krb09

Arabianeyez, How has it been without having L&D experience? I am originally from MI (U of M alum), living in Chicago and start at UIC in August for CNM. I have no L&D experience, my background is all adult ICU and it makes me a little nervous Any advice??

Geriatricnursing, I interviewed Feb 23 with somebody from the CMN program. I unfortunately don't know how many individuals were they selected out of each subgroup. Midwifery stuff seemed very separate from the NP program. We didn't discuss anything but the Midwifery program. Sorry I can't be of more help! I hope you hear soon!! Good luck!!

Hi ehealy3, I graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009. I moved to Chicago after graduating and have worked here (MICU/CCU) for the last 2 years. My experience is pretty unrelated to Midwifery but I have a gut feeling about this so I am going with it! So far, I am planning on attending part time as I don't know if I can afford to go full time. I'm planning on the 3 year plan but I really just need to sit down with the advisor and see how I can work it out! How about you? Are you planning on going part time or full time? Do you like UIC?

Hi everyone! I just found out friday that I was accepted to the Midwifery program at UIC for Fall 2011! Anybody else out there? I'm so excited!

This is a very, very bad idea. No manager will agree to make a random appointment with you, let alone offer you a position if you barge into their office demanding an interview. You will find that it is hard enough to get a manager on the phone! Being overly aggressive, forceful, and dishonest will not do anything in your favor. You will just hurt your chances of employment if you use the tactics you talk about. I graduated in May 2009 when the job market was just as bad, if not worse for new grads. Many of my classmates went to work in retail or food service until they could find a nursing job. A few months before graduating I called HR of hospitals I was interested in and asked what kind of positions they would have available for new graduates and what time of year they hire new graduates. When you get closer to graduation, apply for as many jobs as you can and follow up on the applications you submit by calling HR. Do not call the manager directly, they often have no idea who is applying until HR presents them with applications that fit the type of employee they are looking for. Call HR a few days later and say you just wanted to follow up on an application you submitted. You can ask if there is any other information you could supply them and tell them you look forward to hearing from them. You need to be humble and respectful, people will respond much more positively. There is nothing wrong with being persistent, but do so appropriately.

Hi everyone! My name is Karyn and I am currently a CCU nurse in Chicago. Although I currently work ICU, I am an aspiring Midwife! I have applied to UIC for fall 2011. I was wondering if anybody here has attended UIC that did not have L&D experience prior to starting school. I could not find anywhere that they have a L&D requirement for the CNM program but I believe that have had that requirement in the past. Anybody know my chances? Any advice or insight would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!

I am a new grad and have been working in an MICU since July. I just took ACLS and had to do a megacode. Basically, I just looked over my cards and would think to myself through each scenario. I would actually picture myself walking into a room and finding a patient in each situation. I know this probably doesn't help you that much but it really is about memorization and critical thinking. Knowing the drugs, what they do and what they are used for will help you remember the algorithms. Also remember what needs to be immediately defibrillated or cardioverted will knock out a couple of algorithms. Hope that helps a little!

The trick worked for me as well! I took my exam Friday, came home and it wouldn't let me pay. Gave me the "You have recently taken the exam, contact your BON, etc" message and I found out just now that I passed!!!!

ME TOO!!!!!!!!! CONGRATS!!!!!

I haven't slept in days and have to worst heartburn ever... I finished about this time on Friday with 75 questions so hopefully mine will be up soon. I did try the PV trick and it wouldn't let me go to the payment screen and came up with the "You have recently taken this exam... Contact your BON... Cannot reschedule" message so hopefully that is a good sign???

Hello everyone! I took my NCLEX-RN on Friday at 8 a.m. Does anybody know if you can get the quick results on a Sunday? Or am I wasting my time sitting at my computer checking to see if my results are up? Thanks!!

Does anybody know if the Saunders 4th ed. c.d. is good for studying pharm? That is mostly what I have been using so I hope it's a decent tool for studying pharm that may be on the NCLEX.

