Courtney Said:

Is Heald College a good place to pursue a career as a registered nurse?

We Answered:

I looked at the consumer site http://www.ripoffreport.com and there are 4 posts about the school. One can just type into search. Perhaps you can take your prereq courses and other requirements while waiting for the county college.

Please steer clear of those online, for-profit schools (some have 'bricks and mortar' buildings and may be accredited) such as penn foster, capella, everest, ITT tech, sanford brown, university of phoenix, devry, walden, kaplan, argosy, colorado tech and others as they are merely out to 'make a profit' (and course credits may not transfer). One can type into search at that same site mentioned previously :)

For US colleges: http://www.utexas.edu/world/univ

Vernon Said:

Which is a better career-Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Family Nurse Practioner, or Occupational Ther

We Answered:

As has been said, you cannot compare these 4 career fields on an objective list. Which career field you would enjoy is purely subjective and based on your abilities and interest as well in a large part to psychological factors.

CRNA- Requires an MSN degree and certification following a BSN and RN licensure. Usually requires 2 years of intensive care experience and ACLS/PALS certification for admission. Highly competitive admission, difficult school, very difficult certification boards. Job is described as 3 hours of artery clogging boredom followed by 15 minuted of heart attack causing stress. Any fool can put a person to sleep, they do it in prisons and call it capital punishment. The skill and knowlege and of course the stress is in being able to wake the patient up, and to prevent injury. Provide sedation and standby anesthesia for local anesthesia cases, regional anesthesia, concious sedation and general anesthesia for surgical procedures. Usuall take some amount of rotating night, weekend and holiday call.
Malpractice liability risk is high. Average US salary is $112,000 per year.

Womens Health Nurse Practitioner - Requires MSN and certification following BSN and RN Licensure. Most schools prefer at least 1-2 years of clinical experience prior to starting MSN program also CPR required/ACLS is optimal Admission is competitive, school is moderately busy and difficult, certification examination is difficult. Works with adolescent to geriatric female patients primarily in womens health issues, including pre/postnatal care and infertility, significant focus on contraception, STDs and pregnancy. Stress wellness, prevention and patient education. Mal practice liablitiy risk is low-moderate dependent on type of clients seen. Job can be repetitive in some clinics. May cover some clinic after hours calls, but rarely need to see patients after hours. Average US salary is $70,300 per year.

Family Nurse Practitioner- Requires MSN and certification following BSN and RN Licensure. Most schools prefer at least 1-2 years of clinical experience prior to starting MSN program also CPR required/ACLS is optimal Admission is competitive, school is moderately busy and difficult, certification examination is difficult. Works with patients from well-baby checks through geriatrics. Originally planned as acute minor illness and chronic stable conditions. In many clinics the FNPs see a large percentage of same-day appointments and it is hard to determine if these are minor or stable. May see very unstable chronic patients and very acute major patients. The key in FNP practice is to know when a patient needs to be referred to a specialist, and when diagnostic testing and treatment is appropriate. Some FNPs go into specialties or work in a particular area such as womens health. May take rotating after hours, weekend and holiday call, may make hospital rounds, may need to make nursing home visits. Malpractice liability risk varies dependent on clinic clientelle. Average US salary is $78,300 per year.

Occupational Therapist - Must be licensed, requiring a master’s degree in occupational therapy following a bachelors degree, 6 months of supervised fieldwork, and passing scores on national and State examinations.
Plans and conducts occupational therapy program to facilitate development and rehabilitation of mentally, physically, or emotionally disabled. Programs involve activities, such as manual arts and crafts, practice in functional, prevocational, vocational, and homemaking skills, activities of daily living. Malpractice liability risk is relatively low. Average US salary is $53,800 per year.

Doris Said:

what is better career registered nurse or a physician assistant?

We Answered:

I don't think there is a real answer to this question. It is wholly dependent on what you personally want out of the career. Do you want more responsibility or not? Which path fits your lifestyle and desires? That is what makes it a "better career". Not the salary. It is what fits you. I personally would like being a registered nurse because as previously mentioned, they are more sought after and I know there is a great deal of demand. Plus, I don't want the responsibility of caring for patients. A PA or Nurse Practitioner is basically (being VERY broad) a doctor. Sure, they have to practice under the supervision of a doctor but they see patients just as a doctor does as opposed to assisting as a nurse does. Usually a Nurse Practitioner or PA's first steps into the medical field are as a RN.

The answer is simply how involved do you want to be with the patients.

Rodney Said:

Nurses, how did you decide that being a Registered Nurse, was the right career field for you?

We Answered:

I'm not sure you could ever get a consensus answer to this question.

Most probably at some level like the idea of helping people. Many like the idea of having a secure job. Some want to be able to get a job where they can travel.

But as there is such a diversity in nursing, not only in the job opportunities, but also in how a person prepares to meet those opportunities.

Some RNs are looking for a job they can get with a 2 year degree. They don't want to spend the time and money on school, they want to work. Many of those never go back to school and are content their whole careers. Some move on and get higher degrees.

Some start of with the BSN degree, they want a higher level of education, and may have plans for the future which requires the BSN.

Many go on for a MSN and go into advanced practice (for some this was their goal in the first place)

Some go back for their doctoral degrees. They either want to advance further clinically, teach at a higher level in the university setting or work in higher levels of research (and some even planned on this from the start)

That's about the best I can do to describe 3 million nurses.

For me I had a goal to be a CRNA, I went to a BSN program, changed my mind about the CRNA, but stayed in nursing, and never regretted it.

Crystal Said:

is becoming a registered nurse a good career choice for someone with 2 young daughters?

We Answered:

Education and licensure to practice nursing is a sound investment. The money is good and the career is almost recession-proof in that everyone needs healthcare at some point.
Worry about shifts and holidays when you land your first job. There is such a shortage of nurses that these things are always negotiable.