bryndamor

Congratulations! Good luck on your board exam and your job search afterwards. =)

5/30? -- as in 3 days away? I sat on top of studying for the NCLEX doing Kaplan Question Bank q's for 2 weeks before taking the test, putting in 40 hr weeks -- about 600 questions outta 1100'ish. You can get a good NCLEX test book and do all the questions, making sure that you read and understand the rationalizations. I would've needed more time to feel comfortable taking the NCLEX. If you have to retake it, its another test fee and you have to wait at least a month. I had a classmate that passed the HESI w/ roundabout a 97%. HE probably didn't have to study, but most others do. I wish you luck -- there is a bit of that involved w/ the q's you get.

ironically, my first/last career was in Aviation. I left behind my Airframe and Powerplant license (which never expires) and 5'ish years of good/hard experience working for the commercial airlines. It would be a small step to move into rotorwing maintenance, BUT Aviation as a whole is suffering, esp after 9/11. I think the numbers were that over 1 Million aviation workers got laid off after 9/11 and there are a lot of people w/ a decade+ worth of experience w/o work or decent pay. Now w/ fuel prices as they are, you can expect aviation to have to tighten their belts further. Its honestly horrible. I loved troubleshooting/working on planes and was pretty decent at it, but lemee tell ya, having to go into work amongst co-workers w/ the constant, cold atmosphere of fear due to impending cutbacks is mega-stress. After surviving 5 rounds of layoffs after 9/11, I had the luxury to choose what I wanted to go back to school for, and after Aviation, a prime factor for a career choice was JOB SECURITY. Nursing fit well, and its very hands-on, like maintenance. As a plumber/hands-on person yourself, I'd be surprised if you didn't enjoy the hands-on aspect of Nursing as much as I do. Make peace w/ your choice of careers as much as you can. You will need the focus and motivation later, and having that thought lingering in the back of your mind that you should've done something else instead is distracting. For myself, I was two (outta five) semesters into the Nursing program before I discarded the idea of PT, then things went smoother for me.

Last I had looked, UNF only accepted into their ADN/BSN Nursing program once per year, in the Fall. FCCJ accepts 3 times a year, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Not sure of other hospitals in town, but I know that Baptist pays a differential for a BSN -- currently $.50/hr. A BSN is an edge in getting hired over an ADN, but I do believe that an ADN w/ 1+ yrs of experience is more attractive to an employer than a BSN w/ no experience. Employers like to have higher credentialed staff, so ideally you're only talking about starting out and will pursue your BSN -- more opportunities down the line. From my Professional Nursing Practice textbook: "In 1996, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing issued a position statement recognizing the Bachelor of Science degree in nursing as the minimum education requirement for professional nursing. The BSN nurse is prepared for a broader role; increasingly, the bachelor's degree is required for employment in many health care settings such as community health, case management, and supervisory positions. blah blah blah..." Jacksonville University has an all-online RN-to-BSN program IF you're employed in a clinical setting. Its not cheap. Like $1.6k per 8wk period, tuition and books. 11 classes from RN to BSN, and a standard load is 1-2 classes per 8-wk period, so you could get it done in a year, w/ focus, while working. Most hospitals will give ya something to continue your education. I think Baptist will give ya 2 or 3k per year and some other stuff is available but there are strings.

