RN*06

Hey there -- I went to BU for nusing school.....did clinicals in lourdes and wilson the whole time and DEFINATELY enjoyed wilson. was actually going to stay up there a year to work on the step-down unit. People are lovely, high standards of medical care, really enjoyed myself. good luck and congrats on your new baby!

Thank you all for your advice and support. In regards to the ICU component.....the PACU floor I am working on is also an ICU (so they say). I have been here for 2 weeks and we get tons on A-lines and all types of monitors. If something is going downhill with a patient anywhere in the hospital, they come to the PACU since it is the highest level of critical care in this hospital. only time will tell how much critcal care there actually is!

well, i interviewed at sloan and was offered a position pending licensure. i also have three friends that had the same thing - two are starting on monday! NYP-Cornell I can't vouch for.

I call extremely cheap 550 a month for a decent and spacious 2 bedroom apartment (roomate paying the oher half). If you want a REAL idea for nyc prices, go to craigslist and look in the real estate area.

Hi there, Good luck finishing school and congrats on being so close to graduation! I just graduated in May, passed the boards in July, and will begin my first job on monday. I went on many, many interviews and i can tell you the highest for a new grad is about 70,000 and thats starting nights. Definately take your time looking around! Managers and HR constantly try to pain a positive picture for you and you need to be weary. Make sure there is lots of support for a NEW graduate since the nyc hospitals are so busy.

Thank you for the advice! I have a lot to learn before that time comes. Just coming out of school, it was hard to have no "goal" in sight academically. I guess its reality shock:) In fact it definately is heheh I'm very excited to start facing reality though- I start next Monday. thanks for the comments!

In addition to that 38 percent question............ So, lets take sloans salary as an example which was posted earlier on this board. 62,000. After taxes, we would be taking home only 62 percent of this in cash every year? When you sign onto a hospital and they say benefits include health insurance, vision, dental, etc....I always thought this was a BENEFIT that you recieve on top of the salary, not a subtraction. Pension I know is a different story. Can someone please clarify this? approximately how much would a nurse on a "62,000" salary be taking home in a week, after tax. This is all so confusing to me....and living in nyc is very expensive:( its killing me! money is gone before I put it in my pocket...

it's actually a certain amount of hours, such which usually takes within a year working full time. It just needs to be a certain amount of hours within 2 yrs. I was wrong about after the classes, big time - sorry bout that:) sea tracer, i haven't started yet! September 11th.... (great first day eh). i'll keep you posted!

thank you o much for all this information.

wow is right!!!!! LOL. I understand what you mean about the critical care - and the elective surgeries. However - not many city hospitals offer this at all!! and six months is a lot of support. nyforlove - good luck on your interview. the HR rep is a lovely woman. Sometimes when there is new management that is trying to make big improvements, this is an unfortunate step that needs to be taken. HSS is opening an entire new critical care unit so they have a lot of changes coming up. In terms of "Critical" patients.....anesthesia/post-op (especially osteo) is always serious! there is still much to be learned, especially for the new graduate. :)

Talking about bar-mates......anyone looking for a roomate. I wasn't planning on living in the city, but now that i'm working as a secretary in columbia-pres (until i start nursing at HSS in september).....and commuting from brookyn....It's SO tiring! I literally spend four hours a day on the train or walking through sweaty tunnels. i grew up in new york so i should be used to it, but instead im just tired of it. i can't even imagine myself after a 12 hr shift! i started looking at 2 bedroom apt's. dont get me wrong, im used to living alone at this point. I wouldn't mind saving a grand a month, especially if you live with the right people. it could end up being a blast.

hey - i think ncsbn's questions are equal to kaplan in critical thinking. they are definately upper level thinking questions and are a good indicator for how you will do on th nclex if you score above a 50. their rationale's are not good though....they dont tell you why wrong answers are wrong. kaplan is far superior in rationale, but ncsbn is great for the extra pratice. they cite ALL referenes from textbooks you have probably used in shchool (i recognised almost all of them). the content is also good. I am a big believer on the "Cap" of content you can study. If you do 3,000 questions from the right sources you are BOUND to start seeing questions again - I was told this in nursing school and found it true towards the end of my studying. choose reputable sources (in my opinion, KAPLAN, ncsbn, and saunders) and do questions!! when i did the ncsbn questions, i considered it yet another reputable "high level" soure to get some questions from:) good luck!!!!!

