Passed in Lubbock! Journal included :)

[RobinMurphy]

Hey guys!

I didnt post here a lot but I lurked A TON!! I found out all my info for this program from this board, and Im so thankful for it. Thank you to all of your wonderful tips, this is a wonderful site! Anyways I tested in Lubbock last weekend and passed, I just wanted to share my journal with you, its totally doable if you are prepared! Lubbock is a wonderful site, cant say enough good things about it. I couldnt find much info on it before I left, so I felt like I need to tell everyone. The CA is amazing, she instantly calmed me down when I met her, the CE's were also very nice, and fair. Just like everyone else says, they want you to pass. I was prepared to just have like a robot that new every little detail about the study guide watching me but its not, they are very good nurses who dont stop being nurses when they are testing you. They will make you feel as comfortable as they can. The hospital was great too, very student friendly! Good luck to all of you, you really can do this!! You have to believe in yourself because when you go, you are the one that has to prove that you will be a good RN!

So anyways, here is my journal!

Well the weekend started off with a 5 and a half hour drive to the beautiful city of Lubbock. If you are from Texas, you will know just how scenic of a drive this is. It was too funny because the whole way up there I kept passing signs of churchs with inspirational messages on them. I remember one in particular said " If you put your trust in God, he will reveal to you his heavenly treasures" So that is what I did, all weekend.

Well I finally arrived in Lubbock, went to Wal-mart to get some snacks for the weekend. I stayed at the La Quinta West Medical Center, it was not the recommended hotel but you could literally see the hospital out the room's window and it was much cheaper.

So on to the good stuff... Well the on Friday I woke up, really nervous, didn't get much sleep. I went swimming for a bit, reviewed my labs one more time and tried to relax until 3:30. Oh and I also thought I would iron my clothes for the night, well I'll admit Im 24 and I have no idea what I am doing when ironing clothes. I turned on the iron and went to iron my pants and burned a hole right through them! Seriously, what are the odds? All I could do was laugh and made sure my shirt would be long enough to cover it up. So 4:00 rolled around and I was waiting in the hospital lobby, soon all 6 of us were there. Then the CA Irene came down, she instantly calmed me down. What a wonderful lady, she was so nice, calm and refreshing. She took us up to what felt like the very top floor of the hospital and it was under construction. It was about 90 degrees up there, and then it occurred to me that I forgot to wear deodorant!! What a way to start my night, making sure I don't stink and the hole in my pants isn't showing. So we sign our papers, get to practice the labs and its time to get started. I had the wound first, I wasn't too nervous yet but they get really close to the wound while you are packing it. That was nerve racking, but I passed! Then I had IV piggy back, everything was going great until the drops started dripping out of the primary bag!!!!! Ahh, I had no idea what to do, all I did was say "God please help me!!" I tried everything and then out of no-where they finally started dripping from the secondary bag and I had to do 37 drops per minute. I forgot to mention that we had the CE's and also future CE"s in training watching us. It was tough, but I passed. Then I was on to the sub-q station, I got insulin. They would only let us use the 100 unit syringes. Well everything went fine until I pulled my syringe out and it bent into a 45 degree angle, I didn't have time to start over so I handed it to the ce and she didn't say a word, picked my site, pinched up and gave it. It was a pass.

Then I had the IV push, all went well but I forgot to aspirate, started over and ran out of time so it was a fail. Oh well, I felt pretty good for getting ¾.

