are there any nursing students from Becker College in MA?

christvs, DNP, RN, NP · Sep 8, 2005

I am first year nursing student at Becker College in MA. I was just wondering if any other students are also going there.

Hi! I didn't go to Becker but I did just graduate in May 2005 from Fitchburg State! And now I'm working as a new RN at UMASS-Memorial Hospital, Memorial Campus. I work with some nurses who went to Becker-how funny is that. Good luck in school. Where will you be doing your clinicals? I did a lot of mine at the University campus near the lake in Worc. & I did my preceptorship last semester on the unit i'm working on now at the memorial campus. Let me know if you need any advice with anything! :)

-Christine

class2007 · Sep 9, 2005

Hi! I didn't go to Becker but I did just graduate in May 2005 from Fitchburg State! And now I'm working as a new RN at UMASS-Memorial Hospital, Memorial Campus. I work with some nurses who went to Becker-how funny is that. Good luck in school. Where will you be doing your clinicals? I did a lot of mine at the University campus near the lake in Worc. & I did my preceptorship last semester on the unit i'm working on now at the memorial campus. Let me know if you need any advice with anything! :)
-Christine

Hi, Christine. My clinicals start the second week in October. I believe our first clinical rotation will be at the Jewish Nursing Home in Worcester. Do You like working at UMASS? What floor are you on? Are the pay and benefits good?

christvs, DNP, RN, NP · Sep 10, 2005

Hi, Christine. My clinicals start the second week in October. I believe our first clinical rotation will be at the Jewish Nursing Home in Worcester. Do You like working at UMASS? What floor are you on? Are the pay and benefits good?

Hello! I'm at the Memorial Campus & I really like it. I've been orienting for the past 7 weeks on days now-having 6 pts. on days is a bit nutty at times, but i'm getting used to it now. :) In one week I'll move to my 3-11 PM shift-it will be at least a bit more manageable. I'm on West 2-it is a medical/surgical/telemetry floor with mostly cardiac patients & also gynecology surgery patients (like hysterectomy pts). So it is an interesting mix of pts! My floor is different from other floors cuz we have RNs & LPNs-the nearly all of the other floors at my hospital have only RNs. Our floor is a team nursing model, meaning that for we have 1 RN, 1 LPN & 1 nursing assistant taking care of up to 10 pts. together. So when you break it down, each nurse can have up to 5 pts. each, with the RN also doing all the IV med pushes for the team. But since I'm on orientation, they want me to get used to having 6 pts. for "good practice."

At this moment, the starting pay for new RNs at memorial campus is $21.75/hour for the day shift, & $2 more per hour for evenings, & $3 more per hour for nights, & an additional $1 more per hour for weekends. So right now when I work evenings I'll make $23.75/hour during the week & $24.75/hour on weekends. But we are currently getting a raise soon (thanks to our union) & I believe now the starting pay will be around $23-$24.50/hour-will let you know when I find out. And the differentials will go up too-yippee! You get health & dental insurance if you work at least 20 hours/week, so that is great. Any more questions, let me know! :) Good luck in nursing-I really like it so far.

-Christine

class2007 · Sep 12, 2005

Thanks, Christine for your response. Your job sounds very exciting. I wish you the best of luck. I have a Fundamentals test coming up on Wednesday. I did all of my reading and I made note cards for myself. Do you have any other study suggestions? I'm really scared.

christvs, DNP, RN, NP · Sep 13, 2005

Thanks, Christine for your response. Your job sounds very exciting. I wish you the best of luck. I have a Fundamentals test coming up on Wednesday. I did all of my reading and I made note cards for myself. Do you have any other study suggestions? I'm really scared.

Are you scared because it's your first exam? That's a totally normal feeling to have. You're in your first year, right? It sounds like you're studying the right way since you've been reading in your book & made flashcards. Maybe you could also get together with another student in your class & quiz each other on the material. The way I studied (& everyone is different) is that i'd go over the material over & over & over until I knew it cold-not really memorizing it, but just reading it over many times until it became almost second nature to me. Good luck! :)

class2007 · Sep 14, 2005

Are you scared because it's your first exam? That's a totally normal feeling to have. You're in your first year, right? It sounds like you're studying the right way since you've been reading in your book & made flashcards. Maybe you could also get together with another student in your class & quiz each other on the material. The way I studied (& everyone is different) is that i'd go over the material over & over & over until I knew it cold-not really memorizing it, but just reading it over many times until it became almost second nature to me. Good luck! :)

I took my fundamentals test today and it went awful. Most of the things I managed to retain from the reading were not even on the test. I'm feeling very discouraged! I know I did terrible on this test. I've got two more tests coming up in 2 weeks. Any advice?