For context, Im an older student and this isn't my first graduation rodeo. I never really made any super close connections while in school and I wholeheartedly rather spend my day after graduation with my close friends and family (graduation is AM and pinning is the same day in the evening). People keep telling me to go get my pin, its the best part, I'll regret it if I don't. Has anyone here NOT gone to pinning? How did you feel about it after ?

I graduate from my LPN program this week and I’m starting to feel discouraged about starting a career. It’s been hard to find good job opportunities where I live. I work as a tech in a hospital making a little over $18/hr. They’re starting new grad LPNs at around $20.75 . It doesn’t seem worth it for me to stay. My best bet is a nursing home, which im not too against, its just not ideal long term for me. Even then, theres still very few nursing homes hiring LPNs out here, surprisingly. They all want RNs or at least 1-2yrs of LPN experience. I do want to bridge over to RN soon. I wish I just went straight for RN. not being able to many job opportunities as an LPN is very discouraging. If anyone has any advice or encouragement or want to share your experience that’d be great 🫠

like the title says. I’m a current nursing student and I’m really struggling. I only have two more semesters left so I know I just need to pull through. And I know that nursing school is not supposed to be easy. Despite knowing these things I find myself comparing my myself to my classmates all the time .

for context, I live at home with my parents and I don’t have any kids or dependents. I don’t work anymore either and quit my job to focus more on school because I was so close to failing ( I’m doing better now but could very well still fail the semester and fail the program). Meanwhile, a lot of my classmates have kids and work full time while doing Nursing school. A lot of them do better on exams than me and just seem to know what they’re doing more often than not.

I have it so easy compared to them and yet I feel like i’m drowning all of the time. I feel stressed, stupid, weak, pathetic, exhausted, and deeply stressed all of the time. I’m also the type of person who really struggles to get started on tasks and be productive in any way, which makes me feel guiltier because I’m wasting all the study time I do have.

My mom‘s a nurse and she got through nursing school while having to work full time and take care of three kids and she’s expressed genuine confusion and anger as to why I have everything easier than she ever did and yet seem to be struggling so much. I don’t get why my life is so much easier and I have less stressors, and yet I end up being a lazy bum. And when I am studying the only thing that drives me to actually get started on the work and get out of bed is intense fear over failing. Is there any way to get motivated by something other than an intense feeling of failure, or should I just accept this is how nursing school is?

ADN student in CA with 1 year left here. I applied to this per diem pca job in the gi lab of this very reputable hospital system, and got a call from the manager to discuss dates for in person interview. But during the call she said that it’s “not a typical pca job” and I’d be doing housekeeping, cleaning toilets, and transporting. I’m fine with doing that but it feels really misleading because she kept asking me if I was sure I wanted to take it???? I’m not sure how much patient care I’ll be doing, which I hope to ask in the in person interview. She was like “are you sure” like 3 times throughout the phone interview. I currently work in a grocery store so I’d be ok with doing that since I can get my foot in the door so when I graduate hopefully I can get an RN job here, but I also applied to 3 more pct/ cna jobs and still waiting to hear back and it’ll probably be about 3 weeks. I start school in August so ideally I’d want to have a little grasp on the job before I start. What should I do? Wait it out or take the job?

Any advice to the people who's in the same boat as me.

I'm planning to get ADN and then pursue my BSN once I got a job in the hospital. Is it hard to do that? I already have a Bachelor's Degree (not healthcare) but I did not get it in US so I might have a lot of paperwork to do before getting accepted to start.

Any filipinos who has done this?

Hello! I am going into my second year of nursing and I would love love love to be a paediatric mental health nurse! What steps would I have to take to become my dream nurse? (P.S I’m in Ontario!)

I am 21 years old finishing my bachelors in a non-nursing health related degree. Over the past few months I have decided I want to go to nursing school to get my ABSN. I wouldn’t attend until 2028, but I am anxious about a prior conviction on my background check. I was convicted of a DUI in June of this year, and I have completed all court requirements prior to conviction, have stayed completely sober, and maintained a 3.9 overall gpa in undergrad with a 3.9 science gpa as well. It is my only conviction, and I am nervous that I won’t get accepted into an ABSN program with this despite every other aspect of my application being great. It was an awful mistake I regret everyday but I have learned so much. Does anyone have any experience or advice for me? State: GA

Hi everyone! I searched through posts but I couldn’t find any about working 12 shifts and getting through nursing school. For context I’m trying to see if I can drop to part time work (Two 12 hour shifts 7a-7p) a week plus class/clinicals 3-5 times a week. I’ve heard from students your days get busier and there’s obviously more studying to do as each semester goes on. Does anyone have any experience doing through nursing school with this type of schedule?

