Too many balls in the air!

My head is kind of swimming at the moment. Too many things to juggle and arrange and prioritize for this Fall.

(1) My boss at the tutorial center asked me to teach the supplemental instruction group for physiology this fall. The hours I would need to work for that directly conflict with the hours at my new job. It felt too soon (only 2 weeks in) to start asking for special shift considerations at the new place, so I turned my tutoring boss down.

(2) At my new job at the retirement home, one of my coworkers is going to be out for maternity leave for the next 3 months, so they are raising my hours to full time while she's gone, as well as having me put through paperwork (fingerprinting and physical) for one of their other facilities so that I can substitute there. This means (a) I will be working or volunteering *every* day of the week, including weekends (b) It's still more information to take in

(3) Various educational opportunities abound:

(a) Phlebotomy: I'm signed up for a class that would require me driving 50 minutes two nights per week and finding time in my schedule to accomplish externship hours on week days, also 50 minutes away, and well-rested and ready to be professional.

(b) Basic cardiac arrhythmia: A course necessary to apply for jobs as a monitor tech in a local hospital, which pays more than either of my current jobs and would probably let me have more flexible hours around my nursing school time about a year from now. I am signed up for a version of this class at the community college 50 minutes from here on Tuesday mornings (would require cutting back on tutoring hours and cost some money for tuition, textbook), and there is a possibility I could take it at the local hospital instead (would require approval of the hospital, probably free, might give me a better in for getting a job later, on Wednesdays but don't know what time yet.

(c) I have to stay in at least one class if I want to keep my tutoring job...maybe even 6 units worth? Not sure. Eeeek.

(d) I am also signed up for medical assisting at the local community college but that was just an "in case I don't have work" option, because it would require 3 or 4 days per week basically all day during Fall. However, I'm reluctant to drop it yet because I still have anxiety about being out of work and not being able to get the class back.

(e) the pre-nursing advisor suggested I sign up for the first in the series of nursing program classes, which they will let someone take if they have completed all the pre-reqs. There is an online option for this class, and I think there are still spots available, but should I take it now? Should I wait and take it in person when I start the program because most everyone else will be? Should it be my 1 class that I am taking this Fall if I need it to remain a tutor?

(f) I will probably hear from the 2nd in-nursing-home CNA program I applied to in August or September, and I will have to make a decision if I feel okay leaving my new job (at a time that would be difficult for them), and if it is worth it to get full time benefits/less pay/work nights/perhaps more flexibility/etc....(my health insurance from my last job runs out in 4 months)

Blahh....it's hard to keep track of everything.

I think.... I think at this point, I probably should be feeling more stable at my new retirement home job, and I should go ahead and drop the medical assisting course. And maybe I should sign up for the online version of the "nursing 101" class (that's not its actual title, I just can't remember right now).

Phew. I feel a little better just having laid it all out there. But I'm still kind of stressed.

What now?

I had my first week of Spring semester last week. I am taking Human Physiology, and Psychology. I am not sure quite how it worked out but in my first B.S., I think it was my microbiology class that ended up fulfilling whatever requirement it was that people usually take Psych for in undergrad.

It turns out that the lecturer I am going to have this term for Physiology is the same one I had last term for Anatomy. However, she is using all of the same materials for the class from the woman who usually teaches it, and that teacher, I can tell is ultra organized. So that will help. I wasn't able to get back into the Psychology section I dropped for the new job that didn't work out (see last post) but I was able to add a different section for Thursday nights, 7-10pm. It uses the same book, which is a relief, and seems like it will be extremely, extremely easy.

I got my job back at the campus tutoring center, and adjusted my schedule so that I will only be working on Tuesday through Thursday, the same days I am on campus anyway for class. I am hoping because I will be starting at the beginning of the semester this time instead of part way through, and I know more what to expect, I can really get a good group of students established right off who will be consistent. 20 hours per week x 9 dollars an hour = 180 per week, or 720 minus taxes per month, but that is only if everyone shows up and my schedule is full.

My confidence in myself kind of took a hit with the whole fiasco at my last job. I know I need to get a second job but now I am not sure what to do. It would be nice to get something in health care... two possibilities there would be:

(a) work in a nursing home doing elder care
(b) finish my cardiac arrhythmia training and try for a tele monitor job at a local hospital

And another possibility I am considering now, mostly because they have medical benefits for part-timers is:

(a) Starbucks barista

I have to say that the Starbucks thing is kind of appealing. I could work my 3 days at the tutoring center, 3 days at the coffee shop, and end up with enough income to not be going in the hole every month and also be able to stop paying COBRA health insurance after 3 months. It might be kind of tiring to work 6 days per week but maybe this would be the best solution.

If I was able to get a tele monitor job, their shifts are 12 hours, and 3 shifts is considered full time. I don't know how flexible they might be about scheduling around a school schedule, or that might be a good possibility. The main thing holding me back from that is my confidence level. What if I'm not good at it, and what if I make a bad impression at one of the two local hospitals, and then once I'm done with nursing school and looking for jobs I won't feel comfortable going back? Maybe that's being ridiculous.

If I went for the tutoring + starbucks option, I doubt I would be able to fit in 200 hours of health care work experience before I turn in my nursing school application. I don't know.

Elder care could also be fine, it's just a matter of finding a job, as none are posted right now. Plus, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't throw in medical benefits for a part-timer so that would mean quitting my tutoring job and stuff or just doing part time and continuing on cobra still.

Lots to think about.

One bright ray of hope in all the gray: I ended up with an A (not even a minus) in Anatomy for last semester. I found out earlier this week but forgot to post it in all the chaos. That will help my application. I was right on the border at the end of the term, so I must have done pretty well on the final.

New Job = Stress

I feel like I have been doing alright at work so far. I'm not picking up on things perhaps as quickly as they would like me to, which is frustrating for both of us. The problem I've been having with the training I'm going through has to do with both speed, and organization. There are 10+ instruments that I need to learn, all with their individual techniques, quirks, trouble-shooting approaches, rules about paperwork, etc. And the way I am being trained, they are not teaching me about one instrument, letting me practice it, and then moving on to the next; we fly around the building from one instrument to the next gathering little bits of information along the way as we go and hopefully cover all bases by the end. And there is added pressure due to my trainer leaving to go to school and wanting to be out of the schedule as soon as possible.

By the end of next week I have to have passed several "competencies" with supervision. I am getting more confident with more practice, but it is all pretty stressful, and whenever I do something slightly out of line with procedure, I get barked at. Add to that the newness of being on my feet all day, regimented breaks for going to the bathroom or grabbing a snack, and rapidly changing day vs. night shifts that throw me for a loop, and I'm really hanging on by a thread sometimes.

So that gives you some background as to where I am at right now... *then* ...

I come in today, and get word that there may be some problem with me getting "approved" to take my pre-nursing physiology course this Spring, which starts next week. I registered for this class over two months ago. There almost no hope of switching to a different time/section at this point (all sections are full). When I put in my application for the job, I put in a very clear note compounded with the pdf application stating the times and days that I could not work due to my class. I also brought this up several times, with multiple people, including my supervisor, during both interview sessions, and everybody including him said it would be fine.

But when I met with him today, he acted as if this was some big surprise that I needed that time off for my class, expressed what an inconvenience this was to both himself and the rest of the lab, told me that it would not be allowed, intimated that I had been doing a shoddy job so far in my training, and expressed that my job was on the line over this scheduling issue. WTF!

I held it together in the meeting with him, asserted over and over again that this was a necessary course for me, that it would set me back a whole year to not be able to take it this spring, and reminded him repeatedly (and respectfully) that he should have been aware of this issue before hiring me due to our multiple previous discussions.

Afterward, I went to the breakroom to take my 10 minutes and the person who has been training me was in there. I asked her if she was aware if my supervisor would ever hire three people at once with the intention of "testing" them and planning to fire one ultimately. She paused, said she didn't know, and asked me what our supervisor had said. At this point, I started crying and couldn't stop for a while.

Then, in walks the HR person, notices that I am crying, and asks if she can help. I explain to her, through my gasping crying, what has happened, she asks me clear logical questions confirming that I did in fact put in writing my need to have those times off for my class and that I had verbal agreement from my supervisor prior to being hired that it was okay. The person who is training me kept playing the politician and saying she could see both sides, but the HR woman said that our prior agreement should hold, and said that she would talk to my supervisor on my behalf and either he or she would get back to me.

I went on a 20 minute walk after that to try to pull myself together and stop being emotional. I ended up running into a friend who also works there, and we walked together and talked about what had happened, and she told me about her own issues at work. I was somewhat cheered up by the time I had returned.

I also reminded myself that I have not yet put in notice at my old job (which is on hiatus during the semester break), and that I have not yet unregistered from the "extra" classes that I was planning on taking if I couldn't find full time employment by the time the term started. One of those classes is phlebotomy, and it is quite difficult to get into, so I didn't want to drop it until I was very sure that the work situation was going to be stable and doable. So I have backup, but I need to know by the end of the week on both fronts (my old job, and the courses) if I am going to be working, or not.

I went back to work, jumped into running samples again, and when I was loading some vitamin D tests on a machine, I ran into my supervisor and he came up to me and asked if I knew what I was doing. I told him (confidently) that yes, I did. He said that he had talked with so-and-so and that they decided they would be able to work with my school schedule.

So for the time being, everything is okay.

