melj0505

you're never going to feel like you're 100% ready to take the test. i didn't use kaplan to study for my nclex at all. i didn't have $$ to pay for an expensive review course. i bought a couple of reviews books on amazon for cheap :) i used the saunders compr. review for nclex, the lacharity book you mentioned, and a lippincott review book. as soon as i received my ATT, i went online and signed up for the first available date to test. personally, i just wanted to get it over. no point in driving myself nuts! oh and i passed on the first try :) good luck!

from my experience, yes, you will still be doing baths, linen changes, etc. as an RN. as others posted ahead of me, you may not always have a CNA working on the floor. so guess who has to do the bedpans for your patients? you! i think it's important you to realize that tasks such as bed baths, etc. are taught in nursing fundamentals 101 (or whatever your school calls it) because they are the foundation of your nursing practice! think about it..giving a pt a bath helps you perform a thorough skin assessment (any pressure sores? breakdown? bruising? how does that wound dressing look?). turning a pt. in bed can give you a chance to listen to their lungs (are they clear? is he taking full breaths?). assisting w/ toileting can give you an understanding of the pt's elimination patterns (is he constipated? when was his last BM? does he need some colace? what do his stools look like?). sometimes we only have 1 CNA on our floor. our floor holds 30 pts. so if we have a full house, i try to help out our CNA w/ doing any of the cares for my patients myself. the other day, i had 5 patients on my load, 1 was total and 1 was partial assist. the other 3 were self care. of course i did those 2 cares myself bc i knew my CNA was busy with 25 other pts! i think it's important to take care of your CNAs and help them out whenever you can..b/c one day you'll need them to return the favor :) don't become that nurse who think she's above helping a pt off the bedpan! you don't want to give yourself that kind of rep!

i couldn't afford kaplan (or any other review course that costs hundreds of dollars) either. i studied on my own and passed the first try. trust yourself!! i bought a couple of review books on half.com and amazon.com. all of them looked brand new when i got them in the mail but cost much less than buying them at places like barnes&nobles. not saying there's anything wrong w/ buying from bookstores like that but when you're tight on money like me you have to go the cheaper route :) anywho..try saunders comprehensive nclex review book. it's big and blue and that thing is godsent. seriously. i also used the prioritization book by lacharity and a lippincott review book. and look through the thread "random fact throwing." i tried to read a few posts on that thread every day before taking nclex. i really think that helped me pass bc the posts(most of them) are simple sentences that stick in your head on various topics. good luck.

I was distraught over whether to take an NCLEX review course or not after I graduated. Two weeks before my graduation, my school gave us a 3 day review course by a company called ERI. Most people haven't heard of them. The review was okay..I didn't feel it helped much but they did give us a useful book that help guide my studying this summer. Anywho..I decided to NOT take Kaplan or Hurst or any review courses. I didn't have hundreds of dollars to spend and one of my professors who knew me well told me that I would be fine without it. She told me I always did well on tests so I would be fine (even though in the back on my head I knew that plenty of people do well in school like me but thenhave trouble passing NCLEX so it was hard to trust her words!!) I made up my own study plan that worked for me and used a couple of review books and passed NCLEX on the first try :) So basically in my rambling you may do just fine without a review course..don't take one just bc you feel like everyone else is.

i got 7-8 SATA. maybe a couple more. i hate them..85% of the time i'd get them wrong when i was doing practice questions. i think everyone hates them because if you don't check one of the answers then the whole answer is wrong! grrr.

you are awesome!! congrats!!:nmbrn:

just found out with my unofficial results that i passed!!! i am no more worrying!! at like my earlier posts said the trick worked for me and wouldn't let me pay to reregister :)

I took my nclex this AM at 8 o'clock and the trick worked for me around 1 in the afternoon. I know how you feel with feeling like you got the easy questions wrong. When I got home I looked up everything I could remember and it seemed like I got the harder questions right and the easier ones wrong. Weird. I got 7-8 SATA, NO MATH (grr my strong point), one drag and drop 'put procedure in order' question, and quick a few peds and pysch questions!! I was surprised because everyone I talked to told me they got hardly any peds. Computer shut off at 75 questions. Good luck everyone I know how stressed everyone is! :heartbeat

seems like we both have gotten good news today. i don't think i've ever been more stressed in my life before today. i have tried the trick a few times today and kept getting the popup to contact the state board. i'm still anxious to get my quick results on wednesday. but at least the trick helped take the edge off! hope you're holding tight down there in georgia (even though the trick worked for you so you're probably a little more relaxed compared to how we were this AM). do you guys get quick results in your state?

finally says 'delivery successful' on my pearsonvue account. i tried to reregister and the gray box came up saying to contact my state board or whatever & wouldn't let me go to the payment page. i hope this trick is right for me!

