PS.

I did my shadowing last weekend. It was great. I'm too tired to go into detail now, but it definitely reaffirmed my decision. I still want to shadow in the NICU, but that will come later. Maybe I'll give more detail later. Maybe not. This blog isn't turning out to be as detailed as I'd hoped, but c'est la vie.

Application submitted

Well, I did it. Payed my $$ and submitted my app to Binghamton University. Now I have to write a personal statement :) I've been mulling it over in my head for many days now. Maybe I'll try to get it on paper soon. I wonder how long it takes before I hear back from them. When I spoke to the woman there she said she was almost done reviewing Spring semester apps and would then move on to the fall semester ones. Silly me didn't think to ask for an ETA on that. Oh well. Patience, patience...

Sometimes you gotta give up to get what you want

That's the lesson for today. I have been trying to pin down the hospital woman for weeks now trying to finalize plans for shadowing this weekend. Believe it or not I have a very busy social schedule this weekend and it was all hinging on a response back from here. Today I got frusterated and gave up. I sent her an email saying that I was no longer available this weekend, and I sent out several other emails to confirm weekend plans with friends. About an hour later I got a message back from her saying that they want me to come in from 9am-12pm on Saturday. Yay!! I wrote back immediately saying "I can do that!" (I'm so eager for this) and I asked for the details (where to go, who to see, etc.).... then I waited all day for a response. The suspense was killing me! I'm so impatient. Finally I got a message back at 6pm confirmating location and all. Now I know enough to do it. I'm psyched!!

I'm also moving forward on the school search. It's a pretty limited search really, basically I'm trying to decided between a Masters degree from UNH or a Bachelors from SUNY Binghamton. Right now I'm leaning towards a bachelors. It would be less expensive, less intense (the MSN program has 26-credit semesters!!), and I'd be out of school and earning a living again a year sooner. All good things. I'd also be living closer to my family and going to school with my sister - all super cool things! :) But I'm trying not to let that bias me too much ;)

Alan and I went out to dinner the other night and put together a plan for how/when to take the prereqs I need. I'm going to call the woman at Binghamton tomorrow to tell her my plan and see if it makes sense. It's tough because I'm trying to plan when to take classes but the schools don't have class schedules available, so I'm using last years schedules and hoping they are the same. It would suck to have my whole plan in place then find out the school isn't offering the course I need when I need it. I don't remember it being this hard the first time around :) Oh well. I'll figure it out. I keep looking at it as the first test. If I can't figure out how to get in then I probably should't be in :)

Quote Of The Day

"You've got to replace the captain of your brain ship because he's drunk at the wheel." - Dr. Cox, Scrubs

Letter from Binghamton

So I got a letter from the woman at Binghamton yesterday. It's perfect and exactly what I've been bugging UNH for. I'm going to scan it and send it to the lady at UNH to see if they have the same thing :) Ms. Binghamton gave me a list of all prerequesites and all nursing courses. She then checked off everything I already have, so I can see what I still need. The intent of the form is to use as you go through school to make sure you don't miss any classes (unlikely, but whatever). More importantly, she gave me a list of the nursing courses required, broken into the semesters you take them. So I can see the three semesters of school and which courses I'd take and when. I find that very helpful. Since the course is accelerated (as is the UNH one), you don't really have much flexiblity in the coureses or time you take them. Anyway, I'm going to see if UNH can give me the same thing :)

I also found that I can take all of the prereqs at a local community college (Community College of Vermont), which is literally right next door to where I work. I was thrilled about this. But my excitement quickly turned to anxiety :/ Will I be able to work full-time and attend classes? I'm sure I can, but would that be fair to Alan and Lex? I don't want Lex to forget his mommy. Which is lame, I know, because that wouldn't happen, but still I worry. And even though I know he won't forget me, is it really fair to be away from him so long just for my own wants? As it is I only see him for a few hours a day. And Alan and I haven't been alone in many months (which is partly my fault because I hate leaving Lex since I see so little of him - it's a vicious circle)

I may talk to my boss about switching to a 4 day work week and taking classes the 5th. I think that would be ideal. Not sure what he'll think about it though :)

I'm still waiting to hear back from DHMC about the shadowing. This was the final week of their big review, so I'm hoping to hear back early next week. I've sent one or two follow up messages, but haven't heard anything in response.

Been awhile

So its been awhile since I've posted here. I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed by the whole thing. I'm basically only looking at two schools, but I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around the various schedules, time frames, prereqs, etc. of each. It doesn't help that I only get sporadic moments here and there to focus on it. Tonight I asked Alan to watch Lex for awhile so I could try and get all of my notes together in once place. I started a spreadsheet to track things (when in doubt, make a spreadsheet ;) ). Sometimes I feel discouraged - like if I can't handle figuring out the process, how the hell will I handle going back to school. I don't remember it being this hard for an undergrad (though I think my mom did a lot of it for me).

