mimibear

I am looking for some advice. I have been a RN for a little less than a year in a hospital telemetry unit. I do not love my job (I don't dislike it either), but the experience has been tremendous and I have learned more than I ever imagined possible. (and I suspect I have even more to learn) I have done well at my current position, and haven't had any performance issues or such. At my last review, my supervisor told me I was an excellent nurse. I have been applying for positions (12 hr nights are getting old), and I have the opportunity to interview for a home health nurse position. I am very excited about this position, but wonder if I am ready for such independence. The agency offers 12 weeks orientation and seems like a good place to work with a manageable case load of 5-6 pts/day. I am going to shadow one of their nurses for a day next week, just to get an idea of what my day would be like. Do any of you more experienced and wiser nurses have any advice for me?? And as far as salary, what should I expect? Right now I get shift differential on top of my base pay - will the agency just consider my base pay when figuring out what to pay me or will they consider my shift diff as part of my current salary? Thanks so much for the advice, I really appreciate it!

Good luck! You can do it!!!!!

I passed!!! I can hardly believe it!!! I can't believe that I will need to do this again in May for my RN - it is awful!! Good luck to everyone waiting! Just a couple of things for all of you who are waiting - I had to wait 49 1/2 hrs for my results through Pearson and even though I answered the last question wrong I still passed!

Just finished the NCLEX-PN with 85 questions and feel awful! I was surprised when the computer shut down after 85!! It's going to be a long wait! Good luck to everyone getting ready to take their exam and to those who just took it!

I am about to beat my head with my book - please help. I need to write a diagnosis for a self care deficit: bathing/hygiene. My pt is OOB with assistance, admitted for chf, htn, mi, and cellulitis. Pt is elderly and morbidly obese, and uses a walker to get around. So far I have Self-care deficit: bathing/hygiene related to weakness, tiredness, pain, use of walker, medications but what is my aeb??? Thank you so much for your help!!

I agree about the tests. Although, they were hard in A&P 1, I think the tests for A&P 2 are much more difficult. I study and study, but there is just so much information - I am unsure what to focus on. Dr. Simmons said to focus on the outlines - but that doesn't seem to help me too much. If anybody has any suggestions or advice - please share!!! Thanks!!!!

:balloons: Congratulations on graduating and passing the boards!!!! :balloons: I didn't know the points weren't the only determining criteria, they didn't share that bit of info!! Anyway, congrats again!!

Hi! It is pretty competitive, but it sounds like you have a very good start with 25 points. I scored a 98% on the math portion and a 76% on the reading section. This put me in the 98% nationally. I definitely recommend buying the study guide, the reading test is unlike any other I had taken. I have a 4.0 with all my pre-req's finished except I hadn't taken A&P I&II yet. I believe I had 58.4 points total, but I am not sure. They do not tell you where you ranked overall, just whether or not you made it. I think the class points for the year before were 54 to 68. When you take the HOBET they will let you know what the cutoff was for the year before. The hardest part of the admissions process is the wait. You need to apply and have all of your paperwork finished before March 1st, but you do not find out until mid-May if you are in or not. It is grueling!! Anyway, good luck to you. I'll be looking for your acceptance post next May!!

Oh, I forgot to mention this. I have an "easy" anatomy book by Thibodeau and Patton called "Structure and function of the body" and used this book to learn the basics from. It is written much simpler and I found once I had the basics mastered I could use our textbook to learn the rest. It really helped me a great deal! Anyway, I just thought I would share!

Hello everyone!! I am taking A&P II with you all!! I just finished A&P I on Friday. I took it with Dr. Simmons and had a good experience overall. The tests were 25 questions in 30 minutes. I did find the tests hard, but I was able to do well. Rather than just parrot the information you read, he expects you to have an understanding of the concepts. My biggest complaint with the tests is that you can't see what you got wrong (not even once!). As far as the Beyond Adam questions in lab, we don;t need to do them. Under the first lab assignment it says so, but I double-checked with Dr. Simmons just to be sure. I missed that little bit of info last time and completed all the Beyond Adam questions in A&P I. Good luck to everyone!!

Okay, I have not done this for nursing school yet, but I am good at math. I am sure there are many correct ways to do this - here is mine. You know you have 15units in 500 ml, so each 1 ml has .03 u (15/500). To infuse .06 units a minute you need to infuse 2ml a minute (.03 x 2 = .06) so 2ml/min x 60 minutes an hour = 120 ml. Hope you were able to follow that - good luck!

Yeah!! I received my letter today and I am in!!!!!!!! I am so excited, I can hardly believe it!!!! Good luck to everyone still waiting!!!

I finally received my letter and I am IN!!!!!!! Woohooo! I am so excited (and scared!). Congrats to you all that are finishing this semester and thanks to everyone for their kinds words and for sharing their experiences!! Denise

Hi everyone! I start on Monday too! I must admit I am a bit nervous about it, it seems like a short time for a great deal of material. 5 days for 2 chapters!!!??? Thankfully this is my only course, so I will be able to focus all of my energy on this (and my 5 year old twins & husband...). I also registered for A&P II, hopefully I'll make it through A&P 1. Anyway, good luck to everyone - I hope we all have a great semester!! Denise

Ugh!!! Our school told us we would know by the end of April (we had to have our apps and all in before Feb 1st!), but I hadn't heard anything so I called them and now they say mid-May!!!! The wait is just terrible, especially because I have been mentally preparing all week to find the letter in the mailbox. I don't know how I will handle 2 more weeks!!!!!!