that other post is not true of all hospital orientations and admin. where I'm at, mine was/is fine. orientation varies per hospital and it seems that the different unit managers have leeway on it. I was allowed 5 weeks of orientation on the floor of my unit, after 2 weeks of hospital/general RN orientation. We had an experienced nurse hired on that got only 2 weeks of floor orientation because she apparently didn't need more, but again, its the unit manager that dictates that kinda stuff, prob based on their budget and judgement. If I really needed it, I prob coulda asked and received another week or two of floor orientation. Now, back to the core of the original Q. Nursing school will teach you the basics of a lot of stuff, but where it really sinks in is in actual practice. There is a lot to learn, a lot of variations, and getting the steps in the right order matter -- easier to work by memory of doing than memory of what you read in a book, imo. Nursing school clinicals is where I learned the bulk of stuff -- a real gem. No surprise tho. Back in my last career in college mode, there was a common saying that 1 week of intership is worth a semester of classroom theory. Nursing school clinicals are that supervised internship for you. Get the most out of it. Not just asking Q's from your instructor and classmates about what they saw and learned, but asking the nurses where you're working about things. Those nurses are usually somewhat entertained by the bright young eyes and curious, enthusiastic attitudes, and will answer your polite Q's. Be a sponge. After nursing school, you should have a basic handle on a lot of basics. Find a hospital w/ a decent new-nurse orientation. Ask during interviews what the hospital's orientation is like PAST general employee orientation, which was for all departments -- Security, Housekeeping, Physical Plant, Home Health, etc. You want to know what kind of orientation you'll get on your unit. You'll have ideally interviewed w/ the unit manager where you'll be working. Be discriminating -- ask Q's. YOU don't want to be stuck at a job on a sucky unit. I noticed that there were 3 nightshift and 1 dayshift positions that were open on the unit where I settled. I asked the unit manager about that, where'd those employees go, and received a satisfactory answer. Had I not been satisfied w/ all the answers I received, I would've turned down the job offer at the end of the interview. Its a two-way street. Now, let me say that after I graduated, I was told stories of past nursing school graduates from previous semesters who've still not found jobs. I dug into this cuz I wanted to know what kind of factors influence not finding jobs and how much labor supply in nursing that I was up against. Get this (important): a bunch of those previous grads HAD found jobs but for one reason or another, all QUIT, and thereafter were finding it hard to find other 'first' jobs. What that means is human resourses at another/other hospitals weren't willing to take the chance of investing into an individual's training and orientation if they are a risk factor for leaving -- money down the drain. I understand that. From my previous career, the #1 employee expense is TRAINING, which orientation falls under. Places (and units) hate training employees and they quit/transfer. So, the jist of all that is spend time finding a good fit for your first job. Doing clinicals at different hospitals at school is a good way to preview hospitals. Talking to classmates and finding out/sharing what you know is a big help too. Not all hospitals are equal. You could even pick a good hospital and pick a sucky unit w/ a sucky manager to work under. The unit mgr could be good but you have sucky co-workers. I have one co-worker RN that I absolutely hate to work w/ -- a young RN w/ a little ICU experience that must think that she was a queen in another lifetime. If I had to work w/ her, or was precepted under her, I would've quit. Instead, I probably got the best pick of employees to work under that answered all my Q's and helped me succeed. Most of what you will learn (assuming that you have a decent grasp on basics from school) as a new RN will come from your unit orientation, which will hopefully be at least 4 weeks w/ a good preceptor. Last note, ask how preceptors are chosen. At the hospital I'm at, the preceptors volunteer to be a preceptor -- no one is 'saddled' w/ someone, AND the preceptors get some extra training to be a preceptor -- prob how to encourage Q's and learning, as well as preceptors getting a slight pay differential for precepting. I think it's like $.50/hr, but most aren't doing it for $, and the big time-savings is towards the end when you're taking a full load of pts and they're just mostly supervising/helping. It sounds like you're worrying too much tho. The fact that you're concerned enough to wonder if you will have a good enough handle on skills signifies to me that you're trying to learn what you can. Nursing school will be enough, clinicals esp. Unit orientation is where its mostly at, to tie everything together. It sounds like you will do fine. =)

Necessity is a good taskmaster. Poor students can compensate to a large extent by investing more time and focus into studying. You know what needs to be done to do this career change and it sounds like going back to school might be somewhat painful for you (as it was for me, til I adjusted), but it needs to get done. Keep your mind focused on your endgoal. As a student nurse, my first few clinicals were very helpful to me because I was able to see the work environment, patients, and caregivers, and visualize myself there -- how I'd like it (or not). Doing the clinicals as a student made it easier for me to get excited about the work and getting finished w/ school. The more I did, the easier I adjusted to the necessary studying, which kept pace w/ the slightly increasing difficulty of classes to me. In retrospect for me, it might have given me a little more focus from the start to tour a good hospital facility and see a little bit about what nurses in different departments do, but I don't think that hospitals really have tours like that unless you know somebody. Maybe that's something you don't need though since it sounds like your more oriented on your goal than I was before I started -- I was a bit more wishy-washy deciding between nursing and physical therapy, leaning toward physical therapy and even did over 100 hours of shadowing for it. Fast forward two years and I finished the ADN program -- admittedly not a stellar student, half B's and C's, a few A's, but I'm more of a hands-on learner than studying theory from books. If others can do it, so can you. Focus. Self-motivation.

