SICU_Murse

Hey all -- So I registered for the CMC subspecialty cert through the AACN. I recently passed my CCRN :w00t: and scored 100% on the cardio portion of the test. I was wondering if anyone out there has recently taken the exam and can offer any advice?? ...

To all the CTICU nurses -- How did you end up breaking into CTICU? I know the job market is pretty tight right now but jeesh! I am having a really hard time even scoring an interview for a CTICU. Example -- I applied for a FT nights position that was...

The per diem pay rates in Southern NJ are pretty competitive. Most hospitals down here are unionized, which helps. You can view local contracts for various hospitals at Health Professionals & Allied Employees |

Lynn -- I think its a great idea for the SON to have someone on these boards to help answer questions, as many pre-NP students turn to these boards when looking for information from their fellow nurses. I will be starting the acute / critical care NP...

Wikipedia is not a scholarly resource. I hope your not using it for scholarly research...

I forgot one of the most important parts -- We need to know that basic information so we can adequately care for the patient while he/she is critically ill. Knowing baseline information vs. current information will help us decide if the intervetions ...

Let me begin by telling you -- I began my career on a tele unit where I routinely cared for 5-6 patients a night. I currently work FT in the SICU at a large community hospital and I also work per deim in the critical care float pool for a large unive...

Thanks Ms. B! And yes! I did my celebrating last night!

A suggestion that I will give you is that, knowing you dont routinely work in the ICU, you'll really need to brush up on your hemodynamic values and how to interpret them (CVP, RAP, PAS, PAD, PAOP, SVR, CO, CI, ScvO2, etc.)

Warfarin pretty much interacts with EVERYTHING. Two drugs that come to mind are levoquin and amiodarone.

I PASSED!! I did notice on my score report that they DID increase the cut score from 51 to 52. And the exam was DIFFICULT. Moreso in my opinion than CCRN just because it's SO focused and in depth. Best of luck!

Ms. B -- thank you for all of the wonderful information! It helped me guide my studying nicely along with the review course I took at my hospital! I'm on my way to take the exam now! Will let everyone know how it goes!

NC -- I actually moved my test date up to this Monday! I'll let you know how it goes.

Wow -- You thought it was harder then CCRN?! I might have to start taking this a little more seriously!

Thats what I was thinking, lol.

SEWRN -- Congrats on the job offer! In todays job market I would tell you to take any job you are offered, just to get your foot in the door! It seems, from reading your post, your torn between a community ICU and university step-down unit. Let me te...

Hey NCcardiacNurse -- What type of ICU do you work in? I researched on the boards a bit and it seems as though the general consensus is that the CMC subspec exam is a little easier than the CCRN, but just becase its a focused exam. There arent many R...

Type A personality, you'll sink without one. I am not sure about others but most of the ICU's that I have worked in the aides do MINIMAL work. I work night-shift and the aide leaves at 9pm (their shift is 9am-9pm, who made that I have no clue). After...

Okay -- I just got back from Laura Gusparis' CCRN review in CT this week so I decided to sit down and choke up the money for the AACN's CCRN Self-Assessment exam. After taking it I am feeling somewhat discouraged! I only scored a 66.67%! Anyone have ...

Hey all CCRNs -- First of all I would like to thank you for reading and responding to my post, I appriciate any insight and/or advice you can provide to me as I continue my journey in becoming specialty certified in critical care nursing. 1. I am cur...

Usually AT LEAST one nurse per shift is 3:1 in our ICU. I think this is really unsafe, even if one of the patients has orders to move out. According to other nurses on my unit (havent looked it up myself) NJ law prohibits ICU nurses being assigned &g...

Hey ClaRN -- I too am new to the SICU and just finished my orientation. I am not sure what type of hospital you work in, but I work in a community hospital in Southern NJ. It is really sad to say that I feel as though most of the patients admitted to...

I wanted some insight from those of you that have recently taken the NCLEX-RN and those of you who are also studying. How do your scores on practice exams compare to mine? Here is a list of what I have done thus far: Read Kaplan's 2010-2011 NCLEX-RN ...

Quick question -- Hopefully someone will provide some feedback. So far today I reviewed Addison's and Cushing's disease (many students from my class who have taken the NCLEX-RN have recommended I do this) and have done 4 of LaCharity's case studies (...

How many NCLEX questions did you do prior to sitting for the boards? Did you pass/fail? Did you take a review course?