On Oct 28, 10:15*am, John Kuthe > wrote:
> On Oct 27, 10:48*pm, phaeton > wrote:
>
> > Dear John,
>
> > If I may ask, are you an LPN, RN, BSN, APN?
>
> My nursing degree is BSN, Bachelors of Science in Nursing. I'm a
> licensed registered nurse (RN) because I passed the NCLEX-RN exam
> after achieving my BSN. So I can sign my name as John Kuthe, BSN, RN.
>
> > Have you been a Nurse for a long time? *
>
> No, I went to nursing school 2 years ago, and went through an
> accelerated BSN program, which are programs offered to people who
> already have a BS degree in some other area. (I also have BS degrees
> in CS or Computer Science and EE or Electrical Engineering.) I passed
> state boards (the NCLEX-RN exam) last Sept, which gave me my RN
> license.
>
> >Do you have a specialty or favorite part?
>
> So far I've only worked in "nursing homes", which is not at all the
> most high tech or most glamorous nursing job, but they are the only
> nursing jobs i was able to get. That's OK though, cause at least I
> have a job now.
>
> > Just curious, as someone who is working his way through the congestion
> > towards an RN program right now. *I'm always interested in what other
> > nurses have to say about school and work, especially from nurses who
> > are also men.
>
> Nursing school is designed for one thing and one thing only: to allow
> you to pass the state boards exam, known as the NCLEX exam. There's an
> NCLEX-RN which if you pass, you become a licensed RN, There's also an
> easier NCLEX-LPN, which allows you to become a licensed LPN or
> Licensed Practical Nurse.
>
> But nursing school does not teach you how to be a nurse. That comes
> with nursing experience. You have to have the license to work as a
> nurse (RN or LPN) but you learn nursing on the job. And I'm very new,
> and learning things every day.
>
> There are more and more male nurses too. My accelerated nursing school
> class had many males in it. Where I'm working now has at least 4 male
> nurses, me and three others I can think of. The preponderance of
> nurses are still female though.
>
> > p.s., I seem to have a hard time making decent coffee lately too. *I
> > can't tell if the fact that I drink mostly tea now is either cause or
> > effect.
>
> Oh, I can make a VERY decent cup of coffee! Been doing it for years
> now. I just got a grinder after using an effective "coffee slicer" for
> years.
>
> John Kuthe...

I could say something unkind about having 3 very marketable degrees
and winding up working in a nursing home, but I know all about
circumstances, etc. What I would say, most sincerely, is that with
your education even a couple of years of real nursing experience would
make you a VERY desirable hire as an IT person in the area of
electronic medical records. Epic is the big push right now and people
are tripling their salaries by switching into IT. Hospital IT
departments LOVE nurses.

As for male nurses, in this economy it's about the smartest thing you
can go into, male or female. Nobody is going to offshore nursing. And
as I've alluded to, starting out as a nurse is just the beginning.
Many of them wind up as VPs.