scibruin

Keep your head up and stay in your toes . You posting this shows how much you want to succeed as a nurse. I'm still in my first year a d its still tough but it gets a little easier and you will feel more comfortable. Best of luck you will be great!!

I had a horrible experience with a clinical instructor as well. But I am now out of school and working. Keep your eye on the prize. Suck it up, don't let him/her get to you and take it in stride. don't let one person get in the way of your dreams. just another hurdle to get over. just get through these last few weeks!! hang in there and good luck.

well it was a little over a year ago now... and my memory isnt the greatest to begin with. What i do remember is: insulin beta blockers/cardiac meds calculation (fairly simple ones) teaching on how to use a walker or crutches i do know i walked out of there unconfident in passing. i didn't for sure "know" the answers like i did when i took tests at school. i just had to go with my gut and best guess. keep studying and practicing questions and reading the rationales.

i only purchased the ncsbn online, books and review cds and i passed nclex the first time with 76 questions. i did work really hard in the program got mostly A's some B's. I think its totally possible to do it without kaplan, i did! I studied almost all day everyday for the 2 months before my test and after graduation. good luck!

Don't give up! You can and will eventually pass the NCLEX, and when you do and find a job you will appreciate being there as a professional nurse that much more. You have a lot of heart and determination to continue to persist. Keep on going, it will make all those previous efforts a waste if you stop now. The only thing now between you and being a nurse is a test, not the years of torture in nursing school. Keep on trying and keep your head up. You are striving for that goal and you will be rewarded greatly once you get there.

the doctor isn't giving the meds, and he isn't there to check up on you essentially he is there to see the patient. they are ALL honest mistakes!! we never want to or purposely give meds wrong. honest or not med errors suck but they do happen for we are all human.

Nursing school is tough, hand in there, the reward will be so awesome when you finish. Some things that got me through nursing school and study tips: 1. pre read chapters before going to class. In class write down all things the instructor mentions specifically about diseases/disorders. Highlight, post it/pagemark important charts. 2. record lectures and listen to them over and over again, driving, cooking, before bed, in the shower. i also recorded myself saying my own notes in my own words and listened to those constantly. 3. Don't over think tests. Go with your gut instinct. I always take my tests and go through the test and be sure of my answers before putting them on my scantron, if i didn't feel good about my answer i would circle the number and move on. I only revisited the ones i was unsure about and hardly changed answers unless i knew for certain i needed to change it. 4. Star to try to make connections between clinical and theory. Think of patients you treated with the diseases and think of them when answering questions and always think of rationales of why. 5. nursing tests aren't usually straightforward, so don't just memorize things. Get the whole picture of the disease and its effects on a person. Make sure you have a solid foundation of basic anat/physio so you can understand the effects of the disease on the various organs and person as a whole. 6. I always found it best for my learning style to re-write notes, like you said into personal study guides. Taking notes from the books, lectures, and other resources and putting them together to make individualized study guides and reviewing them and knowing them like the back of your hand. 7. commit, it sounds as though you have studied hard and put the effort in. Keep on working hard and using a few different techniques will get you where you need to be. Use your resources, does your school have a lab? Nursing tutors? Computer programs? Do your instructors offer tutoring sessions? Use all resources available to you! Best of luck, keep studying and working hard. Its not easy but its all worth it. You can do it! Don't stress about the past tests, start studying for the next one! One last thing, buy an nclex book and practice answering those questions and reading the rationales for the answers. sometimes those get you thinking in a nursing mindset rather than just studying straightforward like other classes. Also, your book may have nclex style questions in the back, or online at the end of each chapter or system. Take a look at those, answer them and review. The rationales or questions make look similar to those the instructor will be asking.

Solid advice for anyone out there searching for jobs. Also, congrats on the JOB!! I am also a new grad, graduated in June 2010 and I start my first RN job on Monday!! It was a loooong road to finding a job and not easy but things finally fell into place in a hospital I am very proud to be associated with. All of you out there still looking, stay positive and keep on searching and applying like its your full time job to look for a job. Something will come up, and even if its just one phone call back, thats all it takes sometimes! Good luck!

I agree a new grad with a job offer is rare! You must be strong in skills and they recognized something in you. Take it! I'm sure they wont throw you in right away and offer a lot of training. Good luck and congrats!

First of all that is crap. In nursing school the instructors pretty much own you. I am not at all surprised at this frustrating situation. No matter what we had to show up and be there for clinicals for just that problem! There may not be any make up days. I say you go and suck it up. Show your commitment and if your instructor sees in fact how sick you are she may make the decision to send you home anyway. You are lucky she didn't fail your for missing two days. I know its frustrating but thats what nursing school is all about, jumping through hoops. I hope you feel well and get through this frustrating situation just fine.

Words of encouragement for you. Nursing school is going to be tough, having a new baby is going to make it even tougher, but if you are committed and have a good support system, you can do it. Be prepared for hard times ahead but just know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It sounds like you have the help you will need, so I say follow your dreams!! Best of luck.

