Sometime within the next few months, I’ll be working as a new RN. This is also the same time that I will be starting my pre med courses. Working in the ED is my top goal (as I want to be an ED doc anyway) but I’m wondering if the stress of an ED would be too much to handle with taking pre med courses. I know that every floor has its unique set of stressors however. Has anyone here dealt with something similar?
I worked as an EMT in an ED during my pre-med coursework.(I know that’s not the same as an RN). I didn’t find it anymore stressful than working at any other job and going to school. I don’t know what your other healthcare experience is, but I think you should definitely try to get into the ED if that’s your goal. I found the exposure to all the variety in the ED priceless.
Perhaps if you are starting as a brand new nurse in the ED, you may want to avoid taking a big class load that semester, but I wouldn’t avoid working there out of concern it won’t be conducive to your pre-med work.
My 2 cents worth. Congrats on finishing Nursing School.
Maria
Before going to nursing school I took intro to chem, trig/precalc. Maybe I’ll audit those courses as a way to refresh my memory? Thanks for the advice.
In my local hospital i’ve spent 113 hours volunteering and 56 hours shadowing an ED doc, here’s my take.
When I was shadowing, there wasn’t much study time, it was busy. When I was volunteering, there was a LOT of study time.
For the nurses…
I did see that on some days the nurses on day shift had less time available to study, although, there was still a little time to study. The nurses on night shift usually had a lot of free time to study. So I would say your answer is dependent on your shift and your location. If you work in a typically busy hospital, you won’t have much time to study.
My first RN job was on a busy cardiac/tele floor. I think it was about 30 beds. I was in grad school full time. In the beginning, I had a lot of down time to study. My supervisor and preceptor actually encouraged it. In the beginning it was easy to get about an hour of studying time in plus more time during lunch. As my skills and pt load increased, studying on day shift was rare. After I completed my orientation full time, I started working part time nights while I finished school. As long as there was no full moon, I was able to get in about 2 hours of studying (usually 1 am to 3 am). Of course the ER would be different, but hopefully this gives you a general idea.
I would recommend that you focus on your new job without taking classes for about 3-6 months and then start your pre-reqs. In my experience, there was a steep learning curve from the class room to the hospital. And your employer might require you to take some classes like ACLS, PALS, arrhythmia identification, etc.
That’s definitely something to consider in regards to taking a few months to orient myself. You said you went down to part-time. Was that because you felt as though the classes were too intense? I’ve just imagined that working 3 12s and having 4 days off or so would give me enough time with going to classes and studying etc, or is that not realistic? This is coming from someone who has never taken physics-ever. I barely touched chemistry when I took an intro course 3 years ago (I was pre-med at that time). I did well, however it was just the beginning.
Acolyte:
Have you looked into working per diem? This is what I’ve been doing since re-starting school (I work on a busy med-surg/hospice floor). It comes with its sacrifices, but being able to self-schedule has been invaluable.
Best of luck to you.
Eccesignum,
I have thought about that actually. However my situation is a bit more complicated. My wife will be attending nursing school after I graduate, thus leaving me mostly responsible for finances. At best, I’m thinking of getting in two courses per semester if at all feasible. The other issue, like you mentioned, is the scheduling. My university isn’t really non-traditional student friendly so classes are mostly during the weekday. Somehow I’ll make this work!