i waited six days. What's so weird to me..........is that I now have 2 listings for my license number, even though I never requested a name change! They listed one with my middle name, as i requested on my license application, and another with just my middle initial since that was on my ID at the Pearson Vue center. good too see my name up there though:) i already have the number memorized hahah

Thanks for your comments - that is very comforting to hear. The extubating part is also bothering me the most! I just can't imagine being responsible for the possible complications of it.....The hospital offers an amzing orientation and that is what calms my fears. I will be in the classroom about 3 months before stepping foot on the floor. We have the option of taking the ccrn after all the classes, which I am hoping to do. Thanks again for the encouraging words:)

Hi there -- don't know too much about Bassett but my final semester instructor (a wonderful woman who now works with FEMA and has national awards) worked there for 10 years (left 5 yrs ago to teach) and couldn't say enough good things about it. She was a manager. don't know if that helps

kayla -- how thoughtful of you to share your study guides, which are very thorough and beautifully done. I wanted to comment, if im not being too offensive....that these guides are almost TOO in depth. I know you are trying very hard to pass this test and I wish the best for you. This is why I am offering my two cents, by saying that you should possibly be putting more emphasis on learning the "over-all" and critical thinking content part of the test rather than the nitty gritty. I really don't mean to judge you in any way JUST from these guides. It is only my opinion, and I would hate to see you use so much energy studying things that aren't tested on!!! i know no one wants to do that:) ps - your kaplan trainer scores look great! good for you

I would definately spend the time retaking these courses, particularly because they expressed that they are interested in your application provided you retake these classes. As unfair as it seems, you have to believe they will not send you on a wild goose chase for nothing. They will not promise you entrance, because they also need to see that you are dedicated to them and to getting the right grades. You are probably up against many many other applicants. Showing that you will retake these classes puts you ahead of MANY of them. many times your application wining over someone elses will be that higher grade in A&P the second time around. good luck with your decision!

Hi there, I was suprised to find that there is no little PACU thread going out there:) I just passed my NCLEX last week, and got a job starting september in the PACU. I was advised of the med-surg in college, the same as everyone else. But I LOVE critical care and knew that it was where I needed to be. I have a six month orientation, a full month in the classroom, and couldn't be more excited. Any words from the wise?? What are the most challenging aspects of the PACU, how can I mentally prepare myself for them? What attitude should I take as a new grad on such a challenging floor? I'm worried about coming off as either too aggressive or too passive. Anyway, let me know if your out there:) I would greatly appreciate it.

I am a terrible test taker. terrible. however, i took the nclex last week and walked out of there KNOWING i passed in 75. My advice to you, in all seriousness, is to get your hands on the KAPLAN QUESTION TRAINER CD. not the review course, not the book, not the q-bank. I honestly feel that someone who didn't even do nursing sat down and completed these question trainers 1 through 7, they would be prepared to take the NCLEX. Good luck studying.

nyforlove.....sounds great! i always wondered if there was really such thing as 8am happy hours for nurses coming off shift....haha. cookie -- you would love NYC. I hear that NYU offers a lot of specialty units to new grads, but you would be at a special advantage especially with CCRN.

questions, questions, and more questions!!!! Dont waste any precious prep time studying chapters unless your reallyyy shaky on a major topic (like lab values or ABG's in saunders). I would get through saunders in the next few days, and then hit kaplan for the 7 days before the test to focus on one review and not get side tracked. you have two of the best books, in my opinion. Kaplan, however, is JUST like the NCLEX in format and content, so stick to it in the final 7 days. good luck!!

I will give you the subscription info....there is a whole pharm thing in the beginning that divides the drugs into categories and reviews it. Don't worry too much about drugs for the NCLEX though -- they are pretty much hit or miss for everyone. know the big categories, know which drugs affect electrolyte balances and which ones are NOTORIOUS for heart rate checking (such as digoxin) or blood pressure, such as parnate in hypertensive crisis (an anti-psychotic). By doing thousands of questions, there is no need to specifically review the drugs. If you do 3,000 questions, you are guaranteed to learn all the drug info that you need.

Yes I agree with you on Mt. Sinai -- the application proccess is tedious and if you call HR, they tell you to submit an application to specific jobs listed in the website. If I am not mistaken, they hire new grads as they go on availablitiy basis rather than "a batch" to start in september, etc. I have also heard mixed about NYU but they do hire NG's into specialty units.

hotgal -- saunders 3rd edition works great if you go through the questions to the end of each chapter.

shan -- i just read your post a little more carefully and realized that there is a bit of a mismatch. i have subscription to ncsbn for NCLEX-RN. Let me know if you think this will still help.