Sharingan

Maybe, you should take a review class?

I think pharmacists have it easier than nurses. Nursing is stressful and physically demanding. Plus, you are exposed to more danger as a nurse as well.

Congratulations on your new job. I hope I'll get to experience the "getting hired on the spot" once I graduate. That would be so awesome!! Thank you for sharing your success story. It is nice to hear some good news especially during this economy.

Sorry to hear about your situation. Right now is just difficult to find work period. At my school, the May 09 graduated class is also having a tough time finding jobs. This is actually the first time in almost 70 years that graduated students did not get hired right away. In past (even last year), 90% of graduated students would have job offers even before they finished the program. I feel for those that graduate this year. I agree with others that you should relocate to another state. Don't worry about making less money right now. You could always pick up extra shifts and OTs. Some money is better than no money at all. Plus, after you gain some experience, you'd have a better chance of getting a job in CA. Good luck!!

I wouldn't take it if I were you.

Many graduated students from my school went right into ER. One is now a clinical instructor. I think it's doable. Of course, as a new grad, anything is going to be difficult no matter where you go. It's all about learning. If your heart is set on that, I'd say go for it. I had one professor say that new grads should do med/surg to get some experience (especially for taking care of multiple patients) before going into ER or ICU. The other one said that she believed you should go into ER or ICU right away if that's what you want to do. So, I think it really depends on the individuals. Do what makes you happy!!

Everyone is my class is so stressed out. It's just insane. We're in the second semester of an ADN program by the way. Med-surg is much harder than the fundamental stuff (it just couldn't compare!!). So many people failed the first 3 quizzes and some got disturbingly low scores (I'm talking about 45% here). :sad: We had a meeting with the dean and let me tell you, there was a lot of crying going on. It was just intense and depressing. I never thought it would get this difficult. As of now, half of my class is still not passing and we only have 1 quiz and 1 final left. Sigh, I'm stressed out just thinking about it.

I think the main factor (among many) for $$ is the year (and type) of experience you have.

LOL.....I've never heard of such number.....

Our theory professors were there during orientation and we met all of our clinical instructors second day of class. Though, I wouldn't assume that because they weren't there, they didn't commit to teaching or things like that.

Good luck everyone!! I'm also going back to school next week. It seems like ages since my last semester (hahaha).

Sorry to hear that. For us, we would first look at the MAR (to just get an idea about what meds will be given), then we'd go do vital signs/head-to-toe assessment. Then, we'd look up lab values and then prepare meds. We always have drug book with us all the time to look up meds that we're not familiar with. Plus, the instructor quizzes us about meds also.

Wow, that's really interesting. Did it look like just a regular member? I was just wondering cause no one noticed it until you got to the MRI, right?

I too consider C as a failing grade (sorry). Maybe, I am a competitive person/student, I don't know. I just try my very best and earn my A in the classes I take. I know my strengths and weaknesses. Anything that I don't know, I try to make sure that I get help or whatever before the exams.I believe everyone knows their own strengths/weaknesses and knows what they need to do to fix/improve those. I respectfully disagree with the "C=RN" mentality. I don't think it's good for our profession. Nurses should strive to be the best they can be and not settle down with just bare minimum. I am glad to know that some employers do take grades into consideration when hiring.

Normally, you should give the recommenders at least 2 weeks (very minimum) to compose LOR's. Are they aware that there is a deadline? If so, I'd say give them one more week.

Not at my school either. My very close friend just failed a class (74.87%). They told us that it wouldn't matter if you have 74.99%. That is not 75% and hence not a passing score!!

I think you can get most clinic jobs as a new grad

I think you should first do some research on nursing as a profession. From your post, it seemed to be that you had a very limited understanding of what nursing is. I'd suggest volunteering in a hospital and obeserve what nurses do on the floors.

It is very possible and I'm sure people are doing it (or have done it). Depending on your school, you might be able to squeeze in some Bio/Chem/Physics/Math classes during Summer. Basically, you need 2 classes of Bio (mostly just general basic ones), 2 classes of General (Inorganic) Chem, 2 classes of Organic Chem, 2 classes of Physics and at least 1 College-level Math (Calculus would be good). These are the minimum. So, with your BSN, I assume that they'll make you take social-science classes anyway. Thus, all you need to be concerned with is getting all the science prerequisites done. Staying 1 extra year is not a bad thing. Also, another very important thing is to study and do well on the MCAT. It's a big, big factor. You won't get anywhere without a good MCAT score. Beside these, I also agree with Bicster that you need to have a good reason for wanting to switch profession. Other than that, I'd say go for it. It's your life, do the best you can and be the best you can be. Good luck!!

At my school we have a 2-month break for Summer. I can't imagine going through the program without any break. I'd insane for sure!! So, for my Summer, I'm going overseas. I just want to relax and get away from the stress of nursing school.

We have 10 male students (out of 48 in the class) and there are only 2 gay men among us guys. They never try to hide it. Everyone knows and we all are cool with that. Nobody cares really. Both of them are really nice/good students. They are really popular with the girls by the way.

I completely agree with so many of you here. I hate... 1) 5 choices/question, choose the best answer or select all that apply!! 2) many long chapters you need to read (some of them are really unreasonably long) 3) having so many reading assignments per week (there's no time to catch up if you fall behind) 4) plans of care/concept maps (time-consuming) 5) some clinical instructors are not so great 6) incredibly long lectures (hard to stay awake especially when it's early morning) 7) some nurses/CNA's could be difficult to work with or not receptive to students (for whatever reasons) 8) show-off/ass-kissing/loud-mouthed students 9) the all-white uniform we are required to wear I'm just trying to get through it as quickly as I can (while getting good grades of course). Sometimes you just have to suck it up and try to get through it.

I would turn her in if I had a concrete evidence. It's not fair to other students and it's surely not fair to the future patients. We need to protect our profession. Cheating should never be tolerated in nursing. I think your professor would probably appreciate you letting him/her know (I know mine would).

I am in the same boat! We had 1 lecture for vital signs and 1 lecture for head-to-toe assessment and that was it. We got to practice only 2 times in the skill lab and now we are expected to be able to do it on the patients. Plus, we have to perform the physical assessment in front of an RN and get checked off by next week. Some of my classmates did the test two days ago and unfortunately they didn't pass. I am scheduled to do my physical assessment check off tomorrow and I am really nervous about it. We're not allowed to have the list with us, so we have to memorize every step. Some people didn't pass because they forgot or skipped some steps. I hope I won't forget anything when I do mine tomorrow. Also, today was our first clinical day and we were expected to perform the head-to-toe assessment on our patients on the floor. Most people really freaked out about that. I was one of them actually. I mean, it's our first day on the floor (first time meeting the patients) and we're supposed to go in and do a complete head-to-toe?!? That was a bit overwhelming. Plus, we only got 2.5 hours to get it done! This was during lunch time AND visiting hours!! So, needless to say, many of us didn't get to do all the steps. In fact, one girl actually cried in the hallway. She was overwhelmed. I don't blame her. I think they (the instructors) really expect a lot from us, to the point that I think they sometimes forget that we are 1st semester students. Sigh, I'm stressed out just to think about it.

Great story! I really admire you, OP. You did a great job and even helped your friend out. Thanks for sharing! I'll be starting my first clinical this Thurs. Hopefully, it won't be too bad.