sweetcaroline

Thanks for all your input, I had no idea what the situation was. I've looked into travel nursing but I don't think I'm really ready for that. I didn't realize there was so much variation for salaries. :)

I am moving to Washington (seattle area) for my husband's job and I had a job interview at UW today. I was totally shocked to hear that with my 1 year experience in the OR, I'll be making almost $3 less per hour than in Chicago (I was making $27). They offered me just over $24/hr and it will take until I get 5 years experience before I get my previous hourly salary! I'm pissed! The cost of living here is more expensive for me. It seems like from reading other posts that there isn't much leeway with this starting salary, especially for relatively new nurses. Any other comments??

I got licensed in Chicago, IL and I'm moving to Seattle in August 07. Today I had an interview at U of W's OR. I was shocked to see the starting salary for me, with 1 year experience, to be $24.73/hr. I started at $24 in Chicago and now make $27/hr after 2 small raises within my first year. I have to have 5 years experience at U of W to make what I was getting in Chicago! Does this sound normal to you, are the other hospitals offering similar salaries? Thanks Caroline

I may move to Seattle Washington next year and I need some info on how to change my Illinois License there...any suggestions??? Thanks!

You are all lucky--my school didn't submit ANYTHING for us--we had to do it all ourselves. Many of us weren't aware that we could offer our application online (this is Illinois, Chicago), and now we've been waiting three weeks since sending the application for the ATT. We also graduated the 2nd week of May (this is Truman College in Chicago). It's almost July now, and I haven't got my ATT! I won't be able to take NCLEX before my new job starts at this rate. I'm supposed to start my career on July 10 but will be late. I'm furious.:angryfire My husband is upset, too, asking how they can do this to new nurses when there's a shortage. Outrageous!

I don't want to discourage you, but our school has the highest pass rate of the City Colleges of Chicago. It also has the most number of students. Of the 110 or so of us that started at the same time, only 81 made it to take our exit exam (the HESI) at the end of the 2nd year. Of that 81, I heard about 12 failed the HESI exam, hence they must retake in order to graduate. I think the key to successfully passing nursing school is 1. consistent studying, 2. Not working too much or having your time occupied by other obligations, if possible, 3. keeping up with classwork and being involved.

More questions: when you're at home on-call, are you paid for those hours? How many times do you do it a month? You wear a pager, or do they call your cell phone? You can probably volunteer to be on-call more often if you want overtime, right? The manager was explaining about 24 hour on-call, too...are you familiar with that? I didn't want to ask the manager too much about money while I was in the interview! Fortunately, I live 15 mins away from the hospital... Thanks so much for clearing the confusion! :)

I'm a new grad and just got a dream position in the OR. I'm trying to understand what the nurse manager explained about on-call procedures, but I AM SO CONFUSED! Can anyone help? I'll be working in a Level 1 trauma center in Chicago... Caroline

Hi there, What is it you'd like to know about Truman? I just finished their 2 year program (yea, I graduated!). The pre-reqs took me about 1 year to complete. I took biology (general), Anatomy, Physiology, and Microbiology there. I still had some prereqs that were valid from my bachelor's degree. You must finish all your science requirements prior to the beginning of the 2nd year of your nursing degree. Yes, you do need to have to take English 101 and 102 (I was waived from this because of my previous degree). You need to take a math exam to avoid taking math classes (I passed). They have a very stupid test called the Nelson-Denny test. It's a vocabulary/English test (If I remember correctly). Basically, you get maybe 10 minutes to complete as many of the 50-60 questions as you can! Personally, I think it's retarded, but hey, I passed that too. I also had to take a Constitution test because I didn't graduate from a high school in Illinois. That was stupid, it was take-home, but very difficult. Overall, the program is worth it if you're dedicated to being a nurse. I think the quality of the instructors is pretty good for most of them. They are making some changes to the curriculum. The administration is FRUSTRATING and they are really disorganized, so you got to take intiative to get what you need. The program itself is quite full and every year, there are returning students who failed the previous year. The grading system is quite high: I believe 92% above is an A, 84% is a B, etc. Good luck with applying.

Hi there, I got offered a position at Illinois Masonic's OR and to participate in their RN Residency program, which for me starts July 10. The next one begins sometime in October I believe. I've been to Masonic 3x for clinicals and like how professional it is. It's close to my house, which is a bonus. The RN residency program is 18-22 weeks and I hear great things about it. I can't wait to start. I'm still waiting to get my ATT letter to test for NCLEX! Good luck choosing...

Hi, Right now I work as a student nurse tech in a certain Chicago hospital. I'm preparing to apply for jobs next month (I'm graduating May) and wonder if I should stay at the current hospital (everyone there has been friendly) or move to a new hospital as a new grad. Any advice?

Hi there. I'm currently a second year nursing student at Truman college. What do you need to know about the program? I'd be happy to answer some questions. I took all my pre-requisites there. I already came in with a Bachelor's degree, but I took my A & P, microbiology, and pharmacology before and during the program. It is difficult to get into the program because so many qualified people apply. They only accept 100 per year. Last year (not the year I got in), they were forced to do a lottery to pick at random the students who could join the program. Every year around 10-15 people drop out or fail unfortunately. By the time you graduate, about 70-80 are left. They have limited resourced and teachers. But the education quality is so-so. You need to be motivated to learn. I see several students who don't put as much effort and they tend to not do so well. Their website is: http://www.trumancollege.cc/academics/department.php?DeptNo=33 You can email me personally if you have more questions. Caroline

Brooke-- I am also on my last semester of nursing school, but here in Chicago. I do many of my clinicals in the various city hospitals. I also work as a Student Nurse Tech at St. Joseph's. FYI, St. Joe's is located on the lakeside, in Lincoln Park. Its a part of the Resurrection (Catholic) hospital system. In general, St. Joe's is a very good hospital, great equipment, nice staff (depends which unit!). Illinois Masonic (AIMMC) is located very near St. Joseph's but is part of the Advocate healthcare system (not Catholic). I do my clinical rotations there now. Its also a very nice, modern hospital. Its located right by the train too (if that influences your decision at all!). Northwestern is supposed to be one of the best--very modern. I also got a recommendation from a veteran nurse to check out Univeristy of Illinois Chicago (UIC) because she said it has the best benefit plans and salary of all Chicago hospitals. It also is involved in tuition reimbursement and higher education programs, to my knowledge. I hope that helps Good luck on the NCLEX!