JdNNurse2B

NFB: Yes! I am sure we are both getting great experiences! I look forward to swapping stories with you! I got to do platelets and prbc's yesterday, along with drips. and i had a baby on versed. I am hopin to have the challenging patients now with this preceptor b/c she is awesome. she is constantly challenging. i dont think i could ask for a better preceptor! Keep up the good work!

Yep. 24 weeks total. Its 12 weeks on day shift, then 12 weeks on night shift. Then I will stay on night shift once I move to being on my own. I am fine with a long thorough orientation. I am super excited to see what I will have next. Today was phenomenal for me. In the beginning my head was SPINNING! I had been with feeder/growers then today my preceptor and I had 2 seizure babies with multiple drips, HALS, lipids, all sorts of things. I inserted my very first NG tube (the little tyke was sedated), suctioned, all sorts of drugs and calculations and 2 RN checks, and CPAP, and GTs and lions and tigers and bears (oh my!)....... but like I was saying, my head was spinning in report then after a few hours I really started getting into it. My preceptor said I handled it very well given the jump in severity of patients we had compared to last week. So that made me feel good. She challenges the mess out of me. And though at times I feel like I am going to explode with nerves I just take a deep breath and remember what I have been taught in school, clinicals, and by her and dive in. I have a inkling that we will have a micropreemie when I go back on Monday. I'm so excited! I am extremely thankful that I get to experience so much now under my orientation so that either when I am on my own or close to the end of my orientation I don't feel like a deer caught in the head lights. I know I have SOOO much more to learn. You guys who have been in the NICU for so long and have the hang of it are amazing! I admire every singel NICU nurse out there and can't wait until I have a better grasp. I think I am headed in the right direction so far!

Hi all! Tomorrow I finish the second week of my orientation on the floor. It has been a great experience. I feel welcomed by the staff. My preceptor has a plethora of knowledge and I am learning all sorts of things hourly if not more often than that. She is constantly questioning me and asking "what if" questions to see how I am doing with my critical thinking. I pretty much had 2 feeder/growers on my own for the past 2 days, but she was there to watch me and to offer help if/when I needed it. I got to do things I have never done before. On Monday we move to more serious patients. Kinda nervous but also very excited! I have 22 more weeks of orientation before I am on my own completely. So far I am sure that NICU is where I am supposed to be!

St. Christopher's hires new grads as well. I just started there 3 weeks ago and I love it!

Just Cause, I just graduated from the program. (my pinning was last night) Bucks county is a hike (I think) for school. I lived in Delaware County which is just west of the city. I don't think people really minded living in Stiles (the housing on campus). Others were able to get apartments in the area. As far as getting to clinicals with public transportation...... I would say MANY of them are easily accessible via public transportation. But for the most part people were able to catch rides with others and/or use philly carshare to get to where they needed to go. Good luck!

Yeahhhh!!!

Hi everyone. I am officially nervous about the NCLEX. Despite Hesi scores higher than 850 which is needed for the NCLEX from my understanding. But after talking to a few friends who took the exam I feel like its hopeless.... I take it in about a month and start my new job next week......... words of advice, study advice anything would be greatly appreciated. One person told me its not use studying for teh NCLEX b/c it is so tough and if i don't know my stuff by now I will never know it........

Thanks! Your notebook idea is exactly what I was thinking of. Just terms of what is mentioned through the day that I would want to look up or become more familiar with when I get home from work. Like ECMO. When I went through my shadowing people kept mentioning it, and I had no idea exactly what it was, so i jotted it down and came home and researched it As for my NCLEX, yes I actually did look at some alternate sites. (I like the idea of a more empty room) I emailed my NM and asked her how she wanted me to approach my NCLEX. She told me to schedule to take it whenever I wanted and that they would give me the time off I needed to study and take the test. What a load off of my shoulders! I am so relieved. By the way I am soo happy that I found this board!

Thank you for the response. I have not heard anything about my assigned preceptor. I was thinking about just emailing my nurse manager and letting her know how excited I am to get started and that I need to schedule my NCLEX on a weekday and let her know the days available and ask her which one she would prefer me take. When I do meet my preceptor I will ask her what she thinks about the notebook idea. I can't imagine taking in all this information and not writing it down throughout the day.....

