studentnurse50

It's never too soon to start studying for NCLEX. The program I went through started us with NCLEX questions the second week of school. It was a great help. NCLEX questions are like none other.....Out of four possible answers, sometimes three are absolutely correct-only one could be chosen. The key is to read the question and ask yourself, "what is the question asking exactly?" Is it asking how I would manage care? Priority? Identification (recorded sounds)? Is it asking your nursing actions in order? Deciphering what the question is asking is key. Do all the practice questions you can do without neglecting what you are supposed to be studying for class. Our instructors suggested a minimum of 25 per day in the months leading up to graduation. I also found the refresher course which was offered between graduation and our test date, to be extremely helpful. It was by Sylvia Rayfield and was invaluable. I learned quite a bit and had some of my knowledge re-enforced. I know you are a way from graduating, but many people sit through the course numerous times-it is free after the initial investment until you pass the NCLEX. Here is the link: NCLEX RN Reviews, NCLEX PN Reviews & Faculty Development CEU Workshops Blessings to you.

Wow. That is sobering....given that you've expressed that the clinical component is not meeting your expectations, nor what the school advertises, please consider transferring somewhere else. I'm sorry that you are having this experience. Looking back on my own clinical experience, the days (12 hours) seemed very long, but, the experience that was gained by staying the whole 12 hours was invaluable. Best wishes to you what ever choice you make.

Run, don't walk away from this program. Find one that meets not only your needs, but the requirements of the BON. Is this program accredited by the NLN or CCNE? If you choose to leave your current program, only choose a new program that is accredited by CCNE or NLN. I had a job offer rescinded because the employer required the nursing school to be accredited by NLN or CCNE. The higher the degree, the more important this accreditation becomes-at least in the eastern US where I now live. In California where I graduated, NLN and CCNE accreditation was not a requirement by most employers. I'm finding the opposite to be the case in the southeast.

"Keep in mind that patient ratings are soon going to be effecting Medicare payouts. So facilities all over the country are scrambling to do anything and everything they can to ensure that they receive good ratings." Cally, can you help me understand the statement? I'm a new grad and don't understand how patient ratings will determine payouts.....Thanks in advance.

litebrightgirl: I was separated from my family for 6 months towards the end of my schooling. It's a long story, but to make it shorter, my spouse is military and got orders to move. We discussed it at length, prayed and made the decision for my spouse and children to move to the new duty station while I rented a room. The bottom line is even with a super supportive spouse and finances that allowed this, nursing school is extremely hard. If you, your children and husband have a great support network, that makes a difference. If not, seriously consider the impact of very hard days at clinical/classes and not having your spouse there for support. Also, CrunchRN has some valid points. Only you and your family can decide what is right for you. We made it through and are stronger for it-but not every family/relationship makes it through such a separation. Our two teenage children suffered quite a bit-I won't go into details other than to say one of my children was being beaten at school almost every day and I didn't know it because I spent 10-12 hours per day at school in classes and then studying in the library afterwards..... Unfortunately, this was the least of what happened in my absence. In hindsight, if I had known this was going to happen, I would have postponed my schooling until the kids graduated. Having said that, we were stationed on the opposite coast from where our families and friends live, so, we didn't have that support network. Anyway, blessings on making the choice that is right for YOU and YOUR family

Perhaps part of the aches are from your shoes? I am overweight and until I bought the right shoes (Pothia-Greek shoes,) I would have very bad leg and back aches after our 12 hour clinicals. After switching to Pothia, the leg and back issue diminished greatly.

You are not alone. There are many of us experiencing the same thing. The nursing job market is a very strange thing right now-employers are in a very powerful position. They can chose from what seems like an applicant pool similar to Niagara Falls which contains many qualified applicants. I am a new Registered Nurse. I had been given a conditional offer of employment by a governmental agency only to have it rescinded because the school from which I graduated was not NLN accredited at the time of my graduation. It cut me to the core-and has been very discouraging. The school was accredited by Western Association of Schools and Colleges, and had approval from the California State Board of Registered Nursing, but that was not enough for this particular organization. While I have had other job offers, none have been in acute care. One was in LTC and another in Adult Mental Health. I accepted the LTC job and was there for two weeks before resigning due to very poor working conditions, and a total lack of training. Example: I was expected to pass meds to 44 residents with no orientation to the med cart, procedures or residents. There was supposed to be a picture of each resident in the MAR since none of them wear identification bands-out of the 44, three had pictures. One night I was passing meds until 3:30am-out of three other nurses in the facility, no one offered to help. It was not an acceptable risk. My heart is in the ER, but I'm not given a chance to prove myself and that is what is most disturbing. Seeing that most employers require graduation from a NLN or CCNE accredited program, and the job market being what it is, I find myself in the undesirable position of pursuing a BSN, without the benefit of first getting 1-2 years clinical experience in an acute environment. The catch 22, as you know all too well, is that earning a BSN does not guarantee obtaining a nursing position. Hang in there, volunteer in an area in which you have interest within the medical field. I have recently trained to begin working as a volunteer victim's advocate with the Rape Crisis unit of the local Magnet hospital. It is not what I would have chosen for myself, however, it is the only door which is open at this time, and I love to give back to the community. Take heart, you are NOT alone.