I took them in Pennsylvania ay 8am. I was out by 9am. I keep checking pearsonvue every 5 minutes waiting to see "delivery successful" i think i'm more nervous now with the waiting than i was before i took the stupid test!!:uhoh21:

thanks for the reply. i took mine at 8am and it still says 'ready for delivery.' seems like everyone else's said 'delivery successful' immediately after they took the exam..except mine!

Alright so I'm freaking out here. I just took the Boards this AM for my RN license. I got 75 questions..walked out of there feeling like crap..now I feel like I'm going to throw up because I don't know what to think! When I log in, my recent appointment history states the time and place I took the exam and my status is "ready for delivery"(I don't really know what that means?!). I tried the trick and it didn't let me go to the credit card page. I was on the page that has you fill out your school information, what city your school is in, etc. and when I clicked 'next' this is what came up in a gray box "The candidate currently has an open registration for this exam. A new registration can not be created at this time." Like I said, it wouldn't let me go further to the payment page. However, it didn't say anything about "contacting my state board" like most other users on here have said. Can someone please help me out. My stomach won't stop turning!!

hehhehe:lol2:

I just graduated in May '09 with my BSN. Here's some tidbits that helped me survive nursing school.. Invest in a medical dictionary and a drug guide book. I probably wouldn't have survived school without those two resources! I have Taber's medical dictionary and Mosby's drug guide for nurses. Get about 30-40 index cards and write important lab values. WBC, RBC, Platelet count, BUN, H&H, INR, PT, PTT, ABG values, etc. You will always need to know these values so it's good to MEMORIZE them now! Take care of yourself. Drink lots of water. Get plenty of sleep (don't be a night owl like me!). Exercise..I do power yoga a few times a week. It helped/still helps me destress, stay fit, and clear my mind. It's addicting! I go running a lot too, which helped me in particularly in nursing school to burn off steam when I was annoyed at clinical instructors :angryfire Oh and it's never too early to start doing nclex review questions! Invest(if you have the $) in a couple of nclex review books so you can do lots of review questions! Good luck and enjoy the ride:smilecoffeecup:

My best friend works as an activities aide in nursing home. Here's some of the stuff she does with her residents during her evening program.. - arts&crafts (painting, etc.) - movie nights (she tries to pick favorite movies from their generation that were popular when they were younger) - bingo - 'themed' nights (a popular one they have is happy hour..the residents have a party with drinks but they're nonalcoholic..like virgin margaritas and odouls nonalcoholic beer) - trivia (war time, europe history, american history, canadian history, sports, music, movies. the lists are endless!) - card games - discussion group (the residents in her LTC really like this one..everyone sits together and she brings up a topic..usually it's something in current events. they really like this bc it makes the residents still feel like people and feel connected to the world) Once a month they celebrate all the birthdays of the residents whose birthday is that month. So for instance on April 21st, they may celebrate all residents' birthdays that fall in the month of April. During activities, she'll play music that they would like to listen to..the stuff they listened to in their younger years. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, etc. She burns a CD @ home and brings it into work. Or you could make a playlist for your ipod and connect it to a ihome(which acts as a stereo for the ipod so music is heard t/o the room).

So of course I'm bitter that this horrible economy exists right around the time I'm graduating from nursing school. I will be graduating in May with my BSN and I'm looking for a new grad job in the Philly area, and possibly the surrounding suburbs. I want to work in the city but I'm willing to travel a little bit to the surrounding area if need be (I have to take what I can get these days!). I've applied to numerous hospitals and have heard next to nothing. I've had one interview so far. But that hospital I interviewed at started a hiring freeze right around the time I was interviewed (go figure!) so I obviously won't be getting a job there anytime soon. I have another interview in 2 weeks at a different hospital in Philly and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I was wondering if anyone knows for sure of hospitals/nursing homes/any place that hires GNs in the area that actually are hiring new grads. Or if anyone can tell me places that ARE NOT on a hiring freeze so I know not to waste my time looking at a certain hospital. I love how recruiters try to beat around the bush about saying whether or not the hospital is on a freeze or not..so irritating :banghead:I know CHOP's website as well as Main Line Health and TempleU hospital websites have positions for new grads and I've applied to all of them already. I'm really worrying. I'm going to have to start to pay my loans back soon after graduation and my per diem nursing aide salary ain't gonna cut it! What the heck do I have to do? Stalk the human resources department of every hospital? I'm a dean's list student with a 3.56 GPA and it boggles my mind that it's this hard to find a flippin job. And it looks like I'm going to be jobless for awhile. The economy sucks. Any advice? I'm pretty desperate..