I think its great being so young you have an idea of what you want to do with the rest of your life. Congrats on being such a driven person. I didn't realize i wanted to be a nurse until after i attended a four year university for psychology. I would definitely tell you to try to do some volunteer work and go the CNA route. I had no idea what was nursing entailed until i started nursing school and went to clinicals and fundamentals classes. I was lucky enough to love it, but it was a surprise to learn all of the various aspects of nursing. Nursing school was very hard, many people struggle, and you have to put it first, before everything. I had no social or family life for those years and my school pretty much owned me. So be prepared for that, and make sure when you start school you are committed, because nursing school will stretch you to your limits. I wouldn't worry too much about a specialty just yet. It's nice to have an idea, but in school you will be able to first hand experience different departments and if you do a preceptor ship in the last semester of school you can even choose where you want to spend some more time. Also, with the economy where it is right now (I know it will be years before you enter the workforce) but most nurses don't get to choose a specialty to work in right away, new grads are lucky to grab any job they can straight out of school. So you may be working to gain experience before trying to get into a certain department. I wish you all the best, and as someone mentioned before, study hard!! Go for that BSN!!

I can't speak much to how the job market is in Houston, but over here in southern cali its bad. I graduated in may 2010 and i found a job a little before christmas, but don't start until next month. So technically i was looking for a job for about 6 months, and i am one of the lucky ones. Out of my graduating class of about 50 or so students i know of 4 of us that have found jobs. Seriously, its bad. I too had never struggled with finding a job. For all those months after my nclex i heard absolutely nothing back from anyone. no calls and only rejection or generic emails. it took a friend of a friend who i don't even know to put my name out there and help me get an interview. that ONE interview turned into a job offer. It only takes one! good luck. its tough out there but just keep applying, improving your resume (adding ACLS, PALS, EKG & Pharm), voulenteer work, and don't give up! a job will find you eventually, you just need to keep working hard and don't give up. Someone told me once looking for a job should be taken like a full time job, so 8 hours a day you should be doing something to find a job. I wish you the best of luck!!

thanks for sharing this site is great!! i just downloaded a bunch of free books for my ipad!!

I wish I had better advice. I just wanted to give you some encouragement. Keep your head up and really be thorough with your work from now on. It's a hard lesson learned. I wish you the best and be a diligent nurse from this day forward. You made it through school you can make it through anything!

I don't have any good advice, but i just wanted to say good luck and stay strong! It does suck to be in that position. New grad jobs are ridiculously hard to come by so I suggest doing what you can to keep your position. The hospital might have a specific number of patient ratios they adhere by, try checking your hospital policy book? I wish you the best of luck and keep those patients and yourself SAFE!

I am a recent grad from June 2010. I had a VERY difficult time finding a job (in los angeles area). There were a few new grad programs offered but they had SO many applicants it was ridiculous. I was so fortunate to be accepted and offered a job just last week but after almost 6 months of looking. I don't a shortage exists here in CA at least. I was a little bitter especially because there were plenty of jobs available for 'one year acute care experience' nurses but absolutely nothing for new grads. Very frustrating to say the least. I think the hospitals should put more money into training and new grad programs, there are so many talented new grads out there willing to do almost anything to find a job as a RN yet they are stuck. Good take on the 'shortage' issue. I do have a few friends thinking of using their previous degrees just to make some money before finding a nursing job.

i agree apply to both. Definitely finish out your current undergrad program and see if you can start taking pre-requisites for the nursing programs you want to apply to. Getting into a program can take a long time so finish what you are currently doing and prepare yourself while you wait to apply for a program. I didn't realize my dream of becoming a nurse until I was finished with my BA and working full time in a different field for a few years. I went back to school while working and eventually had to quit a year into my program. Its possible I know some people work while in the program but at the most part time. Good luck! i'm happy you have found your calling to be a nurse! Oh, and if you can I would try to go straight to RN. If you don't know much about the field of nursing and what it really entails you should do some research, as a general student (not from any medical field before getting into nursing school) I thought I knew what nursing was but quickly realized i didn't lol. luckily for me i really loved it all and have even more excitement to be a nurse.

my med/surg classes focused on specific body systems and the diseases that affect them. We went through 4 different med/surg classes each one consisted of a few different systems ie. Cardiac, neuro, respiratory, musculoskeletal and so forth. Its more a narrow focus of the diseases of each body system and pathophysiology of them and how as a nurse to treat and teach patients. good luck!

LOVE LOVE LOVE my Littman Cardio III. its expensive but it sounds great. If you do get one make sure you don't lend it to ANYONE... including doctors!!! Also, this may sound dumb but make sure the right side is 'turned on' by turning the head of the stethoscope if you have that kind. Try to adjust the ear pieces so they fit snugly in your ear and close your eyes with complete focus. Happy stethoscope shopping!

I think everyone else that didn't get contacted first round got 'waitlisted'. I got an email yesterday morning saying they reached applicant capacity. As for the assessment link I got that immediately after I submitted the app, but I had already completed it before submitting the app. Did you fill it out before submitting the app maybe? Again a BIG GOOD LUCK to those of you interviewing!!

i was wait listed today too. i applied 10/29. good luck to all those still going!

nice! i got an email from UCLA too for the waiting list. haven't heard from white. BOO. waiting on a few other places. GOOD LUCK on your white panel interview!!!

any news yet? the UCLA new grad program has started contacting applicants already (unfortunately not myself ) and they took apps after white. i'm sure UCLA had a ton of apps to go through too. I'm really hoping to hear from white, its my number one choice.

I applied on the 29th and haven't heard a thing. I think the competition is so tough out there I don't expect to hear anything. Especially because my status just says received not, "contacted for interview". I'm thinking at this point I won't be contacted at all. sad, but i didn't have high expectations anyway. on the other hand, GOOD LUCK to all that got interviews!! I still want to hear all about the process and give all those selected a big congrats when you find out!