NurseWeasel

Pace Medical Staffing is supposed to be really good. They only staff Oregon and Washington, but I'm *thisclose* to being employed by them. Just need to send them fingerprints and a copy of my SS card. They came highly recommended by my neighbor's daughter. Just an FYI. http://pacemedicalstaffing.com/

From the little I understand about this, the difference between TA and not doing TA is whether or not you claim deductions for your travel expenses (etc) on your taxes at the end of the year. You still end up paying the appropriate amount of tax, it's just a matter of having the money in your pocket vs. getting a refund... or, depending on how well you estimated your taxes, having to pay a whole bunch of taxes or not so much. Anyone else?

As far as I understand it (and I haven't traveled or done agency/registry YET), they both pay well but with the 13 week contracts you get free rent or subsidies, insurance, etc. Plus you probably get to actually "travel" more, because with registry you are (I would imagine) more local to a certain area and need to be available to travel for short assignments on short notice. OK that probably didn't help much, sorry. But I tried! I'm still learning, myself.

I spoke with an AMN recruiter today (I've not yet traveled) and was told that they just want to be on the same page with the traveler... just be honest and let them know what you need. They'll be there when you are ready to come back. Now before everybody jumps on the Evil Empire bandwagon, I know. I inadvertently submitted my contact info, thinking it was for something OTHER than having a recruiter call me or to apply, only to get a web page up saying "Thank you, a recruiter will be in touch" - and they WERE, in just a couple hours! So I figured why not use their time investment in me as a learning opportunity. I told them straight up I'm not ready to talk contracts or applications yet, but I do have multiple questions. And the recruiter was very patient and helpful. So yay, they're not ALL bad, lol.

Billy_baroo, did you go?

At least one of the hospitals in Boise, ID uses it. I hate it. I always overthink everything. Must... learn... to stop overthinking!!!! New mantra: *KISS*

I think the 'right' answer depends on who YOU are - just be yourself. That said, if you're inclined to short answers you might consider tossing one out and then watching carefully for signs that they want MORE... in which case you can elaborate on why you said that.

Ain't that the truth! Best wishes with your decision.

Yes, I think Saunders will be fine. Really, my best advice is what other people have said... you KNOW this stuff. It's in there. Review your basic lab values and medications, and READ THE RATIONALE for every test question you take. That's what truly helped me the most - because NCLEX thinking isn't nursing school thinking, but once you figure out NCLEX thinking you'll have it made. Don't just read the rationale for the questions you miss... read EVERY ONE. Best of luck to you.

Ahhh, HERE is this thread. I was scoring in the 60%-70% range on the sample tests. Our school did the Mosby faux test and I got "94% probability of passing" on that one. But all the online and at home tests I wasn't doing so hot - even though I knew that I knew my stuff... so I just went ahead and took it. Just found out I passed. I had 75 questions and walked out KNOWING I had passed. It was a lot easier for me than I'd anticipated. But I'm kinda freaky like that. Best of luck to you!

Whomever asked about the validity of the sample tests... I worked with ALL the books and sample question disks out there, I think. We took the Mosby faux-NCLEX at school, too. I got "94% probability of passing" on the Mosby, but on every other study program I was scoring in the 60%-70% range. I just found out I passed and I am here to tell you the real NCLEX questions were a lot easier (in my opinion) than the Kaplan and Saunders ones... at least for me. That said, I do feel like the money I spent on Kaplan was worth it, because it really taught me how to read the questions and their rationale was really helpful. Most of the other programs / books / disks were not nearly as helpful. Just my 2 cents, your mileage may vary.

It could have been one of the experimental questions. Plus, you ARE allowed to miss some, you know. Hee. So don't freak yourself out over random facts... know your basics and how to prioritize care based on those basics, and you'll be fine.

That burial question seems really "out there" with regards to what the NCLEX would ask. They'd be more likely to ask something having to do with nursing care than something postmortem. All my questions were "big picture" type stuff, not specific details like that, anyway. Best luck to you.

I just took it yesterday. I had 1 for sure where I needed to know a normal range in order to prioritize care. I quickly narrowed it down to 2 choices but I had to really think about those 2 because the lab values were CLOSE to normal. When I got home I looked it up and I had gotten it right. Plus there were a few others but I think if you concentrate on the top 10 common values you'll be ok. They won't ask obscure stuff.

I did it. The Nikon D70 is my new best friend.