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Not sure about NJ, but in NY, three days after the test I showed as active in the online system and had my license about two weeks after taking the test in my hand.

I took a job after graduating a few months ago on the 11-7 shift passing meds on 52 patients thru the night, chart on them, keep on eye on all of them, and then pass meds again at 6 am. I trained for one night - I quit the next day. I was afraid working there that I wouldn't be able to properly care for the patients, then staffing just wasn't there. And I was putting my license at risk. The next week I was offered a job at the hospital I am currently working it. I wouldn't do it as the other people have posted. I would keep looking.

One week in a classroom, and 12 weeks with a preceptor on a telemetry floor. 12 weeks seems to be pretty standard with the hospitals in this part of the country (western NY).

It would still involve some patient contact, but perhaps a position in a doctors office where u have contact, but it is a different environment may be better? My friend was hired right from school to an office as a teaching nurse in a cardiologist office teaching patients about their cardiac conditions and how to deal with them and change their lifestyles. She got this with no experience and loves it. She didn't have a experience that caused her to have predict, but she didn't like to hospital environment. Maybe take some time after graduation to focus less on school and more on what has affected u before going out and getting a job if u can. Good luck!

Also, would you be willing to branch out of Rochester some? I live in between Rochester and Buffalo, and was doing shadow interviews at Rochester as well, but wasn't offered a job there. I have recently been offered a job in the buffalo area, and if you are interested, I could pm you the website of the system that is willing to hire new grads up here. Good luck, all of the advice given above was excellent.

Try to be patient - from experience I know how tough that is. A few Fridays ago, I went into for two interviews to the same hospital systems, and the nurse managers got together and asked to make it a double interview at once. I was told by them, they wanted to the decisions to be made by the middle of the following week. I would have worked at either position, but really wanted the one on the telemetry floor. Being a new graduate, and having gone for a dozen interviews since march and not having any luck , I was trying not to get my hopes up. I didn't hear anything by the middle of the following week, and at the end of the week, got a "Thanks, but no thank you" email for one of the positions. I was a wreck all weekend, sure I didn't get the second position. By Tuesday, I had given up hope, and as I sat down for a hour long doctor appt, my phone rang, and it was them to offer me the tele position, though I couldn't answer it at the time. By the time I got home, and got my nerves in order to call them back, I was in shock. Long story short, they could still call and offer you the job, there is no telling what is holding it up. Take a deep breath, and give them some time on Tuesday and call them back that afternoon

First thing I did for the last semester was contact the nurse recruiters at the major hospitals in the area and see about when I should be applying for a position. They all told me to start about the middle of the semester, and one even had open interviews for current nurses or soon to be graduates about that time. I would also have someone look over your resume and cover letter. Even though career services is a great thing, I would also trying having someone close to you who knows you and is good at this stuff look it over and help you edit it. Make sure if you are in any clinicals where the nurse manager expresses an interest in you and your abilities, maybe see if there are any positions opening up. Even doing all of this, it may be awhile before you find a job. Took me five months from March until last week where I was offered a position. A relative who is a nurse manager in a different state told me that for every position that is open, they have about 100 applicants right now. So be aware of this when going into it, and try not to get discouraged at every turn. Getting into a facilty as an aide is a great idea, however as you are so close to graduating, they may be hesistant to hire you do to the fact that you will be leaving in a few months, and some hospitals require that you stay in your hired position for 6 months to a year before you can transfer, which is something else to be aware of. Good luck!!

I totally understand how you feel and what you are going through. I graduated in May, started applying in March, and was just offered a position last week after months of looking. The market is tough right now. Unfortunately, I would not be able to look at your resume, it is not something that I am good at. In my case, even though my career services had looked at it, I had my mom do it, because this is where she shines. She was able to personalize the resume and cover letter more than the career services because she knows me. My suggestion, find someone close to you who is good at this and my be willing to take the time to do this for you. Keep you head and the constently apply and look for work. Check online, the papers, hospitals websites, this may be something that takes some time. Good luck!

I know how you feel, scheduled my exam for about four weeks after I graduated, hoping that if I had passed already it would help with my job search. I was terrified, and walking into the office was a little intimidating. It didn't help that I was having allergy problems that day and couldn't even take in tissues. After having each palm scanned multiple times, as well as fingerprinted and locking all of my stuff in the provided locker, you met with someone else who sat you down at your desk and explained everything to you. I was so scared, but I had done so many practice exams, once the noise blocking headphones were on, it felt like I was doing practice tests again. Keep studying, make sure to ready the rationale when the question is answered, whether you go it right or wrong so that you fully understand why they consider that one answer correct. Know that how you feel right now is normal for anyone who has taken the nclex. I know its hard for those around you to understand unless you are surrounded by fellow potential RNs, but it really is normal. Make sure to take some time the day before to relax, watch your favorite show, go out for dessert with your best friend, do something to get your mind off the nclex before the next day. Good luck!!

