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...