I am writing this for those of us that fret about the unknown.
Today was my first day of LVN nursing school. Our school has a rule that anyone even one second late does not get into the classroom, so a lot of us were very early. I was 40 minutes early and there were five other students ahead of me. A couple of students came in a little late, but I think they were docked.
The classroom was open so we came in and picked our seats. The woman next to me told me she hardly slept at all the night before, and that remark was reiterated by everyone close by. She said she had a dream that she was in a hospital with a disease that no one knew about. She attributed it to a fear of failure to become a nurse.
At the proper time we were introduced to our five teachers and their subjects. Then the head teacher passed out paperwork for us to fill out, (I have never filled out so much paperwork as for LVN school). Then the student handbook was passed out and the whole class (60 of us) took turns reading about the rules, regulations and school Mission Statement. It was made clear to us that the school set high standards and expected nothing but the best from its students.
We were then informed that we would be giving each other bed baths, NG tubes, and foley catheters, in addition to shots. I know I will not be involved in having a foley or a NG tube, but the rest I can live with. If students don't want to commit to a certain proceedure, its not mandatory, however, the students that volunteer for those activities will be the first to do them in clinicals.
The syllabus was not available so we were given our first assignments by our respective teachers. This program is seven hours a day, five days a week. We were told that for every hour of class time we were to have three hours of homework. That equals a 28 hour day not counting everything else besides school. They say we will have time to catch up on weekends. I guess that means I won't be posting as often as I have been lately, lol.
Uniforms were passed out, but we won't be using them for the first eight weeks. Thats when we start our clinical rotations. We were told that we would be working some evenings and some weekends. Oh well, I don't have a life anyway:o
I hope this helps some of you who are wondering what the first day is like. It must vary from school to school. Tonight I will try to catch up on the sleep I didn't get last night because I was sooo nervous about the first day of school. Well, at least I will try to catch up after I do some homework.
The authorization to test (ATT) is confusing to some of my classmates.
What I figured out was that after I registered to take the NCLEX exam on the pearsonvue.com website, I was the first to get my ATT. It didn't come in the mail, but as an email through Pearson Vue as I had already registered.
Others found out that when they registered, they got an immediate email with their ATT and were able to schedule their tests. I wish we were told. Its been a couple of months since we graduated and some of my friends are desperately trying to stay afloat while waiting.
It seems that its very hard for new grads to get jobs in certain areas. Even having a test date helps a lot when talking to a prospective employer.
So, since one of my friends asked me how to go through the registration process, I'm going to repeat it here.
Go to http://www.pearsonvue.com/programs/ and select health, medicine, pharmacy and nurses aides. Then on to column two and select NCLEX Examination. You will come to a page that will have buttons for registration, test centers, etc. Just make your choice....
To register you will need $200. If you change your testing date, it will cost you $50. No matter where you live, you can take a test anywhere in the United States that has a Pearson testing center. Pearson is the only company that offers the test.
When you take the test, Pearson sends the results to the board of nursing in your state. If you live in Alaska, and decide to take the test in California, the test will go back to the board of nursing in your state. Some states are compact states and will allow you to practice with an out of state license if the state you graduated in is also a member.
California,where I reside, is not a compact state. If I decide to go to another state to work, I have to contact that states board of nursing and make arrangement with them to work in the state. Each state has different qualifications on what it takes to work in that state. Check it out before you make the move or you may be dismayed to find that you might have to go back to school or pay some hefty fees, or have a certain number of hours logged in your own state to be able to work.
Wow, you need to learn a lot, not just about nursing itself!
My fellow students and myself studying several hours a day, most of the time. Friends calling me and telling me they took the test, some getting 85 questions, others getting 205. No matter what they got, they were all concerned that they were going to fail. I thought I was doing okay with my studies. Online NCLEX prep questions had me answering correctly 85-100 percent of the time. I was confident, until the night before.........
The testing center was about 80 miles away from home, so my husband and I came up one day before the test, got a room at a local hotel, and relaxed. We ate well and watched some of the movies on TV that I'd not been able to see due to studying. There was a quick run to the Pearson Vue testing center and a golf course where my DH would be playing a round of golf while I tested.
