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.

Hurrah! Employed.

Good news: I got the job! I start next Monday. They offered me $15 an hour, FT plus benefits after 3 months, etc, etc. The pay is less than I hoped for but should be liveable in the short term before I start nursing school. And, I'm pretty sure it is getting me the medical experience I need for my application. Plus, their lab is only 2 miles from my house so I should be able to bike to work, through the park!

I am relieved. And excited. And a little nervous. I went out and bought my first set of scrubs today @ Walmart -- hahah! I look pretty good in them if I do say so myself ;-)

After four months of working half time for student-rate pay I'm finally back on track again. Everything is falling into place. Whew.

Interview #2, pathology lab

Today's interview was checking out my practical skills. Pipetting, organization, following verbal directions, etc. I breezed through most of that alright. I did make one small mistake, spreading the bacteria around the first quadrant with the swab rather than the loop (I swear we did this regularly in micro class, maybe for lack of supplies)... and the woman who was checking my skills said she probably just forgot to say it. She told me I had done great at the end. I kept expecting there to be a trick in there somewhere, like a mis-match in labels or something that I was supposed to catch. But there wasn't anything like that. They had me talk to the lab manager afterward. He was already the main guy that I had spoken with during a phone interview for the same position last summer. He told me that the only reason they didn't ask me for a second interview then was because I was still out of state at the time. I really think I am going to get this one. He did say that my "salary requirements" (from my application) were higher than they usually pay new hires, but that maybe he could compromise some since I have an M.S. and most new hires do not. He said they usually pay new hires $15 per hour. From what I have heard, that is about the same as day-shift monitor techs make, so if he's going to come a little higher then there's no reason to complete the cardiac arrhythmia training right now. I do think that phlebotomists make more, which is a little disconcerting since the position I'm applying for *requires* a bachelors degree in science, while a phlebotomist might have only one semester at community college. Community college teaching would have been much better pay, but didn't work out this time. I hope hope hope I can get this job.

When I got home from the interview, which lasted about 2 hours (!), I had lunch, helped my dad with some home repair type stuff for a couple of hours, and then watched some online t.v. and took a nap. Since I've been up again I've been fairly antsy and industrious, getting all sorts of chores done. I think it is nervous energy.

Second interview next Tuesday

I had my interview at the pathology lab this morning, and it went very well. I did say "shitty" once by accident. I don't know where that came from; I never curse. Oops. I had said something like their company has a good reputation in the community, and they asked me about that, and I explained that when my doctor was having me get blood drawn, he told me not to go to the other lab in town because they were *bleep* compared to this company. I must have just been nervous or something. But I felt pretty comfortable talking to the 3 people that interviewed me and they seemed excited about hiring me, and maybe even moreso because I am planning on becoming a nurse.

After I came back home, a couple hours later I got a phone call asking if I could come in next Tuesday for a "hands on" portion of the interview. They told me this morning that this would be the procedure... they want to make sure that, in their words, "you look good on paper, you look good in the interview, but can you use a pipette?" So I'll have to make sure and be in a calm, precise mood that morning, and not have too much coffee!

I feel really good about this possibility. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed for now.

Job Interview = HOPE!

While I was upstairs doing some home repair type stuff this morning, a woman called from the pathology lab I just applied to a few days ago and left a message on my phone about scheduling an interview. I called back and we're going to meet tomorrow morning at nine. It is lab assistant type work, probably less pay than I made right out of college, but at this point sounds like an excellent opportunity. And hopefully would work as "medical experience" for my nursing school application. I won't be working with patients directly, I don't think, but it is a medical lab. So.... crossing my fingers and my toes, and ironing my interview pants (hope they still fit after my recent weight loss), and GOSH wouldn't it be nice to start the new year with a new job?!

Anatomy: Results In, Money Stress

So, the letter grades haven't been posted yet, but our teacher posted our points for the term online, and as it stands, my overall percent for anatomy is 89.3. Gosh, it would be nice if my teacher considered that an A-. I won't know until mid-January what she decides...unless I were to write her a pesky email, which probably wouldn't be a smart move.

I am stressed about money right now. I am single, childless... my part time job, since it's affiliated with the community college I'm going to, is "on break" until the 3rd week of Spring Semester, which means no income for me. In the mean time it's the holidays, and while I don't need to travel anywhere for Xmas, getting a few presents for family, stocking my new kitchen (I've been living for almost 5 months without one), etc adds up. I've got a *very* part time gig lined up to do some babysitting until my school job is back in play, but jeez, money is tight.

I think this is probably an issue for many second-career nurses going back to school. Per the rules of the California community college system, I am not allowed to get any scholarships or federal aid there considering I already have a bachelor's degree. I can petition to have the privilege to take out loans. Which I'm in the process of doing.

I'm going to keep going on my cardiac arrhythmia course (which costs about $120 to get the certificate for), and see if that can get me a monitor tech job. I'm taking phlebotomy this spring semester, so in another 6 months or so I could start applying for phlebotomy jobs, and I won't be taking any classes at that point, presumably for the next year, so I could easily work full time again. Somewhere over the next 6 months, I need to start earning enough money that I can start not only covering my monthly expenses again (instead of further diminishing my dwindling "emergency" fund), but start saving up for needing to cut back on hours again once I'm in the nursing program.

It has been about a week since the blood bank job closed, and I haven't heard anything. So that might mean I am out of luck. Or maybe (hopefully?) they just aren't interviewing until after the holidays. Please, please, please. I also saw that they are advertising for a lab tech type job at the same location, but I'm not sure I'm qualified, even with my extensive biology background. There are certifications that you need. More hoops to jump through.

Maybe people will give me gift cards for groceries, etc this year for Xmas.

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.