pdmech73

There was a Hesi A2 exam study book in the library that I made photocopies of at North Harris Community College to study with. I graduated high school in 2003, and it reminded me a lot like the TAAS math & writing tests we had to take. If you can do basic math calculations like: fractions, decimals, adding/subtracting, multiplying/dividing, and military time, you should be fine. Something a 6th grader should be able to do. Just take a look at the HESI practice book, and you should do fine. I went through the book once and maybe studied 3 hours at most for it. Good luck, -Paul :-)

Try walking in the shoes of many new graduates across Texas and the rest of the country. I was a May 2010 new graduate and applied in Houston, Waco, Wichita Falls, Dallas, San Antonio, Midland-Odessa, Fort Worth, El Paso, Harlingen, McAllen, Austin, Tyler, and a few other small towns. I was very fortunate to land a job 2 months after graduation at a wonderful teaching hospital in Houston. That was after over 70+ applications and calling around. The area you live in is fortunate to have nursing recruiters still willing to have lunch with new graduates. I'd like to see this tried with Houston nursing recruiters. Good luck with that! By the way, you can land a beautiful foreclosed house in Houston for under $80k with 1,800 square feet, 3 bedroom, and in a nice neighborhood. A brand new house for under $150k. I don't see your point you are making. Yes, there are different strokes for different folks depending on the kind of lifestyle or city/town you want to live in. Instead of that "find it hard to believe" attitude, list the names of these exact hospitals that are hiring. I'm sure if you do, they will be a great influx of people applying to those jobs willing to move. That will surely make it more competitive in your local area. We'll see if you have 8 jobs offers then. Places like McAllen, Texas aren't offering that $20,000 sign-on bonus like they used to also. You don't have to show sympathy but at least find some kind of empathy within yourself for these new graduates.

Doctor's Hospital lol

Well said!

I'm sorry if this makes you feel bad, but a lot of new graduates are having a tough time finding Residency Programs. I was lucky enough to get one 2 months after graduation. A newly hired Echo-Tech was working on my patient and realized I was a new nurse. She asked me "how long are you going to stay here before you jump over to another hospital (whose name I will not disclose)?" I told her probably not unless I move away to another city or until after I get my masters in nursing. That is an honest answer. I may not be one of the nurses on my floor that stays with the hospital for 27 years because I want to move up in field of nursing. If they had a position that utilized my masters degree, I would definitely stay with them. I feel that a new graduate should be loyal to their employer and stick with them for at least 2-3 years after their residency. If you choose to leave after that, that's great. It leaves an opening opportunity for future new graduates to look forward to. It doesn't feel great at all to finally accomplish your dreaming of graduation nursing school, pass NCLEX, and then search for months to almost a year to find a job. I think $24.50 an hour isn't too bad for a new graduate. If you think about it, just about every American in this country has school loans or bills to pay. It's just that some people choose to live above their means. Try to rebudget to pay for your school loans with your current salary and stay with your employer at least for two years.

Hey, I applied for the UTA RN-BSN program starting this January. I haven't received any letters in the mail yet. Let me know if you get accepted or not :-)

@ Saysfaa - I graduated from an ADN program this past May 2010 and am in the process of applying to a RN-BSN program that starts January 2011. I am halfway through my 18 week ICU residency/internship at a major hospital in my city. Many of my co-workers as well as my preceptor have completed their RN-BSN. Every single one of them stated that they did not feel any different or "better" nurses after finishing their RN-BSN program and how it was just a "bunch of paperwork." Many of my co-workers have completed the RN-BSN because it is a stepping stone to get the MSN of their choice. In your post above you felt that you would be missing something if you were to go the ADN & RN-BSN route rather than just the BSN program. You cannot simply compare to the two routes based on the nomenclature/naming of the classes & number of courses you have to take because of the design of the program. ADN programs typically are of integrated design. An integrated-design program in which both classroom and clinical content are organized around a series of concepts that progress from simple to complex issues. So in each semester, we're learning about OB, geriatric, pediatric, nutrition, etc all at once. In a traditional BSN program, they have a blocked semester design. In a blocked nursing curriculum, learning experiences are divided by content area such as Care of Children and Families and Adult Health. So like in one semester, you're either learning about Geriatric patients or OB patients for example.

Took it today at 2pm, and it shut off at 75 questions at 3pm. Got on my computer at home at 4pm, saw the delivery successful status, and received the good pop-up. I'm still a bit shaken up and worried though...

You'll do fine. I think it is true that your strong point is that you are an internal candidate. If I were you, I would bring up the fact how much you continue to love working at that facility and would like to continue to grow/flourish within. Dress appropriately and practice polishing up your interview skills. Just google or use the search function here for interview questions. It really helped me with my interview. Good luck :-)

Don't do it, seriously.

Does that mean ANA and TNA should be renamed to ARNA & TRNA?

Have you tried diploma, ADN, BSN, or accelerated BSN programs?

I concur.

Pretty interesting switch from law to nursing. I'm currently sitting in my very last lecture of my ADN program (4th semester) right now, and we have a guest speaker who was initially a nurse, attended law school, and deals with medical malpractice now.

It is kind of sad but very true these days. I wish people did not have to feel this way.