The other posters are right. You aren't going to feel ready. I was in the same boat and was sure I wasn't going to pass. But I did on the first try with the 75 questions. I have been told the longer you wait after you graduate, the hard it can become. So if you have studied and practiced your "critical thinking" skills over the last few years, unless you are sure you will fail, you may want to try to take it. Understand that what you are feeling is normal and any of us that have taken that test have been there. Also, take the advice of the previous poster. Treat yourself to something special the day/night before and put down the books Good luck and can't wait to hear how you do.

I am enrolled in a 2 year program for my RN degree and am almost there - due to graduate in May. I am so excited to be almost done. But there is something going on that I can't get off my mind. In the last few weeks I have had clinical with another student that is going around bragging that she didn't have to follow the attendance policy and still passed all of the classes. She would switch off with a friend and they would sign each other in. Our campus has a very strict policy. You can miss up to three classes through the semester, anything more than that and they start taking 2 pts off your final average. The fact that she did this has made me upset, there are other students that have failed in the past due to this rule, even if the absenses were out of their control. I want to say something, but we are so close to the end I don't know if it matters. But I am worried she is going to be one of the nurses that either will make a mistake and hide it, which could cost someone their life, or not really know something because she missed too many classes. Should I say something, or just keep my mouth shut and remind myself that she is just hurting herself with these actions?

I would call and put out feelers, however, something to keep in mind is that they may not want to hire you due to the fact that you will be graduating shortly and then move on to be a nurse. I had that problem last semester. I will also be graduating this spring, and tired to get a job as a nursing assistant in the hospital system that I want to work in. I got a few calls, and even one interview. They did level with me and say that due to my graduating, they didn't want to hire me as a nursing assistant, train me to their liking, then have me moving to a different job less than a year later. Something else to think about...some places of employment require that you be in a certain position for so long before you can apply for another one. Look into it at least, see what they say, maybe even sit down and have an interview. You never know and you may get some good info from it, whether or not you get/take the job.

I am getting more worried everyday - the third semester of our two year program had me the most worried, we went from 56 to 30 people which I saw in earlier semesters, but now that it is over, our last semester has me scared! It will be 3.5 years for a 2 year degree with all of the required classes, and I am nervous, terrified, excited, scared, anxious, you name it. I was told by the some of the students that I talked to ahead of us that nursing IV was busy, but nice because it brought everything together and made it all make sense. I will be happy to be done, but at the same time, it will be weird because I have been a student for so long and wanted to be a nurse even longer. Glad to see I am not alone!

I'm in my 3rd semester of an ADN program and actually asked a nurse on our telemetry floor that question cause I have heard the same thing. She has been a nurse for 34 years and said that you actually use everything in one way or another, maybe not everyday, but all of this book knowledge plays into caring for your patient. And even in clinicals, I sometimes find myself mentally referred to what I have found in class and using that with the patient. So it does help though alot seems to be hands on.

We have to take a Pharm class the last semester of our nursing classes (it's a 2 yr program). I wish we were allowed to do it as a prerequisite class or in the first semester b/c it would help us with some of the background understanding. However, I have found that in clinicals they are trying to drill as many of the drugs into us as possible, and in theory some teachers require that you know certain drugs for tests. I'm hoping it will at least make sense!

I use Medical-Surgical Nursing, Reviews and Rationales. I bought it last semester, and have found it to come in handy multiple times. It is at Barnes and Nobles, and I have included a link here just so you can see it : http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Medical-Surgical-Nursing/Mary-Ann-Hogan/e/9780131789708/?itm=1&USRI=hogan%2cmedical-surgical+nursing Hope this helps!

Last fall when I started school, they would post the grades outside of our nursing lab, and we sometimes had to wait up to 2 weeks for the results. Last semester, they switched to an online reporting of grades, so they are usually posted within 3 days from the test. It takes a little longer sometimes, because there is also an evening class that takes the same test on the same day, and they aren't graded by scantron till the next day. It can take up to two weeks for a test review, because anyone that missed had to have taken it already.