Hey everybody, I take my NCLEX-RN Friday morning at 8. I have been doing the Saunders c.d. and getting high 70's on the tests. I have also been doing Kaplan Qbank. My overall percentage so far is 63%. I just purchased the Qbank so I have had no Kaplan instruction or other information. Is 63% overall decent? I have only used 84% of the materials so I may be able to raise that 63% up a bit. Any info or any personal experiences would be awesome!! I am soo nervous! Thank you!!

Hi everyone, I took the ATI predictor exam and didn't do so well on a lot of the pharm questions. I am taking the NCLEX on June 13 and am ramping up my studying. What should I do for pharm stuff? Are any of the pre-made pharm flash cards good? Any other good resources? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks!

Very good point. I am definitely not afraid to ask for help and am very comfortable admitting what I don't know. I was going to talk about it in the interview (hopefully) but I hadn't thought about the possibility of doing it this way.

Hey everyone, Next Monday I am having an interview at the hospital I really want to work at with the ICU/Critical care units. I have been hearing lately that hospitals are getting away from the more "traditional" interview questions. A couple of my classmates have said they have been asked specific patient questions and what they would do in the situation. Has anybody had that for ICU/CCU interviews? If so, what did they ask? I am confident but am a little scared I might freeze up on these types of questions. Any other interview tips would be helpful as well! I really want to impress because I really want to work for this hospital!!! Thank you!!!!!

Hi, Yes, there is an additional packet that you have to get from HR and you do apply online as well. They generally take between 19-25 new grads in each cohort (info from their open house). I actually just heard that I have an interview for the cohort starting in July. Good luck!

Hi guys, For those of you who applied to Illinois Masonic for the July cohort, have you heard anything from them yet? I cannot get ahold of the nurse recruiter there. I have called her many times and she has never returned my phone call. Any info about what is going on would be great!! Thanks! Karyn

Very good point!! I will have a couple of people read it over as well!

Thanks for the reply! I was planning on doing a mix of both of what you and rbezemek said. I still plan to tell them why I chose nursing (they ask for that) and what my professional goals are but I will incorporate values and job fit as well. Kind of as I am keeping it more personal. I think that I have finally figured out how to keep it personal but still professional.

Thanks! You and I think a like. I already did a list of what is important to me in my professional life and what I am looking for in a hospital. I plan to incooperate that in my statement. I know what you mean about job fit and as corny as it seems, to those I have been talking to about this opportunity, I have been referring to it as "the right fit" for me. I think my last semester classes and my current job have drilled that into me haha.

Hi everyone, I am new around here (well not new but my first post on this board). Anyways, I am starting to apply for jobs and the job that I really want requires a personal statement that includes why I chose nursing as a profession and my career goals. Does anybody have any good resources for writing a personal statement? I don't want it to be too informal I guess but I also want it to really show who I am. Any suggestions would be really wonderful! Thank you!!

Thanks for the info! Actually, we will try to live closer to where I will be working since my partner will only be in Chicago for a year and then traveling the world for three years. No use in trying to be closer to her job if she won't be there ;-) I'm going to go to that open house even though its a 5-6 hour drive for me. Now that I type that, it doesn't really seem like that far away. I am hoping that it would at least show that I am really serious about working there since I made a 5-6 hour drive for a 2 hour open house. I really hope I am able to find a job. I never thought going into nursing I'd have to worry this much about it.

Hey everyone, I am a soon-to-be grad from University of Michigan and will be moving to Chicago with my partner in June. I am looking around at different places and am wondering about Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. It is closer by far to where my partner and I are looking to live since she will be working in Des Plaines. Does anybody here work at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center? Has anybody gone through their RN Residency Program for new grads? Any cons to this hospital? I am also wondering about their pay rate. Any ideas? Ah! So many questions! Thanks so much to anybody that can help me!