Nips

My hospital makes physicians, PAs, RNFAs, and CRNAs pay a fee each year(about $500.00) that covers all their meals, drinks and snacks. Although they don't stand in line to pay, they still have to pay for all the food that they eat.

I agree with the other two posts. I faced a similar situation. No one wanted to hire a new grad unless they had their BSN. I took the first and only job offered to me and began working on my BSN. I am in the operating room. Some nurses that I have met frown upon me working in a specialty so early into my career but that was the only job offered to me. Doctor's offices, nursing homes, home health and agency/temp work have been alternative jobs that many of my nursing school friends have taken just to get a year's worth of experience. Keep looking, don't give up and good luck.

Thanks for your reply SquirrelRN71. This is for a project that I am doing at work to guage if nurses understand wound classes in situations like the one I listed. We do ask the doctors for their wound class but we all know that some are not 100% honest. For example, even with a break in technique (like a hole in their glove) the doctor will still consider the wound class as clean, which is incorrect. The doctors and staff at my facility change gloves after draping as well when it comes to cases like these and in ortho cases. We also have people that look over our paperwork and make us correct wound classifications that they feel were put in the wrong class. For example, I did a rectal case. There was feces present around the incision site (the case was for a fissurotomy) so I put the wound class as contaminated like the MD instructed me to. I later received a note that I should have put the wound class as clean/contaminated. The nurse reviewing my chart did not know that feces was present, nor was their an area for me to justify my wound class. It is problems like these that we are trying to correct at my job. Thanks again.

How would you classify this wound: Scenario: your patient is scheduled to have a right BKA. The doctor's pre-op DX is gangrene of the right foot. The patient is draped out for a normal extremity case with extra care being given to the patient's foot which is draped with an impervious stockinette that is wrapped with coban to create a seal around the foot. The actual incision is not made on the foot, rather it is made just below the knee where there is no sign of gangrene, inflammation, infection or open wounds. The debate: :argue: :down:some people feel that the wound class is contaminated because of the pre-op DX. Is this because it is assumed that somehow the set up/sterile field was contaminated by the gangrenous foot? :up:others feel that the wound class is clean because the area in which the actual incision was made was free of infection, gangrene, etc. Also, they take into consideration the fact that the foot is covered and wrapped up. So I ask. How would you classify this wound?

I got accepted to both the bridge and generic MDC ADN program options with a 3.26. I just got accepted to the BSN program with the same GPA. I am not sure about all the criteria that they look at when selecting students. I can tell you that my math and science grades were very high and maybe that helped. I would not give up hope just yet. Just apply and see what happens.

I completed the online bridge program at MDC in December 2008. What did you want to know about the program in particular? I can tell you that it beats having to drive to the campus, but it is a lot of work. You have to read a lot but the work is doable.

I did the nursing program online (I was in the Bridge Program) last year but I think that Leadership is the same for all. You can expect to be more on your own. You will still have a preceptor, but you will be given more responsibility. You may start off with one patient, then two then, then three until you are taking care of all of your preceptor's patients. This is only if you are on a med-surg floor. If you are assigned to a unit or a specialty department like the ER, your assignments will be different. Also you will have to do the following: 1. Make a journal entry that outlines what you did in clinical due weekly. 2. Choose to do a project that will give you either an A, B or C in the class. They will give you more details on this. The project is due at the end of the semester. 3. You will have to do a certain number of NCLEX style questions each week. You can either use an NCLEX book or ATI questions. A print out of the questions completed are due each week. 4. You may have to do a group project that focuses on leadership. I hope this helps. Good Luck.

Congrats!!:dncgbby:

Wow, I had no clue about this.

I was going to do Suzanne's plan but I did not have enough time to do it. I believe that once you send her your information correctly via PM, you will be added to the mailing list. It may take a few weeks, but you should hear something soon.

I took my NCLEX exam yesterday and just found out this morning that I passed. True to form, I felt like crap after the test was over. I really had no way to gauge how well/awful I was doing during the test but I remained focused on choosing the best answer I could. Needless to say,I felt that I didn't study enough. This is a normal feeling and I knew that it would be impossible to learn/know everything. The testing strategies I learned did not apply to most of my questions especially the harder priority/delegation ones. I had a lot of priority/delegation, psych and infection control questions. I had 4 SATA and one calculation. If I can offer any advice to anyone, it would be to take the earplugs that are offered to you even if you think you might not use them. I happened to be wedged in between two people with colds that sneezed, sniffled, coughed and blew there nose the entire time they were in the testing center. I lost my focus and had to resort to using the earplugs and headphones I was offered. The one book that I would recommend to anyone that can't afford to take a review course is Saunders 4th edition. It is the most complete review book in my opinion and I own quite a few review books. Another recommendation is the Hurst review if you can afford it. I must admit that throughout my test I heard Marlene's voice talking to me about the NCLEX Devil. I highly recommend the online review option. Don't let the sample video fool you, it is a great program. I used a combination of Hurst lectures with the Saunders CD and made sure that I did 100 questions each day. Good luck

