danceportal

Great idea for a thread! I'll be starting in SICU this coming Monday! I'm so nervous but excited! I was told we would be getting some overflow from Burn ICU, Neuro ICU, and MICU. I look forward to reading everyone's progress, including my own I have been looking into resources, and I have been looking at icufaqs...I plan on getting the ICU book, and I'm currently refreshing my memory with assessment. I was told it's important to fine tune your assessment skills before going in. Just a note on the Pass CCRN book if you plan on getting it...don't get the 4th/new edition yet, the CD with questions that come with the book doesn't release until April/May!!

I'll also be starting in Surgical ICU this coming Monday! I've been looking into which reference books I should purchase...I plan on gettin the Pass CCRN and I've been reading notes from the icufaqs website... I just borrowed an assessment book from a friend to refresh my memory on some anatomy, assessment skills and terminology. I was at a bookstore today and Health Assessment made incredibly visual seemed like a good resource...it included some detailed anatomy as well...

I don't know anything about Cali or about relocating, but I can tell you a bit about Dallas. Parkland is located in the meat of the city I would say. Children's Medical center and UT southwestern (both well known hospitals) are right next door to parkland. The apartments in that area around Parkland are on the pricey side unless you are rooming with someone and splitting the rent. If you live about 20 minutes from Parkland you may find better deals on apartments... I was always told that once you go to Parkland and get experience there, you can get a job anywhere (literally anywhere) afterwards because Parkland is known for their variety population and "super sick" patients...you will learn A LOT from Parkland. Dallas is a great city with so many different things to do whether you are a nightlife kind of person or not. The cost of living is lower than other major cities in the country...gas prices are around $2.95-ish/gallon as of today....we have mild winters, barely any snow, but we have hot as h3ll summers..... right now parkland is on the process of getting a brand new huge facility right next to the current one...by the looks of it....it's going to look AMAZING....i think they should be done with it by 2014... my advice to u is that...if L&D is truly your PASSION, then the relocation is worth it...

I interviewed for the SICU residency on Tuesday and got the job offer on Friday! I accepted!! Ahh!! So excited to be a SICU nurse!

My interview for NNICU was on the 20th. They said they will be calling me sometime this week. I'm just crossing my fingers at this point. AAhhhh!! I do have a SICU interview on Dec 4th as well. Good luck everybody :)

I just got out of my NNICU interview an hour ago. It went well I would say. I really hope I get it :) They said they are winding down and making their final selections this week and next week.

If you are currently working somewhere, I would say wait for the NICU job. If you are not work at the moment, then for income reasons, you should take the offer that u got and wait until u hear back from NICU. If the offer for this other job is in the same hospital as where you're wanting the NICU job, then i would say definitely take the offer and then try to transfer to NICU. Good luck!

In the phone screen interview, some of the questions I was asked: -Describe a time where you were highly stressed whether at work or in clinical situation -Describe a time when you had a difficult patient -Explain some of the exposure u had while in clinicals (like which floors, which units..which hospitals, etc.) -Describe clinical experiences outside of your clinicals (I used to work at a hospital, which is why she may have asked me this) -Describe a time you were a patient advocate and it ended positively -If we were to do a background check on you, would this be a problem for you? then she told me which positions were still open and where i had preference, and set up an interview right then with me.

I applied at Baylor and just finished my phone interview with them for Critical care. I have a face to face interview with Transplant and General Surgical ICU at BUMC on Friday! I'm so psyched yet freaked out!! Please pray for me!!

I'm on the same page as michelle0781 (OP)...next week my final semester starts. Although I've been a bright student and my previous clinical instructors have all liked me, I feel like I don't know anything. I too have ICU clinicals this semester (preceptorship). I am extremely nervous and have been trying to read some material before Monday. However, I feel overwhelmed thinking I have so much to read and cover! It's comforting to know that this is a normal feeling.

I'm starting my last semester next Monday and I am NERVOUS! I know I did well academically this past semester and all these people believe in me. My last semester's clinical instructor recommended me for preceptorship and here I am, going to have ICU preceptorship this semester. However I feel like I'm NOT READY AT ALL! I feel like I blank out a lot and that I would just stand there like an idiot not knowing what to do when my patient needs me the most-in ICU!! I guess this is the semester for me to gain confidence :)

Do you have the Kaplan Strategies and Review book (2012-2013)...I believe it's like the Bible for NCLEX...it teaches you how to think like the exam.... it seems like you are very thorough in your content...u've gone through Saunders cover to cover and did Hurst...so this is about test-taking and understanding what the questions are really asking... See if you can get a hold of that book. I know it's hard not to be discouraged, but try to remember that Nursing student that passed with a 3.6, the one that tutored your friends...you knew your stuff! You can do this! Don't let this exam defeat you!

I am currently a nursing student..and I try as much as I can to be a help rather than a nuisance for nurses who are assigned to my patients...I volunteer and quickly insert IVs, foleys, dressing changes, etc...my objective of the day is to be as "real nurse" as possible..and along the way take the load of my nurse's back... I know that they work fast (especially the experienced ones) and that they don't like for people, especially nursing students, to cause a delay in their charting and all... I think i'm one of the good ones :) but yes, to other nursing students..it's a NO NO to try to correct the nurse, especially in front of a patient..if u have a concern with a certain method/technique/lack of gloves or whatever that the nurse might have "done wrong"...direct it to your clinical instructor...and don't try to embarass anyone...come on..you're only a student... if a nurse chooses not to wear gloves to start an IV...they are putting themselves in danger and possible contamination, and they know that..they're not stupid..but it's their choice....so it's not your place to play "clinical instructor" with them...

I studied plenty and wisely for the exam we had this morning in Child Health. I knew my material well and read the book, everything. When the questions on the exam came up, they were all "out of nowhere" kind of questions...the ones that were knowledge based, I got right..the ones that were "situational"...and where 2 answers are LITERALLY neck and neck...i assume i got those wrong... i got a C on this exam..and although I should be satisfied that I at least didn't fail..i'm not..because I'm not sure how to study anymore..i can't keep looking at the same material again and again, because I will obviously know it..so it's not about the material/knowledge really... my question is...how can i rewire my thinking or are there any books that may help with rewiring my brain into thinking like the test?

ARE THERE ANY FEMALES GOING TO TWU DALLAS FALL 2010 THAT MIGHT BE LOOKING FOR A ROOMATE? I'm trying to move out of my house and need a roomate to split the cost..I'm the most down to earth, easy to live with person you will ever meet. I'm pretty quiet and I will obviously be very studious throughout the semester and barely at home...LET ME KNOW by responding on this thread!