flower75

true. where I work, i have been offered tip to work when they were short staffed on CNAs or RNs even if not my 7th day. it is just automatically tip if it is the 7th day in two weeks. and they offer increases in base pay based on experience as a CNA or LPN. and i've heard some not so great things about the $8000 bonus. It is available, but I didn't take it. Instead I took a position working days. it is so nice not to feel like a zombie. i don't think i could handle nights. my husband was super excited when i was offered days. good luck. any questions just let me know.

at my hospital we always run the small bags of KCl on a dedicated pump. The first pump is NS or whatever fluids the patient has ordered and is usually at a slow rate (20-25ml/hr). This line is attached directly to the HL. The 100ml bag of KCl is primed directly into a 60gtt/ml tubing (not piggybacked into another bag) and ran through a second pump. This line is attached to the most proximal port to the patient on the primary line running NS. this helps to dilute the KCl until the patient can get a PICC or CVL.

yes that is it. some hospitals offer $2000-3000 sign on bonuses for 1-2 year agreements. one hospital was really short staffed in certain areas and was offering $8000 bonus for two years paid quarterly. weekend diff is $2/hr, nights $3/hr, evenings $2.4 on average. the COL in this area is reasonable though so it all evens out. I have a book that shows COL for major cities in the entire US. A $46,980/year salary in NWA was really like $51,649 compared to the entire US. While other places in the US would be the reverse of that or even worse like NYC or LA or San Francisco where $80,070/yr was only $47,112.

I also graduated from NWACC and when I applied for jobs the local hospitals were always glad to see I had graduated from NWACC rather than the local university. NWACC has a great program. good luck!

New grad RN pay starts around $17.75 plus diffs for evenings, nights and weekends in NWA and one hospital pays $35/hr for 'tip' days (usually the 7th day working in a 2 week period).

I graduated May 10th, 2008. Took the NCLEX June 16th after studying for a month. I interviewed for jobs before graduation and was hired before graduation. They were fine with me waiting to start work until after I took the Nclex and a vacation in June. I had a 7 week orientation and then started working on my own a few weeks ago. I work days on a telemetry/step-down floor and love it. Good luck!!

As others have mentioned, the BSN does open more doors. But be careful of the reputation of the schools in your area. There is a community college near me where I went to get my ADN. I just passed the NCLEX and start to work in a week after a vacation. While applying for jobs, when I was being interviewed the interviewer would see that I had gone to the local university a few years ago and ask if that is where I graduated from. I would tell them I went there for awhile for a biology degree but went to nursing school at the community college. They would go on to say that they were happy I went there and they preferred the ADN nurses over those that got their BSN from the local university. One hospital lost 5 BSN nurses at once because they all failed the NCLEX in the same week. Most of the nurses I spoke with said they preferred the ADN nurses to work with on the floor too. So just be careful and do lots of research about the schools you are looking at going to.

I can officially put RN behind my name now. I passed with 75 questions. YEAH!!!!!! Good luck to those still waiting to test. My study plan: ATI questions online Saunders content review and questions Kaplan practice tests in the 08-09 NCLEX-RN strategies book Lots and lots of prayer from family and friends I had Drexel review at school but didn't like it much. I took it because that was what the rest of my class was taking and since I would be reimbursed by my new job I took it. I think I spaced out during the lecture time more than anything. After the week I wasted with Drexel, I studied on my own for 4 weeks and then took the plunge even though I didn't feel completely prepared. The Lord is wonderful though and helped me through the test. I wish everyone the best of luck and my thoughts and prayers will be with you. Amanda, RN

I just found out from the AR BON website I PASSED!!!!!! woohoo!!!! I took the drexel review but didn't like it at all. I read through most of the saunders review and bought a 08-09 Kaplan book that had two practice tests. I found those to be very helpful. With that book you can sign up form about 27 SATA, fill in the blank questions on the Kaplan website that were really helpful. Kaplan questions were the most like NCLEX questions. Suanders was really good review of content. And I used my notes from my instructors too. I studied for a month after graduation. I had 75 questions, 25-30 SATA, and one calculation. I am so glad to be finished with the NCLEX.

I just found from the AR BON website I passed!!!!!!!!! woohoo!!!!!!!!

yes i would say it is true you can get 30 SATA's. I just took mine today and had probably 25-30 maybe more SATAs and finished in 75 questions. I didn't keep track but it seemed like every third question I would get a SATA. One time I got 4 SATA in a row but that helped me feel a little better since they are supposed to be harder. Who knows. I am still waiting for my results. Good luck! I don't think one can ever feel prepared for this test. I've studied my butt off since graduation in May and still didn't feel ready but I took the plunge.

I just took mine today and I would say that it is hard to gauge. Two other girls from my school took it today too. One had 4 calculations and maybe 20 SATA. I had 25-30 SATA and one calcuation and I can't remember what the other girl had for sure.I think she had a few calcuations and about 20 SATA. We all had 75 questions so who knows. I hope to find out wednesday morning my results for sure. Good luck!!

Try not to worry too much. The instructors at my school have said that if it shuts off at 75, you have a 90-95% chance (or higher) of passing. With the 15 questions they use to just see if they are good questions, that leaves only 60 actual questions. I think the computer would have a hard time knowing for sure that you were below the competency level in only 60 questions. good luck and try to do something fun to keep your mind off things.

I use DA for all my dosage calculations. It seems like the info she gave is wrong. When we are given a problem we usually have the order from the physician such as the 0.1 unit/kg/hr. the pt's weight in pounds or kg as a given. Also, we are given the stock solution for a bolus or infusion such as 400mg Dopamine in 250ml D5W. they tell us the drip factor such as 20gtt/mL for the tubing and if they don't give us a drip factor we assume it is microdrip tubing. then we figure out how many gtt/min or ml/hr, whatever they are asking for on that question. So it seems like a lot of data is missing from the questions and that some of it was given to you incorrectly. Hopefully they can get it figured out. If you need help, I would be glad to help you. DA is the best :nuke:

how do you know if it came out after Feb, 2006. I bought mine at a Barnes and Noble store in September of 2006. I just checked the copyright and it is 2005. It is the 3rd ed, full color reprint. Does that mean it came out after Feb 2006? I plan to take the NCLEX in June after graduating in May. I am in the last semester of ADN program. I like the 3rd ed. I've used it a lot for my first 3 semesters.