ehlim412

Hello! I graduated with a BSN degree

Hello! I have posted a detailed story of how I passed NCLEX (https://allnurses.com/nclex-discussion-forum/adhd-student-passed-955845.html#post8245380) which might help. In summary, I felt that I didn't remember anything from nursing school by the time I graduated and seriously needed content refresher. I used Hurst review online, watched the videos at least two times per topic, and reviewed all the notes. They also have practice exams and I did all of them. The only other book I used really is LaCharity Prioritization book. I can't stress how great this book is. Good luck!

Hello everyone! First of all, I want to make sure I don't come across as someone full of herself :) I only started this post because I felt very alone and lost when I was going through the nursing journey even until recently. I received a lot of great tips and information before starting nursing school, during, after, and when I was studying for NCLEX. Therefore, I want to pay it back. If you have any questions on Stratford University (I went to Falls Church, graduated this June 2014), how to survive nursing school, how to pass NCLEX (took it end of October, 2014), or how to find a job in Northern Virginia (got hired at both places I interviewed), feel free to ask me any questions. I start my new job next week, so I have some time to help you guys out. Thanks :)

Hi kbdancer30! Sorry for my late reply. I am very happy to hear another success story from someone like me! I felt so alone in nursing school because everyone seemed to be able to sit down and read 100 pages of boring textbook without any problem. I was sitting there staring at everyone and fidgeting the entire class. Congratulations and thank you for telling me!! It makes me happy to know I am not the only one with problems and it's great to hear that you succeeded!!!

Hi, Andi777. Sorry for my late reply. I've been relaxing too much since I took the NCLEX. I was also diagnosed with ADHD when I started nursing school. Before nursing school, I got A's in everything and barely studied (I bet you were like this too.. people with ADHD are naturally smart I hear. At least I tell myself this to feel better, haha). But when I was in nursing school, I was really struggling because every assignment dealt with sooooo much reading and focus which I didn't have. Thank god I went to see a psychiatrist because I wouldn't have passed nursing school without meds to be honest. I've studied economics before at a prestigious institution and did well without Adderall. Now nursing, on the other hand, was killing me and made me depressed every day. Believe me, I did it and so can you!! I hope to hear good news from you. Please update me in the future! We gotta support each other!

You guys were all incredibly helpful while I was studying for NCLEX. So I thought I would pay back by sharing my experience. I graduated in June and I was overseas because of my grandmother's death. Finally came back in August and grieved for a month. In September, I finally decided to pull myself out of depression because my grandma would want me to pass NCLEX asap. OK now, I am totally ADHD. I can't handle reading long material. I do take prescribed Adderall, which helps a lot, but I have still only been able to focus at about maybe 75% capacity compared to my normal classmates with meds. I am neither an A student nor a diligent worker. Needless to say, I was freaking out about NCLEX from day one of studying. Sooooo the first thing I did was purchasing HURST. I liked that I just had to watch videos and fill in the blanks. After completing maybe half a book, I realized I wasn't learning anything. So I went back, watched the videos again, and paused frequently to say the concepts out loud. For example, if the topic was on pancreatitis, I would pause the video and say what it is, what symptoms are, what treatment is, all out loud to my dogs. I didn't move on with any subjects until I could say it out loud decently. Then I did the HURST question banks online. You can take it total 6 times. I was first getting 60's out of 125. After doing the "speak out loud" method as mentioned above, I was able to score 86/125. That was my best score on HURST online questions. I didn't know if that was good enough or what, but apparently my friend passed NCLEX when her best HURST review scores were in 70's. That was a relief. Next, I did the LaCharity PDA book, thanks to all of your recommendations. What I liked about this book was that each chapter only had about 20-30 questions, which is perfect amount for my fidgety self. I actually used the code from the book and did the questions online because for some reason, I can concentrate better when I am clicking on stuff. I did every chapter and it significantly helped me A LOT to understand which patient to see first (I used to be horrible at this). I highly recommend this as well. I also purchased the NCSBN 3 week subscription and only did the test banks at the end. The actual material is soooo long and I couldn't sit through all of that. So I just did the test bank. I did all of them. I studied total about a month for maybe 4-5 hours each. I couldn't sit longer than that. What did NOT work for me: What did NOT help me were the study note that is going around on this forum. While I thank the students who put the information together and it can be undoubtedly useful for others, it did not help me. Random information in bullet points and acronyms do not make sense to me because I am the kind of person who has to see the whole picture to understand (which is why Hurst was so helpful to me). I read about five pages and gave up. Another thing that did NOT help me was the $50 study guide from pass nclex Youtube. It's another study guide with bullet points and man, I could not focus reading that. I read the first page and gave up. Test day (yesterday, 10/23): As mentioned above, I take Adderall for my ADHD. It causes some vasoconstriction. You have to get your palms scanned at Pearson center for the testing. It was soooooooo difficult getting my palms scanned because my hands were cold. I had to rub my hands together for like five minutes straight to FINALLY get them read. I got 20 SATA and 2 order. I was very worried about SATA when I was studying for NCLEX. But you know what, it's really not that bad. Pretty much all of them seemed straight forward after doing my study routine. Putting things in order is also not that bad. They were rather straightforward procedures. Next day (today): Today I called Virginia board of nursing automated service. It said my name and REGISTERED NURSE. Yay! I feel that I was well prepared for NCLEX. Hurst review is awesome, but you really have to PAUSE and SAY CONCEPTS OUT LOUD. Don't just memorize it, actually understand why it is happening. Why are the symptoms the way they are? Which system is affected? You know, those kinds of questions. OK, I hope I helped you guys as you helped me. I really wish you all pass and please, don't freak out so much. If you prepare yourself and understand concepts, it is surprisingly not that bad. And this is coming from a mediocre student.

