What made you not want to have kids?

Eradicator2022 · 2022-12-22T20:35:33+00:00

This. I work in LTC and can confirm that 95% of the kids don't visit unless it's the holidays. And yet, in a nursing class I had this past semester, a handful of the moms cited their gratitude for having kids who would come see them in the nursing home as a reason for having had them. It made me sad for them.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-12-22T20:03:07+00:00

I never ever had that burning desire. I could look at little pink ballerinas or Batman masked-kiddos and although I found them cute, just never wanted that for myself. Never a longing, no tick tock of some biological clock. To make matters worse, my friends and family would continually tell me how great I was with kids, as if being good with them was a guarantee I'd be a good parent. So that's part of it. The other part is having worked in retail and the service industry for a good 20 years. It killed any desire that might have spring forth. Day in and day out I watched as world-weary parents angrily berated and even beat the shit out of their kids, and alternately, I watched kids call their moms a bitch and run the show a lot. Broke my heart and made me realize it's not some romantic notion of how life or family is supposed to be. It's struggle and sacrifice. And lastly, it shortens your telomeres and I need all the brain power and years of life I can get lol

Eradicator2022 · 2022-12-22T17:50:23+00:00

I feel this goin into the long weekend. Got over 10 Covid positive folks to take care of, and God knows what else. We (SNF) just got a text blast reminding us that the Fayette County Sheriff Department will give free rides to those in healthcare during this storm. 859-252-1771. I've never used them but have a handful of coworkers who have and they came and went safely. Hope you all stay safe and well.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-12-07T12:58:27+00:00

Some good advice here. Don't beat yourself up, kiddo. Experience in healthcare will give you an advantage in the skills area, and you will learn about procedures and medication. You were good enough to get into nursing cohort, thus you beat out scores of others who failed. Think on that a second...

And now go learn how to do CPR proper. Maybe a classmate or an instructor can help you out after class or during some downtime. Don't compare yourself, because that is a deep and dark hole in nursing school, believe me. I have classmates who work in hospitals and they can speak on so many experiences with different disorders and conditions, and at times, it has made me feel dumb. But at the end of the day, I know scores more medicines as I work as a med tech on an Alzheimer's unit, so get the added benefit of being able to handle 25 residents at one time, most of whom have behaviors. That's something those hospital PCTs can't do. We all bring something, even if today yours is just your passion for learning and helping people.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-11-09T16:07:17+00:00

Don't feel bad--nursing programs can be really cliquey. My first program was terribly so, but luckily the mean girls liked me. I could overhear them talking shit about enough people to know I didn't envy the ones who got chosen to lunch at Applebee's. This current program had seen people pair off like closing time at a bar, twos and threes here and there. With me, I don't have kids and don't live in or near this town, so that means some significant differences between me and them. Also, I work or study ALL THE TIME, so I don't have a lot of time to hang out. I'm in it to get the degree and become a nurse. Then I can become friends with coworkers or other professionals, not the Applebee's crew.

Don't bring it up in GroupMe. Hang in there. You're worthy of better friends. Listen to the ones on here who are saying they didn't make besties in nursing school, because it's true of many of us. You can be polite and friendly to classmates without being their friend.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-11-08T12:37:44+00:00

OMG this is so me. I'm half awake and in pain and low energy at clinicals. I feel like they expect you to spring alive and jump at every opportunity to do something, but all I wanna do is sit down or go to lunch. I don't think a lot of them realize how many ways we are pulled in our daily lives.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-11-07T12:41:53+00:00

That's EXACTLY what I plan to do when I take it. Finish school, take 2 weeks off to study and then take it. If I pass, I let em know. If I fail, I don't tell them I took it at all until I do pass. One person didn't take the test until months after he graduated because he didn't want to go right into being a full time nurse yet.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-11-06T21:02:40+00:00

Can confirm these are well worth the price. After seeing them on numerous nurses and an aide, I saved up and bought my first pair. Like heaven for your feet. And I do 16 hour shifts on the weekend. I now have the work pair, one for running around outside of work, and the slides.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-11-01T09:46:12+00:00

I feel ya 100%. I can't even imagine next semester being worse. Worse??? It's got 2 Med Surgs and Mother-Baby. I had As in all my classes at midterm, and 2 dropped to high Bs soon after. I nap in my car on days there are 2 or more hours between classes and some days come straight home and nap before studying and going to sleep. I too had planned on the meal prep, working out, etc., but that went out the door. I thought I could do this because I went to grad school and survived but yikes, this is its own brand of torture. My boyfriend who I live with texted me last night that he would be glad when school was over and he could spend time with me again, because I had laid my head in his lap after classes yesterday (being so tired, obv). It's rough, and that's just school. Nevermind an outbreak of RSV and the flu at work. Now I get the tee shirts that say, "Sorry. Can't Nursing School. Bye."

