2019RNBSN2019

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There was two start dates every months, so every two weeks! HR will work with you to make sure you have enough time to get everything done before your start date. CHOP is really flexible with new grads and know that licensing can be a time issue so you shouldn’t have to worry!

HR is notorious for pushing back deadlines so i wouldn’t panic if it’s later than that.

Congrats on your interview! As someone who was only able to shadow in a CCU once, I can give you a very brief overview of it. It’s basically a floor for acute cardiac patients: MI, ACS, arrhythmias, unresponsive HTN, CHF, post-op cardiac surgery, etc. In the hospital I was at, the nurses were critical care certified and basically dealt with all “intensive” cardiac patients except for those needing rewarming or had extensive complications. On the floor I was on the nurses had 2-4 patients. A typical day consisted of morning reports, morning meds (antihypertensives, antiarrythmics, diuretics, statins), assisting with AM care/repositioning, patient education, preparing for any procedures, afternoon meds, repositioning, preparing patients for dinner, and etc. The patients would get bedside chest x rays, go off the floor for MRIs, be on telemetry, get stent placements, have external pacemakers, and have lots of IV meds. It’s definitely going to be a fantastic learning experience. However, it’s going to be a lot to learn and stressful at times. These patients may appear stable one minute and decline in status the next so you must have good observation skills and always be on top of your game. If you have a passion for cardiac patients, then this may be your calling. But, if it bores you, you might want to go in another direction. If possible, I would ask HR if you could also arrange for a shadowing opportunity (even if just for an hour) as this is a great chance to learn more about the specific unit and witness nurses first hand! Hope this helps and best of luck!

Congrats everyone! This is an extremely stressful process as I am sure CHOP is the top choice for the majority here, but don’t let it take over your life too much! Enjoy your last summer:) I got an interview/shadowing day and eventual job offer early June last year. I was selected for my floor because I had volunteered there before and listed it on my resume. However, my friend did not have an interview until late August and did not get the offer until the middle of September. She wanted to hold out for CHOP because she was an extern there. If you have your heart set on working with children, the wait is going to be painful but totally worth it. You never know when they are actually going to contact you. The HR reps really look into your applications to have individual fits for each person which is great, but time consuming! In the mean time, apply for other jobs in the area. But, if you get another offer that doesn’t seem right then don’t take it! I was given a job offer that I declined because it didn’t feel like I belonged there and I wasn’t passionate about the unit I would be working on (adult med-surg, no thanks!!!) But as I was about to accept my second offer I got an interview with CHOP! If you do get an interview, be prepared! Have lots of stories/ patient care situations they you can answer with. CHOP is really focused on patient and family centered care, diversity, and utilizing evidence based practice so try to incorporate that somehow. Also, make sure to really take advantage of your shadowing experience. Ask lots of questions and sell yourself! The nurses will provide feedback to the managers if they should hire you. One of my favorite parts about CHOP is how down to earth and close all of my coworkers are. We like to make sure that a new hire would be a good fit for the floor... teamwork is everything in this hospital, we wouldn’t survive without each other. So don’t be scared, just be yourself! Best of luck.

Congrats on landing a second interview! That is a big step and you should be very proud of yourself! There is no sure answer as to what you will be asked, but always prepare as best as you can! Think of a few key situations that you can utilize and tweak for different questions (such as one story that covers “how you went above and beyond for a patient” but also would cover the answer for “name a time you dealt with a difficult patient”). I would not let the time frame of the interview scare you... when I interviewed/shadowed the HR rep told me just to be prepared for an hour long interview and 4 hour shadowing but the interview ended up being less than 10 minutes! I believe they just want you to be prepared “just in case” it ends up being that long. So, don’t panic. They may just want to make sure you won’t have any other commitments and have to end up leaving early. Here are some go-to interview topic that interviews like to ask about... 1. “Tell me about yourself.” (Include here about your interest for psych... make sure to sell yourself!”) 2. “What are you strengths/weaknesses” 3. “Why do you want to work here? Why psych nursing? Why this particular floor?” 4. “Tell me about a time you went above and beyond for a patient” 5. “Name a time you worked with a difficult coworker (or difficult patient)” 6. “Name a time when you used critical thinking” 7. “How do you individualize your patients care/ how do you practice culturally competent care” 8. “What type of psych patients do you have experience working with?” 9. “Name a time where you made a mistake” Now for psych specific questions I would prepare for answering things such as... 1. What patient would you see first (bipolar patient in need of medication, schizophrenic patient saying they are being told to harm someone, or a MDD patient with suicidal ideation a that is with a tech) 2. How would you protect yourself if a patient attempts to hurt you? 3. How would you assist a schizophrenic patient get back to baseline? 4. What is your definition of mental health? 5. What would you do if you needed to help another patient but a manic patient would not stop talking to you? 6. Name a time when you felt a patient’s wellbeing was declining and what did you do about it? My advice for you in the shadowing portion is to ASK QUESTIONS! Show your interest! The nurse is going to most likely fill out a feedback sheet that will be a part in deciding if you should be hired. Ask questions about patient care, nursing ratios, specific equipment they use, how documenting is/what system they utilize, resources for nurses, how that nurse grew professionally, ask the nurse about why they chose nursing or where they went to school or how they ended up here. I would prepare of list of questions and write them down on a sheet that you can also use to take notes (you’ll want to remember some of the things the nurse tells you that wasn’t disclosed in the interview) However, don’t be too “aggressive” by asking a question every other second. Shadowing is usually a very “chill” experience and an opportunity to see how the floor works. It’s time to show off how you would be an awesome coworker! Best of luck with everything!

Hello! I’m sorry to hear about the struggles you are going through. Maybe it’s not the fact that nursing isn’t right for you but you just haven’t found the right path yet. Have you ever considered pre-op or post-op at an outpatient surgical center? You’re in at 6:30 and leaving by 3:30 with relatively stable patients who either need education or just need to be monitored for an hour or so. During nursing school, I really enjoyed my outpatient round care rotation. Same hours as I mentioned before with assessing the patients room and equipping it with supplies the doctor will need for that patient. Relatively low key job with stable patients. It seems to me like outpatient might be your calling. Secretaries usually handle calling patients and your responsibilities end as you leave the door as it’s usually closing time for the entire facility as well. Just something to think about.

I just bought UWorld 90 day subscription and have two practice assessments to “test your readiness for the NCLEX” examination. I am taking my NCLEX late July. When do you recommend I take these examinations? I have gotten recommendations to take the first one now so I have an idea of my likelihood passing the NCLEX so I know if I have to study extremely hard. Then, I would leave the second one within a week of my NCLEX date. Not sure if this is the right way to go or if I should wait until it’s closer to my examination date to do both of them. Thank you in advance!

I am a Pediatric Progressive Care Unit nurse at a children’s hospital in my area. Most of the children on my floor are trached/vented patients that are stable enough to leave the NICU/PICU but not ready to go home or to a facility yet. The population tends to be younger children (6 months-24 months) that were born extremely premature with congenital defects. Our focus is on weaning patients and educating families about how to care for the vents at home. I love my job but wanted to pick up a few extra shifts here and there as a per diem somewhere but was wondering if it was possible to do this in a NICU or SCN since I’m not trained as a NICU nurse. My hospital has a Level IV NICU. I would love to get some NICU experience as this is my dream specialty to get into but am unsure if this would even be possible. Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated!

I am so sorry to hear about your experience right now! I want you to know that the last question is not going to determine your results. If you had been above the passing rate for 74 questions, then your last question will not mean you automatically dipped below the passing rate. You need to focus on other things, as hard as it may sound. You’re going to get your response soon. Think about the positives... you graduated nursing school and you made it this far. Retaking the NCLEX is not as negative as it may seem, some of the best nurses I know had to retake. I have a strong feeling that you did fine. You studied. You knew the material going in. There is only so many questions they can ask you in 75 questions... don’t overthink the amount of SATA. They are not as common as you may think, our programs just want us to know about them so we are prepared when they come up. You’re amazing. This time is meant to be stressful. But that’s also a great sign!! This really shows how much passing and becoming a registered nurse really means to you. I believe in you. You are in my prayers.

I am a Pediatric Progressive Care Unit nurse at a children’s hospital in my area. Most of the children on my floor are trached/vented patients that are stable enough to leave the NICU/PICU but not ready to go home or to a facility yet. Our focus is on weaning patients and educating families about how to care for the vents at home. I wanted to pick up a few extra shifts here and there as a per diem but was wondering if it was possible to do this in a speciality I am not “trained in.” More specifically, I would love to get some NICU experience but am unsure if this would even be possible. Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated!☺️