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Darcie, if your husband is an law enforcement instructor, will he be teaching at the academy for CMPD?
If so, Tega Cay and Lake Wylie may be a convenient option to consider. A quick commute to the academy for sure! A community like Baxter Village could make your hectic life much more comfortable and easier to plan, especially with the kids. Keep writing and we'll keep giving you ideas!
Well to answer some multiple questions here, I'm looking at Mercy for nursing school. My understanding is that my credits will transfer there to cover most of their program requirements (I've already partially completed a nursing program here). Granted that's if I am accepted there. I don't know how competitive a school it is or how many applicants they have, but they do start programs 3 times a year so I would think I could get in at sometime in the near future if not this time. It's actually the only school I've decided to apply to, their program just seems to fit with what I've already done and I feel as though it would be the best choice for me. I still have a couple of questions about their program which hopefully I will have answers to this week. I'm waiting for my last transcript before I call them because I want to have all my questions in order for one phone call. My husband has suggested I wait for the acceptance process before picking up and moving, and really, what's a couple of months to wait before making a major life change, but I am really ready to move and don't want to do it in the dead of winter either. I may wait, depending on what I can find in the interim househunting wise.
No, my husband will not be teaching there (but thanks for the suggestion!) he is actually staying overseas for an extended period (another year, 2 possibly, 3 possibly). His only job prospects except for returning here to his job that he is on leave from are with international companies at the current moment. I was the one with the bright idea to move south if he decided to stay overseas. My thinking of all of it was he could either come back here with no job prospects, or he could come back to somewhere else with no job prospects, but believe me, by the time he gets back here this place will be a ghost town. We're already in a rural setting with limited job opportunity when the economy is in its best conditions, and we all know that's not the case today. With our labor force declining and unemployment reaching over 12% and climbing, it's reaching the worst I've ever seen in my lifetime. Most of the employed have to travel to Pittsburgh to work IF they can get a job. Steelworkers were the majority of our labor force and they've closed the mills and those workers are forced to work in fast food.
Our wonderful state legislators determined it'd be a great idea to legalize gambling years back, so now while no one is working they're flocking to play the machines that are located on every corner, in every donut shop, mom and pop, diner, bar, and every other place that doesn't have gas pumps and is at least 150 feet from the last. Couple that with 2 major racetracks within about 35 miles in either direction (races and table gaming too), and the new casinos that Pennsylvania just opened (2 of those within 45 minutes away) and you've got a bad situation gone much worse. But...that was the answer to the economic downturn in West Virginia. Our specific area actually made national news because they closed all the ice cream stores that the kids frequented and turned them into gambling parlors. Franchises included. They dubbed us "Little Vegas." Not the kind of attention we'd always dreamed of, that's for sure. But I'm being a hypocrite too because I myself owned a mom and pop store that had a machine room too. While our machine room kept us in business for the last 3 years to the bitter end (that mom and pop was open for 30 years), I watched the devastation of others that were low income or on unemployment, the displaced workers that were pulling money from their 401s, taking cash advances against their credit cards, and hoping to come out on top or even just to try to win back what they'd already lost. It's not a pretty world and I'm ashamed to admit that our business helped destroy others' lives. The only people who benefits from that business is the state. Last year our machine room made $26,000. The store lost more than that. The state made $100,000 from our machine room alone. And we were small, very small, in the grand scheme of things.
Our minimum wage rate just went up to $7.25 an hour, and of course we would work in any job we needed to support our family but that's hardly enough to support a family of 6 in any economy. I can't get the kids into daycare because sadly most two income families aren't making enough money to rise above the poverty level and the state funds their day care. At $25.00 per day (what the state pays) per child. The daycares are also limited to a 2:1 ratio for children under the age of 2, they've told me flat out that one worker covering 12 hours of daycare at $50 income for those two children doesn't equal the minimum wage rate, which anyone can figure out, so most aren't even accepting children under the age of 2. The ones that do are currently taking a loss on their infants/toddlers and making up the difference in the numbers when the ratios go up to 8:1 for the older kids (I think that's the ratio), but they're limited and the waiting lists are a mile long.