Before making or buying any gifts for nursing school staff and instructors, check the gifting policy of the college and in particular the nursing department. Where I graduated, the policy allowed for gifts $25 or less only. The rationale was to avoid the appearance of favoritism. My graduating class was small as well-7 graduated, we began with 11. In any case, a classic, albeit predictable gift, is a signed picture of the class in an engraved frame. Sorry that I don't have any original ideas.....Congratulations on successfully completing nursing school.

Im looking into Rn to BSN programs right now. I wont even entertain the school if its accreditation comes ip for review within five years. The notion that every program is accredited by NLN is a widely accepted misconception. My understanding is that the program must be recognized/accredited by the state board of nursing in order to be considered for eligibility to sit for the NCLEX.

Thanks spparky. I'm very discouraged right now.....

First of all, I'm just relating my discouragement and disappointment with the VA hiring process because I need to get it out. I interviewed with the VA in June after applying for a job back in late April. The interview went well and I was given a conditional job offer in late June. I went through the five hours of online paperwork including VetPro, background check and other things. A representative from the VA called me and scheduled my physical and fingerprinting. Everything went well and I thought it would only be a matter of a short period of time before I would begin work. Then I had an appointment with one of the human resource hiring managers who informed me that since my school wasn't NLN or CCNE accredited, I was not eligible for employment. You could have knocked me down with a feather. After calls to the director of the nursing program from which I graduated, and checking online, it was determined that the program was indeed not accredited by either organization at the time of my graduation. Further searching online revealed that there are waivers for the accreditation requirement that may be granted by the nurse executive of the VA facility. Mine was not approved. This is so upsetting and discouraging that it is hard for me to even want to continue a job search-I graduated in December of 2011, received my license in March and have been looking ever since. The most upsetting part to me is I am the spouse of an active duty military member who has 18 years of service in so far. Due to his career, my nursing education has been uprooted and restarted numerous times. The school where I completed the major nursing school prerequisites (and where I wanted to attend,) has a wait list of 3 years. They ARE NLN accredited. The school which I ended up attending due to no wait list and direct acceptance, is not. To make a long story shorter, my spouse got orders to the other side of the states 6 months before the date of my graduation, and we decided that if I didn't stay and complete the 6 months, it could have taken another 3-4 years to get into a school and graduate, IF they accepted me immediately upon application. I stayed behind and finished school while the rest of my family moved to the other coast to begin another duty assignment. When school was over, I drove cross-country and joined my family. Since then, I've been trying to become reacquainted with my family. What seems so ironic to me is that I put my education/career on hold so many times so that our family could serve the country through the military. Now that I'm seeking a position with a government agency, I'm told "your education isn't good enough, because the NLN hasn't accredited it." We've faithfully served the country and the military with at times, great personal sacrifice, and I'm not good enough to serve the veterans of the same military. I'm just so disheartened right now. Thanks for respecting my need to vent.

I'm a new grad-RN licensed in February and have moved to Georgia from California. I have applied, volunteered and attended job fairs. All that has netted no calls or interest from any hospitals. I have been offered a total of two jobs since graduating. One in mental health and one in a LTC facility. I did apply to the local VA as well and was called for an interview (still waiting to hear back from them.) In the meantime I accepted a position in the LTC facility which turned out to be somewhat of a nightmare. After two weeks, I came to the conclusion that to keep my license in tact, it would be necessary to resign. Instead of chasing jobs, my next course of action will be to return to college for RN to BSN courses. One more job fair this Thursday, and then I'm hanging it up for a BSN. Hiring procedures and processes are regional. For example, where I graduated in California, NO hospitals are hiring new grads. Down south (about 8 hours) from where I graduated two or three hospitals are hiring about 10 new grads each. Here, in Georgia, it's hit or miss whether new grads get hired or not. If you are in school right now, make the best impression during clinicals, job offers can come as a result.

Oh dear! To help take the edge off the nerves, the lady who taught our refresher class said this, "It's just a test ladies and gentlemen. Relax and go in there and just tell the computer what you know. It's just another test. You've had tests like this the whole way through school." These statements helped me immensely. It is just another test. The difference is the testing environment. If you think about it, almost every test we take throughout school is a make or break. In my program, each semester we were given a pharmacology test which was different each time. If we didn't get a 90% or higher, we could retest one time. If the score the second time was not >90%, you were automatically removed from the program and could not return. One could argue that we have to pay a lot to take the NCLEX. While that's true, compare that to the tuition you paid......... NCLEX IS just another test....prepare the best you know how, and go show them what you know. I passed in February-in 75 questions. The day before the test, I received horrific news that changed my life forever. The news was so bad, I even debated not taking the test. Keep it in perspective and go forth and conquer!

I was in a very similar situation recently. I was hired by a LTC and for many reasons, it didn't work out. I was there for only two weeks. Every time I stepped in the facility, my license was in jeopardy and I had no peace about things that were happening on a regular basis. To make a long story short, I called and spoke directly to the DON on the phone and told her I wouldn't be back, that I felt I wasn't the right person for the job. She said she understood and that she needed it in writing. I typed one up and sent it registered mail to avoid being told "we never received a resignation letter." After reading many stories on this website, my take on the whole situation was that the only way I could protect my license was to not go back. I was still in orientation and therefore didn't leave them with holes or short of a nurse since my presence wasn't counted anyway. My preference was to give two weeks notice, but there were too many things that couldn't be overlooked. Protect your license and your sanity. Move on.

This one got my through nursing school, I apologize but I don't know who originally said it;"Courage doesn't always roar. *Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day which says, I will try again tomorrow."