nicoleRN831

I graduated from PCCC in May 2010 and passed my NCLEX on the first try in 75 questions. I felt very prepared for it. The tests are hard but so is the NCLEX. I think everyone I graduated with, passed the NCLEX on their first try. Some of the professors aren't the nicest and the comments they tell you aren't nice either but just block it out and show them you can do it. One in particular tries to belittle the students but once you show her you know what you talking about you will do fine. I have some books that are required for the course that I am trying to sell before I move. If you are interested, private message me and I will let you know which ones I have Best of luck with everything.

Just make sure before you piggyback the med on that they are compatible... If they aren't then you have to start another line.

I'm working at St. Joe's in Paterson.

I know that Holy Name Hospital School of Nursing has housing. The only thing is, when I went there there was only 1 person living in the dorms. I think that med students would sleep there too if they were on call.

I just graduated from nursing school in May and the way that one of the hospitals let us give meds was our teacher had her own username and password for the Pyxis and she would sign in and then we would get our meds out and then she would check them. When we had to go and give them, she would come in the room and scan her ID badge and then basically leave us alone to scan the pt's arm band and then each barcode on the meds that we gave to the pt. In regards to the OmniCell, my whole group had the same code to take out supplies with. Looking at the charts was a little harder since we didn't have username and password. Some nurses would sign us in there username and we would look up all the labs and notes. Other nurses didn't let us do that so the secretary would print off the recent labs for that day for us and we didn't get to look at the old notes.

Well when I went for my interview at a huge trauma center in my area, the nurse recruiter told me that she "trusts" the nurses that graduated from the community college I graduated from more then some of the universities in our area. I got the job at this hospital that only had 5 other openings for nurses in the whole hospital. So I guess its just where your located (I'm in NJ).

You get the same degree as someone who took it at a 4 yr school. Hospitals aren't going to care if you did it in 4 years of 15 months. Nurses apply to hospitals with a BSN, AS, or diploma. Most hospitals don't go too much into the education unless you are applying for a upper management position.

I sell all my old books on half.com... Other students buy the books so you get a higher price. You just have to list them and wait for someone to buy it. I would put them on now bc classes are starting so they might need your books

This is a personal experience with my grandmother who died of renal failure while i was in nursing school. Let me start by saying my grandma was so proud that i was going into nursing school, she would tell everyone "I'm going to have a little nurse in my family" She would even tell all the nurses in the ICU that her grand daughter was going to be just like them. I usually went to the hospital in the mornings before school but I had a test that day and wanted to look over some stuff so I decided I would go after the test. I took the test and in my school we have a review on powerpoint after the test. The powerpoint shows you the question, the answer and the rationale. So you can count how many you got wrong and know why they are wrong or right. I ended up getting only 1 wrong on that test... I couldn't wait to tell my grandma. I drove to the hospital and my aunt was there. I walked in the room gave my grandma a kiss and said "hey gram guess what i got a 98 on my test." And my aunt pipes in and says why are you talking to her, she hasn't responded in 2 days. I looked at her and gave her a dirty look. and I continued to tell my grandma that I thought the test was so easy. and all of a sudden she says" Nikki I'm so proud of you, I'm going to have a nurse in the family." And that's all she said and didn't say anything else. I sat at the side of the bed for about an hour and the doctor came in and he said she didn't have a lot of time left. So I stayed with her a little more and they I told her I was going to call my mom to let her know that I was at the hospital so she knew where I was. And she squeezed my hand and I kissed her and said I will be right back. I went out in the family waiting room to call my mom and tell her I was there and to come to the hospital soon because the doctor said she was getting worse. I go back into the room and her nurse was in there and said that shes leaving us. I feel like she waited till I left the room because she was completely unresponsive for the last 2 days and she responded to me about my test and then she squeezed my hand when I told her I was going out in the hallway to call my mom. My aunt said that the minute I left the room her heart rate started to fall.

I went to a hospital based nursing school in NJ for 1 semester and we had to do the same thing. We had to wash the face, arms, back, and legs. And then we had to cream the students back and feet. We had to then tell the teacher how we would wash the perineum. It was just the teacher and you and the person you were washing in the room with you. We picked our friends to wash so it wasn't as uncomfortable if it was someone we didn't talk to in class. We basically just laughed thru it... I also went to a Community College and we had to wash one of the dummies, but we used real water and soap on them.

Make sure in your cover letter that you somewhere say something about the hospitals mission statement... Like this is what I wrote in my cover letter --- St. XXX Regional Medical Center's dedication to patients is evident. I would love the chance to become a part of this community because I am also committed to compassionate care of my patients, and continuous quality improvement. The Mission statement for that hospital was "Our Vision -- St. XXX Healthcare System will be recognized as a leading health care provider of choice in New Jersey. It will be characterized by the excellence of its health care services, its focus on compassionate care of its patients, and by a culture of continuous quality improvement." And when then you can just change the sentence to fit into any hospitals mission statement. I was told by a nurse recruiter that this shows that the person who wrote this in their letter was interested in the hospital and took the time to research it.

This is the stethoscope that I have and it works great. I bought mine on medisave.net bc it was the cheapest and they have coupon codes as well. And they do free engraving!

I might be wrong because I have only been an RN for 1 month... But we learned in nursing school that when you are about to give your meds, you compare the MAR to the doctors orders and make sure everything adds up. I know this takes a long time, but I have found meds that were supposed to be dc'd or written wrong.

passaic county community college offers the bridge program.

In nursing school we learned the 7 rights of med administration Right Patient Right Medication Right Dose Right Time Right Route Right Documentation Right to Refuse