JustinTJ

I took 2 of them before NCLEX. They seemed pretty good, I got 81 of 125 on both of them. Passed NCLEX at 75 afterwards. Hurst was very good for me.

Exact same scenario, but I was paid $14+$2 for nights. Worked until I had my ATT, then started precepting as a GN. Last week became a RN, and I was the only new grad hired. It helps to get your foot in the door and is huge for getting a job post graduation. It sucked working full time while doing school full time the last year, but it was well worth it in both experience and RN employment. I had C, C, C, B my four semesters of nursing school, so grades didn't matter. They take people they already know over ones they don't.

You are never going to feel 100% ready to take the NCLEX. Study until you feel comfortable with the basic material and then schedule your test date. Other than the money wasted retaking the test, I would much rather take it 3 times in 4 months than study forever and only take it once in that entire timeframe. Sometimes, you just need to roll the dice and trust that you retained some information. The test primarily checks your ability to think your way thru the questions anyway. Basic content knowledge + critical thinking skills = NCLEX.

Hurst review is great for refreshing content. I would do it, online as you have access for 3 months. Watch the videos multiple times, commit the information to memory. Learn the test taking strategies she teaches. It's pretty much the major information on systems, with insight on key points that you need to know. Best of luck in your next attempt!

Florida must be running behind. Still no results from Florida's test result web link and no license showing on the BON. So I bit the bullet and paid the $7.95 today for quick results because I couldn't take not knowing for sure. I passed at 75!

Florida must be running behind. I took the test on Wed, June 2nd at 1pm. Still no results from Florida's test result web link and no license showing on the BON. But Pearson Vue trick said I passed Wed night, so I bit the bullet and paid the $7.95 today for quick results because I couldn't take not knowing for sure. I passed at 75!

I thought I would know today, but no such luck. I better find out one way or another by tomorrow, waiting over the weekend would be quite annoying. Congrats Laz!

i graduated may 10th and received my att on may 18th. i've heard that it is important to not take too much time after graduation to test, so i scheduled for june 1st at 1pm. (i don't do well in the morning.) i did the hurst online review over the last few weeks and then decided that i wasn't going to change the date. i felt comfortable with my knowledge and thought process, so i stuck with it. the most repeated advice i have heard was to be as relaxed as possible. so i drove down to the testing center yesterday and spent the night at a hotel 4 miles from the testing center. i did a trial run and drove over to the testing center so that i would be familiar with the route. i also had an 80 minute massage yesterday and picked up some outback to eat in the hotel bed. i woke up today relaxed and fairly confident. left the hotel 1 hour and 15 minutes before my appointment, grabbed some quiznos and a salad, and drove to the parking lot of the testing center with 45 minutes to spare. i ate my meal and went in 30 minutes before the appointment time. after the two people in front of me in line were helped, i went up and turned in my att and id. that was when all hell broke loose. the front desk attendant said the seven deadly words. "you are at the wrong testing center." at that point, i almost had a heart/panic/anxiety attack. my blood pressure had to have been 200/100. i walked outside and told myself - "i have 10 seconds to freak out, and then i've got to get it together." i hopped in my car and called my friend who gave me directions. i swear i had to be flying on the interstate. i arrived at the correct center at 1:05pm and the front desk attendant told me, "we were wondering where you were." i told her my story and she was wonderfully supportive. she told me to go outside for five minutes or so and relax; my face must have revealed my high level of stress. i took her advice, came back in, and the test shut off at 75 questions. the only thing i kept track of on the dry erase board was the number of satas i had. (i had 14, including question #75.) when i raised my hand, she asked if i needed a break. when i told her i was done, she smiled and said "good job!" i thanked her profusely, and felt like a weight had literally fallen off my shoulders. when i got home an hour later, i did the pearson vue trick and got the good popup. here's hoping it's not lying to me! i should find out the official results tomorrow, as florida has its own website to check results within 24 hours. what a freaking day, from calm and composed, to sheer terror, to a somewhat feeling of relaxation. (although i won't be entirely at ease until the state results show pass and i have a license number.)

I'm in the same boat. I graduated May 10th, and I'm taking it June 2nd. Some of the people in my class are waiting until late June, July, and some in August. I think that's just crazy.

