joanie2341

I was in a similar situation my last semester of school. I went to the dean, the instructor was fired and I was placed in another clinical group where I learned so much more! You're better off being honest! Keep us posted!

I work in a busy ER with lots of mental health pts coming through. We don't have our own psych unit so we use a 24 hr psych triage nurse to help place the patient once the pt is medically cleared and certified by the ER attending. Last night I had a 20 something woman brought in by her mom for a psych eval. No hx of psych issues. Mom said the daughter has been increasingly paranoid over the last couple weeks. Splitting behavior with beliefs that all things blue and white are evil. She unplugged all the electronic devices and appliances in the house becuase she thought they were trying to record her voice. Patient denies all this. No homicidal or suicidal ideations. Mom said patient and her were driving and and the pt started driving crazy, blowing lights and stop signs and wouldn't stop because evil people would get them if they did. At first the patient seemed totally normal. But then the paranoid behavior came out. She did test positing for amphetamines, and when asked said she didn't do any drugs, and that someone must have put it in her urine. She wouldn't take her antibiotic for her UTI because she thought I was trying to hurt her kidneys and make her go on dialysis. She was medically cleared by the ER doc after labs, EKG were normal. Another facility did not want to accept her as involuntary inpatient because she was not homicidal or suicidal. They would only take her if she signed in voluntarily. My shift was over before this was resolved. My question is whether she is certifiable or not? Clearly she is suffering from some type of new onset mental health issue. If her paranoia was due the amphetamines, her behavior should have improved over the 8 hours I had her. But she became increasingly paranoid as time went on. Her mom had signed the petition.

I'm a new grad in a smaller community ER. I worked there as a tech for about 9 months prior to taking nclex. I had 10 weeks orientation. My suggestions: Get a small notepad with tabs for each letter (I use an address book with letter dividers) to take notes. Write down the alternate names of meds you can't remember so you're not wasting time at the pyxis. Familiarize yourself with your supplies in the omnicell (or wherever your chargeable materials are). Stay on good terms with the techs and ask them nicely for their help! Even though it's their job to help, some (not all!) have attitude problems. Use them when you need too, but don't assume they will always be there. And realize that you can't do everything at once! Just breathe and do your best! I have to remind myself that I'm only one person and I can't be starting an IV in one room and triaging in another room. Good teamwork in the ER is a must. And you must be willing to help too when a co-worker is drowning! I'm still a newbie and learning so much every day. But it gets a little easier every day! Congrats!

Don't let that advisor discourage you! I went to JJC (in my early 30's at the time) and there were 2 women in their 40's in my group alone. I think the average age of a JJC nursing student is 31 or around that. If you've got the grades and the pre-reqs done, go for it! I thought the program was wonderful! And if you've already done the pre-reqs for that program, stick with it. Each program has it's own pre-reqs. I know there is University of St Francis in Joliet (BSN only) and I think Lewis University. But both of these programs are pretty expensive.

Agreed!

I graduated in December from an ADN program. I was immediately hired into the ER as an RN in a small suburban Chicago hospital. Everyone from my clinical group has found a job in a hospital (the last one being this week). I was lucky enough to do an externship in the ER where I now work the summer before I graduated. I would definitely recommend trying to get your foot in the door that way, either as an extern, CNA or student nurse. Good luck!

I'm a new grad working in a community hospital ER. I've been on orientation for 6 weeks now. There was a situation yesterday that would like some thoughts on. My preceptor and I had a 19yo female pt with sickle cell that came in for back pain. My preceptor informed me this pt comes in frequently for sickle crises. She is allergic to morphine and requests dilaudid. We drew labs and got orders for the dilaudid. The physicians asst ordered Levaquin and was working the pt up for sepsis. The pt requested to leave after several hours of being in the ER. I advised her of the need to stay to finish the antibiotics and that the PA wanted her admitted to the ICU. She still wanted to leave. The PA then spoke to her and convinced her to stay. This back and forth went on for a couple hours. The pt was on the call light every 5 minutes saying she wanted to leave. The PA kept asking the pt if she could call the pts mom. The pt kept telling the PA no, that she was an adult and she could make her own decisions. The PA said she could not leave because of the amount of dilaudid she had received (2mg approx. 2 hr prior to this convo). Pts vitals were stable. Pt was ambulatory. The pt eventually pulled out her IV and said she wanted to leave and attempted to. Security stopped her and the PA said she was going to turn her into a psych pt and keep her in the ER b/c she had made statements that she "was tired of being sick and didn't care anymore." The pts mom was called and the pts mom informed us the pt was recently released from a different hospital where she arrested several times and was in the ICU. The mom came in and signed a petition to keep the pt in the hospital. The PA had the doc's approval for all this as the MD had to sign off on it. Does that statement by the pt equal a suicidal intention? The pt has the right to refuse treatment and in my opinion she was frustrated with her disease. My preceptor wanted nothing to do with this situation and when she became a psych pt she was transferred to another room and was not my pt any longer. This seems like a very gray area and I was concerned about the legal issues here. Thoughts?

