nmidas

Sorry for any misspellings I'm typing this on my iPhone while on break from class... And I have looked thru some of the posts concerning CVICU help and they too are kind of scattered- but not really the answers I'm looking for. bkgd: I am going thru internship right now in a cardio thoracic icu. I feel like an idiot despite making notecards, reading perioperatove cardio surgery/ care chapters, reviewing in class, preceptor instruction. I can't get this stuff down. My preceptor wants me to know this stuff yesterday, I'm in an internship with 40 people, so small groups are few and far between ... I hate complaining- I need to be even more proactive in learning this stuff. Does anyone have info on aides (short cuts are ok but I want to learn this stuff forward and backwards)- anyvideos DVDs, online tutoring, etc that I can do? I mean would something like CCRN review courses kind of narrow down and explain much of this stuff? I think I'm also having an info overload- so many diff sources of info that they dont necessarily agree- so I need something like an ICU drug book for dummies lol (which I think is truly paradoxical) simple at first then adds complexity. I really need help on this- if I can get drugs down it will give me extra confidence in my internship / practice. Thank you for any help you all can give!!!

Watch out CVICU sick people! I'll be making helping you feel better this January 5th! Just graduated and made it through the labrynth , hellfire , Texas Chainsaw Massacre , Jamestown , Cedar-Sinai :imbar that is Nursing school!

Could you explain that? the HESI is scored out of 1200 I thought? Did your school make the score you made on your HESI the equivalent percentage grade? I ask because i'm about to take it and its 20% of my grade, but no one can tell me how to configure the grades. 900 was passing for the midcurricular so I can only assume is the equivalent to a 78 (our C; 77.44 is failing). I technically need a 61 to pass the semester. SO just wondering.

LOL I got all you beat... I scored a 61,818 on my mid-curricular hesi. The Computer lab people, instructors and customer service were dumb-founded. I took the test because we had to as an afterhtought to our final (didn't count for anything). The instructors said I scored As for the poster above me- the HESI is an exam many schools use as some sort of cummulative final exam for RN students (maybe LPNs too?). It is NOT written like NCLEX if the mid curricular was any indication. It is not the same format as NCLEx where if you get a question right it gives you a harder question on the same subject. HESI is ajust a bunch of random questions. I liek what someone in another thread said- HESI and the schools tell you its a good indicator for passing the NCLEX... but no one knows if its a good indicator of if you will fail the NCLEX.

schools, Universities, large companies (like Google in California has a doctor and nurses on staff during business hours), phone nursing advice for insurance companies, law work for attorneys thats all i got

Nursingguy- I'm sorry- could you explain exactly what is paid at near $70k? You showed a link to a Clinical I nurse- whihc I too would assume is a GN/Brand new RN- but its a label I havent seen before. I would move out to UC Davis in a heart beat for $15/hour more! The apts in the Dallas area are approx the same as there (I looked up the UCDMC zip code and searched all apts w/ in 10 miles lol- plenty!) at about $750+ for a 1-2 bed room. Are these things ghetto? LOL I wanted to send in my application/CL for the heck of it!

Tif could you please answer her or in a PM the hospital (or system) and department you got $23? It has to have changed since you posted hopefully for better

JUST incase you didnt see the neuro section... scroll all the way to top of the page and click specialty- you can find most all the ICUs forums there

I'd like to first state- stay AWAY from the "For-profit" schools. The most famous is of course University of Phoenix. Having gone to NSNA (national student nurses assoc) meeting in Dallas (Grapevine) this past semester- I attending a graduate studies seminar and the first topic they discusses was stick to an online program that is associated with a Brick and Mortar school. The best ones of course are the online programs for schools with which you are familiar or that can be found on US News and World report. There are plenty to choose from - from schools with meeting in person once to twice a month to those who have no contact with humans outside of chat room. find whats important to you- since its all almost lecture material videos and books are how the newest GNs are coming out of some schools- soon with nursing instructor shortages the majority of nursing schools will be this way. So decide if going to school a few times a month is ok or you don't want it at all, decide if you need face to face with a human instructor once in a while or if doing it by chat room is ok. THen decide cost, and how much your hospital will pay of course, and ALSO see if any hospitals around you are doing a cohort type education. For instance many Dallas hospitals are in bed with UTArlington. They have a 14-16 month RN-BSN program for only $5K! AND because some hospitals pay up to $5K per year for education your tuition is paid for! Some even offer $1800 per semester- well 3 semesters would then be $5400 (in potential remimbursement) ALSO one particular hospital system in dallas- (has a college in waco) - I don't know the details of the others- has bargained with UTA to DROP a pre-req or two!! CHEMISTRY ANYONE? (yes they dropped its requirement) They just need their ADRN stuff, and 4 other courses like Tech writing, statistics, and basic core classes!

Just wanted to add to everyone's posting that the nursing shortage REALLY REALLY REALLY applies to pretty much any position in rural areas and in urban areas- the shortages REALLY (not only) effects the non specialty floors- Med-surg, Tele etc. We have a guy in our hospital (2nd if not largest hospital in Dallas) whose only job (I say only but thats short changing him)is to deal with students as its a teaching hospital. He used to be an instructor but now coordinates all of like 6-7 schools work with this hospital. He tells us how most managers actually lie to the nurses- not huge lies but they are trying to "sell" their floors to applicants so of course floors are better than they actually are. Nurse Recruiters are similar. He said youd find some that tell it to you straight but its their job to fill quotas etc (and he did point out its not just all about numbers). The competition (less severe shortage) is usually specialty floors. He also said that anyone in our class wanted to sign up for the general floors, like med-surg that there practically is a gauranteed position waiting for them- you could only completely screw up your interview (by sounding like you're a danger to the patients) to not get a job (provided grades were decent and nclex was pending). Last he said to make sure- no matter what in the interview- your most important question to the interviewers, "May I please have time either today or another scheduled time, before I have to make my decision, to speak privately, one-on-one with a nurse or nurses (of less than a years experience) on the floor I will be offered?" He said this so you can ask a previous-student nurse if all that was offered was true, how the preceptorship is going, and etc..

I do nt knwo of any who are ADRN to CRNA programs due to the necessity of a Bachelors... now the difference is SOME schools will take a Bachelors AND and RN - not just a BSN as prereqs. Texas has 3 CRNA programs 2 in Fort Worth and 1 in San Antonio- although I think the San Antonio is the Army training program. Continue to talk to any and all who you know though. Because they'll let you know their path and most CRNAs' paths are similar but different training.. IE all have some sort of critical care (could be high rate acute care ERs) but some are Nuero, some are CVICU, some are CCU etc... all adult care. Although I am sure there are exceptions. and once there is an exception - that could then become the rule

Could you explain a little of what goes on at night in CVICU? I've been on Tele floors and PCUs before and the nights are often reallly slow