ah, nursing school. that's how it goes. you study your a#@ off, get up at the crack of dawn for clinicals, and do countless care plans. you're always the friend who can't go out at night "sorry guys, i have to study." i study 3-4 hours on most nights of the week and i'm pulling a B i think. we've all been there. you know that you work hard, that's all that matters. and an 89.5 is pretty darn good if you ask me:yeah:

i used to practice on oranges and apples when i was practing by myself. buy your wife some fruit. in our lab we had those fake arms/cushion things to practice on as well.

Started my prereq's at a CC in the fall '05 when I was 18. Officially started NS at a 4 year university in the fall of '06 when I was 19. I'm 21 now.. And I will be 22 in May when I graduate with my BSN!

i'm really bummed about the job situation new grads are having with this freakin' economy. all through nursing school, i thought i'd have zero problems getting a job because of the 'nursing shortage'. yeah right..that's down the tubes. i graduate in may with my bsn and have applied to numerous hospitals with only hearing back from 2. i've had one interview with one hospital..that was about 3 weeks ago. to my knowledge they are not going to be hiring any new grads now. i have an interview in 2 weeks with another hospital, i'm hoping it goes well! this really sucks. i'm a good student with a 3.56 gpa, i'll be graduating with my bsn, and i'm a nursing honor society member in my school's sigma theta tau chapter. and i've been working as a nurse's aide per diem for almost 2 years at a small community hospital. still, none of those factors are helping me so i'm in the same boat as you. i only have had one interview though so far. and i was the same as you..acted and dressed professional, etc. i arrived 20 minutes early and traveled through a bad winter snowstorm that hit PA a few weeks back..all for nothing! i guess we should just keep our heads up and take it one day at a time..even though i'm kind of sick of hearing people tell me that sometimes!

you wonder what it would be like to have an easy major in college..

done..good luck!

I usually work 3-11. I 'float' in my hospital..so depending on which floor I am assigned to the shift may be different..the telemetry floor from the neuro floor, ER differs TCU..etc etc. from It also depends how staffing is..I've been put on a 25-bed telemetry unit as the only aide on two occasions Usually on a decent day..my patient load is anywhere from 7-15. 3-4pm First set of vitals on all pts.. Again, depending on the # of patients, I may get this done before 4 pm. 4-430 Answer call lights and make sure everyone has fresh water. Take any lab samples (urine, stool, etc) down to lab. 430-5 Find out from nurses which pts. need accuchecks (blood sugar checks) done. Do accuchecks on those patients. 5-6 Dinner. Make sure everyone got their tray who is supposed to. Set up those who need assistance (cutting their meat, opening their carton of millk, etc.). Feed the pts. who need complete assistance. And usually I have to run down to the cafeteria at least once or twice during this time bc dietary likes to bring the wrong trays to the pts. or bring food that a pt. didn't even order 6-7 Answer call lights. Check incont. pts and clean them up as needed. Reposition, turn, and pull up pts. in bed. Assist pts. to bathroom for toileting as needed. Restock linen cart. 7 Usually when I take my break :) 730/745-830/845 Take second set of vitals on all pts. 845-9 Do accuchecks on pts. again 9-11 Empty foleys. Check incont. pts. and clean them as needed. Turn and pullup pts. in bed. Get pts. who are OOB in chair back into bed for the night. Assist ambulatory pts. to bathroom as needed for toileting and PM care. Restock linen cart. Make sure everyone has blankets. Take any lab specimens down to lab. Empty linen hampers. See if nurses needed me to do anything else That's just a general run-down. Things always come up..so the timing is never set in stone!

I feel this way sometimes. I'm in my last semester of nursing school (graduation in May..finally!!) and right now I have 3 nursing courses and 1 non-nursing course which is a 1 literature class. I have to read a lot of stories for this class and I feel like it precious takes time away from my nursing studies. But it's one of the general requirements for the BSN program and I need to take it in order to graduate Anyway my advice is that yes, you need to put aside time to do the work/studying for this class (if you get a good grade in the class it'll help your GPA in the long run!). Do what the work you need in order to receive decent grades in the non-nursing courses and spend the rest of your time on your nursing class. I find with my Lit class that the work is fairly easy compared to my nursing courses..all we do is read stories and then discuss them in class. If only my nursing courses were that easy...:uhoh21: