tinybabynurse

Well, it can't hurt to investigate this other opportunity a bit more. I'd go for the interview, tour the unit, ask lots of questions and then decide. Until you're actually offered the job, you don't need to make any decisions. I am just a firm believer in doing what you love...so if your interview goes great and you get a really good vibe from the people you meet then I say go for it. As for nights, I have a toddler and teenagers and nights were much better for me and them. I found I had much more time with them...yeah, I only got about 6 hours sleep the days after working but I did just fine on that. I think you'll always wonder "what if" if you don't look into it.

I personally know 3 people who took NCLEX this past month who got 265 and they all passed! If you got the pop-up, you did it!! Congrats!!

Just wanted to wish you good luck tomorrow! I also graduated in Dec and am starting in a level III NICU on monday. So excited!

I would definitely change the objective to fit each job. I actually had a manager tell me that if the objective doesn't state "entry level _______________ RN position" (fill in the blank with the area such as ER, med-surg, etc) she trashes it. Seems like a wierd thing to do to me, but I guess they'll find almost any reason to move on to the next resume.

I don't know if this is an option for you or not, but one of my instructors from nursing school works at a hospital that I was very interested in, and she contacted the nurse recruiter and told her about me. The nurse recruiter actually then called me. Don't give up!!

I agree a lot with what a previous poster has said about focusing on getting through school. However, I also felt as you did at the beginning of Nursing school that NICU was probably what I wanted to do. As you know NICU is a specialty, and as such, is often harder to get hired into as a New Grad. I did some things during school that helped me get my New Grad NICU job. 1. I did my peds rotation at a hospital with a large NICU. It was not an option to do this rotation in the NICU, but my clinical instructor was able to get me an afternoon in the NICU where I met some influential people. I told them of my desire for NICU, and my hope to be able to do practicum there. When it came time to request practicum placements, I requested this hospital. In my request I mentioned some of the people I had met there and how impressed I was with the facility/nurses. I got my practicum there and loved it! 2. In my OB rotation, there were some days that I was assigned to L/D when it was just dead quiet. My clinical instructor knew I had an interest in NICU and arranged for me to spend the day there. 3. I did not have the opportunity to volunteer/work in a NICU while in school b/c I did accelerated and simply didn't have the time. However, I worked my tail off in school and got steller grades. Some will tell you that grades don't matter...we all put "RN" after our names once we pass NCLEX, but in this market when employers have their pick of pretty much whoever they want to hire, it is certainly a plus to have those grades. As for ASN vs BSN, it is probably a little different everywhere. You may want to do some investigating into what hospitals have the largest NICU's in your area and whether or not they hire ASN's. If they are magnet status, you probably will not have a chance. I know some magnet status hospitals that will hire ASN's with lots of experience but never New Grad's. In my area, even the hospitals that normally hire ASN new grads are saying "BSN preferred". The fact is that they can be picky right now. Honestly though, as you know your focus right now is school. I would go into every clinical placement you get acting as though that is where you want to work. You never know when you may need that job, even if it isn't your first choice. For example, I hated med-surg. I can guarentee you that the nurses I worked with on my med-surg rotations and my clinical instructors would never have guessed that.

I primarily used Saunders to study for and pass the NCLEX (just this past week). I also used Saunders to study during nursing school but I had the 3rd edition (the 4th is the most recent one) and it didn't have the CD...someone let me use her old one. So, when I started studying for NCLEX I actually purchased the 4th edition mainly for the cd and the only difference I could see between the 3rd and 4th editions were more pictures in the 4th edition. My point is that if money is an issue for you, I would recommend looking online for a used 3rd edition with the CD. The cd is really necessary because you will be reviewing a lot of content by doing questions. As far as Saunders being too detailed...I used to think that too...until I took the NCLEX. There were these certain two questions that I guessed on during my test and when I got home I looked up the info in Saunders and actually Saunders didn't get detailed enough~~it didn't include the info I needed to answer the questions! However, after taking the NCLEX I would definitely recommend Saunders. You gotta know your content to pass.

WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You will never have to take that evil test again!!! Congrats, you're an RN!!!!

