ella1972

I worked as an assistant in a hyperbaric chamber unit prior to starting nursing school. The nurses who worked there were all ICU nurses. They were wonderful people and encouraged me from the beginning to go into critical care immediately post-grad. I've oscillated on the issue and finally said, Okay I'll try tele or ms first. I've had my resumes out and gone into almost every nurse recuiter/hospital in my area.....you know who finally called me? The nurse manager from an ICU who had happened to read my cover letter and resume. I went in and met with her and she hired me that day, I start my training in 2 weeks. All of my encounters with ICU/CCU nurses have been great, much better than any interactions that occurred on the ms units. Bottom line however, there are great nurses with wisdom and knowledge and experience to share in any unit as well as those who will revel in seeing the new grad fail. As someone said above, the new grad plays a significant role but the unit, the nurses, the educators and the support that flows freely or is reigned in figures into the success formula too.

Hi.. I was just curious if anyone can tell me how much lower the VA in SF offers per hour compared to say CPMC, SFGH, Kaiser, etc. I know that new grads start at about 39ish @ SFGH (my friend just got on there) and I've heard about the same at CPMC. The VA offers good benefits to make up for less pay but how much "less" is less? Thanks....Ella

Thank-you...so much easier to understand from that kind of perspective as opposed to the on-going lists from multiple sources that use synonyms that mean the same thing but throw me off when I am looking for a specific wording. I wish I had someone here at my house to talk me through some of this stuff and remove the textbook jargon and deliver it to me in a meaningful way. Sounds like Hurst may have been a better option for me than Kaplan. Thanks again.

I am taking NCLEX on Feb. 15. I have taken Kaplan, bought the Saunder's book w/ CD-ROM and have pages of handwritten notes covering test question content that I need to study. Some stuff is finally starting to sink in, however, I can't seem to get the hypo/hyper electrolyte info along with causes, s/s, and associated ekg changes. I have so much more to study. Between the electrolytes, pharm, and adrenal probs, I'm starting to get concerned. Also, having multiple sources for lab values is flipping me out as well. Mosby lab manual (which I used all thru NS for care plans) and Kaplan list totally different AST/ALT values. Having memorized Mosby: ALT 4-36 & AST 0-35 and then Kaplan says they are both 8-20......... Thanks.