JJaneRN

I am a new nurse who has only been working for 6 months. In this short amount of time, I have fallen head of over heels completely in love with nursing. I love the fact that when I leave work each day, I feel like I've made a difference in the lives of many. Even on the "bad" days with an aching back, not enough sleep, and too little coffee, my patients warm my heart and I'm left feeling a sense of joy at the end of the day. Why am I still feeling like I'm coming up short? I work on a Rehabilitation unit and this is a good fit for me as an inexperienced nurse, as I do learn a lot. However, lately I feel this sense of urgency that I could be more than I am. It's hard for me to explain, but I have this thought daily. I want to do more with my profession, but I'm not sure how, or where to begin. I am currently continuing my education through online classes with the end goal of becoming an NP. I understand this profession is a journey rather than a destination, but I feel a burning passion inside of me and would like some input on how to deal with this. I feel lost in a sense because I'm unsure about which direction to take. I'm open to any and all suggestions people! I'm not sure if enrolling in a volunteering program, mission trip, or change of job specialty is the answer, but I'm really trying to pinpoint a solution. I've volunteered in the past, but I'm curious to know about any opportunities or experiences others have had that proved to be fulfilling. I've always been interested in Pediatrics along with Cardiology, but I haven't committed to one or the other just yet. I know, here I am a nurse of only 6 months questioning a career move already It sounds crazy, but I am so grateful for those two little letters behind my name that inspire me every day. I go to work each day and during my drive I think, "how can I be better than I was yesterday?" Nursing is so awesome, and I thank the Lord each night for this calling to serve others. I'd like to know how some of you chose your specialty field and how you knew you made the right choice. I would appreciate any advice or input! :)

Like many of you I spent many days frantically searching allnurses for the most recent Kaplan scores to compare mine to in order to give myself an idea of where I was at. I told myself that after everything was said and done I would post my scores to help out anyone that I could. I graduated from my nursing school the beginning of May. I allowed myself to hold off on studying for two weeks afterwards. I told myself I deserved this break and that in a couple weeks I would be ready to get back to things. To give myself peace of mind I decided to take a Kaplan course, so I attended the live review days the third week of May. (I took my NCLEX exactly one month later, so total study time was about 4 weeks including the live review) Taking Kaplan was one of the best decisions I could have made. It gave me a structured study plan to follow as well as challenging analytical questions. Since this program is not cheap I wanted to get my moneys worth, so I completed all 7 question trainers, all practice test, and the entire question bank. I only watched the videos on content that I was not familiar with. My score are posted below: Diagnostic: 71 QT1: 63 QT2: 63 QT3: 43 Practice: 73 QT4: 59 QT5: 63 QT6: 57 QT7: 62 Readiness: 74 I did about 150-200 practice questions per day. On weekends or days I was more busy I would be sure to at least take one 75 question test. Kaplan instructors stress the importance of remediating all questions you got right and the ones you got wrong. If you are like I was and worried about how to do this thoroughly, do not worry. After each exam I went through every question and kept a notebook to write down any content/rationale that I did not know. At the end of each day I would review all my notes (from that exam and previous exams) to be sure that I understood the content. One thing I did notice was that my scores were significantly higher in the afternoon than they were in the morning. I'm not sure why maybe I was not fully awake yet, but because of this I scheduled my NCLEX for the afternoon- 2pm. I finished my last question bank test two days before my NCLEX and spent the next day completely relaxing. Even though this is hard to do and may make you anxious, it is important to give your brain a rest. I passed my NCLEX in 76 questions and my license was posted to the MN State Board of Nursing the next day by 10 am. Do not stress about your scores. I know this is easier said than done, but be confident! You made it through nursing school, and if you went the extra mile to take a Kaplan prep course you are going to be ready! If you are not hitting the 60%-65% mark, change things up! Try taking your test at a different time in the day, take more breaks, think if I could only do one thing for this patient what would I do. Kaplan does a great job at providing very detailed and tough questions. Remember that these are meant to challenge you so come NCLEX time you are able to breeze through the basic content needed for a new nurse. You got this! Good Luck future RN's :)