unable to pay.  Check with the institution of your choice regarding student loans, government grants, financial aid and scholarship opportunity.
3. Make sure the nursing school you choose is accredited!! The National League of Nursing Accrediting Commission and The Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education are the two national organizations for general nursing. Are you going to be able to sit for the NCLEX  (the nursing board exam) after completion of this program?
4. What is the schools pass rate on the state nursing board exam (NCLEX)? This is a must check!!! Why would you want to spend 1-4 years in school and the pass rate of the former graduates is 70% ? The nursing school you choose can provide you with the NCLEX pass rate. Please check this before enrolling. You can spend four years in nursing school but if you do not pass the NCLEX  you will NOT be a nurse!!
5. What type of attendance requirements do they have? For example where I went to nursing school if we were more than 15 minutes late we were counted absent for the entire day. You were only allowed to miss three days every 6 months. A good friend of mine was in a different program where they were much more flexible with attendance.
6. Where do they hold their clinical training (hands on training in the field)? Are you in a large city with multiple hospitals? Are you in a small town and the nearest training hospital is one hour away? What are their clinical requirements?  Can you meet the physical expectations of lifting and transferring patients and tolerate being on your feet all day?

Hopefully these 7 pointers will make your nursing school search a little easier, they really helped me in my choice. Good luck!!

Essays are a very important part of the application process for most nursing scholarships. How you present yourself in your essay is the best way for the scholarship awards committee to form an opinion about you and your chance of winning the award.

It is helpful to first make an outline. This is mainly used just for your benefit. It helps you know ahead of time where you plan to take the essay. It is like a mapped out route for a road trip. It helps to know the destination so that your planned route will eventually get you there.

There are three parts to an essay, the introduction, body, and conclusion. I am going to discuss the writing of the first part of the essay, maybe the most important part, the introduction. Why do I say it is possibly the most important? The introduction is where you introduce the main topic of your essay and get the attention of the reader so that they want to continue reading. If you don’t grab their interest initially you may have lost them totally and they will not want to finish reading the inspiring things you have yet to tell them….

The introduction should be short. It is an introduction after all and the purpose of it is to get the reader to the most vital part of the essay, the body. It should be at least three sentences long, but no longer than six. It is important to present the purpose of the essay in the introduction, but it is not necessary to tell all your secrets at once. The point of the introduction is to make the reader (AKA person with free money to give you to go to school) want to actually read what more you have to say. It might be effective to open with an anecdote. An anecdote is a story that will provide the setting for your topic that illustrates a point. Be sure your anecdote is short, to the point, and relevant to your topic. After the anecdote, provide a few sentences about the main topic of your essay.

Put yourself in the mind of the reader. What is it you would want to see? What is your motivation? You need to match your topic to something they would be looking for. Also, the reader as many essays to review. Make sure yours is not placed in the circular file (i.e. the trash can) by making it personal and unique.

Next time, we will go over the meat of your essay, the body.

7) Not everyone gets in. This means you have to be better than other people. Yes this includes better grades. There are numerous pre-requisite classes and the more you have completed the better chance you will have of getting accepted into school. It is much harder to get into school and eventually receive a license with any kind of criminal record. If you have problems in this area then it is best to speak to a counselor or advisor to find out if you will be able to proceed with school before getting too far. Our first day of class our instructors warned us that even having been convicted of driving while intoxicated could prevent us from obtaining a nursing license.

6) Everything else in life becomes less important. Your family, loved ones, yes even the boyfriend/husband (or for you guys, the girlfriend/wife, though we are typically more understanding in general). They will all need to understand that nursing school is a full time commitment that has to take precedence over everything else in life in order for you to succeed at it. You will need a lot of support and assistance so that you can put all your effort into the program. This is a full-time commitment.

5) Be positive nursing is something you TRULY want to and can do. Nursing is not for everyone. Do not waste your time if it is not something you can do. In my first year of school we lost a student because the first time she held a needle to someone’s skin she passed out…..she had worked very hard to get to that point and realized it wasn’t for her. I’m not saying you should go around sticking people with needles to see if you pass out or not, just think about it and maybe volunteer at a hospital or nursing home to see if you are prepared for that kind of environment.

4) It is unlike any other classroom experience you have ever had. Nursing school is not like your biology class or English class of the past. This is serious stuff. I am not just talking about the clinical aspect. Nursing education is not in the black/white format of a math class. 2+2 is not always 4, sometimes it is 5 or 10, just depending on the situation. You have to learn a new thought process. You may have several “right” answers in front of you, but must choose the “best” right answer depending on any number of variables. Sure, any of the answers may get you where you need to go, but will the patient make it through your trial and error?

3) Clinicals are meant to scare the crap out of you. You will be forced to actually walk into a stranger’s hospital room and examine them from head to toe; this includes ALL parts by the way. And while doing this you must appear that you are totally at ease looking at strange naked people and behave as if you know exactly what you are doing. This is even more difficult to accomplish with the ever present instructor standing behind your back watching everything you do. But if you make it to your final semester, they essentially leave you to your own devices because at that point even the instructors are fooled into thinking you might actually know what you are doing.

2) There will be nursing students who are not married, do not work, do not have kids, and can totally devote their whole being to succeeding at school. You will hate these people. They will go above and beyond and impress the instructors with their knowledge because they can study 14 hours a day and knit all 6 instructors personalized stethoscope covers in their spare time. Again, you will hate these people. Don’t try to talk to them or get them to downplay their abilities because they will not listen and will only work harder to show you up!

1) It is extremely rewarding! Once you finish, and yes you can finish and graduate and pass boards, you will have joined a professional organization that you can grow and change with. There are so many possibilities for nurses to gain autonomy and become a valuable asset to any community. Nursing is not just a job; it is a career in which we change people’s lives. A very intelligent nurse once told me that if he (the patient) can lay there and go through it then I can certainly stand beside him and comfort him during it. Nurses are comfort to a patient; always remember why you are there and what you mean to the one you are caring for.