I use the Littman Cardiology III. I wanted a traditional bell and diaphram. It came in handy during peds rotation. However, a lot of the nurses on my floor use really craptastic scopes. Earlier this week, we had a patient return from surgery with a NG tube. My preceptor couldn't hear the air when checking placement. She couldn't hear bowel sounds either. I used mine and heard the air and hypoactive bowel sounds. Gave my scope to her to make sure I was correct, and she confirmed it. Get a good scope, because you need to be able to hear what's going on clearly and without worrying about missing something important.

My director at my hospital said the same thing in my tech interview last year. I've heard it from a lot of people in the hospitals as well.

I had no idea. I'm graduating in a week and she was the first person I planned on messaging. There are very few people that have touched, helped, and comforted me in the way she did. To do it on a message board with no face to face contact made it even more powerful. To her family, I am so very sorry for your loss. Your family member was a surrogate part of mine. Justin

told ya so =) congratulations!

This is the main reason I took a nurse extern job at the hospital I want to work at when I graduate in May 2010. It's going to suck working full time while doing the last two semesters, but I do not want to be looking for a job post graduation because the money situation will be dire by then. One of the recent articles in the local paper here was that only 30% of graduates had a job lined up at graduation. It's scary. For those of you still in school, try to get your foot in the door now! For those of you still looking with your license, keep your head up. It can't get much worse, only better!

They're called titers. If you have bloodwork drawn, they can check to see if you are already immune.

For those of you looking for CPR. It is offered at PBCC, do a class search for EMO0123. It is offered 7/16, 7/30, and 8/4. At PBCC it's only $28.00.

It depends on the person. If you can stay on task and learn on your own, with their powerpoints and notes, then go for it. Most of the test material comes directly from their lectures instead of reading the book. I read the book only to supplement the material I had concerns with. If I had to do it over again, I'd do first online, but it depends on your learning style. Some people need to be in class, some can do it on their own. They really do a lot of powerpoint reading during lecture. I'd rather read it on my couch.

You register for a specific teacher, but the lectures are in the big room with all the same semester students together.

Mystical0217, second was much harder for most of us than first. Talking to other students ahead of me, they thought so too. There is so much to cover, so I'd look over anatomy if you have any weak spots. It's the entire body systems in second. If first was a 5, then second was a 8 in difficulty. There is a ton of information to learn, but if you are comfortable with anatomy you will be ahead of the game. The instructors are moving around this year, Pleasant and Alexander are moving to 2nd. Kent and Aurlien are going to 1st. H_2_O, I'd advise taking it online if you can find out if the tests are taken online instead of the computer lab on campus. It allows for more flexibility. Some people were complaining that they had Pharm tests right on top of Lecture tests and didn't have time to study. When I took pharm online last summer, we took our tests online, at our houses, on our computers. We had a 2-3 day window to take it. It saves a drive to campus if you live in Jupiter like I do. It was a lot less stress doing it on my couch as well. The only test we had to take in Lake Worth was the final.

