NCtoCOgirl

Just took CSC. Cardiac Surgery Essentials for Critical Care Nursing was indispensable. Authors are Hardin and Kaplow. Cammy House-Fancher's review on med-ed was also very good. Use the test blueprint on AACN to guide your studying.

I used Saunders exclusively. I did question after question after question; I especially liked their iPhone app and the questions on CD. I was getting 65-80%, and I passed NCLEX with 75 questions. No matter how much you study or how well you're doing, taking NCLEX is still a very unsettling experience, and I have found that most people, even those who passed with 75 questions, walk out of the test feeling like they've failed. You just have to distract yourself for those next 48 hours before you see that PASS pop up on your computer screen! Good luck!

1. What kind of floor: ICU 2. Where are you from: Colorado 3. How did you get that job: 3.98 GPA, did my practicum on the unit where I was hired, did multiple clinicals at the hospital, and practiced hard with friends and husband before the interview. Reviewed stories I could tell from nursing school that would illustrate the kind of nurse I hope to be (something that went wrong and how you handled it, something that's hard for you, strengths, etc.). Actively networked and maintained relationships with preceptors, clinical faculty, academic instructors, and clinical placement coordinators. I STRONGLY recommend pursuing a position as a CNA at the hospital where you want to work before you graduate. Good luck to all!

Good info about books in sticky thread at the top of this forum. Thanks to all who posted!

I interviewed at UCH in May 2009 for the new grad program and will start on July 27. The interview was pretty straightforward. I strongly recommend googling nursing interview questions and practicing your answers beforehand. Come up with some stories you can tell about your nursing experiences that illustrate the kinds of things you want the interviewers to know about you. My panel consisted of a nurse manager, a nurse educator, and an RN. It lasted about 45 minutes. I also suggest that you think about your 'elevator speech' -- what could you say about yourself in a two-minute introduction? What would you say about yourself if they didn't ask you any questions at all? What would stand out? I found these exercises to be very helpful. UCH starts (as of now) new grads at $22.50/hr with all the normal shift differentials, plus an extremely competitive benefits program. As far as I know, this starting rate is not negotiable. It is one of the strongest nurse residency programs out there, in my opinion, and to me that makes up for any dollar-or-two difference in pay that may exist among UCH and various local hospitals. I also suggest to anyone who's trying to get into a specific hospital that you pursue an ACP/CA type position within the hospital before you graduate. (This is the terminology used by UCH and TCH, but basically it's just that limbo position between being a CNA and an RN that hospitals often use for students. There are a number of people in my class of new grads who were already working for UCH in this capacity before applying, and it is my sense that it gave them a real leg up.) Best of luck!

Hey there - I've had similar thoughts... I'm graduating in May, I'm 32, and my husband is 43. 2nd degree, 2nd career, yada yada yada, and we're ready for babies. I have been thinking a lot about where to work (short v. long commute, big teaching hospital 40 miles away v. small community hospital 10 minutes away), and how important it is to get experience under my belt before we get started on the parenting journey. I had a great conversation last week with our director of clinical placements. She told me that it was about priorities - lifestyle, acuity of patients, working environment, etc. The thing she said that resonated with me most was that the first few years of my career could be very influential in what came next. In other words, if I spend a couple of years getting great experience, seeing acute patients, learning everything I can learn, and overall becoming as competent as I can, then after that time, I could choose to go more part time. So, I'm now thinking that I'll spend the next year or two gaining experience and competence, try to get pregnant in the middle of that, and see how it goes. I just really appreciated her insight that I could put my time in now and reap the benefits with a more part time status down the line, if that's what my husband and I choose to do. It may mean that we won't have to find child care at all, and I love that. Best of luck. This is a really tough dilemma, and there are so many of us who are going through it.

I loved my OB rotation at University. It's different for everyone, I suppose. Yes, it's a teaching hospital, but that's great if you work there. I think UCH has a new grad program that starts in October. I'm pretty sure they want you to have taken the NCLEX by the time the summer program starts on July 27. Good luck!

I believe it was 3 days a week for the first semester. No clinicals the first semester; they front-load you academically. There's a 2 day long term care experience at the very end.

Hey there - you can take the DM straight to campus from Boulder (stops in Louisville, Brooomfield, Westminster), but it only runs 4 times in the morning and 4 times in the late afternoon/evening. It takes about an hour, give or take 15 minutes. Maybe by the time you start we'll have bus passes, too! Right now we can just buy discounted ticketbooks on campus for $2.90 each way. Most clinicals are in the Denver metro area. I was able to do Med-Surg I at St. Anthony North in south Westminster and will hopefully do Mental Health at Centennial Peaks in Louisville. Once you get to your Public Health and Senior Integrated Practicum, there is an opportunity to do those as "rural" placements. Boulder apparently qualifies for this - their definition of rural for clinical purposes is outside of Denver Metro. Otherwise, most of the clinicals are pretty far down, which is a little rough when you're coming from Boulder County (or Evergreen, or Golden, or Fort Collins, or Greeley, as some of my classmates do.) I also hope you get Sampson for Pharm and Patho. He's one of the most talented professors I've ever had (also my 2nd degree). Good luck!