phabuious

The test has about 10 computation questions and the rest are identification of meds. Human resources should have given you a review packet for the test.

Congrats! I work at Roosevelt in L&D since last September. The pharm test is fairly hard, but you get 2 chances if you don't pass the first time. Orientation is classroom for the first few weeks, and then is floor specific I think. I really like working at Roosevelt (even though we are crazy busy 90% of the time!). We have a great contract (just renegotiated). Good luck!

I really liked BI - I think there's the same drama in all nursing schools - I am finishing my BSN at NYU and they complain there about the same things we complained about when I was doing my clinicals. I really ended up liking it though, it was really personal, and the instructors were phenomenal, some of the best nurses I've ever met (and I grew up around nurses). Totally worth the money.

I had a 4.0 in those classes. I turned them down and went to Beth Israel because I didn't like the lottery system they used for registering for morning vs. afternoon classes. I would have been class of December 2006. The semester I got in they took 2 3.7s and the rest were above that.

Going to my clinicals at BI I went through Penn Station (coming from the Upper West) and I rode the 2/3 to 14th Street and then did the long transfer to the L and rode that over to 1st Ave (you come out right behind the hospital), if you are going to Employee Health I believe it is on 16th and 2nd. From Penn it should take you about 20 minutes.

First of all, I think you need to sit down and take a breath before starting anything. The NCLEX is an importatant exam, but it is not as scary as it seems. Going in with confidence and calmness is half the battle, you need to be able to concentrate. If you graduated school, especially with drama, you can do this! There is a great "sticky" post at the top of the students/nclex discussion forum of this site from an RN named Suzanne, who gives a "study plan" that I have seen many posts about, they say it is great. Step 1 of the plan is posted in the "sticky" and to get the entire plan from her you just have to send a private message, and she will help you out (I used step 1 and found it VERY helpful). In step 1 of the "plan" she says to use the Saunder's review book (it's a gigantic blue book that looks incredibly overwhelming), I also used this book, it will provide you with a great review of what you learned in school, lots of procedures, lab values, meds and physiology. I also used a Saunders Q&A question disk (was about 4000 questions, though I didn't get through them all), a Kaplan strategy book (has 180 questions in the back of the book + 180 questions on CD) and a small Lippincott's book that had 250 new style questions (select all that apply, putting things in sequential order, hot spot, etc.). The Kaplan and Lippincott books were the 2 that I found to be closer to the wording of the questions on the NCLEX (I took it on 07/30 and passed with 75 questions), but the Saunders was invaluable as far as content review and specific numbers and meds. I would use the Kaplan and Lippincott books when you are closer to the test, just for the wording. I graduated in early June and studied by doing 2-400 questions a day for 2 weeks before my test. I don't really learn by reading books, for me doing endless questions was the way to go. Everyone is different, take some time to figure out what feels right for you. My NCLEX (and from what I see in MANY posts) was a lot about prioritizing (the nurse knows to see this patient first....the nurse knows to give this med first, etc....) and a lot of policy (confidentiality and infection control methods). There will be meds that you see on there that you've never heard of, but this happens to everyone. When you walk out of the test, you will feel like you didn't know anything, I've been telling everyone that I don't remember feeling 100% on ANY question that I got, but deep down I had a good feeling about passing. You will be fine! Just commit yourself and when you need a break from studying, don't beat yourself up, just take one, you will be surprised at what you can do!

I am not a nervous tester either, but my stomach was in knots for the first time in a VERY long time the night before (this past Sunday) and when I went down to test. My advice, try and get some sleep, and get there early, don't let anyone rush you once you get to the testing site. I live in NYC, so I was sure there was going to be a starbucks around, so I went early and sat and had a coffee and talked to my sister on the phone. It helped a lot. For me, the test was much less difficult than most of the review questions I did or all of the hype that I heard!

I used Sauders, Kaplan Strategies and a Lippencott alternate test questions books (see my other post about "great nclex book). I studied for about 2 weeks and used step 1 of "suzanne's study plan" found in the stickies in this forum. She says to take the quiz in the back of each chapter of the saunder's book and if you get more than 80%, move on to the next, and if not, go back, read the chapter and then retake the quiz. I did this for the first week and then just did questions for the second week (about 200-400 a day). My test shut off at 75 (am in limbo right now, waiting for results!), but I feel pretty good about it.

I used Sauders, Kaplan Strategies and a Lippencott alternate test questions books (see my other post about "great nclex book). I studied for about 2 weeks and used step 1 of "suzanne's study plan" found in the stickies in this forum. She says to take the quiz in the back of each chapter of the saunder's book and if you get more than 80%, move on to the next, and if not, go back, read the chapter and then retake the quiz. I did this for the first week and then just did questions for the second week (about 200-400 a day). My test shut off at 75 (am in limbo right now, waiting for results!), but I feel pretty good about it.

I said that I would come back and let everyone know if the book was good for the NCLEX, and I really think it was one of the best parts of my review! I had 6 select-all-that-apply questions out of 75 and there were lots of these in the review book. If you want a good book to do the few days before the test, this is a great one to get - the wording is a lot like the NCLEX.

LoL...I've been checking the NY State BON website all day to see if I *might* have a license number already...I'm not generally someone who gets too worked up and anxious about things, but I really don't like waiting for this! Can you imagine what torture it was before online capabilities allowed for them to post results so quickly? I think before it was like 6 weeks, I would die!

I completely agree, take the NCLEX ASAP after graduation, the longer you wait, the further it is from your mind- also you will be surprised with what you know that you think you don't! (for me it was the things that I knew best which were all of the things that I got to see and help treat during my clinicals)...you can always just hold your license and then wait to get a job..once you take the test, it doesn't mean you have to work right away.

I took the exam this afternoon too, and I completely agree with you. Mine shut off at 75 and I got 6 select all that applys (they were the only new style questions I got)...I'm taking that as a good sign, means that I was testing at a higher level (i think!). No calculations though, which I'm a little bummed about, those are always freebies! Definitely a lot of prioritization (who to check on first and which med to give first) and policy questions (confidentiality and infection control)....wasn't nearly as bad as I thought, we will see on Wednesday!

Good luck to everyone taking the test on 7/30 (including me!) - a few hours and it will all be over! We can do this, no worries!

I graduated from BI in June - you don't register for classes there....they don't enroll you for classes that you've already taken that they accept, but you are automatically placed in your nursing classes and the other classes you need. The only time you have to worry about it is if they offer 2 different times for classes (such as nutrition or micro) and then you just let them know if one of the times doesn't work for you. Your first semester you take Nursing Fundamentals (the entire first year class all together), second semester is Med-Surg 1, summer session is Psych and then second year is Maternal/Child/Peds (the class gets split in 2 groups) or Med-Surg 2 and second semester you flip flop. Last part of second year is N203 which is nursing seminars and your senior practicum (3 weeks of working 2 shifts on a floor that you choose). Good luck - it's tough, but the faculty is amazing and it's worth it!