PSK09

Most hospitals will not allow you to go straight from nursing school into the critical care areas. You have to be with the hospital on med/surg floor for a minimum of 1year. Then they will put you through training for the critical care departments. Which is about 12 + weeks depending on your progress. Good luck with your future.

Hang in there I know too well what you're going through. It took me over a year to find the job I'm at now. I graduated May 2009, and finally passed boards in Dec. 2009 and couldn't get a job until Dec. 2010. It is soo frustrating, and trying to pay back loans with pennies is hard, but it all pays off once you get a job. I didn't know anybody either just got really lucky. Jamaica Hospital Medical Center does hire new nurses without any experience, that's where I've been for a year now. Not the best area but it's a job that pays decent money. GOOD LUCK.

Hello All, I am writing here now, because Allnurses.com has helped me out in the past and I hope you guys can give me advice once again. I am so frustrated with trying to find a job. Here's my story: I graduated with a BSN from Molloy College back in May 2009. I ended up having to take the board 3 times before I passed the third time around which was back in December 2009. So now I'm a Registered Nurse without employment. I'm the first nurse in my family and I do not know anyone in the hospitals. I have no relatives or close family friends that have ins that can help me even get an interview. I applied to many hospitals on LI and hear nothing back. I haven't had any luck with any call backs. And when I try calling the hospitals human resources they say if the nurse recruiters are interested in you they will contact you. You cannot contact them. I am beyond frustrated its been over a year now and more and more new grads are graduating. I can't find a job and I'm scared now that nobody will want to even hire me because I've been out of the loop for a year. I don't know what to do and hope anybody can give me advise to help. I've even applied multiple times to the same hospitals just for different RN positions (still no luck). I am willing to work in any area of nursing except psych or peds. Anyone have suggestions for me on how I can get a job in NY (Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Brooklyn areas). PLEASE HELP ME! Thanks in advance for your advice and guidance its always appreciated.

I could use some encouragement out there. I'm an RN in NY (Long Island area). I graduated back in May 2009. I had to take the boards 3 times before I passed. I got my license finally in December 2009. And have been applying to every hospital that has a position posted. My friends all got jobs because they had relatives or really close family friends in the hospital. What about the new RNs that don't know anyone because they are the first RN in the family? I am at a lose of what to do? Any suggestions I've been out of school for a year now, still no hits, nobody responds to my resume/applications & if you call HR they just say if the rucruiter is interested they call you, you can't contact them. Its fustrating more than anything. I do not have health insurance (i'm playing the risky game at the moment b/c I cannot afford it), I have to pay monthly tuition loans back & money is really tight. I only work part time as an office manager (the job I had while in school, still have it). I never thought becoming a nurse, it would be this hard to find employment. PLEASE HELP!!!

Funny story. My school's uniform was all white. And on one of my clinical days I didn't have time to run to the bathroom as much as I would have liked. I used a pad with wings, and when lunch came I went to go to the bathroom & it turned out I had a leak & someone in the hospital noticed & told me. So embarrising! So here I am in my clinical rotation now with a blood stain on my butt, which stands out like a sore thumb on an all white uniform. What do I do? I went to the bathroom with a classmate & first had a mini meltdown & then this lady that worked in the hospital came in. And told me to take off my pants because realistitcally we are all women. So now i'm standing in the bathroom with no pants on all upset. Scrubbing my pants in the sink (just the stain part) with soap & water & it actually came out after scrubbing it a little. (But while i was pantless, another student from another college came in & gave me that look like what is going on in here LOL). Very embarrising situation, but thank God I had an angel & that lady came into the bathroom to tell me that if i scrubbed the hell out of it with soap & water it would come out & then I used the hand dryer to dry the pants. (at the time I couldn't figure out how to use tampons)... But ever since that situation I forced myself to figure out tampons so hopefully by wearing a tampon & a pad I will never be in that situation again. Hope this story gives you a laugh & helps you out. :)

your welcome.... good luck, if you have any questions feel free to ask away :)

thank you! I used "Exam Cram" Review book & "Prioritization, Delegation, & Assignment" workbook by LaCharity. Do the full quick 20 chapters in Exam Cram, they are short & to the point, & don't put you to sleep, the font is bigger than most books & you fly through the chapters. They give you the information directly to the point of what you need. & the P,D & A book by LaCharity gives you great questions on which patient to see first & who do you assign __ to. Was a lifesaver for me.

