any new york nurses? thinking of going to school!!

prunepie · 12-24-2006, 08:49 PM

i might ahve posted about this 2 years ago but i never went to school for my rn.... but now the desire is coming back again... except for the fact that its time to ttc soon and nursing school is veryyyy competive and demanding i hear ( not to mention i suck at math)

just curious if there are any ny nurses out there and if so..where did you go to school and with what degree and if you have kids and how you managed it all!! ty!!!

bec415 · 12-24-2006, 09:05 PM

Hi Jennifer, I'm not a nurse. But I just wanted to say I suck at math too! And that's why I put off going to school for radiography this long. I have to actually do the pre-requisite algebra first, but I'm starting the course this september. I really encourage you to give it a try, especially since you've been thinking about it for this long. I'm still going to work full time and only study part time, even if takes a while to get through it, I think it might be ok only needing to focus on one or two subjects at a time.

Butterfly Kisses · 01-02-2007, 04:21 AM

I am a nurse...but not in NY. Just wanted to let you know that I too suck at math. If this is a true desire for you, I encourage you to just go for it. I can't imagine doing anything else. As far as managing your time and ttc...I would work towards getting into a program and take it from there. When I went to school we had students that were single mothers of 4, one that delivered 2 months before graduation, one that lived in a car for a semester. It's totally doable! Good luck!

soaper woman · 01-02-2007, 10:39 AM

i'm going for my LPN (and i live in NY). i'm not the greatest at math but i don't seem to have a problem. I go to a private night/weekend college and it works perfectly for me. I have 4 kids (including 1 toddler) and although the school costs more than if i were to go to a community college, I'll gladly suck up the extra cost to be able to have classes every other weekend and one night during the week. when I finish my LPN, i'll be going for my RN (at the same school) and then I'll have to go some place else for my BS in nursing but by then, my oldest will be in college and my baby will be in kindergarten so day classes won't be a problem.

i say just go for it and make it work. i've wanted to be a nurse for a long time and stuff just kept getting in the way. i'm 37 now and finally a college student (and wife and mother of 4) and it's definitely worth it.

prunepie · 01-02-2007, 08:48 PM

hi ladies,
thanks for your words of encouragement!!!!

i think at 31 with no kids yet it feels like the worst time to go to school... bc well ... i guess its the fear of failure. but i do need to do this or i will always regret it!!!

thank you!!

kid? · 01-02-2007, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prunepie

i think at 31 with no kids yet it feels like the worst time to go to school... bc well ... i guess its the fear of failure. but i do need to do this or i will always regret it!!!
thank you!!

i think you should at least give it a shot if you really want to do it. i suck at math and i'm in medical school... surviving so far.

prunepie · 01-02-2007, 11:24 PM

hi kid... you go girl!!!

lachicarubia · 01-04-2007, 12:29 AM

I am a nurse, but not in New York.
I got my BSN, but an ADN earns the same as a BSN and only has 2-3 years of school.
I had time to finish school and worked 1 year before DS#1 was born.
I absolutely love being a nurse. I work nights, so I am home with the children during the day, and my husband cares for them during the nights.
I only work p/t, 2-3 nights a week, and I my paycheck is the same as my DH who works full time. So it is WAY worth it. If anything happens to my DH, I could easily start working full time to make up the missing income (especially with the nursing shortage that is going on right now).

If it is your dream to become a nurse, I would say to go for it. I don't remember doing a whole lot of math, except statistics. The hardest part was getting into the program, that was very competitive, but some schools just have a waiting list, and will accept everyone that meets certian qualifications. Some waiting lists are over a year, so if the school you want to go to has a waiting list, be sure to get on it right away.

I wish you the best of luck.

GigiDG · 01-04-2007, 01:15 AM

I live in NJ (about a hop, skip, and a jump away from NY). I was in nursing school and made the big mistake of leaving. I was dealing with personal issues at the time and couldn't continue with the classes. Biggest mistake of my life!...I'd be done by now. As for now, I'm trying to finish my pre-requisites and then I'll be applying again to a nursing school in the area. I'm working full-time and going taking classes so I completely understand how hard it is. Its sooooooo worth it. Good luck to all of you who are in school.

tlz769 · 01-05-2007, 07:04 AM

I agree. GO FOR IT! I just finished for my RN diploma last july, while working FT nites,...and so many of my classmates were mom's, wives, working FT etc. A few were even pregnant during, delivered and still graduated on time. It's do-able, and I think most schools are understanding about family and outside commitments (sometimes you wonder about certain instructors, but you'll have this everywhere!) Good luck & congrats on choosing a fulfilling & rewarding career!!!

guineapig · 01-17-2007, 02:11 AM

I'm not from New York, but here goes. I went to nursing school starting when I had just turned 28. Nursing school IMO is the most academically demanding, time-consuming, and financially draining experience of my life. 10000x as hard as when I went to engineering school, but VERY little math in nursing profession or in school IMO. Maybe one math question on my NCLEX. I also had a hard time emotionally. Granted, I had "issues" but when you have PCOS and have been bleeding for two years & docs are telling you you'll never have children the last thing I wanted to see was 14 year olds having baby #2. I almost quit school over the OB/labor-delivery rotation; I was certainly one step from the nuthouse. But somehow (a kind listening professor, my wonderful mother, and God) I got through it all, and passed the boards.

We actually started to ttc the spring of my senior year, and were surprisingly quickly successful. I love my DD. BUT let me tell you also, it is VERY difficult to find a nursing job when you are pregnant. I wasn't even close to "showing," just honest. I had several employers actually TAKE BACK job offers when I told them, and other hospitals told me I would be fired upon maternity leave since I would not have enough time for FMLA. So be cautious about your timing. Might be better to either have baby and be done with it during school (if you have the $ and energy), or wait to ttc until the birth would happen AFTER you'd been at your job a year. Or wait to work until after baby comes, but financially we couldn't do that. Of course, if you need insurance from a nursing job that's another layer on the cake altogether.

I finally got one job by, er, hiding things, on a regular medical floor but I was constantly sick on the job from the sights, smells, and heavy lifting. It was not so during my unpregnant school clinicals. It was also around that time that, coincidence or not, my placenta started to crap out (32 weeks) and DD stopped growing. I ended up, by the grace of God, getting another more "desky" nursing job (psychiatric nurse) where at least I wasn't sick all day. However, the placenta didn't recover and I had to deliver early (37 weeks). I have also heard weird, horror stories about ICU nurses & weird birth defects so if that's your dream area you might wanna have baby first.

Again, all this is just my opinion, but it's something I wish someone would have told me. Also, if you can, work somewhere as a tech, even just PRN or summers while you are in school. Here you can do it after your first semester of nursing school, or take a tech/CNA/MHA class for a few weeks and get certified. I know, it's "cleaning up pee", but let me tell you: The gals from my class that did this scored better jobs than even the Valedictorian. Some people who didn't work had great difficulty indeed finding jobs. Shortage my butt, some of my most favorite, well-qualified classmates couldn't even get interviews b/c they had no PAID "hospital" experience of any type.

I love my job and I am glad I went to school. But I caution anyone to watch the timing of ttc b/c we almost lost our house over me not being able to get/hold a job when I otherwise would have been able to. Perhaps the laws are different in NY though.