towerofpower

this thread may be dead by now but I would love to hear how things have faired for you Bindy.

Wow, these posts are truly encouraging!!! You have no idea (or probably you do!) how 'fitting' your comments are =) Thanks be to God!

It's so good to hear those very same words that I tell myself, "God has not brought me this far just to fail"...it's good to hear that again. Yesterday I went online to help my sons with their college fees and decided to try once again to add an Organic Chem. class for myself that has been full for which I'd planned to crash (I was thinking that I'll use this opportunity to get that last remaining class off my plate for the bridge program that I want to do to become a MSN/nurse practitioner eventually). Well, oddly enough, I got right in and maybe that was God's way of showing me that I'm just where I'm meant to be. He seems to have reaffirmed that goal/plan while the managers at the old job were discouraging it.

This last post of yours brought a smile to my face...what could be more important than your relationship with God? Blessed are they who put their trust in Him! How are you doing now? I am a new grad. I just resigned last week after about 3 months on an intense onc/hem/HIV_AIDS unit. Bottom line was "fit" apparently. I'm doing like you and building my relationship, and trusting God. It's good to hear that things have worked out for you...it's encouraging =)

This is how my nursing program prepared me for the "real world": During the last class which was called "Role Transition" I got pared with a nurse in L&D (a unit not accustomed to having nursing students and I was the only one placed there) who had never before precepted anyone and has been an RN for just 3 years. She handed in my "midpoint evaluation" with 2 weeks of the class left, making falsified statements with regard to my performance. Although we were told that our instructors (who never actually showed up to the clinical site), and not the hospital preceptor, would determine our successfully passing the course and although I came through the program with no previous problems, no statements of concern, and was slated to graduate as my class' valedictorian, and although the dean told a group of us students that the only way to fail this particular class was to do something unsafe (which the falsified evaluation did not even accuse me of)...despite all these things, the decision was made by the dean to not let me pass the class and it was recommended to me to retake it and graduate 6 months later without ever having asked me about the circumstances surrounding the evaluation which she admitted to never even reading prior to making her decision. I went to the ombudsperson stating the injustice of this decision and was basically told by her and the rest of the administration, "Welcome to the real world". I fought that decision and the school (after hearing from me what really happened on that unit and how I did not receive due process) then decided to create a class just for me this summer in order for me to complete and graduate. They obviously knew they were wrong in their actions and that I had a case against them since I had already been hired for an RN position and would lose a lot of wages through their "recommendation". Had they at all been justified in their actions they would never have gone through the trouble of creating a special class just for me. It just amazes me that someone who would mistake 5 cc's of insulin for 5 units gets right out there into the 'real world' while someone at the top of their class gets held back. yep, that's the real world alright.

The program may be one year but this is different from orientation. I'll be in intermediate care and my orientation will last 10 weeks (one on one precepting). It is expected that at the end of orientation the New Grad is able to take on a 4 patient load independently. After 6 months they will assign a ventilator patient where the pt load is decreased to 2. I think that the one year part relates to mentoring and a class once a month. The length of orientation depends on the unit. I don't think any orientations last greater than 3 months (Children's Hospital). I hope this helps.

I would definitely NOT do it. Not because of UCLA itself, but you should be able to find a quality place closer to you...at least until you can move closer. It doesn't make good sense to quality of life, environment, etc.

I accepted a New Grad position At UCLA SM starting in Aug. too. I volunteered there as a Care Extender for a year and found that many RNs liked working there but many felt that the management's treatment of them left much to be desired. I had two clinical rotations at Cedars Sinai and could not find a nurse who didn't really like working there. I came to really like being at Cedars too. I joined UCLA because I'm continuing my education here and it's walking distance from home; but otherwise I would have gone to Cedars in a heartbeat. Some of my colleagues who did clinical rotations at UCLA did love it very much. They felt that there was an atmosphere of collegial respect and less of the 'yes herr doctor' attitude that they saw at St. John's for example.

I interviewed in March of this year as a senior ADN student and was offered a position for Aug. I heard one of their nurse recruiters today say that their summer New Grad RN positions are completely full and that they will interview again in the fall to start January. Sheri Monsein is head of nurse recruitment and it's probably best to email her with any questions: [email protected] ph:310-825-8141

relax...you're going to learn alot before December and you'll be prepared just in keeping up with your theory and clinicals.

congrats on your job offers! i took the acls training and found that helpful. i may go ahead and take the pre-hospital trauma course but it's expensive. i personally feel that i don't ever want to become desensitized to death if it in anyway lessens my humanity and caring for the dignity of a human soul. even if we're not saving a life there is still a lot that we can do in attending to a patient as they transition, if even just our witness, touch, or presence.

awww, no advice? well, nice of you to reply anyway. I'm very nervous about it. UCLA.

Greetings, I really appreciate the practical advice and time that those of you out there take to lend a hand to others of us. Just accepted a job offer for new grad RN program in a cardiac step-down unit (world-renowned teaching hospital) that will begin in August. I'm graduating in June and taking the NCLEX in July. Any advice/tips on how I can best prepare myself for what I expect to be a very challenging new position? thanks so much in advance...

I interviewed yesterday for Intermediate Care (cardiac step-down). After being given a scenario of 4 patients I was asked how I would prioritize care. I was asked about my clinical experience. Had I had any heart patients? any ICU? insulin drip? what would I teach a patient on an insulin drip? how about a pt. going home with heparin? where do I see myself 5 years from now? I got offered the position after the interview and accepted. I'm sure you'll do great since you are so motivated to do well. all the best!