raynbabe07

Thanks everyone for your advice. Suit it is! :) Can't wait!

So I landed an interview at my dream hospital here in Chico, in Med/Neuro, and am so so excited!! I work at 2:30pm on the day of the interview, which is scheduled for 1pm. The lady on the phone (I think it was the nurse manager but not sure..) said "since you work at 230, just come in scrubs!" I said "Are you sure??" She said yeah, of course! All I've ever heard is that interviewing in scrubs is a big no-no, and I can easily change into my scrubs in the restroom after the interview if I do decide to wear a suit. What do you guys think?? Should I go ahead and wear scrubs since she told me to, or wear a suit anyway? Thanks!

I am getting 7 shifts with the treatment nurse (I will be working pm's where I will have to do some of the treatments after she leaves at 430pm), and 3 weeks (12 shifts) with the PM charge nurse, which is what my position is. I am soo thankful for this much training! When I interviewed the DON told me I would get 10-12 days training, and I'm actually getting a lot more, which is amazing! The other job I was offered was only going to give me 2 days.. so glad I chose this place instead. It seems like such a supportive group of staff, and everyone I've met is super nice. The nurses always look so calm and collected, and always take their lunch breaks and get out on time. No wonder this place is a 5 star place.

No, it is for-profit, and there are multiple locations around California.

I did get offered a position for the other facility, but I chose the 5 star one, and am SO glad I did! From the moment I accepted the offer, everyone has been so welcoming and nice. The DON seemed super excited when I called back accepted the offer. A short while later I got a call from the Administrator welcoming me to the facility and saying that the DON was the nicest lady ever, and I was lucky to have her as my manager. Everyone I've been introduced to seems very friendly, and I've heard lots of comments from family members thanking staff for taking such good care of their family. And it was only my 2nd day today! I'm still nervous to have so many patients, but I feel like I will get really good training and have lots of support once I am on my own. :)

Thanks for your reply! I think the patient ratio of the place I was offered a job scares me.. 37 patients, versus 23. But hey, low staff turn-over does say a lot about the place. Why would people stay in a crappy facility? Ugh I just didn't know what to say when I was offered the job since I was still waiting on the other one. I've never been put in that position before! Would it be okay to call back and say that I will take the job if they are able to up the hourly rate a little? Maybe $27/hr? Or is that a bad idea? I do still prefer the other job, even though as you say, it may look nice from the outside but not be great at all.. but I dont want to risk losing one job because of waiting on another one that I am not even guaranteed to get! I think I'm going to just wait until tomorrow and if I still haven't heard from the 2nd job, I'll accept the offer from the 1st.

So here is my situation: I applied to two positions, and had interviews for both yesterday. We'll just call them Job A and Job B. Job A has great Medicare reviews (5 starts), while Job B doesn't (1 star), which is why at FIRST I thought I would prefer Job A. BUT after going to the interviews, I actually like job B better. The facility is nicer/newer, there are only 1-2 patients/room, the staff bring their dogs to work, and each unit has 2 nurses and 4 CNA's for about 45 patients. (So only about 22-23 pts/RN) They also start at $28/hr, with a $1500 sign on bonus. There would only be a 3-4 day orientation. OH and it is also 1/2 post-acute rehab so there would be lot more variety and short-term patients which would allow me to do more skills than just LTC. Job A has one RN per unit, which is 37 residents, with 3 CNA's. It is an older facility, and there are 3-4 patients per room. During the interview the only question she asked me was "how do you handle stress?" The rest of the time she just asked if I had any questions. She did say the staff all got along great, and there was very low staff turnover for both CNA's and RN's. She would give me a 10-12 day orientation. The starting rate their is $26.20/hr. My dilemma is.. I just got offered a job at Job A. I told her I was still waiting to hear back from another facility I interviewed for. She sounded kind of disappointed, and said she wanted to start training someone ASAP (like tomorrow) so that they would be ready by Feb 1st. Job B said they would get back to me by Monday, but I called today and left a message with the DON and asked if they could give me an answer sooner because of my job offer at the other place. Still waiting to hear back from her.. What do I do?? If job B doesn't get back to me by today or tomorrow, the Job A might go with someone else, and I don't want to lose the job offer, but what if I don't even get offered a position with Job B? Is it okay to ask job A for a higher hourly rate? I've never worked in a SNF before, and have only worked as an RN for 2.5 months in a non-hospital job, so I don't know how to compare quality of SNF's... Thanks for your help!

Hi SunRayRN! My husband and I also recently relocated to Chico, from Southern CA. I graduated nursing school in May and got hired here last month at a pediatric daycare facility. We might actually need another RN, so maybe you could try applying to my work in the meantime? I am also trying to get a job at Enloe or Feather River, with no luck so far. We should meet up sometime, as I also don't know anyone else in the area.

This New Grad Care Partner program is open again, and starting in September. I already completed the assessment test and preliminary interview, which went really well! The next step would be a panel interview, with 5-6 directors of nursing. I am very hopeful that I could start my career at Corona Regional. I graduated from a school in northern CA and recently moved to Corona to be closer to family, and this is just perfect for me! I am still in shock that this could really happen. They are hiring 6 new grads now, and last year they hired 30. They say that no one is guaranteed to move up to an RN spot, but all 30 new grads were found RN positions last year. You do have to be a CNA for 3-4 months, but that is SO worth it to me if it means I will most likely be an RN there by the end of the year. I have applied to lots of other RN jobs around here and this is the first one that I've actually heard anything from. Has anyone else interviewed for these positions?

Starfish- I actually found another program that I like better, IVHQ, that goes to Guatamala and am 95% sure that is where I want to go now. Im even more sure now after hearing how much you loved it! What program did you go with? Did you get to do a lot of hands on stuff even though you were not an RN? Like give injections? Any suggestions for where to travel while we're there? Thanks for the info!

Thanks for your answers, its good to hear that you both had such great experiences! I am so excited and hope it will open my eyes to another culture and get some real hands-on experience.

A group of girls in my nursing program are seriously considering going for a 6 week volunteer trip to Honduras this summer. We would be working in a health clinic/hospital in an underserved area. There is a program called Volunteering Solutions, which is the cheapest we've found. It includes housing with a local family, and 3 meals a day. There are lots of testimonials on their website, but I was just wondering if any of you have done something like this, and how was your experience?

Yep, same here! We haven't had any tests yet, but I feel like I really need to get organized and find some sort of routine. I just feel overwhelmed just looking over the syllabus with all the reading and stuff we need to know in so little time. We only have 4 tests each semester so the first one will have a TON of info on it! We have a competency tomorrow on vital signs, so I've taken my poor husbands bp a million times and still don't feel too confident about it..

I start August 16th! I've already bought all my books and uniforms and all I need now are all the fun school supplies like pens, notebooks, etc! I can't wait to start!!!

I was also accepted for Fall 2010!!! I'll email you guys that are accepted so we can talk before! And Lee701, what orientation are you talking about? As far as I know, the TEAS test is on June 24th and the orientation is July 14th.. Rayna

Congrats Maymie!! I would love to talk to you! And yes, there is a lot of paperwork and stuff to do before we start!

I just received an email this morning at like 10am that I was accepted for Fall 2010!! I can't believe I got in!!

I just now received an email and... I GOT IN FOR FALL!!!!! I am beyond ecstatic right now, I can't believe I got in! :) Good luck to everyone else who applied, hopefully I will see some of you at orientation!

JUNE?? Laaaaame!! This is the only school I applied to, since I really dont want to have to commute, and SRJC is such a good nursing program, but man, if I dont get in, I dont know what I'll do.. I wish I had at least applied to their LVN program, then be able to do the lvn-rn bridge. It would take a year longer, but thatd be better than just waiting around for a year or more for the RN program. The next LVN class after this one isn't til Spring '12 so I kinda missed that boat.. ugh

This is my second year applying and I cant WAIT to find out if I'm in or not! Last year I got an email during my honeymoon, actually, which was on about May 27... I really hope they do tell us earlier this year, I seriously can't wait another minute! We really want to start a family and if I get into school that just means we are that much closer to being able to! This is the only school I applied to since it really is the best in the area and we really don't want to have to move anywhere. Good luck everyone, and please post as soon as you get any news!

Yes, I found out by email on May 26th that I was not accepted It was the only school I applied to, too.. I'm so stupid! There were over 400 applicants and only 60 spots for fall and 60 for spring. Bummer "Dear Applicant to the ADN Program, Your application was evaluated and was found to meet the admission criteria for our program. However, there were more applicants than we had openings and when the random numbers were applied, you were not selected for admission for Fall 2009 or Spring 2010 semesters. We do admit some students on the alternate list when students who were accepted decline so please make sure that [we] alway have your current email and phone numbers through January 18, 2010 since we sometimes must admit students very quickly. We are very sorry that you were not accepted but we had significant numbers of applicants this year and we do not have enough spaces for everyone. We encourage you to apply again next year."

So.. I had my phone appointment with OU yesterday and got some good news and some bad news. Good news first.. you can have prereq's in progress when you apply so I can apply now for Fall Entry! Bad news though.. my Chem Class (Chem for the Allied Health Sciences) doesnt count for their Chem prereq since my class was part general/bio/organic chem and they said they want an all General Chem class. So I have to take a general chem course this summer (which SUCKS) but I can still apply for fall term and may be able to start nursing school this august!! All other schools I have been looking at would make we wait until at least August 2009 to begin, and if I get into the Fall 2008 program and OU I will graduate with a BSN in Fall 2009, how awesome is that?? I'm excited about this program and am very hopeful about getting in, but bummed about having to retake chem! BTW, the counselors are very helpful and easy to talk to, definitely give them a call if you are interested

I am going to apply to this program too and if you call them they are very easy to get ahold of and will gladly answer all your questions! I got an appointment to talk to a counselor over the phone next week and they're going to look over my transcripts and let me know my chances of getting in, etc! Just call the number on their website

I'm planning on applying to this school as well, its my first choice! My boyfriend and I want to end up in San Diego (we're in nor cal now) and this seems like the only school where I could start asap and finish the soonest. I tried to ask about my chances of getting in and they told me since the program was so new it just depended on who else applied and on my GPA and if I was done with the prereqs. They set up a phone appointment for me next week to look over my transcripts and will give me a better idea of my chances of getting in. I can't wait to talk to them, I have tons of questions. I really want to do this program! I feel like since I've done all the prerequisites and have a good GPA I have a really good chance of getting in (I'm applying for Jan 09)

Miss Mab - wow, you really layed out all my options in your post, you are amazing! So to sum up what your'e saying.. 1) i could do an accelerated program but most likely would end up with TONS of loans since I wouldnt get much fed money since I already have a bachelors 2)I could do a generalized masters program 3) I could do a direct entry masters program with a specialization, which requires 1 year in the field after my RN liscensure, and I have the option of stopping then if I dont want to go on further to get my Masters. This sounds like a great plan, but I really doubt I could convince the admissions people that 4) OR if while I'm applying to all these programs and finishing additional prereqs, I am also waiting on getting accepted to an ADN program and trying to get experience in the health care field through volunteering or a job. I think I've weighed my options and decided I am just not ready now for a masters. Even if I was, if I didnt get in, I need back up plans. Right now I plan on applying to: 1) 2 local community colleges and one a few hours away. i can apply Fall 2008 and IF accepted to one I can finish by Fall 2010, and Spring 2012 at latest. 2) 1 ABSN program : I can apply to sacramento state Fall 2008 and IF accepted, can be done by summer 2010. I think this is my last choice, because even though itd only take me 15 months to complete, i would exit with with a BSN, as well as tons of loans to pay off.. I am thinking right now, money wise, it sounds like it would be best for me to just go for the ADN and if I do end up waiting a while to get accepted I can take more classes and be able to work in a hospital and get experience and figure out if nursing really is the right path for me. The BSN and MSN sound like they take way too much time and money that I dont have! I've also read some posts somehwere on this site that some hospitals pay for nurses to get more education? Is this true? If so, that's another option for me later down the road if I ever want to move up! Thanks again everyone for helping me figure out the right plan for me. I have been going over this for soo long now, I am always looking at this site and researching schools, and going over pros and cons of different programs, Hopefully I won't change my mind again tomorrow! Also, if anyone has ideas for jobs I could get in the meantime to give me more experience, let me know!