At this point, third world countries seem more promising than West Virginia.
We decided the best course of action would be for me to finish school, bank as much as we could in the meantime from his current job, and hope it lasts until I get done with school and get a job. Then he can take whatever time he needs finding a job stateside. If it doesn't last that long, hopefully we'll have enough set aside until he can find something, or if I'm working I'd be just fine with him just taking something on to keep him busy until his pension kicks in. He's kind of limited in choices without returning to school to study something else, because his education and all of his experience have been in the law enforcement and law enforcement training/teaching.
So, in all this rambling on, the answer to that question is we have no idea where he will eventually work, or even if we will stay in Charlotte for the long term. We just hope that it will work out, I will graduate, he will stay put until then, and then if he can't find his place in Charlotte, I'll have to follow him somewhere else. They need nurses no matter where you go, and I'd happily follow him anywhere.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,698,410 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by darciedawn
Well to answer some multiple questions here, I'm looking at Mercy for nursing school. My understanding is that my credits will transfer there to cover most of their program requirements (I've already partially completed a nursing program here). Granted that's if I am accepted there. I don't know how competitive a school it is or how many applicants they have, but they do start programs 3 times a year so I would think I could get in at sometime in the near future if not this time. It's actually the only school I've decided to apply to, their program just seems to fit with what I've already done and I feel as though it would be the best choice for me. I still have a couple of questions about their program which hopefully I will have answers to this week. I'm waiting for my last transcript before I call them because I want to have all my questions in order for one phone call. My husband has suggested I wait for the acceptance process before picking up and moving, and really, what's a couple of months to wait before making a major life change, but I am really ready to move and don't want to do it in the dead of winter either. I may wait, depending on what I can find in the interim househunting wise.
No, my husband will not be teaching there (but thanks for the suggestion!) he is actually staying overseas for an extended period (another year, 2 possibly, 3 possibly). His only job prospects except for returning here to his job that he is on leave from are with international companies at the current moment. I was the one with the bright idea to move south if he decided to stay overseas. My thinking of all of it was he could either come back here with no job prospects, or he could come back to somewhere else with no job prospects, but believe me, by the time he gets back here this place will be a ghost town. We're already in a rural setting with limited job opportunity when the economy is in its best conditions, and we all know that's not the case today. With our labor force declining and unemployment reaching over 12% and climbing, it's reaching the worst I've ever seen in my lifetime. Most of the employed have to travel to Pittsburgh to work IF they can get a job. Steelworkers were the majority of our labor force and they've closed the mills and those workers are forced to work in fast food.
Our wonderful state legislators determined it'd be a great idea to legalize gambling years back, so now while no one is working they're flocking to play the machines that are located on every corner, in every donut shop, mom and pop, diner, bar, and every other place that doesn't have gas pumps and is at least 150 feet from the last. Couple that with 2 major racetracks within about 35 miles in either direction (races and table gaming too), and the new casinos that Pennsylvania just opened (2 of those within 45 minutes away) and you've got a bad situation gone much worse. But...that was the answer to the economic downturn in West Virginia. Our specific area actually made national news because they closed all the ice cream stores that the kids frequented and turned them into gambling parlors. Franchises included. They dubbed us "Little Vegas." Not the kind of attention we'd always dreamed of, that's for sure. But I'm being a hypocrite too because I myself owned a mom and pop store that had a machine room too. While our machine room kept us in business for the last 3 years to the bitter end (that mom and pop was open for 30 years), I watched the devastation of others that were low income or on unemployment, the displaced workers that were pulling money from their 401s, taking cash advances against their credit cards, and hoping to come out on top or even just to try to win back what they'd already lost. It's not a pretty world and I'm ashamed to admit that our business helped destroy others' lives. The only people who benefits from that business is the state. Last year our machine room made $26,000. The store lost more than that. The state made $100,000 from our machine room alone. And we were small, very small, in the grand scheme of things.