Everyone, thank you so much for your reply. I appreciate your help.

I am really sorry if this topic has been discussed before but all of a sudden with life circumstances, I am thinking about moving to Pittsburgh when I am done with school in a few months. Currently, I am in Northern Virginia (where the starting salary is $26, but with way high living cost and I just need to get outta here) and pursuing an Associate's degree in nursing. When I am done with the school and pass NCLEX-RN, I am thinking about moving to Pittsburgh. I have a few questions 1) What is the hiring status like in Pittsburgh? Do you think I could get a job at one of the hospitals as a new grad with only an associate degree from some other state? 2) What is the starting salary for entry level RN's in Pittsburgh? I am not trying to make big money or anything at all but I just want to know what it's like there since I don't know much about the city. I thought I'd come here to ask the questions since everyone on allnurses seem to be very helpful. Thanks for reading my questions and I apologize again if this has been discussed.

I am a nursing student working on BSN right now. I first got my hands on anesthesia when I was working at an animal hospital and we did multiple neuter/spay surgeries a day. I was in charge of calculating and administering anesthesia (with veterinarian present at all times). That's when I thought it'd be interesting to do it as a permanent career and to do in on people instead of dogs and cats. I obviously don't know what it's like to do it on human but I feel like I'd enjoy the career a lot. My concern is that I don't enjoy chemistry too much. I have taken general and some organic chem. I got decent grades but I am not excellent at it or even enjoy it too much. On the other hand, I am very good at math and calculating drugs. I wonder if my "unenthusiastic" view on chemistry is definitely going to hinder my journey to become a CRNA. Are the courses during CRNA school intensively chemistry oriented? If I can get through it during school (even if I don't enjoy it too much), do you think I'd be ok during the actual practice? It is something I definitely want to pursue but I also don't want to do something I potentially might not enjoy. Thanks a lot for reading

Hello, First of all, if you are reading this and you are also a NOVA graduate, I have much appreciation for you. I am only in my first semester and it's only been 4 weeks, yet I am feeling so pessimistic about the future. The readings are extensive, lab skill tests cause me much anxiety, listening to online lectures suck and I don't enjoy my in person lectures. Believe me, I do definitely want to be a nurse but I am having that whole overwhelmed thing going on. My first exam is on Monday and I don't even know how to even prepare for this because we just have so much stuff to read, download, listen.... I just wanted to hear from some recent NOVA graduates in practice or even second year NOVA nursing students. It'd be much MUCH appreciated if you could share some advices about surviving the program, test taking strategies, HOW and WHAT to study, anything about clinicals, any interesting stories, whatever. Anything will help me be encouraged a bit. Thanks a lot for taking the time to read my depressing post!!

hey, congratulations! I actually have some questions to ask you also so I am going to send you a message. I hope you won't mind. Thanks

Hi, I don't know if the response is too late but I go to Trinity right now (pre-nursing) and I'm sure you will get in for Fall as long as you have completed all the pre-req's by Fall. But it is important to go talk to a counselor ASAP and get everything done and finished during summer semester before fall starts. If you let them know, they let you take classes at community college and transfer over so you can save money. They try to get you in as long as you follow the guideline. I transferred over here as well but realized I didn't take everything for nursing so that's what I'm doing this Spring 2010 semester. Hoping to get in also in Fall. I like that Trinity does clinicals at major DC hospitals. Oh, don't forget to take the TEAS also. Don't get your hopes up about George Mason as they've become extremely particular about selecting students. They prefer to get their students in and it's become almost impossible to transfer there from another school. Marymount is OK. I've applied there before but their admissions office is just terrible. I turned everything in on time yet they messed something up and I was not accepted. I'm not too sure about Howard and Catholic but I am also thinking about applying to Catholic for Fall just in case. Also, there's Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, MD. They have a great nursing program. I went to their orientation, signed up for classes and was gonna go there but ended up liking Trinity's DC environment better. But check this school out also. Let me know if you have any questions about Trinity. It was impossible for me to find any information about it before I started going, so I'd like to help you out if you want to know anything about it.

dear rayofsunshine, thanks for your reply. I'm glad to hear it's a good school. dear alex, to which one are you transferring to? washington adventist or trinity? and which school are you coming from? I'm from northern virginia community college. Can't wait to go to a 4 year school!

I got accepted from both Washington Adventist (formerly known as Columbia Union) and Trinity Washington University. Not focusing on financial issues, which one would you rather go to and why? I see a lot of pros about Washington Adventist, especially the fact that their nursing program has been around for longer, but the fact that Trinity is in DC is kind of attractive for me (...bad reason). Also, the school seems to be more known to other colleges and it's been around longer (with famous alumni).I have a lot more pros and cons about each school in mind but I would like to hear about other people's opinions. I live in between the schools so distance is also not an issue. Please let me know your thoughts. Thanks a lot!!

Hi everyone, I finished most of my pre requisites at a community college and I applied as a Spring transfer student to WAU (former name: Columbia Union). I honestly don't know much about the school and there isn't much information online. I was wondering if anyone knows about the school and if the nursing program is 1) worth the money 2) if the instructors are passionate and helpful 3) general experiences with the school. They will let me know whether I am accepted or not next week so I'm a bit nervous...Thanks for reading!!