Mimi Wheeze

I can relate. I got my license, and had only 5 days of training with another nurse on a busy med-surg floor. My very first day with my own patient load, I was given two students, from the school I just graduated from, from the instructor I just took finals from. I told her it was my first day on my own, and had no clue what I was doing yet. She told me I would be fine, and just do my best. What a day.

Ugh... I'm a brand new nurse too, and you're right...day shift is insane. I'm contemplating going to nights. (I know nights can be insane too, but when I'm still charting at 9 or 10 p.m., I notice the phones, families and doctors are not as bad) Of course, I'm quite a bit older than you, and have a home and family to take care of. I love crazystudents' suggestions. I think I want to hang out with her!

Oh good grief...don't study on your vacation. Relax and forget about studying! If you have three or so weeks before NCLEX, that will be plenty of time. I only studied for NCLEX a few hours a day for two weeks. Now that I've taken and passed NCLEX, I truly feel that studying for weeks and weeks would be a waste of time. There seems to be some sort of hysteria surrounding this test, I think if you did well in nursing school, you will do well on NCLEX. My advice when taking the test: Read the question, and go with your first gut instinct for your answer. There were very few questions I knew without a doubt, so I did a lot of gut instinct choices. I had 75 questions and passed, so it worked for me. All of my other nursing school buddies that passed said they did basically the same thing. Good luck!

They will have to kill me first before I give up my Crocs. I've tried every shoe from expensive New Balance to Quarks to NurseMates. NONE of them come close to my Crocs. I work 13+ hr. shifts and my feet DON'T HURT. I cannot emphasize enough how they have changed how I feel at work. I ordered the "Professional" Crocs from Zappos.com. They have holes, but they are not on top, they are around where the sole meets the upper. I'd have to be slogging through some pretty deep "stuff" to get my socks wet. Best of all, if they do get icky, I go to the housekeeping cart, spray them with Cavicide, and wipe them with paper towels without even taking them off my feet. I could never do that with my other nursing shoes.

The OP started this post back in 2002.

I am so sick of hearing the phrase "nurses who eat their young." It's so overly dramatic. Most professions or places of employment have un-agreeable employees lurking about. They aren't going to "eat" you, just annoy you. That said, I'm a brand new grad nurse. I'm 38 years old and work on an extremely busy med-surg unit. Nobody has tried to eat me yet. :icon_roll There are some nurses with p*ss-poor attitudes, just like anywhere else. The only time I see seasoned nurses be not so helpful is when a younger or newer nurse acts like an unprofessional nit-wit. Most younger nurses are great, and I respect them for making through nursing school at a young age. They try to adapt and act professionally at all times. But for some others, it's time to grow up. The hospital and these nurses were not put on earth to accomodate them. Learn to adapt, act professional and mature, and utilize those critical thinking skills you worked so hard for. And please, for the love of Pete, stop saying that "eat their young" crap. :trout: I can't take it anymore.

You will be just fine. In a few months you will be wondering why you ever got worked up about the math. You will have many other things to be worked up about!

Not true around here, Commuter. I was required to take CNA classes before starting my RN program. One of our check-offs was manual blood pressures. I now work on a med-surg floor and alll of our CNA's take vital signs manually. I think using the portable machines is common, but I feel it is necessary for CNA's to be proficient in manual BP's.

I agree with nursekatie 22. With the anatomy part, as you know, it is pure memorization. I took it one body part at a time. For instance: learn the arm, memorize the arm, become one with the arm. THEN move to another part. For Physiology, I took my happy rear home everyday and RE-TYPED or re-wrote all of my notes from class. Also, I never read ahead (worked for me) but I did open the book to re-inforce and clarify what was taught in class. Don't freak out, just break it all down, be consistant, and never wait till the last minute to study. Also, take advantage of open labs to study the models. You'll will do great! Good luck!

I graduated from an ADN program 2 weeks ago. We had three students in my class in their 50's, and one graduated at the age of 65. If you really want to do it, you most certainly can. Good luck!

We didn't have a seperate med math class. We bought a book and self-learned before our semesters even started. I was terrified too, but the book they required was very helpful to me. I just did a few chapters a week, and I have passed every math test the first time. (We have to pass every test within two tries, or we are out of the program) Here is what I used: Math for Meds, Dosages and Solutions Ninth edition Anna M. Curren Don't freak out. I am quite possibly the most math-challenged person I know. Good luck.

That is great! People are so quick to complain, it's nice to hear compliments when they're deserved.

Oh, hoolahan, you poor thing! Can you talk to your patients about roach control? That is a health issue, isn't it? Do the patients not see roaches crawling toward you? Are they so used to it that is doesn't bother them? Uuuggghh. That is so sad and disgusting at the same time.

Typing at people is so different from face-to-face conversations. You miss the tone of voice, body language, expression, etc.. Neglecting to type one little word, and you could be accused of generalization or having attitude. I am a blunt person, (but not hurtfully so) and in everyday conversation I am taken as just "to the point" but in cyber land it could be construed as snotty. I'm still a student, also. I lurked here for months before joining. I can see people's frustration at the same ol' stuff being brought up, but I have noticed some people are much more sensitive to the wording of questions. I wish that if members found the post offensively worded, they would just skip over it. You did get some answers here, so obiviosly your wording didn't bother everybody.

WOW, renerian.. I didn't know. I'm sorry that happened to you.