Way to Go!!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, just got back from taking NCLEX and if the PVT really works, then I passed!!!! I got 75 questions What did I do to study? Well, I graduated a month ago and did not take Kaplan. I used NCLEX 3500 and Saunders. I did 1500 questions on NCLEX 3500, mainly over each of the med-surg areas. Next I used the Saunders CD and systematically went through each content area and did 100 question exams. After I took each exam I reviewed the questions and made little study guides for each content area, focusing on things I didn't know or thought were important to know. I scored in the 70's and 80's. Then I used my study guides and the Saunders book to clarify portions I felt weak in. I also did all the SATA questions on the Saunders CD...I wanted to feel a little more at ease with those before taking the test. During the test, there were questions where I felt the answer was obvious, questions I had to think a little on, questions I could sort of reason through even though I really didn't know for sure (could usually get it down to 2 possibilities), and probably 5-7 questions that I honestly had NO IDEA how to answer. I didn't study a ton of Pharm, and the Pharm I did study only helped me on a few questions. So although there was a lot of Pharm, I don't think I would study any differently. Good luck to everyone studying out there!! It really isn't as bad as I thought!!

It may be difficult to be accepted into Regis or CU with a 3.0 in pre-req's...not trying to discourage you, but the competition is very tough. I would apply, but in the meantime see if you can retake a couple of classes that you didn't do as well in so that you can bring your GPA up and be more competitive the next time if you don't get in. I have a friend that had 3.2 in pre-req's and applied 3 times to CU and couldn't get in...she retook 2 or 3 pre-req's for better grades and got in the next time. But wasted over a year by the time she applied 3 times, and THEN decided to retake those classes. I don't know a lot about DSN, but I have heard that it is very expensive and the graduates are having an extremely difficult time finding jobs...I mean, everyone pretty much is right now but it is even worse for them. Children's is not the only hospital that won't hire DSN grads. Bummer to spend that much money on an education and then not be able to find work. Good luck in whatever you decide!!

Wow, I'm so sorry to hear about all that you're going through! I agree with the previous poster that you need to focus on your FUTURE...and that is what this test will give to you. Think of how much you have to look forward to, and the new path you are on which will lead you to many great opportunities! I take it on Weds, and am looking about the same as you with scores...although I've only done about 4,000-5,000 questions. Wow, 10,000! You've got this thing!! Can't wait to hear how it goes!! Good luck and Breathe!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!! I hope I'll be saying the same thing on Weds (1/13) when I take the test. How nice to have it over with!!! Way to Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats!!!!!! Thanks for sharing your great news and advice!!

I lost 20 pounds the first 15 weeks of nursing school. I had heard about people gaining a lot of weight and it scared me to death because I needed to lose some from having a baby anyway. So I committed to myself to working out 1-1.5 hours 5 times a week. It REALLY helped with my stress level to work out. I brought my flashcards/textbooks a lot of the time to multitask while on the eliptical. If I could do it, anyone can. I am a big time stress eater.

xtina, Here is the link to info about University Hospital's New Grad Residency program. http://www.uch.edu/find-a-job/nursing-program/Graduate-Nurse-Residency-Program/graduate-nurse-residency-program.aspx

NCLEX pass rates for both schools are very high, I believe they go back and forth as to which is higher. I know that the Regis accelerated program has an almost 100% first time pass rate. It is definitely the rumor that University Hospital prefers UCD grads in their new grad program, but a friend of mine that has worked at University Hospital for several years (and is a Regis nurse) swears up and down that it isn't true. The problem is that a lot of outstanding Regis nursing students hear this and don't apply for it...giving CU students a better shot at the slots.

The Americorps was all done through Regis, they have a specific person there who coordinates everything. About a week after we started school an email was sent out to everyone about an information meeting...and that is where we were able to sign up. The part of the website that we used was the "ucanserve" part I believe? We could download the forms that we had to turn in each month. Basically you just fill out how many clinical hours (and 20% of your hours can actually be classroom hours) and have your teacher sign it. At the beginning of the program you commit to a certain number of hours, so we knew that we were going to have about 900 clinical hours, so it was easy to know what to sign up for. The only catch is you can't use For-Profit hospitals for Americorps clinical hours. So you would want to avoid HealthOne hospitals...although I did a couple rotations at HealthOne hospitals and liked them. You can go on the Regis website and search americorps and a ton of information will come up. Let me know if you have any other questions and maybe I can answer them!