You prob shoulda posted this in the Florida Nurses forum. Baptist Hospital (Magnet) will start you at $18.35/hr and in 90-days, its $19.15. Night diff is 3.25. Weekend diff is $5.50. Pt ratio is 5:1. Baptist is not the pay leader in the local area so you can use those numbers I gave ya as a bottom line. I think either Mayo or Shands is. I don't think ya will be able to get into Mayo as a new RN. Other hospitals in the area are Memorial, St. Lukes, St. Vincents, and Specialty. A bunch of them have websites. Baptist is prob the low-pay leader in the area since its a Magnet hospital and they have a lot of people applying as well as importing a significant amount of (good) nurses from overseas. I have heard that Shands has a much higher nurse-pt ratio, which is part of the reason why they pay more. I was told by several others that it was 9:1 but I have a hard time believing that any hospital could make a normal assignment like that. Factor in that there are no state taxes in Florida, if you're coming from out of state. Also, Jax is supposed to be at a lower-cost of living, tho I'm not sure how that is defined -- gas is almost $4 per gallon like most everywhere else in the country. I know that when I was still living in apartments, rent in Jax was significantly less expensive that what I was paying for the same type of unit in S. Florida (Ft. Lauderdale) but who doesn't know that S. Florida isn't more expensive? Anyway, hope that helps. Good luck.

I'd hafta agree w/ the poop thing -- I don't care for it at all. (Good) CNA's often take the brunt of it but often, you're the one that's there and you definitely can't look down your nose at participating in such a basic job, plus its a basic function of your patient and you don't want to give off the negative vibes for something that they can't really help. CNA's can/will pick up on your attitude if you always don't do your part in trying to help them if you're there and can, and they'll make themselves more available to other nurses and their patients that are decent to them w/o the attitude or vibes. Recently, I've to hand-squeeze out a contact pt's colostomy pouch into the toilet -- I still remember that distinct smell of spicy pepperoni stool that almost made me lose it in the surgical mask I was wearing. lol. good times. Expect periodic diaper changes on incontinent patients as your roll on their side to check for bedsores or listen to their lungs -- often easier to do it yourself than leave the pt as is to try and assign it to a CNA. Additionally, as a new nurse, I'll add that I really don't care for having to PIE-chart either -- much rather spend my time doing pt care. Night shift where I'm at usually has to do the majority of blood draws around 5am so the labs are back in time for the doctors near the start of day-shift -- I'm getting much better at collecting blood but sometimes trying to find a decent vein on someone (esp the morbidly obese) is frustrating and time-consuming. And I like having to start an IV even less, but I'm sure that I'll get much better w/ that too in time. That said, the work can be highly gratifying. Gestures of kindness amongst the care you're giving to patients are most often overlooked considering that they're usually sick or debilitated in some fashion, such that you learn to not expect a response, so when you get someone's heartfelt thanks for something kind and natural you've done, it can be very heart-warming. I think the only real regret that I occasionally have is that Nursing wasn't my first career. I often wish that the time I'd spent in my other career was instead in Nursing so I could be more efficient in helping some of my patients.

I like the 12-hr shifts. The time on your shift goes by fast, esp in the beginning of your career when you're busy learning and trying to stay on schedule. Ya just hafta make sure that you're rested before going into work else it becomes harder, esp the older ya are, it seems. Yes, the 4 days off per week are really nice. If you're doing nights and your family or significant other is a 'normal' day person, you'll lose some of that time adjusting your schedule, but otherwise, 12 hr shifts have been great for me. More time to decompress between work days = less stress = more quality 'me' time = easier living = happier me.

Schools will specify white nursing shoes -- very standard and accepted. Some clinical instructors might let you slide w/ shoes that aren't totally white, like accents, borders, or swooshs on them, BUT some will not and I've heard of classmates warned to not show back up to clinical if they show up next time w/ shoes that weren't all-white, so may as well not chance it. You can prob look in the phonebook and find some uniform stores that have a stock of nursing shoes to try on. I've tried some on and didn't notice that they were any more comfy than sneakers, and most of them look funkier than what I'm used to asides from being priced more (for I don't know what). Just do the easiest thing and find yourself some comfy all-white sneakers, imo.