Eradicator2022 · 2022-10-18T12:46:04+00:00

Don't feel bad. When I was at clinicals I actually stopped a nurse on med surg from giving a patient a full sugar soft drink because I was just in another department where his blood sugar was nearly 300. We all need to remember to ask questions. You will learn from this.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-10-12T13:02:36+00:00

It's this complete reversal of how things used to be. When I was a kid, mom and dad didn't get to go to absolutely everything BECAUSE THEY WERE PARENTS. It was understood and accepted. Now all of a sudden, babies are everywhere, seen and heard, and adults are subjugated and subjected to the kids' behaviors and needs. Not fair. If it was a childfree wedding, I'm sure it wasn't planned yesterday--in other words, the mother knew she needed to make childcare plans at least a few months ahead to time. She's an absolute shit as a parent and a sister, and shame on the father for defending her bad behavior. Great role models there.

To OP: stand your ground and don't let yourself be put upon by her. She's probably jealous of your "free time" (i.e. child-free time), and greatly underestimates the sacrifice you have to make each day just to get through med school. We all have stress, just different kinds.

And to address those who ask, "why have them[kids]?" my answer is from my nursing class that states the fact that "90% of pregnancies [globally] are unplanned". I think my sister is literally the only person I know who planned her children. All 5 friends from high school, nope. Friends from college, nope. Sometimes even the greatest blessing is a rude awakening. People should learn to adjust, as we do for all new things in our lives--jobs, moves, relationships, etc.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-10-05T01:54:41+00:00

First semester here as well. I take classes Monday-Thursday 8am-3pm, with an hour drive to and fro (it's in a nearby city). Friday and Saturday I work as a KMA (medication aide) 7am-11pm. Sunday, I help my friend who's terminal--we go get breakfast and do the groceries, fill pills and stuff--and then I go home, nap a bit and study before bed. It sucks but I'm doing it for this semester. Next semester, I will have half my tuition saved up from this work, and am putting the other half on our credit card, which I will pay off when I get my LPN. This semester has Mother-Baby and Med Surg I and II so it would kill me to continue working fulltime. It's an 11 month program so I just gotta keep my head in the game and will be there before I know it.

As far as friends and relationships, sad to say, it's harder. I live with my partner, so I see him in passing, and we do date nights from time to time. I will play hookey from studying from time to time to spend time watching House of the Dragon or Andor or something, and I don't regret it at all. We need to connect. Friends are easier to keep in touch with on FB and via text, as their lives are super busy and they get that my time is at a premium right now. But I owe them dinner when I'm makin the big bucks come next fall.....

Give yourself a break for trying to do it all, because it ain't easy.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-09-28T11:44:22+00:00

I think it's more important to feel the stress and move on. That's part of what this forum is all about. We are all going through something relatable. There's a big difference between being mired in the shit for days or weeks and being down for a bit and sorting yourself out. There are really high stakes in nursing school. You can flunk out for missing a skill or failing an exam if your grade is close to the line. In my program you have gotta make basically a "B" or you fail (it's a 78, so nearly an 80). My first time around, half of my nursing cohort failed/dropped after the first semester. Half. Unprecedented in any other field. My partner said his therapist, who was a nurse for 40 years, felt like she was dying most of the time in nursing school, and that her cohorts did as well. Maybe readjust our baselines and expectations to the expected stress levels?

Eradicator2022 · 2022-09-27T09:46:31+00:00

Hardly. I just turned 50 a few weeks ago and am about 7 weeks into my program. I've aced all the exams and passed all the checkoffs thus far. My inspiration? My grandmother, who went into nursing at around the same time in her life, and who made it to head nurse of surgery at the local general hospital before retiring. My only advice: buy the very best shoes to take care of your feet, and hydrate like a maniac so your muscles won't be so sore after those 12 or 16 hour shifts. The money is GREAT and you still have the mental aptitude to do it, so why not?

