NewSN13

I was "just a tech" in the ER while I was in nursing school (you know, like 2 months ago!!). I always thought it was interesting when fellow techs got upset when they were treated like "just a tech," but had no problem looking down other staff members. A good environmental services person could definitely make my day easier. I never took those guys/girls for granted!!

I just did questions. In my program, we did an NCLEX prep class during the last semester, which included taking the Exit HESI twice. That helped give me a good idea of any areas I was weak in and focus on those. Since alternate format items are the bane of mine (and every nursing student's!!) existence, I made myself practice those. I used Saunders and loved it because it allows the user to generate questions based on content area or question type, among other things. As my test date got closer, I used the NCBSN review. It has content review and questions. I honestly didn't do much of the content review because my previous preparation kind of evened out my weak spots but doing questions that are written by the same people who write NCLEX questions gave that extra little bit of confidence going in to the test. The most important aspect is a steady, consistent approach. To do well, it requires the years of knowledge that you've gained. Doing questions, reading rationales, and just using and keeping that knowledge fresh and practiced is the best prep! It sounds like you're doing that already!

You're good! Just try to relax and think about other things while you wait for more definitive results. But I'd say you passed!

Nursing is my second bachelor's. Once in, the CC here is 4 semesters of part time study. The university is 5 semesters of full time study. Given that and the fact that I would need a BSN for the job I wanted, it was a no-brainer to just get another bachelor's.

Now is relax and take care of yourself time! You have the knowledge, now it's time to just believe in yourself! For test day, just remember that the rules are super strict. My whole mantra was "keep it simple." I left everything in my car except for my car keys and my ID. I dressed in non-bulky, comfy clothes (yoga pants, fitted t-shirt and a light sweatshirt). Plan something fun/relaxing the day of the test, too. Whether it's lunch with friends or a special dinner, just try to think of things to keep your mind off the test because if you're like most of us, you'll want to obsess over it. But once it's over, it's over, and your time is better spent trying to blow off some stream and enjoy a test-free, school-free life rather than worry while waiting for results! Best of luck! You've got this!

My new grad residency program asked for GPA and transcripts. I don't know how much it played into hiring decisions.

I worked as a tech during nursing school and found it beneficial for my own growth and understanding as well as useful in securing a job before I graduated. I worked in an ER that serves as the only trauma center for a large geographic area. I saw and did a lot during my time there. I made learning a priority. Most of the doctors, nurses, and ancillary staff were really open to teaching and I seized those opportunities. Having patient contact and working in a hospital made me much more comfortable in clinical settings during school. I did my senior preceptorship in the unit that I was hired into. I worked my tail off and used some of the skills and confidence I had from my job to help make a favorable impression. My RN position is with a different hospital system than I used to work for and in a unit that has very few similarities to the ER but I still think it was a benefit for me to have held that position while I was in school. There are no guarantees, a fact that you understand. Among my fellow new grads, some have landed jobs because of their clinical placements during school, some because of their work experience, and some apparently just impressed employers on paper without any type of connection to the job/facility. I don't see a downside to healthcare experience and opening up networking opportunities!

Congrats! I also used NCSBN as well as jotting down notes/rationales. Although I didn't spend any time really reviewing my notes, I felt like writing it down made it stick in my head better!

It may be worth checking with your facility's HR department to clarify that you would be eligible for hire with an associate's. The health system I worked for during school, in the ER, would not consider non-BSN prepared nurses as new hires. I worked with nurses who had years and years of charging experience in the ER and are not considered "qualified" if they wanted to move to a different position/department. No one that works with them believes them to be unqualified but HR ultimately holds the power in that struggle.

Motivation is highly individual but for me, I considered all that I had put into being a nurse. Semesters of pre-reqs and nursing school. Tuition, cost of books, cost of other supplies, the cost of the test. Early mornings, late nights. Time away from my family. The contingent offer for my dream job. That was more than enough for me to sit down and stick with my plan!

I felt the same way! Even though everyone says that it feels awful when it is over, I was *certain* that I failed. It's easier said than done but try not to think about it too much! It's over now and you'll having your passing results soon!!

I took my NCLEX on 1/22. I did 75 questions in 45 minutes. My results were on hold when I tried the pop-up. According to the NCSBN website, "Exam results that exhibit unusual statistic patterns will be placed on hold for further investigation. Exam log, item response time, answering patterns and video recording at the test center are carefully reviewed for the score hold cases to ascertain validity of the exam results. Once validity of an exam result is established, the held score will be released to the appropriate board of nursing and subsequently to the candidate." It also mentions that it can take a few additional days to resolve test issues that result in a hold. With all of that said, in my case, the hold pop-up only showed up for the first 12 hours or so after the exam then changed to the "good" pop-up after that and a little under 48 hours later, my quick results posted, confirming I passed. I kept telling myself that if I had failed, they wouldn't bother to review my results. I didn't do anything wrong, besides perhaps reading/answering questions quickly, so any review would show that I took the test without violating any rules. Hang in there!!

I took it Wednesday and was surprised that I didn't see both generic and trade since I was also under the impression that both would be given.

Amen! I push myself hard to learn the material because when this is all said and done, peoples' health and well-being is going to be at the mercy of my knowledge and abilities. This is serious business and if anything, I would push to set the bar higher, not lower. (75%+ to pass in my program, for what it's worth)

I applied this time last year and my acceptance letter came mid-April. It felt like an eternity! Good luck.