Actually I didn't start job hunting yet. I'm going to Atlantic City for the weekend with my sister. So I figured when I come back I'll start job hunting. Just taking a weekish to enjoy passing & relaxing away from studying & then I'm going to crackdown on the job hunting.

Angel love, take a deep breath & relax, stay positive you can do it! GOOD LUCK!

Stay strong, relax & remain confident. You can pass! :) GOOD LUCK & keep me updated on how things go.

Hey Murphal, Yes a very stressful time it is the last 7 days worrying especially because you took it twice already (been there). You have to try to stay relaxed. Remember you already took it twice so you know what to expect from the testing center how the atmosphere is going to be etc. Just take a deep breath & blow away the negative, stay positive you CAN pass this time. As for drugs I really don't have any pointers I'm really bad at that stuff & look up everything in the hospital because I can't remember the drugs. So just try your best with the drugs or remember a small portion of them & if something looks familiar in the answer it could be the answer. Hypo remember everything is low. Hyper everything is high, too much. In Addisions disease your body i not making enough cortisol (you need to add cortisol), everything is down low bp, low electrolytes. In Cushings disease your body is making too much cortisol (crushing you)... everything is up high bp, high electrolytes. The last few days work on doing practice questions & reviewing vocabulary or if you have Exam Cram review the cram sheet. Do a few practice math questions if you not good at that. GOOD LUCK! I'll keep you in my prayers.

Thank you guys!... I got i think 3 math question on the exam, drug calc i one of my strong parts so i really didn't study it. In the back of the Exam Cram Review book there are 12 practice math questions with rationales on how to do it. Yes I will keep you in my prayers because you guys can do it & will do it! :) Thanks again for the congrats! :)

so quick sum of the above. Do one to two chapters a day in the Exam Cram review book & one to two chapters a day in the LaCharity book. When you finish with the Exam Cram chapters, focus on completing the Practice Exams, Things you Forgot & Glossary in the back of the book. The last few days, read through the Cram Sheet in the front of the book a few times. YOU CAN DO IT!

aww thank you!. You can do it too! My study plan for round 3, was to forget about all the other books I used in the past, I just left them in me room on the side to collect dust, they obviously didn't help me with exam 1 & 2 so why use them. I felt I needed a new start to things. So I after reading reviews & getting advise from people on allnurses.com I purchase Exam Cram Review Book (most useful tool), Exam Cram Questions & Answers Book (never had time to use it, but didn't need it), & I also purchased the Priority Delegation & Assignment book by LaCharity. I did all the chapters in Exam Cram about one to two chapters a day, whatever I could get done with (it took my about an hr a chapter, but i read really slow & i wanted to understand the content not just get through the review). I also would try to get a chapter or so done in the LaCharity book, so If you did one chapter in Exam Cram & one chapter in LaCharity book, you were getting like 40-50 questions in a day. I know not a lot but I would review the rationales too, I needed to pace myself because rushing through didn't help me in the past so I took my time. I only did about half of the LaCharity book that's all i felt I needed because its pretty much the same thing over & over again, which patients are you going to see first kind of thing, so I stopped the LaCharity book once I felt I had those questions down. The main focus was on the Exam Cram Review Book (cd didn't really help me only used it like 3 times, the book is much better). I completed the Exam Cram book meaning the 20 chapters about a week to 5 days before my exam. The last few days I focused on working on the Practice Exams in the back of the Exam Cram book. I read the quick last minute cram sheet in the front of the book the last 3 days. I also read the glossary vocab the day before the exam. Get rest in & a good nights sleep the day before. And you'll be fine. I have faith you guys can do it, I'll keep you in my prayers. GOOD LUCK! If you have additional questions feel free to ask them. I'll try my best to give you feedback/ help as much as I can.

Hey Guys, I just wanted to THANK YOU for all your support & prayers. And to let you know that the results are in I PASSED! Never give up on your dreams, they will come true when the time is right! WOOHOO!!!.... SOO EXCITED! THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR PRAYERS, I'll be praying for you guys, YOU CAN DO IT! -- PSK, RN :)