Our minimum wage rate just went up to $7.25 an hour, and of course we would work in any job we needed to support our family but that's hardly enough to support a family of 6 in any economy. I can't get the kids into daycare because sadly most two income families aren't making enough money to rise above the poverty level and the state funds their day care. At $25.00 per day (what the state pays) per child. The daycares are also limited to a 2:1 ratio for children under the age of 2, they've told me flat out that one worker covering 12 hours of daycare at $50 income for those two children doesn't equal the minimum wage rate, which anyone can figure out, so most aren't even accepting children under the age of 2. The ones that do are currently taking a loss on their infants/toddlers and making up the difference in the numbers when the ratios go up to 8:1 for the older kids (I think that's the ratio), but they're limited and the waiting lists are a mile long.
At this point, third world countries seem more promising than West Virginia.
We decided the best course of action would be for me to finish school, bank as much as we could in the meantime from his current job, and hope it lasts until I get done with school and get a job. Then he can take whatever time he needs finding a job stateside. If it doesn't last that long, hopefully we'll have enough set aside until he can find something, or if I'm working I'd be just fine with him just taking something on to keep him busy until his pension kicks in. He's kind of limited in choices without returning to school to study something else, because his education and all of his experience have been in the law enforcement and law enforcement training/teaching.
So, in all this rambling on, the answer to that question is we have no idea where he will eventually work, or even if we will stay in Charlotte for the long term. We just hope that it will work out, I will graduate, he will stay put until then, and then if he can't find his place in Charlotte, I'll have to follow him somewhere else. They need nurses no matter where you go, and I'd happily follow him anywhere.
I hope that you can get into the program that you want. However, if that doesn't work out, here's another option for you. Gardner-Webb University :: School of Nursing (http://www.gardner-webb.edu/academics/departments/nursing/index.html - broken link)
Thank you! I'm looking it over now. That one didn't come up when I searched for schools in the area. There were only actually a couple that did come up.
One of the reasons I thought Mercy was a good choice for me was I'm not currently a CNA in North Carolina. (Nor am I one in WV, but I was told during nursing school here that after so many clinical hours we were automatically eligible for sit for the licensure test here, I'm unsure of your process there)
Most of the schools there require that I noticed. I had thought about looking at the process to obtain the CNA license so I could apply to a wider range of schools. Also, I wouldn't be against attending an LPN program while waiting to get into an RN program if necessary. There's only one here close by me and it's wait listed. I was fortunate to be immediately accepted into our ADN program here upon completion of all my pre reqs. Life happened, my mom got sick, the family business needed constant attention that no one else could supply, I had two babies within a year, and I just didn't finish. Now mom's passed, the business is closed, the babies are growing, and it's time for me to finish what I started. (I HATE not finishing anything I start).
Do you have a nursing background? Can anyone steer me in the right direction of a CNA and LPN program in the area that would be an alternative in case I am waiting to get into an RN program?
Last edited by darciedawn; 08-22-2009 at 04:16 PM..
Reason: edited to add
Thank you! I'm looking it over now. That one didn't come up when I searched for schools in the area. There were only actually a couple that did come up.
One of the reasons I thought Mercy was a good choice for me was I'm not currently a CNA in North Carolina. (Nor am I one in WV, but I was told during nursing school here that after so many clinical hours we were automatically eligible for sit for the licensure test here, I'm unsure of your process there)
Most of the schools there require that I noticed. I had thought about looking at the process to obtain the CNA license so I could apply to a wider range of schools. Also, I wouldn't be against attending an LPN program while waiting to get into an RN program if necessary. There's only one here close by me and it's wait listed. I was fortunate to be immediately accepted into our ADN program here upon completion of all my pre reqs. Life happened, my mom got sick, the family business needed constant attention that no one else could supply, I had two babies within a year, and I just didn't finish. Now mom's passed, the business is closed, the babies are growing, and it's time for me to finish what I started. (I HATE not finishing anything I start).