I'm no where near Louisiana but my school offers advanced placement in the BSN program for LPNs. Although, by "advanced placement," they really mean that you don't have to take two classed during the first semester but you're admitted with the rest of the cohort and it still takes 5 semesters of nursing school plus the 3-4 semesters of pre-reqs before even applying to NS. I think you have to keep in mind that a bachelor's degree contains a fair number of general education units unrelated to nursing. English, math, liberal arts, social sciences, natural sciences, etc. Then you have nursing program specific pre-reqs like A&P, microbiology, developmental psychology, communication, chemistry, statistics, nutrition. I have a previous bachelor's degree and I had to take 3 semesters of nursing-specific pre-reqs plus 5 semesters of NS so an 8 semester LPN to BSN isn't too bad. It sounds like a lot now but it goes by quick!

I wish that I would have taken all of the "nursing school is so hard and you'll never have a life!!!" talk with a huge grain of salt! It's not easiest of educational paths but I'll take it over a lot of other majors. I was prepared to hate my classmates, hate the course load, hate my professors, get eaten alive at clinicals, never see my husband and kids and watch my GPA take a hit BUT I love most of my classmates, the course work is intense at times, tedious at others and probably the busiest of any 14 credit semester I've taken but it was still manageable, I like and respect my professors, clinicals went well, I have plenty of family time - weekends in the mountains, kids' sporting events, Saturday's full of college football - and my GPA is intact.

I hate not having it count towards by GPA but I love the stress that P/F takes off of me. Out of 14 credits last semester, 4 of mine were P/F (I had two 1 credit labs and one 2 credit lab). Even though they were labs, we had theory tests, too. During weeks where I'd have two or three tests in my graded classes and one or two in my P/F classes, I'd prioritize the graded classes and usually lose all motivation to study for the P/F tests. Of course, without the stress, I'd do great on the P/F tests. The lab tests were much more straight forward (i.e. not NCLEX style).

Honestly, I rarely take my books to school. I have a North Face backpack with a padded compartment for my laptop (which I only sometimes take to school). I would occasionally take a book but mostly I had my binder - one huge one with stuff for every class so I didn't have to be organized and make sure the right things got into the correct binders or that the correct binders made it to class on their respective days - and pens and paper. With the big binder and sometimes my laptop, my load was semi-heavy so I appreciate having a well constructed backpack with sturdy straps.

I'm a mom and I really like nursing school! My kids are a bit older than yours (6 & almost 4) so I have them in school/childcare during the week from 8-4 (many mornings start early than this for me so my husband helps with kid transport). That's my school/study time. I can pretty much fit everything I need to do into those hours. I'm super organized with my time and use every minute of it that I need to in order to get stuff done. That way, when the kids are out of school, I'm in mommy mode - making dinner, taking them to activities, helping with homework, etc. I very, very rarely have to study on weekends although on nights before tests, I may review my notes after the kids are in bed (and of course I study during my daytime hours). By sticking to these hours, I spend about as much time on school as if I was working and I can balance my other obligations, too. It's hard to feel like you're taking time from your kids but the quality of time is more important that the quantity of time. And nursing school is a gift you're giving to both you and your child. The time taken away from baby now is going to be so worth it when you have a great, rewarding, awesome job!

I love school. I'm looking forward to our next semester and clinicals although I'm not super excited about some of the busy work that comes with it. After Christmas, I started getting antsy and feeling like I'm just wasting time and that if we could just start already we'd be closer to graduation! However, I my gripe is pretty much opposite of the OPs! Sure, I've seen postings about break going too quickly or that next semester is going to be a huge suck fest. But what gets me are the students who want to know what they should be studying over break! We've had professors send out schedules for next semester after getting requests from students. I get it, we're all Type A superachievers but break is a time to relax and recharge.* (*I really don't care what anyone does with their break. But if you text me and ask if I've been studying pharmacology, don't be shocked when I say "frick no!" There are "Real Housewives of the Hood" or whatever to catch up on and since it's been widely reported that our pharm professor tests straight from her notes, I'm not spending break time trying to imagine what might be in her notes that I may need to study.)

This, too. I should have clarified that my example was specific to my area. Our hospitals will hire new BSN grads to the ICU but not ASN grads. Of the two health systems I'm interested in working in, one has Magnet status and one is working towards it which also affects their hiring decisions. In my case, this is my 2nd bachelor's and because of sequencing (AP I then II, etc) and volume, it required 3 semesters of pre-reqs for both the ASN and BSN programs in the area. Once in, the ASN program is 4 semesters of less than full-time credits (6-10 per semester) versus 5 semesters of full-time credits (14-17 per semester) for the BSN. I don't have to work so the heavier course load is fine. I go to a public university that's very affordable - tuition and fees minus books is about $3500 per semester. For me, going straight for the BSN is worth it. OP, as you can see, there are a lot of variables that go into which option will be best for you. Job desires, local hiring policies, financials. Hopefully we've given you some things to think about to help guide you to the right decision for you!

Do you know what area(s) of nursing you would like to work in? Which hospitals employ the type of nurse that you want to be? What are their hiring policies? I ask because I think those are more relevant than being a male. If you want to work in critical care in a Magnet hospital, for example, being a male and any additional hiring perks that your gender may carry, won't mean a lot if your application is tossed because you don't hold a BSN.

As it was explained to us, and as is supported by the definition found here, a clear liquid diet consists of anything that is clear and liquid at room temp. It's not that they have to be eaten at a certain temp but by that definition, things like jello or popsicles, which don't really seem like liquids in the state that they are eaten, are included.

In my BSN program, it's pretty evenly divided between us old folks and the younger, first time college students. I've made a lot of great friends in my program and age doesn't seem to be much of an issue - the fact that we're going through this craziness together is a much stronger bond than anything else.