amarobin

I think the areas with the lowest turnover rate have to do with how happy the nurses are on the unit and that has more to do with teamwork and morale than the particular area. Nursing is like any other job in the sense that you can be doing the thing you love the most but if you are in a negative environment with low morale and no support you are going to look for other options.

Wishing you the best of luck! Please keep us posted!

Great comments from three little birds. As a fairly new graduate (2008) who was in a residency program I would just say to add a little bit about what you bring to the program. Something like, I bring enthusiasm for the profession of nursing, the ability to work well with my colleagues and healthcare team and a love of learning that will continue in my career as an RN. You have emphasized very well what the program can bring to you, I think they like to see what you can bring, even if it is just a love for the profession. Do you have any outside experience that helps? Even customer service is valuable, you can say something about knowing that the patient comes first, many hospitals now emphasize "customer" (patient) satisfaction. If you have worked in another area with customers you can say you understand the importance of that. Good luck!!

I don't believe age will keep you from a wonderful career. I graduated from an ADN program in 2008 at 52. When you interview, emphasize you strengths, especially life experience. I was able to get an extern position while I was in school in the postpartum unit. I believe they hired me because I had children, had been through the birth process and could offer something to the patients that a 22 year old single woman with no childbirth experience could not. When I graduated I knew I wanted to work in pediatrics. Again, I emphasized my experience, raising children and working with children in my former job. I was hired as a new grad onto the pediatric floor and it was because of my age and experience. Most nurse managers are our age and so we immediately have a connection. Look your best on the interview, dress professionally (not scrubs) and don't be shy about talking about the wealth of life experience you bring to the job. As nurses we are teachers, counselors, advocates and caregivers. Almost anyone can learn the skills but not everyone can bring the compassion and care that we experienced older women can. The age of the average patient is getting older as we baby boomers age. Many people our age who are patients are happy to have a nurse who is in the same age group. There are lots of advantages to being older in nursing. Good luck!

Yes, just call a hospital and ask to speak to the charge nurse on the floor or unit where you want to shadow. I work at MMC and we often have people shadow, even high school students. Good luck.

A quick word of advice for anyone considering the Ethel Bauer or other programs besides MCC Nursing or ASU- check the Arizona State Board of Nursing website and look at the NCLEX passing rates for those schools! Since it all really boils down to passing the NCLEX you want to make sure you get the best education before you spend all that money.

I had about 10 SATA and had also heard that those are the "higher level" questions. It still made me nervous because I never get those right! I also had about 5 calculation questions and had heard that those are the "lower level" questions. So that made me nervous as well- after reading lots of posts here and talking to people I think the truth of the matter is that the formats are random and you get what you get. One more thing- if you are like 99% of the people who take the NCLEX you will feel like you failed and each minute that goes by while you are waiting for your results you will be convincing yourself more and more that you failed. Just hang in there, keep busy while you wait and I predict you will have great news!!! Good luck! Oh just saw that you are in the NICU- that's great. I start tomorrow on the acute Peds floor.

I agree- I also averaged 60-70% on my practice tests, did well on the HESI and passed the NCLEX with 75 questions. Keep up the daily practice, review the rationales on the questions you miss and relax the day before. You'll do fine. Remember you only need 52% to pass!! Good luck.

I agree with 1blessedrn, trust that you know the information for the most part. Then use the Saunders and Kaplan books for review. I went through and tried each test in the book without review. If I scored 70% or above I went to the next chapter. If I scored below I went through and reviewed the rationales for the missed questions and took notes to study later. I tried to do at least 50 questions per day over a period of 3 weeks and did the practice tests on the CD's in the book. One thing about the NCLEX, you have to have your critical thinking skills down because the answer is not always obvious but when you feel stumped you can pick it out fairly successfully by process of elimination. I had lots of SATA's (about 15) 5 math (one that I know was wrong but couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong). I felt pretty discouraged when I left because of all the SATA's but I passed and so will you. Have faith, take your time and read the questions carefully and don't be thrown when you think you don't know anything about the subject. Often the question doesn't require specific knowledge but rather the ability to choose the best answer. Good luck all!

What a great, inspiring story. I just took the NCLEX this morning. 10-15 SATA's and probably 5-6 calculations. It shut off at 75 questions. I felt ok when I left but just read a post saying if you have more than a couple calculations its a bad sign:o Hope not. Gotta keep busy until Friday. I'm going to make your post the last one I read until I get my results and stay positive!! Thanks!!:up: