NCVegRN

Or to anyone who is vegan for ethical reasons!

I am a diploma RN, and while I don't live in CT, I got offered every job I interviewed for and got interviews for almost every application I submitted. And I applied in various states since I was interested in relocating. Many places do not care. At the vast majority of the places I looked, starting pay was even the same. Some would have paid me more than my fellow BSN grads since I worked as a tech during school. As for finishing your BSN - programs vary from 2-6 semesters depending on the school. Just my personal experience. Good luck to you!

I am also a CCU nurse (albeit a new one) and am not sure why there are all these mentions to CVP. Our orders are written to parameters - typically to MAP >60 using an art line. We have a lot of autonomy as well. UO may or may not be an effect you see, but that would not be as immediate as BP. Stephanie

I am not trying to be flip, but my dog had a myelogram a couple of years ago for a cervical injury. She now has a disc problem lower down. This vet (at a vet teaching hospital) said we should get an MRI - that a myelogram isn't used as much because it can cause inflammation and that an MRI tells you more. So I am curious why your doc is proposing a myelogram after an MRI? What could it show that the MRI didn't? I really hope whatever your health problem is that it gets corrected!

We were taught by our manufacturer to only do so in an extreme emergency - and that is waht we practice.

I like uniformcity.com. I've bought in person in Richmond, VA and online. Been happy every time. Stephanie

Side note: I was on the honor council at my school. One student review I was juror on we found the student guilty - blatantly so - of her offense. The policy was then that the council would make recommendation for punishment based on prewritten guidelines and the Dean would make the final punishment decision. All of this was in our handbook. Well, this student should have been out of the program immediately - or at least given a failing grade in the class. She however decided to fight it (including using the race card, though the council was of mixed race) and got a lawyer involved. As far as I know the school let her off without a slap - didn't even fail her for the class she cheated in. She was in my graduating class and I just felt it was a mockery. I am all for standing up for one's rights, but our overusage of lawyers and lawsuits in this country is insane. This girl was in most of my classes and became quite hostile - I should have sued her!

Thank you. I am so glad to read someone say this. I took anatomy online with no lab dissections. Guess what - I passed it with an A, passed nursing school with a high GPA, passed NCLEX the first time in 75, and now I am on my way to being a great nurse. Even if I didn't have a problem with the pointless cruelty and the nefarious methods used to obtain these animals, studies show people who do computer simulations actually learn better. Many prestigious medical schools have dropped animal dissection from their programs. Comparative Studies of Dissection and Other Animal Uses TEACHKIND.ORG > Policy > Dissection http://www.janewrdh.com/students/college.htm There are alternatives and they are effective. We all have the right to educate ourselves about all aspects of our lives and act accordingly - conscious living. Nursing involves a lot of compassionate care, I just don't feel dissection has a place in shaping the foundation of our nursing practice.

Yes, that's what I was thinking also. I am very into promoting the professionalism of nursing. I am just not sure what I think about using RN outside of the healthcare facility. But it seems like something that could positively impact our image.

Thank you! I said in my original post "until I got my license about a month ago".

Thanks for your input everyone. So far we have one person who put it on her checks and everyone else only uses it by accident. : ) I kind of wonder why more people wouldn't use it - don't doctors use their title when signing in the 'real world'?

I never thought about this until I got my license about a month ago, but when is it appropriate to sign RN after your name? This never came up in school and I couldn't find anything online. Is there protocol? Obviously I would use it at work and with professional organizations, but where else do you use it? I am proud of earning my license, but don't want to put it all over the place where it doesn't fit. Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

I never felt ready to take it. Yet I did and I passed in 75 questions. You are on the right track getting a good % on the tests. To me it was a lot more about learning the way to answer the test questions than it was about specific knowledge. Good luck to you!

Clemm - I am just getting started in my nursing career, but you have mirrored a lot of my reasons. It is truly a dynamic profession with so many options. I had a career before nursing and know that most jobs have their share of negatives. It was up to me if I focused on those aspects or the positives. I learned when more days than not all I saw was negative, it was time for me to move on. In nursing there are so many avenues to take if that happens. I am getting into Critical Care now and could see myself doing nurse education in the future. The options are limitless!

i passed! i passed!!!!

You can actually do mail forwarding through usps online. It costs $1 and you can set it up for just your name. Then your parents mail can go where they want it. Also, I took my exam this week and am moving Friday. I emailed my BON and did an address change - so they will mail my results/license to my new address directly. Sometimes forwarding mail can take a while and I don't want to go insane any longer than needed. I know how hard the waiting is - good luck!

Thanks for all your continued support! I am sweating it out here, but hey, I survived nursing school - I can handle this! Pagandeva - Thank sharing your detailed thoughts. It really does help to hear someone feels/felt similarly. A friend of mine also took it today. We are both good students and both felt so incompetent after the exam. I joked that perhaps this is part of the hazing process of nursing! PS - There is a restaurant here called Panda Veg and that is what my brain sees first every time I look at your screen name! :)

I can see why that would all be very confusing. Sorry I can't help you, but I wanted to suggest you post this in the 'International' forum. I think you'll get more advice there. Good luck!

Thanks for all the positive vibes! Anyone think there are 'stages of NCLEX', sort of like the phases of grieving? This morning I was in shock and stunned at how incompetent the test made me feel, but had no impressions on passing or not. Then I moved into being 1000% sure I failed. Now I am flipping between that and fantasizing about telling people I passed. This test drives you nuts! My boyfriend is a math and science whiz. This test and it's whole process really cracks him up. But don't worry, though he doesn't understand the test, he is still really supportive. :heartbeat

...from taking NCLEX-RN! Whew! Glad that is over. And now the waiting begins. I move on Friday so I have packing to distract me. And I've a massage scheduled for tomorrow. I am glad I knew what to expect. Test shut off at 75 and I have NO idea what the result will be. At least statistically, the odds are in my favor! :wink2: Stephanie

That is awesome! The fact that they have such a great sign on program to try and retain their own graduates makes me want to work for them even more!

Would you care to offer some more detailed, constructive feedback? To me Mosby has the Alt format questions and simulates the stress of the test by changing according to your answers. That alone is worth something to me. And others have said Mosby was useful for them.

You are awesome, but now I am even more confused. My difficulty level says Consistent Difficulty Level Achieved: 0.512But my pass percent says 94% prediction. Oh, well. I know I am spending way too much time worrying about this! Why do we do this to ourselves?

Thanks for your input. I hadn't thought about looking at improving the difficulty level. Does the scale go up to 1 being highest? I know I'll never feel 'ready', I just want to get to 'ready enough'. :wink2:

At my school we have to take the RN Comprehensive ATI to graduate. Supposedly it said I had a 98% chance of passing. I am getting into the home stretch now (less than a week to go!) and took the Mosby CAT today. It shut off at 87 questions and said I passed with a 94% chance of passing NCLEX. NCLEX is the most anxiety inducing thing I can recall preparing for ever. My question is - at what point do you say - ok, I trust that test, I can walk away and be finished studying?? By the way, even though it's just a practice test, the Mosby CAT caused me a lot of anxiety. It reacts to your answers by changing difficulty like NCLEX. I found myself getting stressed each time I got an 'easy' one and also when it didn't shut off at 75! I am so glad I did it in prep for the real deal. Would also love to hear from others who did Mosby CAT about what value you give it. Stephanie