I wouldn't work, I get where you are coming from, but I see the students that have to work and it is very tiring to them. Not only that, I am assuming you live in NY state because of the TAP mention, and I had a friend at 19 that was getting full TAP and PELL b/c she lived on her own with no help from her mom, but she had to prove it. Even if you work, unless you live on your own and show that you can support yourself, they may not consider you independent if you receive any aid at all from your parents, or reside with them. It would be horrible to get this fair and then not make it because you had to work, and then you are stuck in a low paying job. You may want to talk to the financial aid office and tell them what is going on.

http://www.hrsa.gov/loanscholarships/scholarships/Nursing/, also check what school you are going too for scholarships and apply, as well as if you work at a facility that is willing to pay for you to return to school

I had to deal with a classmate like this last semester. We were assigned to groups, and my groups had to answer questions and do a presentation on AIDS. They even gave us class time during skills testing to work on it. Well, there were five of us in the group, and only two of us bothered to meet to try to get it taken care of before Spring Break. Over the break, two of the others called us, they had answered their questions and done their sample care plans. The last person changed her number, didn't bother to tell us, and every chance we had to work on the presentation during skills testing, she would leave the room talking on her cell phone. We were in the same boat. We were told too bad, so sad when we said something. The instructors option was that there are always going to be people that don't do their job and pull their weight. So, when we met over Spring Break, we typed up everything and made our questions into a skit with four people. The first Tuesday after we came back, she came over worried when we volunteered to go first. What did we do (cause we had to let her do something)...We let her hold the poster in the corner of the room. It sucked that we got full points for the project, and because of that, she passed the class with no room to spare. I can understand your frustration b/c we had to do her work too. Just do what you have to do for your grade. Thats what matters to you. It really sinks, and this semester when we were able to make our own groups and she asked to be in mine, she was told no.

I still have another year in school, but med-surg rotations were okay, maternity was my favorite (though I eventually want to be a midwife), and rehab I didn't like at all, too slow for my taste when you only had one patient. After watching the nurses there, it would probably be busier if you were the nurse and not the student, and the nurses themselves were willing to teach and great to work with. Just give them all a shot and go from there!

Something my instructors pointed out last semester is that in the elderly it isn't unusual to find BP at 160/90 due to the veins and arteries being less elastic. I haven't seen it on a patient yet, but they said it wasn't strange. I agree with the previous person to know what the normal is, and if something looks abnormal with a patient, ask your clincial instructor. That's what they are there for.

An idea is to check different websites, which many others have mentioned. I'm not sure of the ones that have been mentioned, but I have used barnes and noble (they had 30% off all new textbooks last summer with free shipped!), ebay.com, half.com, and abebooks.com. Checked these out and compare before you buy, especially if you are able to pay out of pocket and don't have to go to the college bookstore. Another idea is using previous editions. The book by Brunner and Suddarth at the top I also own, and you can get it for $10 on some used websites if you are willing to get the 11th edition, which was just replaced less than a year ago. The only disadvantage is the page numbers don't perfectly match. But you do what you have to do.

Wow - after reading through 5 pages of posts (some with very good information), I had to go back and read the first post to remember all the details that started everything. I am about to start my last year of nursing school and have three children of my own, so I understand being a parent as well as getting trained to think like a nurse. As for parents that don't make routine visits for their children as well as those on medicaid that were mentioned, I don't believe the problem is with the people who have medicaid specifically. We currently have medicaid for our three children, and I am grateful that they are cared for and try to make their yearly visits and make sure their shots are up to date. But there are some people I know (some I am related to) that don't have medicaid and don't find these to be important issues. My nephew is 7 and hasn't had insurance in 3 years, not because his parents don't have the money, but because his father would rather spend it on other things like jet skis and 4-wheelers. That is an parent who needs to get his priorities checked. Unfortunately, it is becoming more common to worry about buying fun things than making sure your kids are cared for. And as a side note about the medicaid, I know the doctor doesn't get paid much for it, and what they do get paid they have to wait for, which I imagine is a pain. However, I have a family doctor that is great with my kids, knows the whole family by name, and takes the time to ask how school is going everytime I have to see him. I am glad to hear I am not the only one who has had to use this service for my family, and will kiss the ground when I am done with school and no longer have to go through the process every year. I can't stand it, but it is better than my children not getting the care I need. For those working with the difficult parents, whether it be in doctors offices, schools, or hospitals, you have patience that I can only imagine, and every time you help the child, even if the parent is hard to deal with, you are making a small difference BTW, even without yet being a nurse, we have all had those moments where we want to yell at someone and ask what they were thinking when they did something!

I was an alternate at the school I am currently attending this time last year, and got in. Be encouraged, and good luck everyone!