ProudStudent

The ratio is common, but our unit tries to stick with a 1:5. When it goes 1:6 and the patients have that high of an acuity level, it becomes unsafe for you and your patients. Glad you spoke up instead of just trying to "keep swimming".

PVT still works! I got the good pop-up message and received my pass today!

Yes, I agree. Answer questions like you get paid for each one! The more you answer, the better you benefit. The nclex is a test of competency and there is no way for me to describe the best way to study. Some of the strategies for answering the questions I used came from Kaplan. 1. Textbook procedures, not real world nursing. (You always have enough time, staff, supplies and the orders are already there). 2. Care for the patient first and the equipment second. (If a patient in traction complains of pain, assess the pain before the equipment). 3. Be careful with answers like "call the physician, social worker, chaplain, OT/PT". The nclex will usually want to know what YOU, the nurse will do. 4. For priority questions, look for different strategies. Use Maslow, the nursing process, ABCs, Safety;etc. With Maslow, physiological needs (needed for survival) come before psychosocial needs. With the nursing process, ask yourself "Do I need to assess or implement?" If the question gives you the assessment data, the next step would be an implementation. With safety issues, your answer would be the one that causes the least amount of harm to the patient... like "stop the infusion". 5. For management of care questions, do NOT delegate assessment, teaching, evaluation or things that require nursing judgment. Delegate stable clients and tasks that involve predictable/standard/unchanging procedures. 6. For positioning questions, you're either trying to prevent or promote something. What is it? Think A&P here. 7. Communication questions seek therapeutic abilities. Things to eliminate "don't worry", "why", "authoritarian", "closed ended" and "explore" questions (explore means, "let's talk about why you didn't take your meds"). Don't forget that it's not about you, those "that happened to me" or "I know how you fell" are bad answers. I hope this helps. This is the framework I used and I was able to confidently answer questions I had no idea about.

You are not "just" a CNA! Sorry...had to throw that out there, lol. I've been a very hard-working CNA and will continue to appreciate the crap they deal with every day (literally). On another note, in FL.. you can check here: Default I've been looking since I took the nclex Saturday.

I'm getting excited for you 3!! Good luck tomorrow and please let us know how it goes! By 5:00pm, put everything down and enjoy a nice dinner. Try hard to get some good sleep. You didn't go through all of this without learning along the way. May patience, knowledge and confidence be on your side tomorrow :)

Btw, I actually recognized questions on the nclex from one of my resources. I don't know which one, but I remember thinking I've seen this exact question somewhere. Kaplan's test taking strategies were helpful. Google something about the nclex decision tree and see if that helps?

The test was "hard" in a sense that the questions were all the analysis style. I would get questions that mentioned symptoms in the stem and I had to know what disease process the question referred to in order to answer correctly. It sounds like you'll be well prepared if you continue to practice questions. I know how it feels to hear "you'll do fine" because I was sick of it. The anxiety is still there no matter what anyone has to say to you. Good luck! Remember to breathe and refocus yourself every few questions. Don't get tired and let your mind wander.

Eeeek!! I'm waiting for results.. I received the good pop-up today, less than 1 hour after taking the nclex.

I kept getting anywhere from 60%-70% on my scores with Kaplan and ATI, both. I just took the nclex this afternoon and received the good pop-up message. The test wasn't easy, but I did feel prepared by my reviews.

You certainly have my prayers! Good luck to you and keep answering questions.

I didn't work the first two semesters. Now that Summer is coming, I've picked up a student intern position for experience and money. I hope to work through my third and fourth semesters. I have plenty of classmates that work part time and full time hours and they're all doing ok. It depends on your stress capabilities. I suppose if you didn't think you could handle the pressure...you wouldn't wanna be a nurse ;-)

Thanks so much for the information. It makes sense that a CNA wouldn't be considered as an independent contractor, now that you mention it. I do have a Home Health Aide certificate as well, so I'll be sure to provide that to any potential employers. Again, thanks a lot!

Hello all! I'm currently finishing my first semester of nursing school, expecting to graduate and become a RN in a few more semesters. I am also currently a CNA in southwest FL. I have never worked in home health care, but I am considering it heavily at this time. I was hoping to get some insight from fellow students (with children/spouse at home), regarding the feasibility of balancing schedules between home health clients, full time classes and family. My family is in need of extra financial support and I would love to be able to gain some hands on experience during NS. I know I should contact an agency with all of my questions, which I will do when I decide the field will work for me and my family. But...if anyone could give me a little insight as to what they are already experiencing, I would greatly appreciate it. If I found an agency to work for, is it really THAT easy to set your own schedule? I'm only hoping for around $200 a week in salary. How easy is that to do? Do home health agencies typically give you a 1099 to file for tax purposes? Thanks for taking the time to read all of this!

It stinks that you were removed from the program, but the rules are the rules and they must make you understand how much of a liability this could have been. Like someone said in an earlier post, you could have diminished the relationship between your school and the clinical site. I'm sorry for your hardship, we all know how hard you worked to get into the program. Now, "chop-chop, lollipop"...you've got some work to do! Get back in there and change their minds about you please.

The semester is almost over?! It's so hard to believe. I too, was a straight-A student. I kept reading on this forum that students were not getting the A's they were used to, and I thought for sure that I would be the one to keep mine. Well, the joke's on me!!! I'm averaging an 88% in fundamentals, and 92% in Pharm and trying so gosh-darn hard to keep them. Three weeks left until finals and we'll be moving on to our second semester! Clinical days have been amazing. I spent some time in the ICU along with the OR for minor procedures and I was really excited to witness a bedside PICC insertion, but I learned a lot!! I managed to team up with a couple of super cool nurses who were sooo happy to show me new things. Being in semester 1, I've done IM/SC injections, urinary catheters and sterile dressing changes. I can D/C an IV, but not initiate one. I'm still one of those students that thinks you're not a nurse until you know how to put an IV in someone like a rockstar