Madds06

1. Geographic location: Ohio 2. Pay rate: $28/he 3. In which area / specialty do you work? ICU stepdown 4. What type of license do you have (RN or LPN)? RN 5. What type of degree and/or certification do you have? BSN 6. How many years of experience do you have? Less than 1 year 7. Are you full-time, part-time, or casual / per diem / PRN status? Full Time 8. What shift do you work? Swing, mostly 3pm-3am 9. Do you receive any shift differential? $1.25/hr from 3p-11p, $1.75/hr from 11p-7a and $1.50 extra on weekends. 10. Are you a manager or supervisor? Neither

hello all!! congrats on getting accepted into this wonderful program. can someone please let me know how to do the debt to salary ratio percentage??

Congrats yisy4u!!!! So proud of you!! We are nurses!!!! Yayyyyyy!!!! Sorry I wasn't responding back today- I tore my ACL on June 21 and had to have reconstruction surgery today! I'm doing okay.. In some pain.. But at least I passed boards the first time and can focus on getting better! The difference between Qbank vs Qtrainers are just the number of questions. There are 7 Qtrainers and they range from 75-265 questions.. I think of them as "practice NCLEX tests". The Qbank is approximately 1200-1250 questions and you can take practice tests that are timed. You can select the different areas (psychosocial, health promotion, etc) that you need practice in. You can also choose the number of questions from 10-50. They are both fabulous tools and I don't think I would have passed Nclex without either of them. Most definitely not in 75 questions.

Diagnostic test: 61% Readiness test: 61% Q trainer # 1: 63% Q trainer # 2: 59% Q trainer # 3: 53% Q trainer # 4: 59% Q trainer # 5: 61% Q trainer # 6: 64% Q trainer # 7: 64% Completed 100% of qbank with an overall score of 62%

Hey- it is under RN sample test # 4 in the QBank window!

Good luck!!!! You can do it!!!! Praying for you!!

Congrats!!!! So happy for you!!!

I had a nice, long, hard workout at the gym the evening before!

Honestly- I took Kaplan and their SATA I NEVER got correct! I took the 50 question SATA test of Kaplans and got a 32% (which I was kind of happy about considering how hard they are). I will say my Nclex SATA were not NEAR as hard as Kaplans. Did you take a review course? Was wondering if there was a specific companies that you were having trouble with.

Hello everyone! I took NCLEX this afternoon and after 75 questions (many SATA) my computer shut off :) what an amazing feeling!! My first question was a SATA! Then questions 3,4,6 were SATA! Then at question 12, I had SIX SATA IN A ROW! I prepared with Kaplan and honestly believe that I did well today because of the Kaplan course! Immediately after, I tried to re-register and got the "good pop-up"!! Good luck to all who are taking it in the near future!! Try to relax, take deep breaths, say a prayer and remember THE CORRECT ANSWER IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!!

Our instructor told us that you need a 65% on qtrainer 4 and 5 and a 60% on qtrainer 6 and 7. She said if you have done all of the qbank with a cumulative of 60% or greater you are ready to sit for the NCLEX!

I take mine this Tuesday. My Kaplan qtrainer 6 score is a 64% and qtrainer 7 is 63.4%. Just finished 100% of qbank today with an overall score of 62%!! Ekkkkk!! Getting so nervous!

Glad everyone is having a good experience in the CCU! The best thing to start reviewing is hemodynamics! That's what I saw used so very much in the CCU I was in. Also any of your critical care lectures pertaining to the heart, STEMI's, telemetry, and IABPs!

How is your precepting experience going in the CCU??

Just had a pt last night who came in with DKA.. Blood glucose was 1900!!

I use the fast facts ALL THE TIME!! It came in really handy when I would get home and think of steps to do something with the swan ganz catheters and I just kept going over it step by step with the help of that app! You have to let me know how it is going!! I was super nervous to get started and now I'm getting into a routine and getting to know all the staff! It's an amazing experience!! Ask lots of questions!! And another thing, I always write down stuff throughout the night (I am on night shift) that I am unfamiliar with or even things I hear other nurses talking about and look it up on my days off!! Good luck, ill be thinking about ya!!!

Oh it's going amazing!!! My preceptor loves to teach and he really likes orienting new nurses!! You will love it! I have done six 12 hour shifts so far and can't even tell you all that I have learned! When do you start in the CCU?? On my first night, he asked me if I wanted to focus on one thing a night (learning wise) or just throw it all together.. And I went with throwing it all together! We do a lot with hemodynamics- swans, a-lines, cvvhd (I had no clue what this was til I googled it), and balloon pumps. I've had patients that are intubated and some that aren't.. Some post caths and we pull the lines. Lots of drips.. Most common I have seen are versed, nitro, norcuron, and lots and lots of LEVO! If you have any questions at all, feel free to ask :)

Thank you all for your input!!! I just purchased the app called "Fast Facts in Critical Care" by Kathy White and the IABP and Cardiac Surgery one to go with it! I really appreciate you all replying! I will brush up on all the stuff you mentioned!! I start Oct 22, so I will update you on how it's going! My preceptor is a grad student at our university and is our tudor in critical care (which I am just finishing up now)! He loves to help and teach students so I'm very excited!

I am so thrilled! I just found out that I will be precepting in the CCU! I was going to post this in the nursing student area, but wanted to get some feedback from CCU nurses!!! What would you want your preceptor to know coming in to the CCU as a senior nursing student?? Skills to brush up on?? Any websites or books that are beneficial for a student nurse to read before precepting in the CCU?? Thanks in advance!!

My first day with my patient were great!! She was very friendly and had a great sense of humor!! All was well until I left.. I backed into the Director of Nursings car in the parking lot while leaving.. Needless to say, she knew who I was the entire rotation! So embarrassing! But that was 2 years ago and I will graduate in May! :)