So then it was off to the womens hospital to get our first patient. I had my pediatric patient first. My first ce was Anne, she was wonderful. We went for a tour on the unit, I got to review my patients chart. He was a wonderful patient. So I finally went home, made up my careplan I used Acute pain and risk for injury. I didn't sleep much and really couldn't eat when I woke up Saturday morning. The morning started off great, my careplan was approved and made my grid and we were off. I was assigned pain management, respiratory management with db and cough, and incentive spirometry, fluid management, abdominal assessment I&0's, no meds, vitals. It went pretty smooth but for my pain management I used guided imagery, distraction and a wash cloth for his face and almost failed because the wash cloth was actually a comfort measure but the CA saved me and counted my reposition from mobility for my third. So make sure you document everything! They will help you the best they can if you save yourself by over-documentation. My patient was wonderful, very cooperative. It was nice because at Lubbock they order there own trays when they are hungry so I never had a patient with a tray. He did drink some juice and water and he used the bathroom but really the I&O is no biggie, the CE verified what I had with hers and it was easy. Also, on pediatrics we were allowed to use a automatic blood pressure. So this PCS was a pass, I was so happy because I was worried about a pediatric patient, but he turned out to be my favorite patient the whole weekend.

Next I had an adult. I was assigned 02 management, NG tube all the ce wanted me to do was assess the drainage and the site, no checking for placement or residual. I was glad because I was worried about that. I was also assigned abdominal assessment, I&O's, mobility- get her out of bed and walk to the door with one assist. This patient was pretty difficult, she had a lot going on and didn't really want to be messed with. Her pulse was really hard to feel and her blood pressure was really hard to hear but I got it. She was in a lot of pain and there wasn't much I could do for her except alert her primary nurse. So I finished up with her and I did all the care right but I failed my careplan because I used Impaired Gas Exchange and Chronic Pain but I used impaired gas exchange as my primary care plan and they failed me because pain was more of her issue and she had rated her pain a 10. Im not sure what I was thinking, I guess I just thought since she was on oxygen that the impaired gas exchange was more important. This patient really had me flustered too and I don't think I was thinking straight by the time I got to chart. I also used weakness and fatigue as my as evidenced by which they didn't like, they said it needed to be more like an abg result. It was hard because they left me waiting for like an hour in this hot room and all I could do was worry. So that was a fail, I was pretty upset. I couldn't control the tears from popping out and I felt really stupid. I was soo discouraged and felt like going home that night. I met some great people though this weekend and honestly, they got me through it. If I couldn't have talked to them and burned off steam, I don't know what I would have done. So I went home, went out to eat, cried, talked to my parents and finally got some good sleep.

I woke up on Sunday feeling better and ready to get this thing done, whatever the results were going to be, I was ready to go home. Well someone was watching over me, I had one of the BEST nurses as my CE that morning and a wonderful patient!! I seriously just felt overjoyed, it couldn't have worked out any better. My CE Jackie was wonderful, I felt like she kind of guided me through the PCS. I made my grid, I stuck with a simple care plan of acute pain and risk for injury again. Everything with the patient was wonderful, she was a sweet older lady. I had meds with her, vitals, resp assessment, pva lower extremeties, mobility and I think that is it. The ce helped me get her off the commode and into bed, we fixed her cpm machine. I did all my assessments, gave her meds, vitals went well. Then I was off to chart, it only took 10 minutes and it was a pass! My confidence was immediately up and I knew I could do this, just one more patient!

My last patient, just as wonderful. I had two ce's watching me , one of them was in training. They were great! They laughed and joked with me the whole time. My patient was awesome, I had comfort management, resp assessment, and o2 management with patient teaching. I was kind of nervous because the patient had his whole family in there. It was great though, they were soooooo nice and supportive and I got along with them very well. My patient was sleepy and pretty much let me do everything I needed to and when I did his patient teaching, it was funny because his family said " Well I don't know if he learned anything but we sure did" They told my ce's that they really liked me and I did a good job. I knew I got it all perfect and I asked my ce how I did and she just leaned over and whispered " It was perfect! Now its just up to your documentation" So I went back to my room, charted my heart out and checked it about 20 times and handed it in. It took them about 10 minutes and then they came and got me and said " We need you to come out in the hall", they had the most serious looks on there faces. They said " You forgot something and I think you need to talk to your nurse" Well my patients nurse was right there and she was smiling and they all congratulated me! What a wonderful feeling!! All I could do was hug them and laugh and I also wanted to cry.

