nursing804

This is just my guess and having friends in the field, anyone may correct me if they know differently. Of course hospitals pay lower than nursing homes or private duty cases, but the private hospitals, such as Henrico Doctors or Bon Secours, I believe it is around 13/14 $ hour. However, MCV is our State hospital and I know a PCT {patient care tech} ( which isn't even equal to a CNA) and she makes 12.00/hr. She is not certified in anything and just does bed baths and oral feedings. So, MCV is the hospital that pays better than any other. I do not know how much, Im sure if a PCT can make 12, an LPN can get at least 16.00, the only downside is city traffic and having to park and walk.

hey, i see you are on, check out careerbuilders.com i was on there earlier, there is a pediatric office in Richmond looking for an LPN , 0 exp neccessary, CPR req.

I am positive Henrico Doctors does, while I was doing my clinicals there for school, there was an LPN pursuing her RN working on their med- surge floor. That hospital is located on Parham rd. On the western side of the Willie bridge, which connects you to Chesterfield. About 20-30 minute drive depending on location. MCV may also and will pay more. That is the Medical College of virginia, located in downtown Richmond.

VERY IMPORTANT!!!! I will tell you what i was read in the nclex 2008 book, these tests are nothing like nsg school exams. Kaplan has a great book at Books a million, though you are almost ready, you may not want it. Here are my 2 cents: I noticed the strategies were posted earlier, they look like what i found in a book. They did not help me, by REWORDING the question, i was rewording it wrong, example from the book: was a young woman was juandiced from pancreatic cancer, what do i focus on? nutrition, self image and i dont recall the others, well they all make sense and the way the study guides portray them is that they will all make sense on the exam. So I REWORDED the question as: what do I do for a woman who is jaundiced? Of course we plan for her self image, I mean the woman is walking around with yellow skin, for god sakes!!! Nutrition is not going to change that. Well, of course the answer was nutrition b/c the REWORDED question was supposed to be what to focus on with a pt with pancreatic cancer. I reworded the question and screwed myself royally. It also tells you to resist reading the question more than once. This strategy left me not fully clear on content, sometimes, i would have to read it 3 or 4 times to make it clear what they were asking. ANSWER ELIMINATION: this makes it hard for me b/c I was talking myself out of the right answer, by focusing on each individually, trying to break them down and rationalize each one. SO THIS IS WHAT I DID, AND IT MAY WORK FOR YOU -- FIND YOUR OWN TECHNIQUE I TOOK MY STUDY GUIDE AND BROKE IT UP INTO ABOUT 30-35 QUESTIONS EACH , I USED THE DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES AND EVALUATED WHICH WORKED BEST FOR ME. ON THE CD ROM, I TOOK DIFFERENT QUESTIONS, AND APPLIED THE SAME RULES. OUT OF 20 QUESTIONS, USING THE ANSWER ELIMINATION TECHNIQUE, I MISSED 11 USING THE REWORDED QUESTION TECHNIQUE, I MISSED 9 USING THE READ QUESTION ONLY ONCE, I MISSED 6 BUT WHEN I READ THE QUESTION 1-2-3 TIMES AND READ EACH ANSWER, AFTER READING EACH ANSWER, I HAD A BOUT 1 SECOND TO SAY YES OR NO BEFORE I MOVED ONTO THE NEXT AND WITH THIS, I CALL MY 'SPEED TECHNIQUE' OUT OF THE 20, I ONLY MISSED 2 !!!!!!! IT SOUNDS RISKY BUT I GUESS IT IS RELATED TO THE GO WITH YOUR FIRST CHOICE, ITS USUALLY RIGHT-- AND THAT WORKED FOR ME. WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IS TAKE DOWN THE DIFFERENT STRATEGIES THAT HAVE BEEN PROVIDED FOR YOU AND MIX AND MATCH THEM, YOU HAVE 2 DAYS TO MIX AND MATCH TO SEE WHAT WORKS BETTER FOR YOU. YOU MUST HAVE STUDY QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS IN ORDER TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EACH, EITHER IN A BOOK OR ON A CD ROM. GOOD LUCK - YOU WILL DO FINE, DO NOT OVER THINK AND BE CONFIDENT, DONT TALK YOURSELF OUT OF WHAT YOU BELIEVE TO BE THE RIGHT ANSWER, SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME ON A QUESTION WILL LEAD YOU TO DO THIS, DONT THINK TOO DEEPLY ABOUT IT- JUST SCRATCH THE SURFACES AND GIVE IT A YES OR NO. RELAX AND DONT BE UNDER OR OVERLY CONFIDENT- DRESS COMFORTABLE AND FEEL LIKE YOU LOOK NICE, THE LAST THING YOU NEED IS TO BE SELF CONSCIOUS ABOUT WHAT YOU LOOK LIKE WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO FOCUS. EXERCISE GETS THE OXYGENATED BLOOD TO THE BRAIN - TAKE A HOT SHOWER TO VASODILATE EAT PROTEIN - MY BROTHER SWORE BY CHEESEBURGERS IN MED SCHOOL, HE IS NOW A NEUROLOGIST! I STOPPED AT MCDONALDS AND BUY A CHICKEN BISCUIT AND A SMALL OJ DONT EAT A LARGE BREAKFAST, THIS WILL TAKE THE BLOOD AWAY FROM YOUR BRAIN TO AIDE YOUR GUT IN DIGESTION- AND WHOS MORE IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW!! LOL GOOD LUCK - LET ME KNOW HOW IT GOES