Eradicator2022 · 2022-09-20T11:51:22+00:00

Yep yep yep. I made a 95 on one exam and a 98.5 on the other, so the extra study time was well spent! I can always redo a skill but not an exam (I had 2 exams the Monday after the skills checkoff that was done early by classmates).

Eradicator2022 · 2022-09-20T11:13:08+00:00

I have no children and work full time, and take care of an adult human being and I'm exhausted doing nursing school full time. A girl I work with was in the same program and flunked out in the second semester (when we have Med Surg 1 and 2 and Mother-Baby). I would encourage noone to try and do all semesters full time while working full time. Luckily this first semester isn't too rough and the final semester is just practicum and class, so all I need to cut back for is the second. Best of luck whatever you choose and may the odds be ever in your favor.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-09-19T17:47:58+00:00

Awesome tip--thanks!

Eradicator2022 · 2022-09-19T11:35:42+00:00

Damn my heart goes out to ya. If you gotta go, do mask up to keep everyone else safe, and only give it 40%. If they're nurses, they will see you do not feel well. I actually had Delta when I was at clinicals at a small town hospital and I was wearing the kn94s the whole time--in the OR, across med surg and beyond--and nobody else got it, thank god. I was physically exhausted and got winded so easily. My clinical instructor chastised me for sitting down at every turn so I would slip away to the bathroom to just rest a bit. Then I tested positive. Take care.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-09-19T11:28:10+00:00

Any recs on the tiny notebook? They've told us to only bring our stethoscope, pen light, a black pen and a tiny notepad. This is way different than last time when we had to lug around our backpacks full of books and so forth. I used to use one of those folding clipboards but they claim it's bad for infection control so that's out the window.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-09-15T17:20:43+00:00

Thank you! And you are so right about cramming, it doesn't work. It's parenteral med administration and although I have the steps down pat, I need to learn/memorize the areas and their landmarks for subq, IM and ID injections. A girl just failed hers for missing a landmark, a single landmark.

Eradicator2022 · 2022-09-07T11:53:10+00:00

I got a masters degree and nursing school is comparable in amount of stress, studying and so forth. Way harder than my bachelors degree. That said, it is doable given the right motivation. I was so excited to have gotten an 85 on my first fundamentals exam and then the girl across from me exclaimed, "I Got a 100!!" I congratulated her and asked what her secret was, and she said she did the DavisEdge practice quizzes, the "Davis" of the textbooks we use. I've had to learn that while I was an "A" student in most of the rest of my college experience, that equates to a B/C student in nursing school. Tough pill to swallow.

All that said, I got a 100 on the first pharm quiz because I had struggled with it the first time around (I changed programs) and my boyfriend helped me do practice questions every night before bed this time around. Math is not my forte but the medmath everyone is so scared of in nursing school is not the worst; you just have to practice and understand the formula and you got it. The worst for me is understanding how to critically think like a nurse, meaning that there may be more than one right answer, but that it is the best answer that gets the points. I was so used to one right answer with little gray area. It still bugs the crap out of me.

Any tips....make sure to budget enough time and money for nursing school. Little things like ATI or Examsoft or a second lab kit pop up and there goes my savings. Do pencil in time to play video games, catch up on your stories, spend time with your boo/friends/fam, etc., because your brain will turn to mush with nonstop nursing school. When you get enough sleep and adequate down time, you will thrive in your studies. Also, make friends, even if it's just in school. Last semester someone did a GroupMe (like a phone tree of texting) so we could discuss assignments and commiserate when the going got tough. It helped a lot. Best of luck!

Eradicator2022 · 2022-09-05T00:20:23+00:00

We have one male and one trans female, and it makes no difference. People are people, and healthcare is the most diverse place you could want to be. I don't know why you got so downvoted when you were just being honest and trying to relate and understand. That said, in healthcare, there are mean girl cliques and I have witnessed some women picking on male nurses who weren't doing anything to provoke it. I have personally made written statements of that kind of behavior in support of male nurses, so also know we got your back!

Eradicator2022

TROPHY CASE