Do you have a nursing background? Can anyone steer me in the right direction of a CNA and LPN program in the area that would be an alternative in case I am waiting to get into an RN program?
Hi
I notice that you are currently enrolled on an ADN programme.I would strongly recommend that, if it is within your means, you enroll on a BSN programme.It will give you that "edge"when you graduate and are looking for jobs.Apart from anything else you will have more clinical hours.I believe that new grads are having trouble getting jobs at the moment, although that might change by the time you qualify.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,698,410 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by darciedawn
Thank you! I'm looking it over now. That one didn't come up when I searched for schools in the area. There were only actually a couple that did come up.
One of the reasons I thought Mercy was a good choice for me was I'm not currently a CNA in North Carolina. (Nor am I one in WV, but I was told during nursing school here that after so many clinical hours we were automatically eligible for sit for the licensure test here, I'm unsure of your process there)
Most of the schools there require that I noticed. I had thought about looking at the process to obtain the CNA license so I could apply to a wider range of schools. Also, I wouldn't be against attending an LPN program while waiting to get into an RN program if necessary. There's only one here close by me and it's wait listed. I was fortunate to be immediately accepted into our ADN program here upon completion of all my pre reqs. Life happened, my mom got sick, the family business needed constant attention that no one else could supply, I had two babies within a year, and I just didn't finish. Now mom's passed, the business is closed, the babies are growing, and it's time for me to finish what I started. (I HATE not finishing anything I start).
Do you have a nursing background? Can anyone steer me in the right direction of a CNA and LPN program in the area that would be an alternative in case I am waiting to get into an RN program?
You're welcome, Darcie. My background is not in nursing. You might want to start a separate thread concerning nursing schools in the Charlotte metro area & keep this thread going for the rest of the information that you need. There are nurses who post on this forum.
I would suggest that you check the county community colleges for LPN programs. I know that Cleveland & Gaston are very proactive on programs to get people working. I haven't been here long enough to give you detailed information, but where I live most of the people who I've met are natives & almost all have attended Cleveland &/or Gaston colleges. They all speak highly of the schools.
Gaston has nursing programs, but Cleveland doesn't, although they have some medical programs (Potential students for the 2 schools overlap in a large area.)
I'll post Cleveland just in case you see something of interest.
You're welcome, Darcie. My background is not in nursing. You might want to start a separate thread concerning nursing schools in the Charlotte metro area & keep this thread going for the rest of the information that you need. There are nurses who post on this forum.
I would suggest that you check the county community colleges for LPN programs. I know that Cleveland & Gaston are very proactive on programs to get people working. I haven't been here long enough to give you detailed information, but where I live most of the people who I've met are natives & almost all have attended Cleveland &/or Gaston colleges. They all speak highly of the schools.
Gaston College - Degree Programs/AAS (http://www.gaston.cc.nc.us/programs/home.html - broken link)
Gaston has nursing programs, but Cleveland doesn't, although they have some medical programs (Potential students for the 2 schools overlap in a large area.)
I'll post Cleveland just in case you see something of interest.
Location: The place where the road & the sky collide
23,814 posts, read 34,698,410 times
Reputation: 10256
Quote:
Originally Posted by susan42
I am not sure how many of the hospitals in the area employ LPNs-something worth looking at.
I don't know either, but it would probably get her into a nursing home while she works on the RN degree. She said that she would consider that. I'm just trying to help.
Check out all programs and apply to all that are feasible for you (commuting distance/tuition). Slots are very competitive here and it is not uncommon to have to wait a while (and keep applying) to get into a program. I do NOT mean to sound discouraging - just passing on realistic info so you will have several alternatives going - and not banking on just one school.
We have several members who can give you a lot more inside info. One member works with community colleges/nursing programs. There have been other threads re: this subject and reading those would be helpful and informative. I will see what I can dig up for you. One thing addressed in a thread was re: CNA certification being a requirement for all the nursing programs here (I think). So if I can find those threads, I will post them so you get accurate info upfront.
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re CNA programe
