Cranberrygirl

Thank you all for your advice (and concern!). You have given me wonderful suggestions and I plan to incorporate these suggestions in my daily work. I had no idea how difficult it is to work in LTC. Wish I had more time with the patients! But at least I am learning how vital it is to stay organized. Thanks again for your replies! Will keep you posted.

New to LTC. I have 40 patients and can’t seem to do all my med passes in time because of so many interruptions. All 40 patients have 8 o’clock meds; that leaves me a 2-hour window which is 3 minutes per patient. Plus, I have to take vitals and fingersticks. Inevitably when I see a patient to pass a med, there is an issue that needs to be addressed or the patient requires a treatment, nebs etc. That is slowing me down, and the constant but necessary interruptions, i.e. doctors and families, patients trying to escape, and the paperwork is NUTS. The GNA’s are awesome and take care of ADL’s. The nurses who are training me all insist that management expects too much, and they are correct. They all have ways to cut corners to get the work done, i.e. giving 2 o’clocks with the 8 am med pass or they just sign a treatment as completed when it is not. I see now how they get their work done on time! My manager says I need to speed up. Of course I never take a lunch and always get out late. In any case, I really need this job. I’ll take any advice on how to speed up while still remaining safe and legal.

To CLEP a class is a piece of cake. All you do is read the materials, take the test, and if you pass you get credit. I wish I had known about this before spending hours in classrooms and thousands of dollars on college classes that are not used directly in nursing. Do a Google search on the CLEP classes you will be taking. There is a lot of free study material out there. Good luck! :)

Could you send me a copy as well? Thank you! :)

Thank you all for your thoughtful replies and input. You have given me a lot to think about! :)

i have 2 job offers and could use some advice. job #1 is at a teaching hospital 2 hours from my house. job #2 is at a ltc/snf facility 10 minutes from my house. salaries are about the same. to tell you the truth, the 2-hour commute in bumper-to-bumper traffic is a killer. i'm worried after working 12-hour days that i won't be safe driving home. however, i want to consider the future. what i have read on the boards is that some hospital hiring managers don't consider ltc experience as valuable as working in a hospital. is this true? any advice is appreciated! :)

Congratulations! :)

Just using Kaplan worked for me. For me, too many resources just confused me! Do as many questions as you can and examine the rationales. Many of the questions on NCLEX followed the Kaplan Tree. Ask yourself why you answered a question right or wrong. Try not to overthink it. Good luck! :)

Congratulations!!! :yeah:

Hi Sasi! Great to hear you have an interview! I was one of many applicants who met in the True Auditorium. We had a brief interview with the nurse recruiters who are VERY nice. It was relaxed, no pressure other than the usual job interview anxiety! I suppose they were screening out people who were obviously not a good fit, but I am not sure. Then they will set you up with a face-to-face interview with the unit manager. My manager presented some patient cases and I had to tell her how I would use my nursing skills to solve the problems. All I can suggest is be positive, resourceful, and patient focused. I asked for a unit tour and was thrilled to get it. Total time there was about 2 or 3 hours. Depends on the time of day of your interview coming from Mont. Co. because Beltway traffic can be a nightmare. I allowed for extra time because I got lost, 29 has many stoplights, and the parking garage was quite full so I had to drive a bit to find a space. My parking was $8. Oh, and wear comfortable shoes, sounds silly but the walk from the garage to the auditorium is quite a hike. I believe you need to be licensed before the training begins, but I can't say for sure and it's best to talk to the recruiter. I passed NCLEX, and as soon as I get my license I am taking it to the DC Board in person for a DC license. May I suggest you schedule the moment you get your ATT? I scheduled as soon as I received the email and most of the test dates were full so I still had to wait 1 week. Of course, all of this is just my experience and yours may be different. Sending positive thoughts your way! :)

Med/Surg here. When you go for the interview, they will ask you what unit you want. If you have one you really want, tell them. There were a few different managers there that day. Looking around the room at all the applicants, I said to myself how can I be different than all these other people who are just as qualified. So I went in upbeat, positive, honest and tried to convey that I will work my heart out. Good luck to all! :)

Pearsonvue trick worked for me. Took the test on the 14th. After that, I kept getting the good pop-up. By the 16th in the a.m. my results were on the Board of Nursing website. The test cut off at 75. I had many SATA in a row, was about to pull out my hair. Thought for sure I had failed and was preparing to get back to the books until I saw these posts and tried the Pearsonvue trick. This forum actually does help alleviate some of the anxiety. :)

Hi guys, I had an interview last week. During the interview, I met the unit manager and she was AWESOME! I got a call this am and was offered the job. I am super excited to have a job and saying prayers for all other new grads to be so lucky. The only negative is the very long commute. Guess I'll have to get some books on CD. Anyone else starting in July, please email me!

Have you considered taking an entry level job, like Transporter, at this time? The reason I say this is because after Foundations (semester 1), you can apply with the State and get your CNA license without any classes.

Hi Joie, Here is a link that gives many opinions. Owings Mills is outside the city and has a train that goes straight to Hopkins (I took it for my clinicals at Hopkins and recall it was about a 30-minute ride). I hear the immediate area around Hopkins in undesirable but they are trying to revitalize it. I have been living in MD all my life and would never move to that area, but you may be more adventurous. Depends where you live, but I would say you need a car. Good luck! http://www.city-data.com/forum/baltimore/6862-working-johns-hopkins-hospital-where-live.html