DLuxe

1) Many places say they want experience but I wouldn't let that discourage you. When I was looking for a job as a new grad I had HR tell me that the hospital DID NOT hire new grads in the OR. Well, I applied for it anyways and got the job no problem....

I was hired as a new grad (hadn't even taken the NCLEX yet) and both hospitals I have worked at have routinely hired new grads. I don't really see how critical care experience would really be relevant unless you were recovering patients.

3$/hr for being on call and time and a half when you are called in BUT we have scheduled "late days" where you are on call for a few hours past your 8hr shift and if you have to stay you only get paid time and half for that if it puts you over 40hrs/...

That, for the most part, I get to hang out with intelligent, funny and interesting people all day. With the exception of a few individuals most everyone I work with is awesome (including a few of the MDs). I am one of those people that loves making...

It is totally going to depend of the facility and the shift you will be hired onto. At both facilities I have been there were always opportunities to trade call with your co-workers. I could pretty easily get rid of pretty much all of my call if I wa...

We use water for lumpectomies and other small cancer surgeries although there usually isn't a whole lot of irrigating actually going on.

I am in my final semester of nursing school (accelerated BSN) and managed to get placement in the main OR at a local hospital for my internship. The internship is full time, 216 hrs, and starts in a couple weeks. I haven't been able to talk with my ...

You can request an internship at a facility outside of Tallahassee (in Florida) but they have a list of facilities so if you had one in mind you could ask someone at the CON about it. Your internship is the last six weeks of the program (our class is...

Hi CNA Sam! Well I finished my first two days! Got to see four surgeries and helped out as much as I could (which isn't that much!). My preceptor is pretty awesome and the rest of the staff has been welcoming. The hardest part is standing ALL day!...

Nizzle, For clarification my quoted 50+ hrs was a total of class time and studying time for me. The time spent out of classroom really depends on your style. If you read every assigned reading and go all out studying then it could take up an almost e...

Thanks for the tips! I am glad everyone is saying that asking questions in generally well received because I LOVE to ask questions. I will of course check with my preceptor and surgeon first. I bought the pocket guide to the OR and hopefully I will ...

H, Thank you for the words of encouragement! Unfortunately in the short term I really only have this one facility. I am relocating to a small rural midwestern town with limited options. I guess one year in med/surg won't kill me, right? Right? It w...

I am so bummed out right now! I just spoke with an HR rep at the hospital I am applying to for after graduation and she said they don't hire new grads in surgery!! They mostly just hire them to med/surg floors. BLARGH. Now I am worried I will be e...

It depends on the semester and how much time you spend studying. You can expect to be lecture or lab atleast 4-5 hrs a day and then when you start clinicals (summer) that is two eight hour days with lecture the rest of the week. It is full time bet...

My first day is next Wednesday (10/26) and the internship is 216 hours over 6 weeks but we can stay an extra week if we want and our preceptor is OK with it. Finally a clinical experience without care maps!!

Hexen, Thanks for all your wonderful advice. For my first week objectives I put to become familiar with the physical environment of the OR (since I've never been in one), sterility and patient safety. I sometimes have a problem with filtering what I ...

Talked to my preceptor and she seems nice but pretty old-school. She said she likes students to have goals they want to meet during their internship. I honestly know so little about the OR that I am not even sure where to start with goals. I have ...

dhelin: That's awesome. The hospital I am going to is kind of small but does routinely have students since there are about four nursing schools and one medical school in town. Are you just observing so far or what? Do you get to do any pre-op stuf...

You have to maintain a 75% average on the tests in the courses to pass, not everyone managed that. I also heard the first ABSN class lost a couple people during the summer as well. Time management and the ability to differentiate between what is i...

The summer was crazy (two full days at the hospital and 5 hrs of lecture the other days) and we lost a couple students to test grades but after that it's all down hill. We have one more day of class and start internship in a week. The end is in sig...

Current 2011 ABSNer here. Last year we were able to call the CON and they would tell us if we got in before we got our letters. Wish you all the best of luck!

To anyone who has registered, what is the deal with the group A and B business? Can you tell which you are registering for or are they just going to randomly split us up? ****** said to me "don't worry about regeristing right away, all the classes a...

They sent out several emails last night with tons of info about registration, clinicals and so on. Unfortunately I am unable to register despite having no stops on my account. Great. Looks like I will have to spend some time on the phone today!

I'm in!! Congrats 2011BSN!

Supposely the applicants have been ranked and they are waiting for word from the Dean on how many they can accept but if you call tomorrow afternoon they should be able to tell you if you got accepted! Hopefully they really mean it this time!