My NCLEX seminar instructor, and the NCLEX study guides I'd purchased all said not to study the day before the test, so I didn't. Well, the material was in my stuff should I weakenJ. I did grab some papers once or twice and start to look at the information, but I put it down, if I don't know the material by now......... Stayed up until well after 1 a.m. trying to relax and wanting to get enough sleep, just couldn't, typical me.
The hotel accidentally rang the room we were staying in at 5 a.m. I wasn't planning to get up until 6 a.m. and was very tired. My husband, up since about 3 a.m. was moving around and making noise. I got up angry. The breakfast offered by the hotel was buffet style and after learning the horrors of sneeze guarded foods from class I didn't want to eat there.
Drove my hubby to the golf course with the truck overheating, something that was a surprise with the new radiator, but the heat indicator finally subsided, don't ask why, it hasn't gone back up. Arrived at the golf course to find out the links were closed for the day for maintenance. He decided to stay and use the putting green. After dropping him I was wondering if the rest of the day was going to be the same and my apprehension started to build.
Stopped at Mickey D's and got an egg muffin with sausage and a diet coke, breakfast of champions. It assuaged my anger a little as the fat and carbs started congesting my body. Arrived at the testing center early and sat eating my breakfast and watching the time. It was early still. Just finished the muffin when a couple of people walked up, ATT forms in their hands. Checking to make sure my forms were with me, I went upstairs and started the signing-in process.
Got upstairs and proceeded down a very long hall that was quiet as a tomb. I could hear my hearbeat in that hallway. The receptionist was an attractive young man that asked me for my name and identification. I gave him my driver's license and the ATT. He found my name listed, looked at the paper work and asked where my ATT was. I panicked. After going through the papers I'd handed him I found it. My printer had printed it so the first page started halfway down, don't ask why. He told me to save it for my records and that I should probably print it out again. He took my right index finger fingerprint and my picture, then handed me a paper to read about not disclosing any of the testing material. He directed me to put my stuff in a locker and save the key. I asked if I could just have some water with me during the test and he said no, but I could access it in the locker during the break. They didn't allow anything at all in the testing room.
As soon as I was done, he called me again, and directed me to a woman with a gentle smile. She supplied me with a plastic sheet and marker that she said I could use during the test. I was not allowed to erase anything on it, if I needed more room, I was to signal her and get a new sheet and she would take the used one. Even though she and he were in plain sight of each other, she took my fingerprint again, looked at my ID, and led me into the testing room.
The room had about 15 cubicles, all observable by this woman as she sat outside looking through a glass partition. There at the station were two headsets, a packaged set of earplugs, and the computer. She made sure I was comfortable, brought me a better chair, and I sat down. The room was quiet, but I put the earplugs into my ears and put on a set of headphones. The instructions on the screen were very straight forward and simple. I hoped the test would be as simple..........
I worked through a tutorial about how to use the computer and answer the different types of questions that would be on the exam. Then I held my breath and clicked for the test to start. Up popped the first question. It looked plain. Funny, I thought the format would be different somehow, maybe fancier, but it was a plain typewritten question that had a multiple choice answer. Questions came and I took my time answering them. Some where easy, not many, and some I had never been exposed to. Tension started building in me so I would stop and relax, rotate my head and stretch a bit in my chair to relax. I gauged my timing on answering the questions. On some I knew I should have known the answer, but my brain felt like cotton and the correct answer wouldn't come. On others it was a quick decision.
When I had practiced for the test, it took my about 25 minutes to answer 85 questions. I am a fast test taker, but had decided that each question would get a decent amount attention and careful consideration. By the time the 81st question came, it was two hours into the test. The test stopped and I squirmed. The screen flashed a message that two hours had passed and wanted to know if I wanted to take an optional break. If you leave the room, they have to fingerprint you and there was really no place to go. I should have gotten up at that point anyway. It's not healthy to sit somewhere for two hours without getting up, but I said no. I wanted to stay and see if the screen would turn off at 85 questions as it did for some of my friends. It did.
I sat there torn between shock and relief. It was scary because as long as the test continued, the computer was assessing my knowledge and knew that I was competent to continue. Now I didn't know if it stopped because I was doing so well or because it recognized an idiot who didn't deserve to pass......
Now I know why others express such doubt. Before the test I told DH that I was going to mark down all the questions I knew I got right, and keep a tally. Didn't work. Too many questions I just didn't have the answers to.
