Aaron300RN

I personally think the policy that its hard to fire someone after 2 years is stupid. In the civilian sector you can loose your job any time. If your a good nurse, why would they fire you? I work for the VA and many people work the system, and are super lazy and unprofessional. The employer, no matter what sector, should be able to fire someone who doesn't do a good job.

Jenna, Thats a good question. I started out as an ER nurse 5 years ago and it was pretty rough! I remember that I got so stressed during my internship that I came down with shingles. I'm glad that I stuck with it because now I love it. I precept many new nurses in our high accuity, high volume ER and focus a lot of time working on stress management. I really dont think there could be a much more stressful place to work as a nurse. The first thing to keep in mind is just because it is chaotic around you, doesnt mean you have to let it get to you. You have to be the calm "eye of the huricane," as corny as that sounds. The key to this is to stay orginized. Find a system that works for you. Look at the nurses around you and see what works for them. Try out different systems during your internship and find what works. Also, dont work too much the first year. Do your 3 shifts and call it a week. It will be tempting to pick up shifts to "make dat money," but it's better to take it easy the first year. Your absolutly right about staying active. I'm real big into competative sports, helps burn off the frustration. Keep in mind that you cant change people, they have to change themselves. Your going to meet some rediculus people in our line of work. Try not to take it personal, stay calm, just do the best you can and go home when your shift is up. Try not to take this stuff home with you, but sometimes its hard. The bigest thing is dont be hard on yourself. You are not going to be good at this job for at least a year. No one is. I takes a long time to get good at it. There is no perfect nurse, you will make mistakes, you will fall behind. We all do. The important thing is that your not afraid to ask questions. I've been doing this for 5 years and I still ask quetions. I'll be asking questions when I'm 20 years in. Double and triple check meds. Dont get too rushed, thats when mistakes happen. Lastly, Enjoy it!! Have fun! Lough! Aaron

I'm really sorry to hear you did not pass. You must be in a lot of pain right now. But, you will get through this if you buckle down and apply yourself. You must sacrifice a lot of your time now and put everything you have into this. I think the best way to do that is with Kaplan. Kaplan is expensive, but its worth every penny. I took their review course after I failed the HESSI the first time, and it made a huge difference. Make sure you use the entire website. Watch all the videos, and do the video questions where the instructor will walk you through the questions and how to pick the right ones. Constantly do questions. My instructor told me to do 50 to 100 questions a day, and that worked for me. I also took the Sylvia Rayfield review because my work payed for it. It was a complete waste of time. Sylvia Rayfield does not even come close to Kaplan. So my Kaplan suggestion is: 1. do all the "content review videos" while fallowing along and taking notes in the course book they give you 2. when your done with the content review questions, move on to the vidoes that go step by step through questions 3. Do at least 50 questions a day, and when you get one wrong, look up the info that you didn't understand or know Kaplan has a suggested schedules depending on how much time you have till your next test. You might want to look at that so you can make a schedule for yourself to stick to. It's OK to fall down, its a Sin not to get back up! You can do this if you apply yourself.