One of the work-arounds for my schedule is that I am potentially going to have to work 6 days a week until the term is over, i.e. every Saturday. And I am willing to do that, though it will be hard to power through sometimes I'm sure, if it means everything will work out.

So that was my day. Things seemed to smooth out somewhat by the end of the day, but I am still anxious about this development, about my supervisor's threat that I need to shape up and prove myself, and everything in general. I needed to vent somewhere and get my experience down, so there you go. Hopefully the next post will be happier.

Why Community College?

When I started looking into this whole nursing thing, I had basically come to the decision that I wanted to move home. I was living out of state at the time, the only one of my family so far away, and especially since the birth of my first niece, it was really bothering me to be so far away.

Things had come to a screeching halt with my research career. Total melt down with my academic advisor, realization that academia really was not going to be a good fit for me (this article explains part of the reason: The Disposable Academic), and realizing that without my grad student stipend and no immediate job prospects where I was living at the time, it was going to be difficult to get by.

Nursing, and more broadly, the all-encompassing "health professions" were something I had considered in the past. I think I may have first considered nursing specifically in early high school, but my family basically told me I should do "better" and I moved on to other things. It is an idea I have revisited several times since then, and especially since starting grad school.

So when I decided that I was definitely going to pursue a career change, and narrowed my decision down to nursing, I started looking into the various training programs: The most efficient way for me to become a nurse at this point would be one of those accelerated BSN programs. I already have a bachelor's in biology, so I could enroll in one, and graduate all snappy like in 18 months, ready to search for my new job as an RN. The problem with that plan goes back to my yearning to be closer to my family; my family lives in a small-ish town, well-removed from any of the big cities where those programs are offered. Also, those programs cost upwards of 50 grand. Yes, I could take out a loan, and hope that whatever hospital hires me afterward would have a partial tuition reimbursement program, but geez... and there's also a lack of confidence issue there. I already chose one career, pursued it pretty doggedly for about a decade, and then admitted to myself it wasn't for me. I don't think that's going to be the case again, but if it is, I don't want to jump into a huge vat of debt right away.

Conveniently, where my family lives, the local community college has a well-respected ASN program.

The shortfalls are:
* it will be 4 years before I'm an RN (prereq's, application period, 2 year program)
* when I'm done I'll only have an associates in nursing
But on the plus side:
* it's cheap (about $2,000 for the 2 year nursing program)
* I can work part time while I'm in the program (not possible in the accelerated programs)
* the graduates are well-recruited by local hospitals from what I've heard
* I can stay local to my family (emotional and financial benefits)
* I'm tip-toeing into my new career field rather than diving, giving me opportunities to alter my course if necessary
* If I complete the ASN and then decide I need the BSN later, I can easily complete one of those online bridge programs (using my future employer's continuing education reimbursements) while working full time

Until I found local full-time work, I was somewhat doubting this decision, but I feel good about it now.

Winding down Semester 1

The other night I was doing some calculations. For the ASN program I'm planning to apply for, they give you a certain # of points if you already have a degree, a certain # if you have career or volunteer experience in the health professions, a certain # depending on your score on the TEAS test, etc. And different categories of points based on your grades in pre-nursing science classes. These classes are Microbiology, Human Anatomy and Human Physiology.

I took micro about 10 years ago and got a B at the time. In Anatomy I'm right on the edge of an A/B right now, so that will hopefully be an A-. The way they set it up, if you had a 4.0 overall from these classes you would get 40 points, a 3.5-4.0 35 points, a 3.0-3.5 30 points... something like that. The way it works out, given I got a B in micro, if I get a B in Anatomy, there is really no point in me striving for the A in Phys (in terms of the application!) because I would already be doomed to the 3.0-3.5 bracket. Yes, I may be over thinking this a bit.

I took my last lab oral at the end of last week and got a 33/35. It was on the urogenital system. One of the points I missed was for not recognizing podocytes and slits on a model of the glomerulus of the kidney; I would have recognized them in a different context but oh well; that's still a 94%.

For the final, we are going to have 50 projection slides to look at and identify structures from the cumulative material this semester, and the remaining 100 multiple choice questions are going to be from the last segment of material: digestive, urinary and reproductive systems. I think I have a pretty good chance of bumping it up to the A with that final.

A job I applied for to work at the local blood bank as a donor care specialist closed 2 days go, so I'm hoping they will contact me for an interview next week. It would be full time work, which could be hectic with my schedule next semester, but really the only class I *have* to take next semester is the physiology, so I think it would be doable. Here's hoping.

I'm going to spend this afternoon studying for my anatomy final. I need to review the labs from this section, scan through the book for terms and diseases, work on the cumulative slide section, and review the lecture slides. I am kind of glad that my anatomy lecturer is not going to be my physiology lecturer.