I left the center after gathering my things and getting a brochure about questions I might have after the test. Though I am not an emotional person, after the year of classes and clinicals, studying NCLEX style questions, the NCLEX seminar, group studying, I hovered over crying. Though I never did, that feeling persisted for hours. My husband and friends have reassured me that there was no way I could fail. They think I am smart because I made it through nursing school and have a propensity for alternative medicine and interests in forensics and such. Hah! That test took my confidence and shook it good.
Now I sit here and wait. After all this time my books and testing material lay dormant around the house. I'm torn between putting the stuff away and studying in case I have to retake the test. It is a nasty feeling for me, the consummate test taker. Maybe in a few days those feelings will subside a little and I can direct some energy into finding a job......
Its been 11 days since I took the NCLEX. It feels like it happened several months ago now. At night I have dreams where I am making choices about picking the right answer. Sometimes the choices make sense and sometimes they don't. Sometimes I think I am a nurse, and at other times I wonder if I'm smart enough to make the grade. I sit at home and wonder if anyone will hire me when I get my results.
A couple of my fellow students have yet to take the test. They are scared and are studying hard to pass. It seems to me the longer you wait, the harder it will be and have told them that. One is taking her exam this week, she is not going to put it off any longer. No one has gotten any results back yet as far as I know.
After I took the test I was more confident than I am now. I am emotional and fatigued. Only wish I knew for sure...........
Thanks Shord. I think I did pass the test, its just the waiting that makes it bad. They say 85% of people that take the test pass it on the first go round.
Some of my negative feelings stem from not studying as much as I should have after school was over. The freedom was a little overwhelming after so much study, but I'm coming back down to earth:)
Now it's a waiting game. My friends are all contacting each other to see if anyone has gotten their results back yet. I'm sure that when that happens they will spread the news like wild fire, lol..........
Yesterday one of my friends called and said she failed to pass the NCLEX. It was disappointing to hear the first of my classmates say that, and she was devastated.
Last night a group of us got together at a local restaurant and talked about our friends and how they were doing. Some people have dropped out of sight and it was thought that maybe they didn't pass the NCLEX and didn't want to talk about it.
Another friend emailed me and said that she'd phoned the California BON and was told that they were working on September 24th test taker results. Mine was on the 25th. That means I should get my results in about one week. Funny to say, the last few days I've become confident that I did indeed pass. Of course, I will know for sure next week and will post the results here.
The whole episode of going to nursing school has taught me a lot about myself. I've been pretty carefree with my time and not really devoted to any particular lifestyle. I was in a daze when nursing school was over, found it hard to believe that I finished. Now, if/when I pass the NCLEX I will be responsible for getting a job, one with serious consequences if I'm not up to par. Scary thought.....
Got a letter today from the Board of Vocational Nursing. I passed the NCLEX!
My husband was with me when I opened the letter. It was a standard, white business-sized envelope. Inside were four papers stapled together. The first page had my picture taken when I was at Pearson Vue to take the exam. There was also my name, address, the name of the school I went to, test date and center, and the following:
My full name, an NCLEX examination applicant for the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians, HAS PASSED the National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses.
Then there was a stamp in red lettering with a place for my signature, the date and a sentence saying to make a copy for my records.
I am fairly numb right now. You would think that I would be happy as hell, and somewhere beneath it all I am, but I guess the impact hasn't hit yet.
Of course, I phoned my family and friends and now my DH is taking me out for Chinese food.
Now I'm wondering if I can go up to Sacramento and get my license or if I have to wait a month for it to be mailed up there and come back. Hmmmm, will look around allnurses and see if anyone else has done that.
Last night was wierd for me. I finally realized around 1am that I am a nurse. So, it took about 10-12 hours to really sink in. Guess I'm slow about stuff like that.
So, last night and today I've been looking for jobs. One of my friends said she knew of a job in a SNF unit that paid $24 an hour! What a motherlode that would be for me:) Especially after not working for a year and a half.
I am going to change my name on this site since I am no longer hopeful, I have arrived.
Haven't found out if I can go pick up my license at the board of nursing in Sacramento, thats my mission for today.
Natingale, EdD, RN
612 Posts
Good luck! Yay Im so proud of you