Like her, I aced the entrance exam and was admitted to the nursing program, where I was to start in the fall. They accepted all my credits from both my bachelor’s and associate’s degrees. The only class that was not transferable was my anatomy and physiology (A&P) class. When I took it over ten years ago, it was a single-semester class; now it is a two-semester class. So I knocked out those two classes in the summer before I started the fall session. Thanks to my extensive medical background, not only were the two A&P classes a breeze, but so was my nursing degree. The only speed bump in the road was due to my health and not my grades. Over the 12 or so years that transpired, I had kept my mind active with a lot of varied reading. My years as a customer service manager also came into play. As a result of my work experience, I was much more comfortable and confident in patient and family interactions. I have never regretted my choice in becoming a nurse. It was the right career choice at the right time in my life. During the first year, I was able to keep my management job, which required me to work 45 hours a week. They worked with me at the store. Since Tuesday and Friday were short days at school with only morning labs, I worked those two nights, and I also worked Saturday and Sunday. Try working 45 hours in 3 and a half days. I worked a shorter day on Sunday so I would have time to do any school projects or papers. I did OK for the first year, but my health was becoming an issue, and I was catching everything that came my way.

By the second year, I was missing clinical time. I was unaware that it would become a problem until they informed me at the end of the semester that I would not be able to proceed with my final portion due to missing too much clinical time and not meeting the requirements. I was pissed because this meant that I had to repeat not only all the clinical assignments and papers, but it also meant that I had to take the class over again. Especially when I had gotten an “A” in the class work, I thought this was unfair, and I considered looking into another school. Unfortunately, the program was not compatible, which would have meant starting from scratch. Oh, the hell to the no!! So I swallowed my pride and repeated the semester. I also gave my boss an ultimatum, and he quickly found a replacement for me, and I was able to switch to part-time. I eventually gave my notice and picked up a job as a telemetry technician at my wife’s hospital. I had to take a two-week course, and I was hired without an interview after I passed their test.

The last two semesters went off without a hitch, and my job as a telemetry technician was one of the best decisions that I have ever made regarding a job or career. It gave me a firm grasp on reading EKGs and rhythm strips, something that I use every day as an ICU nurse. I found this year to be highly beneficial, for it gave me a distinct advantage over all of my new fellow nurses as well. Thanks to my already having a job working as a tele tech, my new boss opted to hire me without an interview. So as soon as I graduated from the nursing program, I was hired to the same floor my wife was working on. By this time, she was a charge nurse, so we were not able to work on the same nights. So after all that hard work, we were right back where we started from, albeit I had a better-paying job now.

I want to backtrack a little and discuss my health. Because I was getting very little sleep and working so much, my immune system was taking quite a hit. I ended up getting sick several times, and I had to go to the emergency room on two separate occasions. The illness that caused me to miss so much clinical time was a bad case of oral thrush. I basically could not eat anything but Jell-O for two weeks. Because I was contagious, or so they said, I was not able to go to my clinicals. Was this an effort to get more money out of me? Who knows, considering the number of applicants has taken a hit in the last few years? It does make one wonder.

My advice to all nursing students is that if you are working full time, try switching to part-time work if possible, or find a program that offers more scheduling flexibility. The only way I got through the program was that I had an excellent science and medical background, and I also had a fantastic memory. I would get up early on the day of the test so I could read through my notes once. If it were a tough subject, I would read through them a second time. That was it. Another piece of advice: try to lose some weight before you enter the program, because you will gain weight while you are going through it. I found that the biggest waste of time was the care plans, care maps, and all of the projects that we had to do. I understand why we had to do them, but they have little to no impact on nursing today since they are now pre-made or computer-generated. If you factor in all the time I spent doing these projects and papers, it easily amounted to over half my time in the program. It seemed like they enjoyed scaring the hell out of you with all their damn skills, like washing your hands. I think this stress is applied unnecessarily.