mrsshifflette09

I took it yesterday and failed by ONE point. I was SOOOO ******, but I decided that I am going to retake it. I hope I can pass this time. I want to get my CNIII and my $1000 bonus for passing the test!! We can do this!

I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism in my second semester of nursing school. I was doing really bad in class prior to my dx, and I was sleeping all the time, couldn't remember a thing, and I gained at least 20 lbs. After I got on my meds and started feeling better, all my school work started to fall into place. Thankfully, the dose they put me on in nursing school was the right one for me. It wasn't until I graduated that I started feeling crappy again, and they had to up my doses. I'm up to 150mcg now, and hopefully I will keep feeling good!!! Best of luck to you, and make sure you take your medication correctly!!!

I try to do 1-2 shifts per pay period as well, only because my husband is in school and I am the sole income. We have plenty of overtime shifts, but I don't judge people who dont do them, I just really need them! So the more openings, the better it is for me!!!

On the floor that I work on, we do a full head to toe Neuro assessment every 2 or 4 hours, depending on the stability of the patient. We do one full head to toe assessment each shift. I don't always feel that it is necessary to do a full head to toe assessment on every patient, but I just do it anyway. It takes less than 15 minutes and I only have 3-4 patients at a time so its not too bad.

I think that since you know how you feel it should make it easier for you to be a nurse if you want to be. I feel like you would be a good fit for the SICU or the OR. You would have less families and awake patients to deal with and you could do your job like you want to and go home. I like to meet people, but I also LOVE challenging situations, so I am working in a Neurosurgery stepdown unit, where we take care of 3 post op crani patients or post aneurysm patients. I get to talk to people and families and that is what I like to do. I wouldn't be a good fit for the ICU because I like to talk to my patients and get to know them, and thats kind of hard to do when they are sedated... lol. Good luck to you, and I think you will be a great nurse, even if it means that you end up in Nursing research or legal nursing.

Oh and one more, I am glad that you had time on your night shift to look through my charting and medications to try to find the slightest mistake to call me out on. Meanwhile, I am in our patients room first thing in the morning cleaning up poop that has been stuck on his butt and leg for God only knows how long! Stop worrying about my work and DO YOUR OWN!!!

"No, you don't ALWAYS get the crappy assignment. I don't think you'd be happy with ANY assignment." My ABSOLUTE favorite comment!!! It drives me NUTS when the same nurses always come in complaining about their assignment EVERY day. Seriously? Is everyday that you work the worst day of your life? Why don't you just stop complaining, do your job, and politely request to the charge nurse for a different assignment for the next day. =) I feel SO much better.

I also work on a Neurosurg floor and we are very hesitant to give anything that may give a person sedative side effects if they have any type of brain injury. You were thinking right to not give the patient any Benadryl, because you need to keep a good eye on his neuro status, and neuro changes can be very subtle, and it may be hard to differentiate a neuro change from Benadryl side effects.

I wish I had advice for you too. My mom has type 1 diabetes and she always wanted to be a nurse. She was diagnosed at 12 years old. She was afraid to go to nursing school and become a nurse because of her fears of her disease. I am interested to hear what other nurses do and how they handle their type 1 diabetes. I am trying to convince my mom to go back to school, she is only 53 so I think she can do it!!!

I would study one of the two days before, and relax the others. I studied until my husband and I got to the hotel we were staying at in the town where I was taking the NCLEX, then I stopped and relaxed, went out to dinner, and had a drink before bed. Passed with 75 questions!

Call 919-684-8111 and ask to speak with someone on Nurse Recruitment, NOT HR. You won't need to talk to anyone in HR until you get a job. That number is the main number for the hospital. And it won't make you sound bossy, it will show your dedication. Duke is a great place to work, the nurses are openly appreciated and the scheduling is very flexible!! Keep my updated!