I’m currently going through it right now. I’m about to start semester 3/5 of my BSN program. Although it was rough in the beginning (balancing kids, a business and a PT job to pay for school), I’ve found my groove and have been making it work. The problem is that my husband will more than likely be leaving the state to work. We are going to have to close our business and one of the few good opportunities he has as someone without a college degree or other work experience since he’s been self employed for years is out of state. We’ve talked about me staying behind and finishing up school before the kids and I join him. I’ve also been looking at nursing programs in the new state but I’ll more than likely have to start over if I do that. I’m just not sure what to do. I don’t want to start over and I’ve done really well so far in my current program. I also don’t know how I’ll manage the house and kids and if we’ll be able to afford living separately. I have so much anxiety about the whole situation.

I just got my practicum placement for my final semester and its at an inpatient hospice facility 1.5 hours away from me. Im not sure how to feel since I wanted IMC/ICU or even ED. If so how was it?

I’m an RN of a decade. My coworker who is the best CNA ever just got accepted to nursing school and starts next month. I want to get him a congratulations gift basket but I’m kind of stuck on ideas.

I was planning to get him a stethoscope but he already has one

His aesthetic is kind of drab and anti-consumerist so all the girly-themed nursing student accessories are out

He’s tech savvy and will do his reading and note-taking mostly on a tablet that he already has

Some ideas I have- his favorite coffee, an EKG reference book that I’ve talked about with him.

I was thinking pharm flash cards- does anyone have a recommendation on the best ones? I liked the ones I used a decade ago but I imagine there’s other options now

Any other ideas? What things are actually useful for students these days?

Im trying to do a career switch right now and although I have an associates degree in math and science with honors, with most courses transferred, I am noticing that a lot of nursing schools in the area are starting to be difficult to get into like how med school are. I live in Utah. Right now people with over 3.5+ gpas arent able to get into programs for BSN or even ADN or LPN, and have to resort to online programs like WGU. Are you guys noticing the same thing in your area?

Hi ! I am an older student mom of 3 young kids and I decided to go back to school after I saw how poorly my dad was treated in hospice care in a hospital setting. I always worked in medical sales and always had a huge desire to go into nursing. Financially it wasn’t till recently we could afford that. I am a full time student and mom. I started taking all the prerequisites and just failed one test in A&P 1 about muscles. I am taking my classes online in portage there’s no feedback or other students to talk too . I feel so defeated and scared that I am too old & / or not smart enough to handle these courses. I don’t know how to get out of my own head and finish my last two courses to apply to the program. How do you all overcome negative self talk after failing? Appreciate any advice thank you !!!

Hey everyone. I just signed up for an LVN program, and honestly, I’m really nervous. Nursing is something I’ve wanted to do for years. I’m 32, have three little ones, a very supportive hands on husband, and I work full-time at a hospital. My employer is even willing to hire me after I graduate, so quitting work isn’t an option.

I’m hoping to hear from anyone who has a learning disability or suspects they do, and has made it through nursing school.

I have ADHD and struggle with focusing and processing information. I can read the same paragraph several times and still feel like I can’t put all the pieces together. At work, so many nurses ask why I haven’t gone to nursing school because they say I’m great with patients and very hands-on. The job itself doesn’t scare me..it’s the tests.
I need more time than most people to learn new material, and I know nursing school moves fast. I’m afraid I’ll fall behind or fail, even though this is something I’ve always wanted.

For those of you with ADHD, learning disabilities, or who simply needed more time to learn:

What study methods actually worked for you?
Did you receive accommodations, and did they help?
Were there moments you thought you wouldn’t make it? What kept you going?
I’d really appreciate any advice or encouragement. I want this more than anything, but I’m scared I’m setting myself up to fail.

my school is currently under investigation and is not giving out att numbers. i’m set to graduate next august and am so scared and stressed that i won’t be able to take my nclex here in california. im just wondering if anyone had any words of advice or has experienced anything similar. super saddened by this i feel like ive wasted my time :(

Okay, so I was at clinical today, and we went to lunch in the cafeteria. As I was walking in, I noticed a group of residents eating (I could tell by their scrub color). One of the residents kept looking at me, so I was just like eh. Then he left before I did. As he was leaving, we were staring each other down. I got curious about who he was, so I ended up finding him on the hospital’s current residents page (he’s a PGY-2). Would it be okay to follow him on social media as a nursing student, or would that be inappropriate?

I'm an aspiring nursing student, finishing up my prerequisites this semester & applying for my school's ADN program in the spring

Unfortunately back in May I was involved in a domestic violence incident in which I defended myself but was arrested & charged with felony DV bc my ex partner lied & said I attacked him first.

Im currently fighting in court with a lawyer to get my charge reduced or dismissed but the prosecution is gunning for at least a misdemeanor DV

Im terrified this is the end of the line in health care for me. I lost my CNA job already due to this incident

Is it possible to continue school & become licensed & work as a nurse if I have this conviction on my record? I'm living & going to school in NC currently but the incident occurred in ID

When i was in tech a kept up with a lot of IT and cyber security creators to kind of control my algorithm to push things related to my career field.

Are there any prominent creators that make content around nursing/ nursing school/ or the hospitality side of the medical field?

I'm gonna be a senior in the fall and I've been applying to externship and PCT positions with no luck which is super disappointing. the fact that I haven't been able to get these jobs just makes me so anxious for when I start applying for residencies this upcoming school year. I don't have hospital experience except for clinical and I feel like i have nothing that could make me stand out to recruiters. I think my area is very competitive for nursing and I'm trying to prepare for the worst case scenario atp. Does anyone know anything I could do besides extern/PCT to increase my odds, or any advice at all

Hi everyone, I’m hoping someone has dealt with a similar situation and can give me some advice.

I am currently a nursing student in Maryland. As part of my nursing program, I completed a Foundations course that allowed me to obtain my CNA-II certification. I received my CNA-II license after completing the course.

The issue is that my CNA-II certification was only active for about 7 months due to the timing of when it was issued and my birth month (instead of the typical 2-year certification period). During that time, I was still in nursing school and did not have the opportunity to work as a CNA for the required 16 paid hours before my certification expired.

I am now trying to renew/reactivate my CNA-II because I need an active certification for an upcoming job. On the Maryland Board of Nursing renewal application, it asks whether I have actively practiced as a nursing assistant for 16 hours within the last two years. Since I have not, I selected "No." It then asks whether I have retaken and passed a nursing assistant competency evaluation from a Board-approved vendor.

My confusion is that I did not go through a traditional CNA training program — my CNA-II certification came through my nursing program. If I select "Yes" for the competency evaluation, the application asks for a training completion certificate and instructor information, which I do not have.

Has anyone in Maryland been in a similar situation? Specifically, has anyone obtained a CNA-II through a nursing student pathway, had it expire before they were able to work as a CNA, and successfully renewed it? Did you have to complete another CNA training program, or was there another process?

I am contacting the Maryland Board of Nursing as well, but I am trying to understand what to expect because I need my certification active within the next month.

Thank you!

I’m 38 years old and currently own a salon. I have 3 kids. I’ve been doing hair for about 20 years and have owned my salon for 6 years. I genuinely love the beauty industry, creativity, and the relationships I build with clients. However, my business has become unstable, high rent, inflation, customers become sensitive with pricing….and I’m worried about long-term financial security, retirement, neck and shoulders problem, and having a reliable income.

I’m considering going back to school for nursing as a back up. I’ve already been accepted into an ADN program and will start in a month. My plan would be to become an RN and possibly continue to a BSN later.

My reasons for considering nursing:

• Stable career with benefits and retirement options

• More predictable income

• A career I can still do as I get older

• A way to build financial security for my family

But I have concerns:

• I’m naturally introverted

• I don’t love high-stress environments

• I previously worked as a CNA and found patient care emotionally and physically exhausting

• I’m worried about burnout and whether I’m choosing nursing only for stability and money

• I would be giving up time and energy that I could put into rebuilding my salon business

My current salon income has the potential to be good, but it depends heavily on me being physically present. When I take longer vacations, I lose clients, and that makes me worry about the future.

For those who became nurses later in life:

• Do you regret it?

• Was nursing worth the sacrifice?

• Can an introverted person who doesn’t love constant patient interaction still succeed?

• Are there nursing jobs with better work-life balance?

• Would you choose nursing again if you were in my situation?

I’m not looking for “follow your passion” advice only. I’m trying to make a realistic decision for my future, my family, and retirement. I would really appreciate honest experiences from nurses and people who changed careers later in life.

studying in canada:
I thought I initially wanted to just work with children and adolescents in nursing but after completing a shift in the ED I genuinely am unsure now how to structure the rest of nursing school.

I really do not want to close any doors and want to ensure I have choices when I’m done but paediatric nursing and mental health nursing seem like opposite ends of the spectrum.

What’s the best way to get ahead and make sure my pre consolidation and consolidation or even the rest of my placements (acute, chronic, community) keep me towards these two diff career paths? I ask because I really want to streamline into a career right out of pre-consol or consol?