TristateRN

Hi, can someone please tell me if my responsibilties as an RN would be any different in an ASF versus a nursing home? Are the staffing ratios any different? Any information you can provide would be most appreciated. ps: If anyone knows how I can change my username from student to RN please let me know. Thanks.

Thanks everyone:)

Thanks, how do you change your username?

I finally found out that I passed this morning. I took my test in pa and 9 days later it is still not posted on their website. I had to find out by calling the exam division and they said a license had been issued in my name and I should receive it in a week. I'm finally an RN! Woohoo!

Congratulations Denise! :balloons: I'm still waiting for my results. I'm starting to doubt myself because my co-worker also took them with us on Saturday and she found out today she passed as well. I felt really good about the test when I was taking it and expected it to shut off at 75, now I'm wondering maybe I didn't do as well as I thought I did.

Congrats! I too think the Mosby's CAT was the most like the nclex questions I had.

I was with you today, I hope we both pass! Good Luck.

Denise yes I was at the Horsham site at 8am. I hope we both find out soon that we passed.

I took the Nclex this morning and it stopped at 75 questions. I didn't get any math, mainly priority, isolation, drug side effects and 4 choose all that apply. Unfortunately PA doesn't participate in Pearson's quick unofficial results, so I will have to wait until the BON posts it on the website. I pray I don't have to wait more than a week, my nerves wouldn't be able to handle it.

Does anyone know how long it takes for PA to send out the ATT? They received my paperwork on May 30th and I paid Pearson months ago. Most of my friends my NJ have already received their ATT and scheduled their test and everyone I know from PA that graduated at the end of May still hasn't received their ATT. I was hoping to take my test ASAP but now it looks like I may have to wait because test dates are being taken up really fast. I preferred not to have to travel far away to take the test because that in itself is mentally draining. I've been hearing from people who called inquiring that it can take up to 4 weeks. The NCSBN says that more students pass the nclex when they take it within 26 days of graduating. This is impossible when you don't get your ATT for weeks after graduating. I'm just venting....:angryfire

Hi, I just finished the Mosby's CAT and it gave me a 99% probability of passing the NCLEX RN. It also said that the consistent difficulty level achieved was 0.583. Does anyone have any idea what the range is and what it means? I was on hold forever with customer service and no one was able to answer my question. Has anyone ever been told they had a 99% chance of passing and still failed the NCLEX? Thanks in advance.

Things have changed since 2003. I was told when I contacted them a few months ago for a new grad position that they will only hire BSN.

Thanks so much for the info. I just ordered the Hesi CD. We have to achieve an 80% on the case studies and I usually have to take it twice to get that.

Hello, I will have to past the Hesi Exit Exam in April in order to graduate and sit for Nclex-RN. I have access through my school to all of the Hesi case studies and was considering purchasing the study guide/CD through their website. Is there any difference in the CD vs. the case studies online? I don't want to spend the $ on the CD if there really isn't a big difference. Thanks in advance.

I actually have done very well in school, straight A's so far. I use Saunder's Comprehensive review book for every test and answer all the questions in the book and CD pertaining to the subjects before I take my exams. But I have heard from many people that doing well in school and passing the nclex do not go hand in hand.

Has anyone started working immediately after graduating? How hard is it to study for the nclex while you are trying to orientate to a new position? I've been offered a position that will have me orientating 2 weeks after I graduate, which means I will have to study for the nclex during my orientation. I realize that the best case scenario is to pass your boards then look for a job, but when it is a unit that you really, really want.....I just want to see how feasible it has been for others who have been in similar positions. Thanks in advance.

Dawngloves I've been trying to PM you, but your box is full. Thanks!

I rarely use the books that we were given to study from and I usually get straight A's. Since everyone is different, some benefit from things that are broken down in a straight to the point format and don't look at it as an easy way but a smarter way.

I would also like to know if these are useful as I was considering a few of them.

Hello everyone, the nursing school I attend distributed information today regarding the externships available this summer at the hospital I attend school at. Our instructor told us if we are interested to apply ASAP because there is only 15 slots available. I also work part-time in the hospital as a unit clerk in the NICU, but our NICU won't allow students to do externships. Of course that is the only unit that I have any desire to do my externship. Another hospital about 30 minutes away does allow students to do their externship in their level III nicu so I contacted the HR recruiter and she said she would send an information package to me in the mail. Since I have no idea of how long it will take her to actually send me this info, I was thinking of sending the nurse manager of the Nicu my resume directly instead of just waiting for the HR recruiter to send me info, etc. I just don't want the recruiter to feel like I'm stepping on her toes by going around her. I have already taken the S.T.A.B.L.E. course, I just took the NRP course last month and I have straight A's so far in all my prerequisites and nursing classes. I'm hoping that by including all of this along with my strong desire to be a Nicu nurse upon graduation will help me in getting a slot there. Any advice will be most appreciated. Thanks.