I'm not sure what your definition of a "Fast" degree is, but based on your response we are not talking about the same thing. We are discussing Accelerated BSN programs. Both CU and Regis are Universities. Everyone buys a degree because we all (unless we have a scholarship) pay tuition. The Accelerated programs that we are discussing are only open to those who have previous Bachelor's degrees, and like a previous poster mentioned you have to have all of your nursing prereq's completed before starting the program. We then do the 2 years of Nursing school in one year (Regis) or approx 19 months (CU). We meet the same clinical hour requirements as the traditional route, it is just much more intense because we are doing the same amount of work in much less time. These are VERY respected and competitive programs both in the Denver area as well as the nation.

I just completed the ABSN at Regis, so of course I am biased. However, I didn't even apply to CU because 11 months (Regis) vs. 19 months (CU) pretty much decided it for me. The money you will make as a nurse for the 8 months you won't be in school will far exceed the $15,000 in tuition...and additional $$ incurred from just being in school such as books. As far as reputation, the floor I did snr. practicum is in the specialty of my choice and they pretty much only hire Regis and CU grads. The ratio of Regis nurses to CU seemed to be about 5:1. The nurses say they really like Regis grads, particularly Accelerated. I have also heard that Denver Health considers Regis Accelerated new grads at the top of their list. I have several friends who graduated from CU and were happy with the education. One thing they all say is that everyone is extremely competitive with each other. Our class was very collaborative and supportive...although we were told by our instructors that we were exceptional in that way. I did Americorps and got paid for my clinical hours...it was only $1450 but hey, every little bit helps. All I had to do was keep track of my hours and have my instructors sign them off. I completely recommend Regis, but I'm sure you'd get a great education at CU too. From a financial perspective you would still come out ahead going to Regis. Good luck with whatever you decide and congrats on being accepted!

That is fantastic!!! Huge Congrats!!!

I agree with this last statement. As nursing students, we are supposed to smile and be okay with whatever treatment we receive. We should be grateful even when being treated like a piece of crap. Maybe these nurses are justifying their behavior by saying to themselves that they are actually helping us become accustomed to being treated this way b/c that is how pts/family/mngmnt/md's/etc are going to treat us once we are RN's. I think it's true that miserable people like to make other people miserable. So the thankfully few times I've had to deal with nurses like this, I do in fact feel sorry for them and I don't take it one bit personally. I will NEVER treat a student like an ignorant piece of crap when I am working with them one day. Even if I am being treated badly in my work environment it does not excuse my own inappropriate behavior. In the clinical I'm in right now, the hospital has us evaluate each of the nurses we work with and our evaluations are included in their periodic job evals...we are told may help them get better raises. I cut my nurses a LOT of slack and give them the highest ratings unless they were awful. I know that they are under a lot of stress and it's not easy to add a nursing student to that stress.

Hi! I wanted to get some opinions regarding what aspects of NICU nursing you really like, and if anyone has done L&D how you might compare the two? I have to complete my request for senior practicum very soon. I started nursing school because I wanted to be in the NICU, however, I have been doing my OB clinicals and really enjoy L&D. I have only been able to spend a few hours in the NICU during my Peds rotation, and I could definitely see myself there as well! I know that I can't go into senior practicum just expecting that it will lead to a job, but apparently that does happen. So, I feel like the decision is a fairly big one. Thanks for your thoughts!

If you go the CC route, you just have to be prepared to wait around for a long time. I believe the wait is 2-3 yrs. Then you only have an Associate's degree and it will take you even more time to get the RN-BSN. You have to do what is right for you, but for me...time was money. If it takes minimum of 5-6 yrs to even be working as an RN you have to consider what your current job is and if you could be done in half the time and have the extra 3 yrs with an RN salary you might find that you come out way ahead financially doing it that way. One route that I would have probably explored had I known about it before I was already accepted to NS is to go to work at University Hospital and let them pay for your BSN. They have a program where once you have worked for them for a year, you can apply to do a sort of work/study program. You even get paid your hourly rate while in class. The details are on their website. That's even cheaper than CC and gets you to your goal faster. Good luck!

I know of many teachers that have left teaching to become nurses. I don't know any nurses that have left nursing to become elementary or high school teachers. I'm sure they exist, but speaking from experience I can't imagine why you would do it unless you had absolutely no idea what you were getting yourself into.