This weekend was such a roller coaster, I have never felt that stressed out in my life. You HAVE to be 100%, there is no 98 or even 99%, you have to give it your all and be absolutely perfect with your critical elements. I just want to tell you all though, when you feel like give up, don't! Keep pushing and you can get through this. I knew I studied hard and I knew I would make a good RN. I just wanted it so bad. I did this with 2 little kids at home and my husband in the military. It was rough at times but Im so happy! The feeling at the end is one of those that you only get when you get married, you have your first child, just a memory to last a lifetime! I had a wonderful support system, my mom and dad were amazingly supportive and my husband put up with all my hours and hours of studying. Most of all I did it for my kids too, they were troopers. I know they are happy to have a mommy who doesn't have to study back. I made some stupid choices in high school and I was blessed with a beautiful little girl my senior year. I told myself I wouldn't give up school and I would make something of myself for her! Well she is going into first grade this fall and Im so happy to tell her and her sister that I did this for them! They were so happy for me too and that felt wonderful! The ce's and ca's were wonderful, they want you to do well, they really do. They are human and they are also nurses, and you know what? I realized that they don't just stop being nurses because they are evaluating you, they helped me as much as they could. They wont give you answers but they want you to feel comfortable. They really are cheering you on, I only had one who just sat in the corner with a straight face.

On my drive home I was ecstatic, I couldn't wait to get home and see my girls and tell everyone. I guess I got to happy because I was going about 80 and flew right passed a cop in the median. Oops! I just pulled over and waited for him, I knew he was coming. I rolled down my window and told him that I just passed the most stressful weekend of my life to become and RN, he just laughed, looked at my license and said " Get out of here, BE SAFE!!" It was funny, I want going to let anything ruin my day. Then in the middle of nowhere I saw one of those bill boards from God with the black background and white writing. It said " So, what are you going to do with your life? - God" How fitting was that! I owe it forever to God for getting me through this weekend, and I am going to be a great RN!! I just wanted to tell everyone thank you for all the prayers and all the people who wrote journals, it helped so much . I probably read 150 them before I went. Good luck to all the future testers, I will still pray for everyone and just know you can do this with hard work and determination!

[BeachieRN84]

SO proud of you Robin. Your journal was so inspiring to read and I am so happy you shared it with us. Congratulations girl, you deserve it!!!!! You will be a wonderful RN and I bet your family is so proud of you. :-)

[rnlately]

Robin,

This brought tears to my eyes. A thousand congratulations to you!!!!!

[wintersantanaRN]

Wow congrats great journal !!

[nurse_bear]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Thanks so much for sharing your experience! Hope to be there in about 6 months. Enjoy benig an RN!

[BeachCathyRN]

:ancong!: and thanks for posting the journal it really helps those of us coming up and gives us hope!!!!

[LoopsRN2]

GREAT JOB! :yeah: Thanks for taking the time to post your journal. I wonder how far Lubbock would be from me, I think I can still add it my application. I love the way you describe these CEs! This is the second journal I have read now that has brought tears to my eyes. Congrats on reaching this milestone, and let us know how your NCLEX prep & boards go! Did you do a workshop Robin?

[RobinMurphy]

Thank you so much everyone! Im really so very happy! I havent felt this relaxed and stress free in a while :) Yes, i did go to a workshop, I went to Lynn fredericks and I also did Sheri Taylors online workshop.

[anjule18]

Excellent Journal Robin!! It was so inspiring! Thank you for letting us in on your CPNE journey, it really is so helpful! Oh and most importantly, Congratulations!!!! you did it!!

[agldragonRN]

congrats!! nclex would be a piece of cake after this cpne! good luck!

[valadam]

Congratulations! You have no idea how much reading your journal just helped me. I am new to all this and it really made me feel a bit better. Good luck on your boards. I am sure you are going to ace them!!

[Txffmedic]

Inspiring journal. Congratulations!!! Could you tell me a little about your background? I am new to this site but have been lurking:lol2: and undecided about pursuing excelsior.