Midlife452

Thank you! I understand now!

My brain is tired and I must be an idiot 'cause I can't figure this out! I live in Pennsylvania. I took my NCLEX in West Virginia. My license is on the West Virginia nursing board. DO I HAVE A COMPACT LICENSE OR NOT?!? Thank you in advance for helping me clear this up!

I think so. I would definitely want to go that route!

I’m not sure. The job descriptions don’t mention minimum experience. I think they are really hard up for nurses now so maybe there is some flexibility. I’ve got a friend who started in the OR straight out of school. I’m going to talk to her more about it.

I've been out of work for about 3 months. I know my lack of experience is working against me, but I've got a pretty good connection at the hospital I want to work at (I did my school preceptorship there), so I'm hoping that might help.

I've posted before, usually with questions related to my husband's recent passing. So, I'm back with another question. I think it's time. Time for me to get back to work. I'm trying to narrow down where I want to go and what I want to do. I have practically zero experience (only 1 month on a Stepdown unit before my husband passed). I think I'd be very interested in some procedural units. Maybe GI Lab, Cath Lab (although, I know that one is really hard to get into), OR, Wound Care. I like technology and procedures. I don't mind patient care, but I don't want to be total patient care, total bedside. Looking for suggestions from you brilliant people of other units/ specialties that I may be unfamiliar with. Thank you in advance!

Thank you so much for your words. This is exactly something he would say to me.

Thank you, so much, for your words. Part of me just wants to take the test and see what happens. I'm trying so hard to get myself ready to prepare for it. I just don't want to let my husband down. Thank you, Davey Do. This is very good advice. I'm trying very hard to keep myself to a schedule, but sometimes I get completely derailed by these waves of grief. But, I'll keep trying...

These are good suggestions. Thank you so much. Actually, the UWorld program and app are exactly like that interactive quizzing you were talking about. It's really an excellent way to learn. And, I'm an old-fashioned file card girl from way back. I'll definitely put those to work again. I've heard of Anki but never used it. Maybe I'll check it out. Unfortunately, my attention span is so short and very foggy. I feel like I really want to get this out of the way, but I really don't want to fail it and then have to take it all over again.

The advice you guys gave me was pretty wonderful the last time I posted. So, I'm hoping to get some good feedback, again. I graduated in December. A lot has happened since then, including losing my dear husband rather suddenly about 2 months ago. I've had to reschedule my NCLEX test date several times over the past few months (two of the dates were too close to my husband's passing). I have rescheduled my test date for the end of June. That means I have about 3-4 weeks to study. I'm using UWorld and a Youtube lecture series. I'm trying to study 2-4 hours a day, but it's just not happening. I cannot concentrate on my study material and I am constantly drifting off. Has anyone else experienced this? Any advice you can offer? I really don't want to reschedule again. My husband and I sacrificed a great deal for me to become a nurse and his greatest dream was to see me become a nurse. I want to make him proud, but my heavy, sad heart is blocking my nursing brain and I'm worried I will fail the boards. Thank you, in advance, for any words of advice you can give.

This might be a good idea. I'm not on good speaking terms with God right now so I don't want to belong to a church, but I think you're right that they would have some good connections.

Thank you for your advice. I started casually applying for some vaccine positions. I cannot imagine how difficult it has been for you with four children. I can barely manage myself in my present state.

I'd actually never thought about Dermatology. A friend of mine is doing her orientation at a clinic and she loves it.

Thank you, so much, for your advice. Solid advice, indeed. It's been about a week or so when I initially posted this and, right now, I'm doing a little bit better. I've accomplished a lot of tasks and been as busy as I want to be. Resigning from my position was a very, very difficult decision but I know it was the right one for me. And you're right about the cat... he definitely lets me know when he needs to be fed, LOL!

I'm definitely going to check this out. Low stress and will keep me in the healthcare loop. Thanks for the suggestion!