Anyway, I guess right now I'm looking at an MSN from UNH or a BSN from SUNY Binghamton (yup, New York). A master's at UNH would have me graduating (earliest) in the spring of 2009. With a BS from SUNY B. I'd be out in spring of 2008. For both I have to figure out how to take 5 prerequisites, several of which are sequential. One option is to take one or two courses per semester at a local or online college, then move to wherever for the actual nursing program. This scares me a bit though, because I already feel very busy between work, life, and Lex, so I'm not confident I could handle taking courses in the evenings as well. Mabye I just need to suck it up and do it. Maybe I'd go insane though. The other option is to try and take as many courses as possible in the semester before the nursing program begins. That way I can keep working up until then, then move to wherever and take classes. The problem with this one is the sequential prereqs.

I find the website for UNH confusing (again, how the hell am I going to handle school??). They keep saying it's a 2 1/2 year program, which includes one summer. I'm guessing it doesn't include the other summer. But to start in January of 07 and graduate in May of 09, that's more than 2.5 years.... I must be missing something. I need a good visual aid :)

I'm going to visit Binghamton over Thanksgiving vacation. My sister (who has already applied there) has a friend in admissions so we're going to (hopefuly) get a private tour. That may be helpful. I may fall back on the family over vacation too to help me understand things :) Between my mom and my sister I'm sure I'll come out a little smarter.

For now, off to feed the boy. He's been awake and happy all day today. He must get tired sometime soon.

A bit disappointed

An interesting thing about blogging is that you're never quite sure who is going to read it. Some people are comfortable saying whatever about whomever, but I'm always a little more guarded. This thought comes to mind because I'm a bit disappointed with my conversation with the UNH admissions lady I spoke with today. I think I'm going to hold off naming names - wouldn't want them to blacklist me in the admissions office ;)

Anyway, I was excited to talk with someone and figure out how best to enroll for the prereq classes I need (like anatomy and stats), but she was confusing to talk to. I was trying to get a clear view of the schedule and I'm still not sure I get it. Maybe I'm just getting dumb (they say that happens with mommyhood) She was telling me that it's a 2 1/2 year program (which I knew), but then she started talking about courses in the "4th fall semester"?? She also said that in the first two sememsters I would only have to be on campus 2 days a week, but she couldn't tell me if that means I could work the other 3 days or if I'd have to be available for things not on campus. She also said they had a program with DHMC where you can do some of the clinical work there. I asked how people manage that and attend classes in Durham at the same time - she said she didn't know. I'm guessing maybe you can do the clinical stuff 3 days a week maybe? Or maybe there are later sememsters where you don't have to be on campus every day either. She also said she couldn't give me the schedule of classes with dates/times. I know it changes every year, but it would be useful to me to see this years at least - just to get a feel for things.

The most frusterating part though, was the discussion about taking the prereq classes. She made absolutely no effort to sell me on taking them at UNH. I asked her several questions about them and she kept saying, "You'll have to ask the school you're taking them at." I kept saying, "what if I take them at UNH? What would the answer be?" and she had no answers. I also asked what do grad students typically do for health insurance (since I'm too old to be covered by mommy and daddy these days). She said to talk to the school I would be attending. I said "I'm gonna attend UNH, so what do your students typically do?" She had no idea.

Soo... there is another woman there that I would also like to talk to as well. She's actually nurse and instructor there. Hopefully that will go better.

On another note, it just occured to me today that there are actually two hospitals in this area. DHMC is always the first that comes to my mind, but there is in fact another. I'm going to contact the other one (as soon as I find some time) and see if they do shadowing programs as well. Maybe I could do it sooner than the 19th, but even if I can't, it would be interesting to see both and see the similarities and differences between them. Now, to find some free time to do any of this... (actually, now back to work!)

Patience

Seems I'll have to wait until Nov 19th (at the earliest) for my shadowing opportunity. There is a large review going on at the hospital and everyone is very focused on that right now. While I can understand that, and I appreciate that they are letting me do this at all... I'm so impatient! :) I just want to go tomorrow. Patience, patience for the patients.

Shadowing

I'm so excited. I just got a call from Karen Pushee, who does education/retention type stuff for DHMC. She's going to set me up to shadow in the Birthing Pavillion and the NICU. Apparently this has been done before and there's a process for it and everything. She said Saturday's are no problem (so I don't have to take a day off) and the best part is... she thinks this Saturday should be fine. I will get several hours in both areas. She's going to talk to some people and get back to me later today. I'm so excited!

Article

This is an amazing article about life in the NICU. Thanks Julie!

BS or MS?

I was talking with my aunt tonight (OR RN) and she said that you can get pretty far in life with just a BS. She also added that if you're working with a BS and want go to for a masters, odds are good your employer will foot the bill. Something to think about.

No admission

According to the UNH website, I think I'm looking at a Direct Entry MSN. That is, "Applicants with a bachelor’s degree or higher in a field other than nursing may be considered for admission." However, it seems that admission into the direct entry MSN is only in the spring. Why is this? If they have fall admissions for the non-direct entry ("Registered nurses (RNs) who hold a baccalaureate degree in either nursing or another field are considered for admission."), why not for the direct entry as well?