I think that the Hurst review was really great for content review, I felt very confident about my abilities to answer questions. With a good foundation of content, you can answer questions without having to memorize a bunch of strategies. I also used the Saunders CD to help reinforce what I learned. However, I do recommend taking the NCLEX exam a week or two after the review while the info is still fresh in your mind.

I believe the generic program is 16 months, just 4 months longer than the transition and accelerated options.

Hello Suzanne, I am a new grad (Dec 2008) and from what I've heard, the job market for new grads is not looking too good. I have met several people that are even considering leaving the state just to find jobs. I went to a review course in January that inlcuded people from both south and central Florida. Out of the 26 students present, only 3 of us had jobs. There was some talk about there being a hiring freeze for new grads in the Orlando area. Similarly this month I went to another review course here in south Florida, and of the 50-60 people present, only about 10-15 of us had jobs. Many of the job postings in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area have no openings for new grads. It seems as though new grads that have jobs have them because we have either worked for the company prior to graduation or because we accepted scholarships from them and now have to pay the loan back by working for the hospital.

I am doing the same thing. I am taking the live Hurst review course with the online component. When I get home after the lectures I do the Saunders and ATI questions that correspond to what I learn. I am seeing my scores for both Saunders and ATI double. So far I like the review but I am not relying on it alone. I am doing about 100 questions each night to help reinforce what I learn.

Have you tried this review? Is it good? Also, I do not see the cost of the program listed. Thanks.

Yep, those are the same ones!! The site also has downloads for other review programs.

I have heard good things about it and even considered doing the course here in Miami, but it conflicts with my work schedule, so I can't take the course. You can get a sneak peek at the course by going to http://caring4you.net/tests.html. They have fee podcasts of the Feuer lectures. Just scroll down the page until you get to the section where the podcasts are. It will be on your left. Hope this helps.

I graduated in December 08 and had planned on not doing a review course and just doing self study. Now that I have been out of school for several weeks I am finding it hard to study on my own. I am not sure where to begin and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. I have been doing some research :typingand stumbled upon the Hurst review. I would like some feedback from those that have taken the review recently. I would like to know: #1 did you feel that the HURST review helped you prepare for the NCLEX? #2 did you do the review online? If so, was it structured? I have Kaplan material (from the actual course) and to me the material seems very dry:yawn:. I like the strategy that I have learned for answering questions, but I feel that I need a good content review as well and Kaplan isn't really doing the trick for me. Thanks in advance :)

The Feuer review course is offered in New York. Check out www.f-n-r.net. It was developed by a nurse and it offers live sessions and home study options. However, it seems to be a bit more expensive than Kaplan's live review.

I was able to retain a lot of what I learned because many of the same concepts are repeated throughout the pre-reqs and in the nursing program. For instance, chemistry and nutrition are linked in some ways and human growth and development, another pre-req, is seen in pediatric nursing and nursing throughout the life span. So although you might sit in a class for 6 weeks, you will definately continue to use what you have learned well beyond the that.

i hope this helps, please let me know if i was clear enough w/my explanation.

Yes, they should offer all those classes in the summer. Classes in the summer semester can be taken in 12 week or in two 6 week increments. From personal experience I would not suggest taking courses that you feel weak in over the summer because the semester is 12 wks vs 16-17 weeks in the Spring and Fall semesters. If you must get your classes done by the end of the summer, I would suggest taking the harder courses for 12 weeks. I was not good at chemistry and chose to take it in 6 weeks. BIG MISTAKE! I began the course failing, but ended up with a B because I went to a tutor and I always reviewed my tests after they were graded to see where I went wrong. By doing this I was able to redeem myself, but if you can't commit to seeing a tutor because of work and other classes, I would suggest doing chemistry in a 12 week course so you have more time to study. Keep in mind that your science grades will be taken into consideration when applying for the nursing program. Try to maintain a 3.5 GPA amongst your science courses if you can. I had an overall GPA of 3.25 when I got accepted into the program, but believe that my science GPA got me into the program.

How long can you keep the book once you've rented it? We used the same med-surg book for med-surg one and two. I had med-surg 1 from Jan-May and then had med-surg two from Aug-Nov. Can you keep the books for that long? If so, renting may prove to be beneficial once I go back for my BSN.