Hiro_RN

I've always wanted to be an ICU nurse. During clinicals, the ICU nurses were always called upon when something was just not right with the patient. They were a part of the "rapid response" team and I've gained an interest in that. I had a goal to start in ICU right after nursing school, but I hear it's very difficult to get a job. I graduated from nursing school at the end of July of this year, and passed the boards about a month after graduation. The first two weeks of applying for jobs, i was very determined to get an ICU job. I've only applied to ICU positions. However, I received rejection email after rejection email stating that they are not interested in new nurses. At the time, I worked as a PCT on a med/surg telemetry floor. I've given up on applying else where and decided I should try to get a job on my unit. The unit has a brand new nurse manager and I was told that I should work more PCT shifts so he can see how my work ethic is. I was a bit offended because past PCTs that went for their RN were offered an RN job right away. I put in my two weeks as a PCT and pursued other places to work. I've applied for Mayo Clinic's GN program and listed my interest in the ICU. I was told there would only be one spot for ICU, but I was very determined. The whole process took about two months with filling an application and turning in documents such as transcripts and recommendation letters. I was pre-screened with a telephone interview and was chosen for a panel interview with 5 different nurse managers and the recruiter. I found out this past monday that I was accepted into their GN program in the medical ICU. I got pretty lucky! I am glad that my old hospital did not offer me an RN position. Everything worked out the best for me. Just keep the determination strong. You are bound to be an ICU nurse some day =)

Good luck to all of you!

I passed the NCLEX a couple days ago. I enrolled in a Kaplan class (classroom and online). I did at least 150 practice questions per day. I also reviewed each test or quiz questions and answers with rationale. I wrote down the ones I got wrong or weren't sure of and reviewed them each day as well. Kaplan was very good at giving me endurance at sitting down and taking long exams. I also agree with JbreezyRN that Kaplan's priority, delegation questions were pretty similar to NCLEX style. I used Saunders for content review. I haven't tried lacharity but only heard good stuff about it. Good luck on the exam! Go in there with confidence!

congrats badphish! I checked Default , typed in my info and it said that my "Overall Examination Status: PASS" !!! I assume I will have to wait a couple more days to see my RN license number show up online? It feels so surreal! PVT worked for me. For those who didn't get it this time, stay strong! I've studied like I never studied before for this exam, but I believe that confidence was the integral key in order for me to get through this exam. Keep your chin up!

I'm 22 years old. I just graduated from the BSN program from UNF. I just took the NCLEX-RN earlier today. According to the PVT, i Passed! Waiting on the unofficial results within the next day or two

Congratulations! and Happy Belated Birthday! :balloons: I hope to have the same happy ending as you did. I took my NCLEX-RN exam this morning and also did the full 265 questions within 2.5 hours. That was dreadful. I came out feeling that I've gotten 99% of the questions wrong. However, I checked PVT this afternoon and got the good pop up. What a huge relief.. but I hope the trick holds truth for me. Waiting on quick results until then..

Yes, sitting for 265 was a BEAST. I just took a deep breath and tried hard to re-collect myself. I didn't want to take a break. I just wanted to get out of there! Advice to those who are about to take the test.. Don't get discouraged if you don't stop at 75 or even go all the way to 265! You've survived years of nursing school. Just take a big, deep breath and keep on going with the fight! You can do it! Getting the good pop up was a much needed stress reliever. I felt so sure that I failed coming out of the test. Let's see what happens! I hope to return the next day or two to tell you all that I passed

Hi everyone, I took the NCLEX-RN this morning at 8am. Got out of there around 1030 after 265 questions. I almost cried when I saw 76 come up. I almost gave up hope when I saw 150! After that, I felt the test dragged on.. Throughout the rest of the exam, I felt that I was getting every other question wrong. I came out of the test center thinking that I was 99% sure that I failed. I called everyone crying that I worked so hard the past 4 years just to fail this exam.. I got home around noon and did the PVT trick and got the good pop up. Let's hope it will work for me! Congrats to all of those who just passed and good luck to the rest who are about to take it!