caal19

Def recommend emailing for feedback! I replied to the admissions decision email and CC'd Dr. Mainwaring and Dr. Mainwaring responded

I asked for feedback and they replied very quickly stating my earlier science grades had a large impact in the admissions decision. I graduated with a bio degree, 3.4 GPA. ABSN 3.8 GPA. But overall science GPA was about 3.2ish. And they said while repeating coursework shows determination, they calculate all coursework attempts so repeated courses may not have a large impact on overall science GPA. I think the rest of my application is fairly strong in terms of experience, so I really think it's just so competitive every single thing counts. Best of luck to everyone :)

Rejected via email this AM. Best of luck to everyone else! edit: prior to interview

The way I see it, people are at far greater risk for complications if they get COVID than if they get the vaccine.

Welcome! Best of luck!

Ah although it was just a few months ago, I've already forgotten how the whole process went ? You for sure have to tell your school to send your info to the NJ BON instead of the NY BON. After that, the process gets a little foggy for me. I think you wait for the ATT from the NJ BON after they received your stuff from your school, then you register with Pearson for the test. And somewhere in between you have to get fingerprinted. Definitely clear it up with an advisor at your school. But you for sure want to let your school know that you want a NJ license instead of a NY license. Sorry I couldn't be of more help there LOL

NP! I got my original RN license in NJ. You can obtain your license in any state of your choosing no matter where you graduate from! You can test in any state of your choice and receive a license in any state of your choice. For example, I almost had to test in CT because NJ had no seats available until August. Had I tested in CT, I still would obtain my license in NJ because that is the state I registered my licensure for. Your nursing school should go through this process with you. It's really confusing, but it will become more clear as you near the NCLEX.

They contacted me about 2.5 weeks later for an interview. They contacted me about 1-1.5 weeks after my first interview for a second. And I received an offer 2 weeks after that. They hired about 20 new grads for the program, all to different units. I would just address it to "Hiring Manager" ?‍♀️ tbh I didn't write a cover letter LOL

Absolutely! I will say I am just speaking from experience in my department and other departments may vary. But Valley does seem to pride itself on how they treat people so chances are you'll land in a good crowd. Best of luck!

Hey, sorry I'm not gonna be much help with cover letters ? I was never good at writing them and don't believe I ever submitted one to Valley. I did write some for other hospitals, but I never heard back from those so I'm really not sure how effective my cover letter writing is LOL but I can tell you what I did for those generic residency programs. I addressed it as "Dear Hiring Manager" and that I was seeking a residency position (although not quite in those exact words), what impressed me about the hospital, and what I can bring to the table from my experiences. Again, I'm really not sure if this is quality cover letter writing so don't follow my advice here to the tee LOL best of luck!

Hey there, my interview process was a little different than usual due to Covid, although I'm not sure they're still following this same format. All I was required to do was send in a video of myself answering a few questions and then it was followed up with a phone interview with the department manager. I thought the whole process/experience was great. Valley always kept me up to date and HR was always around to answer any questions I may have had. The whole onboarding process was very smooth and at no point did I think they were disorganized despite covid chaos. As for the actual residency, I'm loving it. I feel very supported and they're easing me in while challenging me at the same time. The staff is great, everyone is super nice. Many people have gone out of their way to help me multiple times, and many times without me even asking. They just see that I needed help and offered it. I'm really thankful for the opportunity and think it's a great program.

I used Saunders to supplement UWorld. It goes by body systems and pretty much covers the most important things you should know content wise (especially the stuff in red font). I wouldn't recommend the Saunders questions to prepare for the NCLEX because I find them too easy, but they're good for reviewing the material you just read in the chapters. But honestly, I read Saunders cover to cover and I'm not really sure it helped me all that much. It feels like UWorld is really specific and it may not cover everything, but that's kinda how the NCLEX is. Even though I did Saunders and UWorld, the NCLEX still threw so many questions at me that I felt wasn't covered by any of my practice materials. And I think that's the way it's supposed to be.

I went to Rutgers - New Brunswick. Tuition was about $38k for in-state.

I got in on my first try with a 3.48!

Great, thank you! Would you recommend any specific CEN resources? Or just any?

Hi there, would anyone have any book suggestions for a new grad starting in the ED? I've heard of Sheehy's Manual of Emergency Care, but the last edition came out in 2012(?) so I assume the content is outdated now. I'm looking for something content heavy like Sheehy's, but if anyone also has any leisure reading suggestions (like a nurse detailing their own experiences in the ED or as a new grad), I'd like to hear them as well! Thank you!

Thank you! And yes, paid annual leave = paid time off (PTO). I was just asking how people go about using their PTO (how often, how long, etc.). We get a certain number of days/hrs accrued with our hrs worked, although it caps off at a maximum, and are supposed to be able to use it as we please (with some limitations at some places).

Yes! Thank you for adding to this thread. It's good to hear you have a positive experience.

Seems there are some mixed experiences! All have been very informative, thank you. And yes! I have thought about travel nursing, but I hear I need about 2 years of experience before I can do that, so that'll have to wait.

Oh okay so just to clarify, that would be taking 6 shifts off/using 72 hours of PTO? Did I do that right? And if that's the case, you would still have PTO left over if let's say you accrue 5 weeks of PTO/year? So you could actually take off for more than 6 shifts or do you just set the limit at 6 so it's not so hard on the unit?

I think you did well! You're really more likely to pass in 60 than fail in 60. Plus, don't feel bad that you felt 50/50 on majority of questions. The NCLEX is designed to do exactly that. It will keep throwing questions at you that it thinks you have a 50% chance of answering correctly. For me, I did UWorld and felt I could anticipate answers before looking at the answers. On the NCLEX, no idea. I guessed on majority of questions. Did not feel confident walking out, but it shut off at 60 and I got about 13 SATA so that made me feel a little better. And I did pass! You will too.

Thanks everyone for the replies! I appreciate it. Gives me a better idea of what to expect not just from my employer, but if I were to go elsewhere, what it's generally like in the profession. OuxPhys, would you mind elaborating on how you were able to stretch a 2 week vacation into almost a month off? And what your vacations look like now that your current employer offers 5 weeks a year?

Damn that's tough ? thanks for the honest response though. Now (being in between school and my new job, I have 3 months of freedom) would be the perfect time to get my dream vacation in, but unfortunately given the circumstances, looks like my dream vacation will be a while.

Yes, I am in the US! Thank you for this! I figured it wouldn't be so clear cut, and I'll just have to see when I get there. I was hoping to hear differently, but regardless this helps paint a better of picture of what it may be like.

Hey there! I'm a new grad and I luckily have a position lined up. I'm jumping way ahead here, but I'm just curious and trying to get a better idea of how easy/difficult is it to take vacations as a nurse? Obviously I wouldn't be taking time off any time soon, probably not until at least 6 months after starting my new job. My partner and I were discussing the perks of 12 hr shifts, and we would love to be able to go on 3 week long vacations, but I'm worried, would that look poorly? Is it generally frowned upon to take such long vacations or is it more like if you have the PTO, then feel free? I think ideally we would like to take 2-3 week vacations twice a year. How likely would I be allowed to do that? What is your experience taking vacation? How long and how often do you go? And how much freedom do you have with scheduling your shifts? Can you do 3 in a row at the beginning of a week and 3 in a row at the end of the next week to have time off in between without taking PTO? Is that frowned upon? I'm just curious how going about vacationing is like as an RN. I appreciate any input! Thanks in advance!