Hey Everyone! I start working as a GN one week from Monday. I am so excited but so nervous too! I got my ATT to take my NCLEX. I went on line to schedule my test but there are no open Saturdays for the rest of the year. I feel so weird/bad asking my new boss for a day off already. I guess its a good reason because I am taking my NCLEX though. Any suggestions on how to approach it? Should I shoot her an email sometime this week before I start? Or should I talk to the Nurse Recruiter about it? Also, when i start my orientation, is it okay/acceptable to carry a note book with me to keep notes of things I learn and/or need to look up after work? Like a little handheld spiral? I can't think of any other ways to prepare for the NICU. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone! How is everyone doing? I have a couple of questions. 1. How did you get yourself started to work 7p-7a? How do you do it from week to week? Do you sleep some nights and then just get back into working nights and sleeping during the day? I am looking for any words of advice. 2. For those of you who work nightshift, what does your normal night look like? From what I understand one of the major things we do is bathe the little ones and change the bedsheets. (eek... I am so nervous about handling those teeny tiny bodies!) Thanks!

Hi Everyone, Current ACE student here! Hoping to be done next week. I just skimmed some questions. About break, you do have a genuine winter break. It will be your longest break of the program. I wouldn't necessarily say that you need it to recover from the first quarter, but that you need it to prepare for the second quarter! Uniforms: I would order them ASAP. I know people who did not have their uniforms for the first clinical and shared. The uniform place can be very slow and or incompetent. You do not have to wear you uniforms all the time. You have to wear them for your clinical experiences and whenever you have class in the lab. (first quarter you wear them for Health Assessment, Principles Lab, and Principles Clinical) Documents: You DEFINITELY need your documents before you start your clinicals. They will NOT let you attend clinical. You do not want to start off on the wrong foot. Also, make copies of all your documents. Drexel WILL lose them. Books: You do not NEED all the required books. It really depends on the professors as to who tests from the Powerpoints and who goes by the book. I have ALL my books from the year and will gladly sell them to you! There are only a couple that I plan on keeping. So if you are interested in saving a few bucks, let me know! You can PM me. I'll get it. Hope I answered your questions! Best of luck to those of you starting out. It will definitely be an experience you will not forget!

Oh. I also sent the nurse recruiter and nurse managers thank you cards thanking them for the opportunity to interview and shadow for the unit.

Thanks! I'm still waiting. I spoke to the Nurse Recruiter today. She is still waiting to hear from one of the Nurse Managers. I think it will be kind of hard for the Nurse Recruiter to say a whole lot. The night I shadowed there was a lot going on and she was very busy. When I was done, she apologized for not being able to come over and talk to me and asked me if I enjoyed it. I just thanked her for allowing me to shadow and that I learned a lot. I also let her know that I completely understood that she couldn't really speak to me because of all the babies that needed her attention and the family involved. The babies come first, I told her. I asked her if there was anything that she needed from me. She said no and thanked me for coming and shook my hand. (It was shift change and she was helping a nurse get a baby who was helicoptered in settled.) I don't know if I said/did the right thing. I was done at 7. I waited around b/c I wanted to see/hear report between nurses. Then I stayed around to make sure I thanked the nurse manager and spoke with her before I left. We will see. I hope I get it. I think my heart will be broken if I don't get it. I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed my shadowing. I'll keep you all updated. Send me good thoughts and prayers!

Hi Everyone. I shadowed in the NICU today! Amazing! I have so many mixed emotions about it. I loved it. But then seeing some of the more critical ones got me so worried. What if I never get that good or competent to care for those ones? It makes me so nervous. They are so fragile! Then on the other side of things, it was amazing to see my nurse (who hasn't even been a nurse for a year yet) and how great she was with her 3. They were all pretty stable, but I got to see the interaction between her and a family.... so sweet! All the love this little girl was getting... she had so much going on, but everyone was soo good with her and the family. I want to do this. I just hope I can. I hope I have the smarts to do it. I have the heart. But heart will only get me so far. Speaking with the nurse recruiter things sounded good. But we will see. Who usually makes the call, the Recruiter or the Manager? The recruiter told me to give her a call on Monday. Thanks everyone. Sorry for the blabbering.