laneymaree

I have to disagree with this poster. I don't think nursing is a waste of time or money. I wanted to be an ER doctor from age 4 until being a junior in high school. Then, I started volunteering and spending time in the hospital and seeing that doctors spent about 15 minutes at a time with their patient. If even that. Nurses were the ones at the bedside, truly healing them. There are specialties where nurses are given a lot of autonomy...on these floors, I see nurses every day telling the residents what orders to put in! ICU, PACU....critical care, you aren't just mindlessly following orders. This poster sounds a bit burned out in my opinion... At the end of the day, you need to figure out what kind of lifestyle you want to lead and what context you want to see your patient in. That should lead you to your decision. Good luck!

Took the beast that is NCLEX yesterday. Got the good pop up so now I'm just waiting. Waiting might just be worse than the NCLEX itself. AHHHH.

Kaplan Q Bank and NCSBN are most similar. NCLEX 4000 was nothing close to it at all compared to the aforementioned.

ATI was okay. My school used ATI too. My predictor score was a 65% and that meant I had an 85% of passing on the first try. I took it yesterday and finished in 75 questions. So I won't find out for sure until tomorrow, but so far I've got the good pop up. I did a lot of questions from there, but I thought NCSBN and Kaplan were the closest to NCLEX. NCSBN is not too expensive, it's like 50 bucks for 5 weeks I think? Something like that.

I had Hurst online review, Kaplan Q Bank, and NCSBN. I took NCLEX yesterday and am still waiting for my results, but I have the good pop up! But everyone in my class who has gone has said that the questions from NCSBN are most like the test and they all passed in 75. I agree. Plus, the question bank is only like 50 bucks. :) Good luck!

Duke has lower pay, but better benefits in my opinion. Way better benefits. And it is a pay cut in NC from a lot of other states, but you have to take into account the cost of living. NJ makes like $27 for a new grad but it is way more expensive to live out there. It's about $20-$24 an hour for a new grad. Factor in the cost of living and then you can see how worthwhile it is.

I've worked in PICU for 3 years, as an HUC, and as a summer internship where we were treated like new grads in a PICU for a Level 1 Trauma Center, so here's what I can say about it. You have two patients, total care, and it is extremely emotional. You learn A LOT. Not all the patients are small, you get a lot of chronic kids up to 18. Some of those teenagers are quite large. They say you won't feel comfortable for a year and a half. Expect codes. Traumas. Lots of chronic kids. I loved PICU. But it isn't for everyone. Especially night shift. That being said, if you don't start in peds, it will be harder to transition there. Ortho is tough, but you do have techs to help. Techs cant do anything in the PICU hardly except stock and help transport. Don't worry about pigeonholing. Experience is experience. Day shift for a new grad is practically unheard of. I know that wasn't the most helpful post, but it was just thoughts to add to your pros/cons list. Good luck!

It's okay, at least you found out now so you didnt study everything else until december! After you submit everything, it's about 3 weeks until you find out if you passed the test. Then you submit the essay and it's about 3-4 weeks when you find out if you get accepted. i'm from pomona-ish area outside of los angeles. what about you? and i'm sure you'll do fine on your test, try not to stress too much!!

Well, I never took any of the other tests so I don't know how they compare. But, just know that the test isn't meant to be finished. You won't have time to. Just answer as many as you can as accurately as you can. Reading page long stories and answering questions make up one part, basic math questions, and some logic (pictures where you complete the sequence) is basically it. Make sure you schedule yourself EARLY to take the test. Call and see if you can get the test dates. They probably aren't out yet for December though. It's usually month to month. I would definitely call one or twice a week until you get it because the test dates fill up within 5 days of being announced typically. I had called the third day after it was announced and 2 out of 3 days were already full. Best of luck!!

Hey! PICU at UNC Children's Hospitals hires new grads, but most of them have worked in the unit as an NA or HUC. Not all, but most. Good luck!

soontobenursenicky- everything is totally do-able. Classes are Tues. and Thurs. nights from 6-10pm. Each class is for 5-7 weeks and then rolls over. The pre-test isn't too hard. You do need to have a good score to get in. If you don't pass the first time, or only pass one of the sections, you get an opportunity to retake it. If you don't pass the second time then you don't get another shot. After you pass the test, you get the chance to submit an essay, and then from there you find out if you got in. But the test is required for admissions. I'm from California too! It is pretty competitive- Watts has the best clinical reputation around here. :) Grants and loans are fairly easy to get. I haven't had any trouble getting Stafford Loans through the school. And you can work out payments. It's on a semester basis so it isn't like you're paying for the whole program up front. Tuition reimbursement is for everyone. But that isn't until after you get your RN and you're working. Hope that helps! PS- I suggest you guys call and find out the next information session at the school. They go over a lot of this stuff there and is super helpful. Good luck!

Yep. I went in with no pre-reqs. You get them all done in the semester before the actual nursing begins. And even if you have english, math, etc., you still have to take a set number of hours through mt. olive- so it's best to just get most of them done their cause then you get to meet your classmates and bond early (it really helps for clinicals/labs!) good luck!

I agree with squirtle. It isn't about just who you know. Sometimes, perhaps, but I don't think it's fair to make that generalization. I know I want to work PICU when I'm done. I'm in nursing school now and work part-time as an HUC on the PICU floor and go above my job level to help be a runner during codes or whatever else is needed. As a result, they know what kind of worker I am, they know how dedicated I am, and as a result, I have a job waiting for me when I'm done. But, that's after a lot of hard work. And that same hard work showed them a lot about my character and personality and what kind of fit I am for the unit (which is VERY important)- something that a piece of paper could not necessarily do. It's like first applying to college. A lot of people want the same spot you do, so you should be competitive as well.

Great to hear!! Hope it's going well!! I would just recommend really getting your A&P down. Even if you're going fast or dont need to know too much in class, learn it on your own. You'll need it for 2nd semester. Good luck for the rest of term!!

As a current Watts student, I can safely say that you need to take it before December to get in the January classes. Since fall has already started you should probably take it by Halloween to be safe because as soon as it fills up, you'll be waiting until next June. Good luck on your test though! It's really not so bad :)