Forminsko

This trend is alive and well in the hospital where I work, too, though there are a lot of veteran nurses on my MICU. It's like you said: the new nurses coming in aspire to NP, etc. I think it has to do with the perspective the new nurses have. I am relatively new, myself, so I have watched it, and maybe my experience is similar to others' (though I do not want to be an NP, myself.) When I started my pre-reqs for my ASN, it was still a viable option to just have an associate's degree, though of course the move toward BSNs was already starting. By the time I finished my ASN, several years later because it was almost impossible to get into the prerequisite classes because they were so in demand, it was clear that a bachelor's degree was going to be a necessary next step. I went ahead and got mine, but by the time I finished that, (this past Spring), it started to look like the only way to open up any career options for one's future--whether near or far future, mind you--would be to get a master's degree. It's like the goal posts keep being moved. This trend is a little discouraging to me as someone who came to this career as a second career later in life. Still, bedside nursing, I am sure I needn't tell you, is so taxing, physically and emotionally.

May I ask what city you work in? That sounds just awful to me. I've worked virtually my entire nursing career in the ICU. I would be totally lost on the med-surg floor. It's a totally different type of focus, a different type of nursing practice. Just as I would not expect those nurses to be able to step into the ICU, I cannot step into their environment simply because I'm trained to work with more critically ill patients. Terrible policy.

Now THAT is a useful post about how to approach preparation for the NCLEX. I am not sure I will be able to follow all your advice about how to prepare, but I am going to try. I can't thank you enough. (And congratulations!)

@Snookie: Thanks so much for the words of encouragement (and sympathy!) I took two classes this semester so I'll be golden for the Spring with 6 more points for those and 1 point for having applied before. So I'll see you in the Spring, I hope! Best wishes to you!

I got my letter of "rejection" today. I missed by one point. If I said I was not upset, I'd be lying, but I can't do any more that what I did. We'll see what happens for the Spring term. Best wishes to everyone.

Snookiejc: Thanks! You really are so sweet and supportive. I am actually super close to the cut-off this time. I still have some dim hope that enough people will decline that a few people under the cut-off will get in--like me, for example? Last year a friend had 79 and got a very late offer to the program, though she'd gotten into LACC by that time. So it can happen. And Sociology and Speech are done now. If I don't get in for the Fall, I'm taking U.S. History and Nutrition to get them out of the way. Still, maybe I'll see you there! Keep your fingers crossed and work hard so I see you in the Spring, if not the Fall!

Congrats Cabion & Snookie...I am really happy for you--I know how long this process is! Alas, it doesn't look good for me this semester. I'm taking Sociology & Speech this semester and should have A's in both, so next semester, my points should be high enough to assure my acceptance. Good luck to all the people still waiting to hear! Keep us posted.

I don't get why different people are getting different answers. Why was I told that they've already started sending out letters when "cabion 666" was told they're not ready to go out? I would love to have someone just respond to me in a sort of friendly way, much less "invite me to call back" like Snookiejc... Snookiejc, is there someone in particular you are speaking to when you call or some particular question you ask? I can just hear it in their voice how SICK TO DEATH they are of these calls--I've called twice in the last month, myself--but seriously, the next two years of our lives hang in the balance. It's more nerve-racking on our end, I'd say.

I just called County and was told that they've already started sending out letters...Has anyone heard? The woman would not tell me what the lowest points would be for acceptance into the program, so if anyone gets in, could you please share what your points are? This has really been horrible being made to wait. (I also asked if we would get letters telling us one way or another if we got in or not and she said that we would.)

I followed this thread all the way through and I hope it can keep going so we can all start hearing what the cut-off points are, etc. I heard the cut-off last semester was 80 and I have a (nail-biting) 81 points this semester. Next semester I'll have 87 because I'll have taken two classes that I'm currently getting A's in and one extra point for having already applied once. But this semester...Ugh. I just am having such a hard time waiting. (I wish they wouldn't have posted that May 15th was the date they'd start sending out letters. Clearly it isn't that early, normally.) I can't believe it's become this extremely competitive. Clearly there are a lot of us wanting to go into nursing school, but this many got straight A's in pre-reqs and HIGHER than 75% on the TEAS V? It tells you how high the caliber of students is going to be in the class, for sure! Best of luck to everyone.

Actually, I called them at the beginning of May and--unless someone has heard differently since then--they told me that May 15th was a little early. It will probably be, "closer to the beginning or middle of June," according to the woman I spoke to. For someone like me who has 81 points it's VERY nerve-wracking because that was right around the cut-off last year, I think...

Well, I got my results for the TEAS V and I got an 88%. I was thrilled with it, but have to also say that I studied incredibly hard for the test. A lot of people on this site talk about how easy the test is and I'm not sure why...honestly, I think it really depends on what your recent schooling has been. Although brushing up on Algebra was enough for me to do well, I have had VERY little Chemistry EVER so that was not something I was able to teach myself quickly. Getting a grasp of what this PARTICULAR test looks for in terms of READING COMPREHENSION and their use of terms like "theme" vs. "main idea", etc., really helped me do better and better every time I took a practice test. So I recommend it. I wish I had studied DNA/RNA and the VERY detailed processes involved in Meiosis & Mitosis. My test required very comprehensive understanding of those topics and I wasn't there! Good luck to people taking the test!

How did your test go? Where did you take it?

Buy the book. The sample test online is closer to the real test, but EVERYTHING that is tested is in the book. Everything. I left the test and thought for sure they had asked science questions that "I couldn't possibly know" and when I got home and looked more closely, those points were more deeply covered in the text. It's invaluable. My copy is dog-eared from paging back and forth in it.

No. Not the same questions. Well...I don't know. Not that I was able to recall. If it happened, it was VERY incidental. Not most of the questions, at all.