I called the grad school nursing department at UNH yesterday (during lunch, it's hard to make calls when working full-time) to try and figure this out and I got dumped into someone's personal mailbox with a message saying she's out of the office until Wednesday. So back in the office I sent an email to the general email address and got a response back from someone saying I need to speak to a different woman - who is out until next week! I wrote back and said I have some very basic questions (like when is enrollment, can I visit on a weekend, etc) and is there please anyone there who can help me? She says nope, wait for the woman next week.

So this morning, on my way into work, I called the general grad student office (instead of the nursing department). According to them, open enrollment is *only* in the spring and the application deadline is in August - which means I couldn't attend until spring of '07. Blah! I could be halfway through a bachelors by then.

According to the website, "The Direct Entry Master’s in Nursing Program is a two-and-a-half year, 94-credit, full-time course of study. Students are admitted to the Graduate School program as provisional students for the first year of study. Provision will be removed once the RN license is received." Sounds like exactly what I need.

Cadavers??

I was reading this guy's blog tonight ( Ah Yes, Medical School) and it got me thinking - will I have to cut up cadavers?

First steps

My aunt works at DHCM and she introduced me to a great woman there who has something to do with education (Education Coordinator or something). I called her last night and she had tons of good suggestions for how to pursue a career in nursing. She told me which colleges in the area have good nursing programs and which don't (yep, some definitely have a bad rep). She also said (and I agree) that if I'm going back to school it would make the most sense to get a Masters degree instead of a second Bachelors. Makes sense to me. That way I won't be limiting myself unnecessarily and I won't find myself wanting to go back to school again in a few years. She also mentioned that if I can't get into the program right away (she wasn't sure when admissions were) then I could always start taking some required courses (such as a math or bio) at a local college to get a headstart on things.

After talking with her I decided to check out the University of New Hampshire. She said they have a very well respected program and are flexible with adult students. I mentioned this to Alan and he said that he's always known UNH to be a well respected school as well (he grew up around here, I didn't)

What I'm most excited about though, is that she introduced me (via email) to the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS - yep, lots of new acronymns to learn) at the maternity ward at DHMC. I want to spend a few hours "shadowing" someone there to get a feel for the job. She said this woman would most likely be happy to help me. I can't wait to hear back from her. They will also try to get me in touch with the CNS at the NICU so maybe I can shadow her for a few hours as well. I think once I've done that I'll be much more confident in deciding on nursing as a career. Hopefully I hear from her soon.

Alan and I have been talking a lot about how we can work this. UNH is about 2 hours away, so we've been talking about moving there for a few years while I get a degree. We both want to settle here, but he's open to the idea of moving for a few years. I feel so lucky to have him and have a family flexible enough to do this. Alan has such big dreams and I've been happily supporting him these years, now I'm finding my dream and he's right by my side supporting me. I couldn't ask for a better husband. Life is good.

Next steps... shadow a few people at DHMC, talk to admissions at UNH, go visit, figure out financial aid, learn a lot more about the field (what the various titles mean, acronyms, etc)... apply... hmmm... lots to do...

Brief (or not so brief) background

As long as I can remember I always wanted to be a nurse when I grow up. I remember being facinated by the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), reading all about it, etc. when I was young.

When I hit the college-finding years I somehow ended up in Public Relations. Looking back all I see is a black hole that I went into with NICU on the brain and came out enrolled in a PR degree. I have no idea what happened. PR was an odd choice as I don't really like writing, I'm not trendy or connected, and I definitely didn't fit in with the rest of the PR crowd at Newhouse. (them in little t's and hoochie pants, me in overalls) Halfway through my degree I accepted the fact that I was in the wrong major, but didn't know where to go from there and didn't want to leave the prestigious Newouse.

So, I got my BS in PR (oh, the irony), balked at the starting salaries available to us recent PR grads, and ended up in IT instead. Now, job hunting is my worst fear because they always ask the inevitable "What would you like to be doing in 5 years?" question. And I *never* have a good answer. For this last round of job hunting I settled on "Working at a job I enjoy with people I like working with." Kind of a cop-out, huh? Everytime I'm between jobs I start thinking about going back to school. I start wondering what the hell happened in high school (Did I chicken out at the thought of a medical degree? Didn't think I could handle the stress? What???) and I realize that at some point a person has to have a path in life and not just fall into one job after the other.

Today I'm working at a job that's just fine. I have a big salary and a fancy title, though I'm really just a glorified spammer (shhh!!! don't tell) And every day I think about what a pointless job I have promoting conferences and events that most people don't care about and I never even hear of the outcome. By the time one event takes place, I'm busy promoting the next. I don't know if it's just that time in life, or if being a new parent sparked something in me, but I feel it's time I found a more meaningful job.

All of this is to say I'm seriously looking into going back to school for nursing. I'm not sure if NICU is where I want to be, but I think I'll start in L&D (labor and delivery) and go from there. My experience in L&D with Lex was moving and the more I think about it, the more I think I'd like to be there day to day, helping other women and families have similar experiences.

This post is getting long and it's getting late. I'm terrible at going to sleep when the boy does.

Quick Intro

I'm at work now, so this is gonna be quick. As I start my 3rd blog, I realized that I guess I like blogging :) Anyway, more to follow later...