ok folks. i am a 3rd semester rn student at pbcc's day program. this time last year i was in your shoes, so i can speak with some perspective. these are the things i wish i knew last year. i am going to write you a novel so bear with me: the pbcc nursing program is a good program and is the best in the area because of the low cost associated with going there vs. other schools. i feel like i have learned a lot, and looking back over the last year i am amazed at how much i have actually learned. the following is some tips for those of you that got in, as well as some encouragement for those of you who didn’t. to those of you who were denied: do not give up and lose hope. for fall 08, the cutoff was 25.xx. i can’t remember exactly what it was; i had 27.99 points and knew that it was going to be pretty much a sure thing. some of my friends were really close to the cutoff and some of them didn’t make it and were denied. of those that were denied, 3 out of 4 got in anyways. as competitive as the program is, some people have unforeseen issues that require them to turn down their spot. some people apply to pbcc as a backup and turn down their spot if they made it into their first choice. one of the people that made it in after being denied got in two weeks before the semester started. so don’t give up hope, especially if you are within 1 point or so of the cutoff. if you don’t make it in, then the best things you can do to get more points is to: get healthcare experience. volunteer if you have to, but get that extra point. it was the only thing that i didn’t have, but now it’s gotten even more competitive and you really need it. retake the nln and get in the 90s. those points are huge, as they scale by 2 for every tier. i got a 98th percentile, but it doesn’t matter as long as you get a 90 or more, you get the 10 points. (this is especially true for the person who got in the 89th percentile - mommiluvsadrain. make sure all your pre/co reqs are done. those are 11 points total and every single one can make a huge difference. take a fluff class over the summer to boost your gpa. since the deadline is oct, no fall classes will help. now for those of you who got in. i took lecture in person the first semester and felt it was a total waste of time. a lot of my classmates agreed with me and we took second online. i actually feel that if you can stay on top of it and manage your time, its better. you get the power points and extra information taking it online that they don’t give in lecture. also, all they seem to do in lecture is read the power points word for word. this is really dependent on how focused and motivated you are. if you cannot stay on top of it and know that you will not: go to lecture. hearing them read does have a trickledown effect on your brain. go read the student handbook and syllabus now so that you know what to expect. it may change to a new version, but most of the information will still be the same or really close. pharmacology is a pain in the ass. seriously. i took it online over the summer before i started, but if you have to do it with 1st semester, it’s much harder. stay on top of it, and take it online if you can. we took our tests for online pharmacology online instead of in the testing center with the exception of the final. unaware if that has changed. get your titers, cpr, uniforms and paperwork done early so that you can relax and stop worrying about stuff. do not buy your stethoscope at copy’s; they are much more expensive than online. i got mine from steeles.com. some of the books are not needed, but i’d get them all anyway. except the nutrition book, never opened it. meet some people when you first start, and don’t get wrapped up in all the drama. we have some really annoying people and some really good ones. (i hate know it alls) you are going to be with these people for the next two years of your life. i have some really good friends in my class that are nice to have around. you can complain and ***** to them and they actually know what you’re talking about. it’s nice to have a vent. stay on task. the reason there are only 82 spots open in this semester’s class is partly because there are a lot of repeaters from prior semesters that are redoing it. we had 108 in our first semester class and lost about 20. we lost another 20 this semester. nursing school is unlike any prerequisite class that you have taken. the questions are bananas and some will make you think the teachers are on drugs. practice taking nclex style questions now so that you won’t be shocked the first time you see them. they are weird. you are going to be dazed and confused for the first two weeks. before you can start clinical you have to do a fun little exercise called frontloading. frontloading is organized chaos. the first week you will be taught a ton of entry level skills similar to cna work. (transporting, bed making, bed baths, vitals, etc.) the second week you will be tested by an instructor to make sure that you know them all. get procalc out of the way as soon as possible every semester. we lost a friend of mine this semester because she put off procalc till the last week and failed it. now she has to repeat her entire second semester clinical instead of moving onto third. it’s effectively a year wasted, counting the summer, repeated fall, and the wasted spring. the paperwork for clinical can take up a lot of your study time. there are a lot of excellent instructors, but it’s really the luck of the draw on who you get for clinical. they can make it fun, or a nightmare. do not show up late for clinical, as most instructors will send you home. making up clinical time sucks. skills lab is only for 1st and 2nd semesters. thank god. it’s boring. you really don’t have a lot to do. if you have a good instructor, you will really get ahead on feeling comfortable with the skills. nothing will substitute for the real thing, and you will still be nervous the first time you do it on a patient in the hospital. just don’t show your fear to patients and you’ll be fine. it’s a good program, but they are disorganized. so take charge of your own future and make sure that everything you need to get done is written down on a calendar. here’s some good links: http://www.pbccnursing.org/ (site with photos and info ran by the testing lab guru, jules) http://www.pbcc.edu/x1093.xml (official nursing page) http://www.pbcc.edu/x5768.xml (links to all syllabus and the nursing handbook) http://www.pbcc.edu/x9271.xml (procalc, read and practice before testing) i hope this helps and good luck to you all, justin this was me at the health fair this year. so if you see me around campus this fall, feel free to yell: “hey, you’re that crazy guy” everyone else does. even the professors. http://www.winkflash.com/photo/photozoom_public.aspx?m=330581039&ic=7192879&u=pbccnursing&p=1 yes, that is a dental dam.

Go Gators!

Had to take it so that I can start working as a RN intern at my hospital (Starting the last year.) I had feeding, change of position to left side, and measure urinary output.

Did a year of prereqs for my ADN program two months past 29. Graduate a month shy of 32. Should end up taking me thirty-four months start to finish.

Going to CC and getting my ADN with the summers off and taking University classes for my RN-BSN over the summer will end up being quicker than going to University and getting a BSN by about a year. I can work that year, which is the main reason I did it that way.

Try being one of the high senority contractors for FEMA and this being your first semester of nursing school. I've turned down about 7 deployments already and told them I was only available for local work. They call 4-5 times a week, and I keep saying no. Now it looks like Ike is going to hit my house, so I might have to juggle both.