j2mp79

I do enjoy working at St Francis though like anywhere some days are better than others! As far as the PCA/CCP working together goes, think of it as there is one support staff for every six patients, so not unlike where you are now. They do similar things except the PCAs handle all blood draws, ECGs, and glucose checks, among other things. Overall I think the ratios are good, but on some days depending on your specific patient mix it can seem either great or not enough. And on days when we work short it can be a bit more challenging of course. As far as Magnet goes, I can't really say how much of a difference that makes as I've not worked anywhere else. Nurses participate in councils and committees so we do get formal input into certain things. Not sure if that's the norm at non-magnet facilities.

It's been awhile since I took the pharm exam but I do remember it had questions on side effects/interactions, indications, etc for the most common drugs we see. I'd focus on hypertension meds, beta blockers, anticoagulants/anti platelet drugs, and insulin to name a few. Also review some basic calculations. If the process is still the same you get two chances to pass the exam and they provide some remediation to help you prepare for the second if you don't pass the first. Good luck!

I'm an RN on one of the med-surg/tele units at St Francis and the ratio is usually 6 patients per nurse; occasionally 7. We usually have 3 PCAs and 3 CCPs on the floor...one PCA and one CCP work together and are paired with two RNs and their 12 patients.

The password is "compression"

I believe St. Francis Hospital in Nassau County Long Island has a loan repayment program for new nurses hired for night shift.

I don't understand nurses who do this. I was never a PCT but if I walk a patient to the bathroom in the morning I make their bed then - why would I take time to find someone else to do it? I'm never going to ask someone else to do something I'm not willing to do myself.

I've not been at SFH for as long as adelphiRN, but don't think it's quite THAT bad. Yes it's busy and yes the patients we see in med-surg units are in some cases much more acute than would be likely in med-surge units in other hospitals. Maybe each SFH unit is different but I'd say more often than not I don't have 8 patients - 7 or 6 is more common. And I feel like most times I do have the help I need - either from support staff, managers, or other nurses.

I'm just finishing my second full week on my own after three weeks of classroom orientation and four weeks working with a preceptor. I definitely feel dumb at some point every day but I just keep reminding myself that it's going to take time to get to know how everything works. It's very frustrating, especially in situations where a patient is having significant issues and I'm fumbling around trying to figure out which pager number to call for which provider. In the end I know that I'm doing my best as long as my patients are safe. All that other knowledge will come with time.

My ABSN cohort that started fall 2011 was closer to 250.

Can't speak specifically about getting hired directly into an ED setting but in general new grad positions in the city are highly competitive and limited. I just graduated in December and applied to lots of jobs open to new grads in the city but never heard back on any. It seems a better shot for new grads might be in areas immediately surrounding the city (Long Island, NJ, CT). I can tell you any ED job postings I saw all required at least one year of actual ED nursing experience. I've even heard from friends with a year or two of non-ED nursing experience that hospitals weren't even interested in talking to them about ED jobs. Perhaps the outlook will improve and will be better when you start your search. If you can I'd highly recommend staying in MO and getting at least a year of experience...you'll open up a lot more opportunities that way. Good luck!

A school requiring a student who fails a class to retake it is a money grab? Seriously?

I don't know about non-hospital agencies specifically, but do know there are hospitals hiring new grads outside of the immediate NYC area. Stamford Hospital in CT has a new graduate nurse program - it's about a 45-minute train ride from Grand Central and the hospital provides a shuttle from the Stamford train station. Also St. Francis Hospital just outside Queens in Nassau County is hiring new grads. The commute there is not as easy though as the hospital isn't particularly close to an LIRR station. I know it's not the city, but if you can stick it out for a year at a place like that you will have a much greater chance of being hired by a hospital in the city. Good luck!

That's a pretty broad topic. What specifically are you confused about? How to apply? How it gets awarded?

I am sure every facility is different but my experience in New York was that most wouldn't even consider an application until I had passed NCLEX. Never hurts to apply but it might be that it sits in a pending pile until you let them know you have your license.

Yes, I believe you need to be accepted and enrolled before you can apply for any of the NYU-sponsored scholarships. The College of Nursing is very good about advertising them and sending reminders when application deadlines are approaching but it's incumbent on you to actually follow through and submit all the required materials by the deadline. Also don't forget about any outside scholarships too.