I had used a pair of all-white Reeboks. If I had found any while shoe-shopping the first time, I would've opted for all-white New Balances, since New Balance are big on producing Wide sizes and comfy -- my 'regular' tennis shoes are New Balances and they've been as comfy as any other Nikes, Reeboks, or Adidas that I've owned/worn in the past. I don't really like the look of the crocs, but I'd still wear them if I thought that they were any more comfy than sneakers. Great advice imho for a profession that spends a lot of time on your feet is 'protect your feet' (and your back!) so I spare no expense for finding good shoes. I have gotten some feedback from two different co-workers that the crocs basically made them trip more so one stopped wearing them, and the other still wears them occasionally but is more careful when he does. Only thing I can think of that might cause that is perhaps that the less-flexible body of the crocs aren't fastened around the foot as well as a laced-up pair of leather sneakers and that causes some people probs. For myself on that matter, I decided to stick w/ sneakers since the ones I've got fit me well, are now broken in, and are comfy enough (bought some inserts for them too). I don't think that I could really expect much better than that from crocs so no need to fix what isn't broken. I think that the next pair of 'nursing shoes' I go for will be all-white New Balances if I can find them.

yeah, depends on how busy the state office is; I'm in FL. I asked my classmates during my Kaplan review class who had already sent off their application, which was over a month past the time we had graduated (thru Xmas break), and I was getting replies of 2-4 weeks. Most said they had gotten their ATT in 2 weeks. Sure enough, mine got to me in 2 weeks. I called Pearson VUE to schedule my NCLEX and the first available test date was just barely over one full month away -- I did not foresee that, and had a bit too much hang-time. I have also heard from our nursing school admin that it depends on the school promptly sending the list out. My school assured us that they were sending out our list the day after our pinning ceremony (one week before the official end of classes) -- 'yay' for prompt. Some schools take a week or longer to process after graduation before they send it to the state, at which time your name is available for them to process in and respond to your application.

I had classmates that had their ADN (Associate degree in Nursing -- enough for you to score yourself the RN certification) tuition and books paid 100% for by the state of Florida, due to the need for Nurses. My ex-fiancee had the same deal. Tho she only had herself to take care of and worked as a unit secretary at a hospital full-time'ish while going to school. Obviously tho, this is for Florida residents, based on need (you can't lotsa assets on your tax return and expect the gov't to give ya a need-based scholarship), and they had to keep at least a B avg. Check what programs that your local/state employment agency have. Good luck.

Find an area that you like. Hopefully you'll have figured out some likes/dislikes from doing your clinicals as a student. I, for instance, found that I wouldn't like to work in Peds/OB or Women's Post-Surgery. Get experience. Do your clinicals at hospitals that you want to try out. There might be some openings in critical care units, even tho they ideally like candidates w/ experience, but my opinion is that you should get some general med-surg experience under your belt first. Critical care unit doctors rely on nurses to recognize early signs of problems, which is hard to do if you're trying to learn/absorb a lot of your basics, ya know? -- kinda a dis-service to the patient. Ideally, find a teaching hospital -- they're used to students. Talk to your classmates. Many know others that are already out there and have some feedback on places to work in the local area. After you have at least a year of experience under your belt, you can start to be more discriminating on where you want to work, but really, in the beginning, its sometimes not easy to find your first job. Good luck.

I was in Aviation, climbing the technical mgt ladder at a big airline. Aviation mgt wasn't fun -- it was definitely a job, and then 9/11 happened, causing massive layoffs in the industry. My first choice was Physical Therapy, which had the exact same pre-reqs as Nursing since I already have a Bachelor's degree that'd xfer in to start postgrad study, but the DPT program was full so I went for my ADN. I really like Nursing in the job where I'm at. Very hands on, moderately gratifying w/ lotsa career opportunities, and some great co-workers. Out of 11 other regulars and x number of floats/prn's that work the night-shift on my unit, there's one person that really sucks to work w/, and another that likes to argue and complain a lot, but asides from them, I look forward to going in to work, helping/caring for patients, and seeing my new coworker-friends. It was almost like that in Aviation when I first started as a mechanic and was working the line, but changed when I stepped into Mgt. I hope that its not like that in Nursing, but even if it is, I could probably stomach to be a floor nurse for many years, changing up into specialty areas if I start to feel unchallenged. Nursing > Aviation. Not so sure about PT, but I have the definite feeling that I'd either get really bored or really complacent and lazy after a few years... which could be good or bad. I'm dismayed that I have to get another Bachelor's degree (in Nursing) to start on a Masters but... I'll live, and I again have a job that I enjoy doing.