congratulations!! glad that ones behind you!!

Question - I took mine today. I was positive I had missed 75 of the 85 questions!!!!! The computer shut down at 85. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? My understanding was that if I was doing bad, i would get more questions to give me a chance to redeem myself, right??? Has anyone failed if it shut down at 85? I am a worry wart and just cant seem to wait 48 hours, i would like some unofficial reassurance!!! lol If anyone has their 2 cents to share I will greatly appreciate it! Thanks

I bought a blue Kaplan book 2008 edition- its guarantees you a passing score or your money back!!!! best of all --- it is only 25.00 at Books A Million! The book I have is the NCLEX PN, however, i can provide the ISBN and you will be able to locate the same book RN edition. ISBN-13: 978-1-4195-5273-1 the book includes 145 practice questions with answers, info needed about the questions topic and a reason why or why not the answer was chosen or eliminated. The questions are equal in difficulty as well as the way it is communicated through the exam. This book is written by the writers, all nurses, for the NCLEX. I was studying this for 1 week prior to the exam, and am so glad I did. It made me look at the questions and wording so differently! I had previously been studying the CD-ROM " NCLEX made incredibly easy" I would have bombed if I had expected it to be that easy- if you are relying on the "made incredibly easy" series, please switch- you are not going to be properly prepared for the NCLEX if you don't.

the itching usually subsides in about 2 hours, I was reassured and while it was still a terrible feeling, I knew that it would soon be over and it was. In the future, just make sure to reassure your patients. If you have never had it, it will drive you crazy. I had a spinal done for a cerclage insertion procedure and my legs and abdomen were itching so bad i was twiching from side to side trying to get away from the sensations, it really sucks that you are paralyzed at the same time, because I could feel the nurse in the OR trying to scratch my abd for me, but it doesn't feel like a scratch, you can only feel the fat moving from side to side, very frustrating. It's like using a rolling pin when you really need sand paper!!!! I almost would rather have another c section and let them go on without it, it is the WORST feeling I have ever felt! Please be empathetic towards these patients and do everything you possibly can to make them comfortable, talking helps to pass the time until the drugs wear off. Ive practiced in postnatal and have had 4 spinals, I try to always to remember what it was like when i was on the other side of the bed.

I was always told that you had to have exp before you could work in L&D. Can you really go in as a new grad w/o experience? That would be a wonderful place to start. I thought i would have to wait a few years before even applying for a job on a specialty floor.

I am in richmond, i believe it is about 14.00/ hr, about 26k a year for LPN, 22/hr and around 42k for RN. These are both base pay walking off the stage into the door w/o exp.