So are you saying you don't think its the radiation causing the thyroid problems? It just seems like too much of a coincidence that 12 nurses in one unit are diagnosed with similiar problems. A nurse from peds that always gets pulled or volunteers to work in the NICU also has a thyroid issue as well. The other units are all talking about it so it isn't something that is happening on their floors. It is being investigated for a reason. If not radiation then what? No one in this NICU wears lead aprons during xrays, is this standard practice everywhere else?

I am very concerned about a problem in a NICU in my area. Some of the nurses (12) have developed thyroid problems. One has cancer, one had to have a partial thyroid removal and the others are on thyroid medication. The hospital is investigating if something they are being exposed to is causing this, which to me is obvious. I was wondering if this is just an isolated incidence or is this common in other NICU's as well. Thanks in advance.

Hi, I live in NJ and here it isn't a problem to take the NRP course without being an RN. I just started nursing school and I'm scheduled to take the NRP in September. Just call around to the hospitals that have NICUs and ask for the nurse educator and see if they are having any classes. Also Gompers gave me some wonderful advice about the S.T.A.B.L.E. program. This is a wonderful course for anyone working in NICU. They have a website http://www.StableProgram.org and if they don't have any classes in your area (as was my case) click on the list of instructors in your state and call the ones near you to see if they are having any classes in their hospital. It took me a few weeks, but I finally found a hospital near me and they are having a class on July 8th, which will be their last one for this year! Most hospitals will charge you a fee if you are not an employee of their hospital, but it is well worth the investment. Good Luck :)

Thanks for the tip on S.T.A.B.L.E, I will definitely look into that. I thought it was ironic that they have tons of volunteer positions available in other parts of the hospitals, but the NICU is the unit that has a waiting list. I thought that maybe other students were trying to do the same thing as me, but it was just other volunteers. They do not use PCT's at the NICU here and there were no unit secretary positions. Honestly even if there was a unit secretary position available, I don't think I would have gotten alot of exposure working up close with the babies. (my hospital is very funny about allowing the secretaries to get involved with any direct patient care, so you are very limited) The volunteers jobs are to feed them, change the isolletes and other things. It is more direct care then a unit secretary would be allowed. The only reason I thought about doing the NRP before becoming an RN is that I thought it might be helpful to have on my resume when I'm trying to get an externship in a NICU.......do you think I should reconsider? Any advice is most appreciated.

When I first decided to go to nursing school, I knew I wanted to be a NICU nurse and I that I was willing to do whatever it takes. I just finished my one year of prereqs and will be starting Nursing 1 and 2 in August. I just started working parttime as a unit secretary in the hospital where my school is located. I contacted the assistant nurse manager in the NICU to inquire about volunteering there for the two years I will be in school. She told me that all volunteers had to go through their volunteer department. Long story short, I was told by the volunteer department that their is a waiting list to volunteer in the NICU. I have to attend a orientation specifically for NICU volunteers that is only given twice a year and then I would be placed on the waiting list. My jaw dropped, I couldn't believe that it was a waiting list! I was sooo disappointed, but the good news was, the orientation will be coming up in the next month or so and director of volunteering saw how desperately I wanted to work up there, she told me since I was a nursing student she would definitely give me priority before the others (ironically most of the people on the waiting list are just people in the community who want to work with the babies she said). So hopefully it won't take as long as I first imagined and I'll be working up there within a few months or so. I also talked to the nurse educator in the unit and she is having a full course NRP training in September, so I am going to do that as well. Our hospitals NICU is so hard to get into because the staff just doesn't leave. I asked the HR about the frequency of vacancies and she said honestly when someone does leave there, it is usually because they are moving away, retiring or something like that. Not to go work in another unit or hospital. But whatever experience I can get volunteering, plus I plan to do an externship in a NICU next summer (I already have my list of hospitals with level III NICUs),hopefully it will help me get into a NICU somewhere else if not there.