I had this issue at first too. I applied to Duke, WakeMed and Rex, and then I called Nurse Recruitment often to see if I had any chances for an interview. I got really lucky, and I got an interview at Duke after searching for a few weeks, and I got the first job I interviewed for. Nurse Recruitment is there to help you, so be sure and call them!!!

yeah this is going to happen. The best advice I can give, and I don't mean this in any type of rude way, is to just get over it. Laugh about it with your colleagues, and move on. I have a friend that I work with that is very hard headed, but she is a stellar nurse, but she often butts heads with her patients. She gets fired probably once a month. We also have a few frequent fliers who tend to fire nurses. One in particular has fired everyone but me and just a few more nurses. On some days, I am tempted to do things that she will fire me for, but it hasn't happened yet =(. My point is, don't let it get to you. Just move on from it and continue to give care to the rest of your patients!

Haha I love this thread!! I love Lisa Frank notebooks and things!! They keep you in a good mood! I am an RN now and I work on a Neuro Floor, and I have 2 lisa frank stickers on my name badge. I don't think I will ever grow out of it!!

I got one the other day: "Can we get some lemon sherbert?" Sure thing, to go along with your ribeye and loaded baked potato....

I'm sorry.....but that is just plain rude. I work at Duke along with a ton of great nurses. We work there because we like our jobs, and I am pretty sure that patients come to Duke for the world class care. Can't say the same for UNC or Rex...

Peds Urology MD, Dr Weener... different spelling, but I'm sure the kids get a kick out of it!! First time I met him, I was in the elevator with about 10 other adults and all of us were snickering like 5 year olds, then burst out laughing when he got off the elevator...really mature, huh? haha

I work on a neurosurg floor, and I very rarely ever have an issue with getting a break. Once I didn't eat until 4 pm, and my charge nurse was really mad at me....made me go at noon the next day lol. I feel like you can't perform excellent care for your patients if you aren't taking care of yourself.

Another reason is that you don't want your patient to try to get up out of bed on their own and fall instead of calling you because they didn't want to "bother" you. That's the main reason I never tell a patient that I am busy, because it will usually result in a fall.

I never sign off on my meds until the patient has actually taken it. The patient has every right to refuse the med so I just wait till they have done it. I always put a line through the X on the sheet so I know that I actually have the med with me, and so I can keep up with it, but I just don't think it looks right legally for you to sign off on it and then circle it saying they didn't take it. Just my opinion. But you should always follow your instructors advice, they are the one grading you!!

I work at duke as a new grad and I make $20.32 starting out. Its a bit lower than NJ lol.

Personally, I thought nursing school was fine. I had no trouble with the classes, my then boyfriend is now my husband and I am working at one of the top hospitals in the country. On the other hand, I did not really like my classmates. I did not get into friendships with them. I stayed with my non-nursing friends and I had fun. I didn't sit around moping about grades. I studied my behind off and I just went to class and took the tests.... I did not have any experience with bad teachers, broken relationships or not having a life. It is what you make it out to be...

Of course you will have good and bad days. I had only few bad days in NS. I thought it was exciting and fun, because I knew this is what I am supposed to be doing. I had a very good support system. My then boyfriend, now husband, always helped me study. I got mostly B's and 1 C in NS and I am very proud of that. I didn't try to kill myself to get straight A's, I just did my best. I graduated on time and I have been a nurse for 5 months and I love it!!! However, its not much like what the books told me!! lol

Eat a good breakfast, like fruit yogurt and granola, eat lunch around 12, then have a snack around 3 or 4, like crackers or something. Normally I am to busy to follow my eating schedule, but this is what I try to do...lol. Always bring extra snacks just in case. It will fly by, 12 hour shifts reallt aren't that bad. In fact, I LOVE them!! Let us know how it goes!

I went swimming with my husband, took a long nap, checked into the hotel in the city my test was in, and went out to a nice dinner with my hubby. After dinner I went to the testing site so I would know where to go in the morning and I touched the door just like my teacher told me to do. I didn't open a book once and I am so glad I didn't. The morning of the exam I put on my comfy clothes, ate a healthy breakfast and took my test. Passed 1st try with 75 questions.