teresalew

I am a new nurse (graduated in May & received license in July) and started training in surgery as a circulating nurse in mid-July. The OR is a fascinating place to work, but is a tad overwhelming at first. It is just a completely different world. Nursing school definitely does not prepare you to hop right in to the OR! I feel like a complete idiot most days and ask questions that probably seem really ignorant to the seasoned nurses, but that's just the way it goes. It gets a little easier each day and my confidence is starting to go up a tiny bit all the time. You have to have tough skin to work in the OR. People WILL snap at you. But, you just have to let it roll off your back. That is the only way you survive. Even though it is rough at the beginning, and I'm sure it will continue to be mind boggling for at least a year, I don't regret choosing the OR and would never consider working anywhere else. I really like all of the people I work with, it's kind of like a large extended family. I even like the people I was certain were wicked-evil my first week at work! They have all been great & are a wealth of information. I hope this helps a little.

1. how many questions did you take on nclex? 75 2. what study materials did you use? did you take a test review course? saunder's, lippincott, nsna, & nclex 3500. no review course. 3. did your son offer any testing (eri, ati, hesi)?no. 4. how long did you wait for results of the test, or are you still waiting? 48 hours exactly by quick results. (a bit of advice...please don't drive yourself crazy checking to see if the results pop up early. it really & truly takes exactly 48 hours from completion of the exam to get your results. unless of course you live in a state that posts your license super fast. i found scrubbing everything in my house to be the most therapeutic thing to get me through the agonizing 48 hours! of course i must have checked about a thousand times to see if by some freakish stroke of luck my results were up. and yes, i went crazy!!! so please, don't do it!) 5. what were your thoughts coming out of the test (total disbelief, certainty you had failed, confident you had passed)? coming out of the test i felt completely numb. i had no idea if i had passed or failed. it was without a doubt the hardest test i have ever taken in my life! and it was definitely the strangest exam i have ever encountered. i just couldn't believe i went through all of those years of school to walk away from this exam feeling as though i was mentally challenged & knew absolutely nothing! where were all those cardiac meds, calculations, & all that other garbage that was constantly hammered into our heads? i had tons of prioritization, select all that apply, infection control, disaster stuff, nutrition, who are you going to call back 1st & quite a few meds i've never heard of in my life! but, it's all good... i am now ready to let go of all my bitterness towards the evil nclex designers because... i just found out that i passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woo hooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :balloons: :monkeydance: :rotfl: :roll :smiley_aa :yelclap: :1luvu: :cheers: :thankya: 6. was this your first attempt at nclex? yes! thank goodness!! i would never want to go through that again! the last 48 hours have been hell!!! best of luck to all of you that are taking the nclex soon!:yelclap: you can do it!!! remember to take your time but don't get too hung up on some of the really freaky questions. just move on! and remember to just breathe!!! and, no matter how bad you feel when you walk out of that test, you have to have faith that your critical thinking skills have had a great workout these past few years & you made the right choices! you will be a nurse! good luck! t. lewis, rn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!