I can't speak to your specific situation but can share my experience and why I chose the route I did. I had planned on applying to Hunter's accelerated program but after reviewing the pre-reqs and other requirements, including the small size of the program, I knew that it could be a year or more of additional waiting/pre-req completion time before I could even be eligible to apply. So instead I opted for NYU, got in, and just completed the program in December. The estimated costs you have for NYU seem accurate to me (assuming this is just tuition/fees). I had sticker shock at first too, but once I realized that I could apply, attend, and graduate from NYU in the amount of time it might take for me to even be eligible to apply to Hunter it seemed worth it. Most people I know who attended NYU (myself included) didn't get a ton of financial aid. I applied for and received one scholarship that definitely helped, but the majority of my aid came in the form of loans. I also had some money saved that I used so in the end I came out with about $35,000 in loans. Others in the program ended up with loan balances far higher than that. As far as the program itself, I was quite happy with it. There were some negatives of course, but every program will have it's good and bad points. Looking back I don't regret the decision at all...but check back in a few months when my loan payments start up. :-) If you have any more specific questions I'm happy to answer what I can. Good luck!

What makes An excellent career is a pretty personal thing. I'd think that if the OPs career was an excellent fit for her she wouldn't be considering a change.

Avas- I accepted an offer a couple weeks ago and pending their background check and a physical I'll be starting in a few weeks. I feel extremely fortunate to have found something so quickly. The job market in NYC for new grads is pretty bleak right now, and having several hospitals close due to Sandy last fall hasn't helped. But if you work hard to make contacts during your clinicals it should help down the road.

Kmp - I'm going to work for at least a year and then think about going back.

Helwa - From what I understand NYU looks at a lot of things when making decisions - not strictly GPA and past academic records. My first degree is in journalism (3.6 GPA) and I have a master's in management (3.8 GPA) and had 15-years experience working in communications, marketing, an public relations. I had done no volunteer or other health-related work when I applied. So I think that shows that they aren't strictly looking for applicants who have worked in health care or have health care-related degrees. Hope that helps!

Total cost for the four semesters at NYU was more than $80,000, which does not include housing/books/living expenses - definitely a big commitment. For me it made the most sense considering the other options in NYC; otherwise I'd probably still be waiting to actually start somewhere. I did get some scholarships and other financial aid but the bulk came from loans and my own money I had saved. In hindsight I'm sure I could have been more aggressive with applying for scholarships. If you have other, more reasonable options with good programs I'd say you should definitely strongly consider them. NYU has a good program but not sure it's exponentially better to justify the cost difference. I live in an apartment in Queens, which is much cheaper than most areas of Manhattan. It took me about 40 minutes to get to campus by subway, which isn't bad.

Hi kmp - I actually just completed the program in December and overall really enjoyed it. There are some downsides for sure, but I imagine that is true of any program. I felt the instructors were excellent and the clinical opportunities were good. For anyone I'd recommend being very active in their clinical experience and trying to make the most of it that you can. The instructors are there to help and facilitate your learning, but they can't know exactly what each student wants if you don't speak up. Other than electives that you take in your final semester, Lectures were all in large theater-type rooms with the entire cohort in each one. I never found this to be a concern since the professors were always very accessible during breaks or before and after class if you needed to talk with them individually. The workload is heavy at times, but if you manage your time well and stay on top of everything it's very manageable. And everyone's experience in that regard will be different depending on how you learn best and how much additional study time you might need. Let me know if you have any other specific questions - I'm happy to answer anything I can. Good luck!

I started in the program in Fall 2011 and there were close to 300 in our cohort.

Hi Kristina - You may have already found this but there are threads in the NY State Nursing Programs forum specifically about the NYU program; the one for fall 2013 applicants is here: https://allnurses.com/new-york-state/nyu-absn-fall-810051.html I just completed NYU's accelerated program in December and overall really enjoyed the program. There are some downsides for sure, but I imagine that is true of any program. I felt the instructors were excellent and the clinical opportunities were good. For anyone I'd recommend being very active in their clinical experience and trying to make the most of it that you can. The instructors are there to help and facilitate your learning, but they can't know exactly what each student wants if you don't speak up. I'm just now beginning my job search so can't speak to how desirable the NYU degree is to potential employers...check back in a few months on that! I'd imagine that the NYU degree would be well received by graduate programs. Finding pet-friendly apartments in the city can be challenging - I have pets and the options were limited when I first started looking. I live in Queens, which I found to be much more affordable than most places in Manhattan; the same is true of areas in Brooklyn and either wouldn't be a terrible commute to NYU depending on where you were. If you have any other specific questions I'm happy to answer if I can. Good luck!

I took the Kaplan course since our school paid for us to take it. While it was helpful, I don't think it's necessary if you plan to use other Kaplan resources like the QBank and question trainers. While it was good to hear the instructor walk through questions and talk about strategies to use in getting to the right answer, there's no reason you can't do that on your own. After the class I spent a little time each day doing sets of QBank questions and some of the question trainers on Kaplan. I also worked through all chapters in the LaCharity Prioritization and Delegation book. I had Saunders and the Kaplan course book and referred to each if I needed to clarify content based on a question I answered incorrectly. Otherwise, I did not focus much on content at all. Bottom line: I think you'd be fine using Kaplan questions without the course.