Just a word of caution about some of these neighborhoods. I wouldn't walk from the "L" in Pilsen or Humboldt Park at night by myself. Take into consideration what shift you will be working. Obviously you need to always be aware of your surroundings no matter where (even is so called "safe" neighborhoods like Lincoln Park, Lake View, Streeterville, etc.) But some neighborhoods are better than others as far as walking at night. Also, 1 bedrooms in Chicago are so expensive! It's much cheaper to get a 2 bedroom if you can handle a roommate. Just my 2 cents.

I don't know of anyone for whom the PVT did not work. Congrats, nurse!

Have you reached out to people you know that are in healthcare? Don't be afraid to ask friends/family members to ask their managers. What about asking your former classmates? Keep on trying! I know it's not easy out there. Most of the people from my clinical group still don't have jobs after graduating in December. I was lucky enough to get an externship last summer so I was offered a job at the hospital where I was an extern. Nursing_chick makes a good point. Try small hospitals or LTC facilities. List of hospitals in Illinois - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How are the classes going so far? I just applied and still need to have my transcripts evaluated. But I'm hoping to start in the fall!

Congrats!!! Good for you for sticking with it!

I think it was a couple weeks after applying that I got the notice to sign up for the TEAS. Like Moribee said, only completed courses will count towards the requirements and what they look at. I had everything except Micro and BIO 251 done when I applied (was enrolled in BIO 251 at the time). I had mostly A's, and only a couple B's. My TEAS composite was high 80's (maybe 88 or 89) and I had a 92 in reading. I ended up being the 5th person on the waiting list and was called the first week of classes that a spot had opened for me. Good luck to all applying!

I just started in the ER and have heard of nurses talking about this but have yet to see it. And now that I see what is involved in resuscitating patients, it's not a bad idea!

Joliet Junior College has an evening associate's program. But you must live in district to be accepted. You will find that is the case with most community colleges. Good luck!

Also, send a money order with your application to the state. I've heard that speeds up the process too since they don't have to wait for a personal check to clear. Congrats!

Inspired26, how is the program? I am thinking about starting the RN to BSN there. Any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

I would say that about 75% of the students work. Most of them part-time. The ones that did work full time worked evenings, nights or weekends. I thought 2nd semester was the hardest. There is an insane amount of work that comes with your Labor and Delivery rotation. And not having kids myself, it was all new information. But I also got my best grades that semester because I worked so hard. The amount of time I have spent each week on school stuff greatly varies based on the week and the semester. But in general I would say that I spend at least an hour reading/listening to lecture podcasts the night before each theory. Probably an hour each week in the lab practicing skills. 2 hours the night before clinical working on a careplan. I usually for 2-3 nights before an exam for 3-4 hours each night. So I guess somewhere between 5 and 10 hours? Again it varies each week. This is the stethoscope I have. My sister, who is a nurse, bought it for me as a gift from my whole family. I have heard good things about all the Littmans, but beyond that I don't know much about them. I really like the one I have. I'm sure your instructor can give better info on this topic. http://www.amazon.com/Littmann-Master-Cardiology-Stethoscope-Black/dp/B000F4W1GW/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1320507888&sr=8-2 I think we have 80 students in 4th semester. But we had maybe 5-7 or so come in after second semester through the LPN bridge program. There were 10 or so who did not make it through 3rd semester for some reason.

I am a 4th semester student, so here are some words of advice. Be prepared. For theory, try to read the topics before the lecture. It will enhance your learning. Show up prepared for clinical. Always bring your stethoscope, pen light, drug book and lab book, and pen/paper. Use your ATI books (I think you get these at the end of 1st semester). I use those post-it flags to mark the topics we study in theory so I can quickly locate the material. These books are incredibly helpful! Go to your instructor if you don't understand something. Don't wait until the night before a test to try and figure something out. Practice, practice, practice! Practice your head-to-toe assessment on family, friends, the other people in your group. Use the skills lab every chance you get. Invest in a good NCLEX review book. I use mine for studying for theory exams because there are good critical thinking questions in there. I have the Saunders review book. Don't worry if you seem to struggle 1st semester. It takes a while to get used to the type of questions the instructors ask. In a multiple choice question all the answers may be right, and you have to pick the best answer. It's all about application. Good luck to you all! I'm sure you will do well! Post any other questions you have and I will try to answer them.

Good luck to you all! But if you don't get in, email and ask what position you are on the waiting list. I know that at least 5 or 6 people in my semester got in off the waiting list. But keep your phone on you at all times! If they call and you don't answer, they go to the next person. I think the TEAS reading score accounts for at least 25% of your admission score. They found a huge correlation between TEAS reading scores and those who were successful in the program. And I have also heard that emails will go out tomorrow, so check your email!

I had a friend just get hired at Rush. She has her ADN but a bachelor's in another field, plus 5 years ICU experience.

Third semester is set up much like second semester. There are 3 rotations - 2 med surg and 1 mental health. With my schedule I will have class 2 days per week and clinical one day. I will be starting third semester next week, so I can't really give you specifics on what the level of difficulty is. Feel free to send me a message if you have any questions about 2nd semester. One piece of advice - use your ATI books to help study for exams, especially OB. They really help! With the help of those books, I got A's on several exams last semester!