Forgive me, but what is LTC? I was clear on the BSC, just not the LTC. I would like to be able to advise stool softeners and be knowlegable about what may happen to these people if they strain during a BM. When I was 18, I did home care for an old man out in the country. He was 97 years old and we had many nice times, got stuck in the mud trying to get his power chair out of the yard because i was jumping on his trampoline. We used to take it out in the field and I would lie in the grass and we would talk and look at the flowers his wife planted while she was alive. He was a nice old man and always wanted me to bring my children to his house even thought it was against the rules. I came in one morning to dress him and when i went to shake his arm, it was unbendable, the sheet had been over his face when i first checked in on him, but the ceiling fan was on and the sheet was rising and falling on his chest, so I thought he just wanted to sleep in. However, he was cold and rigor had set in hours ago. I could not speak and was in a state of shock, luckily, his son in law was home and I bursted into his room still unable to speak. I was hysterical and found myself standing against the wall waiting for the ambulance to come, thinking, i would never make it as a nurse and I couldn't believe I was acting so weak. i guess I thought I should have been prepared and follow procedure, but you never really are. After that episode, it hasn't phased me much, i clean them up, tag them and bag them. I think the first one always hits hard and is traumatic. after that, it is a little easier to deal with. I am sorry for the loss- hope you feel better soon, it is always good to talk about it, no matter how many times you have seen it.

When i was in school, I heard we ranked #38 out of the 5o states. That is absolutely horrible- of course Calif was no.1 and Fl was no.2, Texas pays okay, and cost of living is not hat different form here, actually houses in Houston Texas, nice suburbs like Katy for example costing 175,000 there would run you well over 400,000 here! Something to think about! I am LPN pursuing RN and plan on taking it right down there. You are short changing yourself working as a nurse in Virginia. Hey, there are 37 states offering you better pay- its ridiculous!

I am also interested in this. I have heard around 13-16 dollars/hour. If anyone knows the answer, please let us know. I do know nursing homes pay more than anywhere else and if I were you, I would avoid St Mary's hospital, ( any of the Bon Secours hosp, St Francis, Richmond Memorial and the one out in Hanover) I have heard they pay the least, this is a Catholic based hospital, and i am not sure the reason, but somehow because of that, they do not pay as much as others. MCV pays the most, just the parking sucks, but if you are used to the city life- go for it! For slower county living, Henrico doctors Parham would be a good choice. I did clinicals at all of the hospitals and my favorite was Johnston Willis on Southside. Beware, MCV (pediatrics floor at least) treats LPNs like sh**. My instructor had our top nursing staff and the supervisors for that unit called into an emergency meeting about the treatment of our students. it was crazy, they were soooo rude, would come by and grab a chart while students were trying to obtain information from it and just acted like we were second class for not being registered nurses. it sucked! Well, thats my two cents- free of charge!! lol Hope that helps a little, even if it didn't answer your question. =)

I just searched salary.com earlier and it showed the 25th percentile ( i always plan to get the lowest so i am not disappointed) was around 52 k, i believe, google salary.com 40 sounds way too low-----

I am very interested in the psy field. I would like to spend my career there. I am a new grad about take the NCLEX on Wednesday. I am unsure if I would be able to go straight into psyche or if i will have to work on a med surge floor to gain my 1 year nsg experience. if anyone knows about this, please let me know. I am also a diagnosed Bipolar pt. I had a rough childhood and my teen years are included in part of a very colorful past filled with bulimia, depression, mania, anxiety and even alcohol abuse. I have also lost a child, and am the daughter of an alcoholic father and a negligent mother. I feel I have a lot to offer many patients on a psychiatric unit, I have also been admitted to at least 5 facilities since the age of 11. I was a runaway and a teen parent. I wonder if my position as a psychiatric nurse would become compromised if they found out any of this. Could any of the forementioned issues prevent me from working on a psyche floor? Could anything benefit me? What would happen if they found out, and during an interview if i was to be asked why I think i would be good for the job, of course, I think I would be wonderful for the job, being as that I can relate to most people about anything. I have been on both sides of the unit( nsg clinicals and as a patient myself) I know how anxiety feels and what helps, I know how I coped with having to bury my daughter and I know how I survived an alcoholic abusive father. I would like to know what I should say in an interview and if I should mention anything about why I feel I am personally qualified for the job.