Salutations

I am also awaiting a reply. I am hoping to be wait listed- I know I need more clinical experience. I only applied to FIU this year, but will be applying to UNF, USF, and FIU next year, if I don't get in this time. I'm looking to move out of Miami eventually, so this could be a catalyst. (Trying to look on the bright side after the interview. . . )

Submit everything else, if you have it. I was told that there was *some* leniency on the LOR getting in on time.

There was a time that I was being floated every other week to either tele or the ED, which was very frustrating. It's been several months since I was floated to tele, and when I was floated there last week, the cobwebs were firmly in place! It all comes down to the fact that you're comfortable at home, and may even have personality traits that led you there. I have some OCD/control traits, but am not very organized (Read: I like to know as much as possible about my patients and advocate for treatments and alterations in plans, but am terrible at managing 7 patients or dealing with the revolving door of the ED). The nurse who relieved me when I floated to tele was floating from the ED. She was exceptionally upset "I hate this place!" to which I responded "you hate this floor, or this hospital?" It was intended as a joke to lighten the mood, but actually upset her further. It's 12 hours, and if you can lean on the people you're working with while providing safe patient care, I think it'll make you a more rounded nurse to float every now and then. (My mantra whenever I float!)

Anyone apply for FIU's CRNA program for January or August 2016, or been through the application process in the past few years? I just received my invitation to interview email and am exceptionally nervous and excited!

GaMommy- Were you able to get everything in? I am still waiting on the LOR from my manager, but everything else is in. They're already scheduling information sessions with interviews!

When is the deadline? I had some very serious family health concerns, and was a little out of it. I'd love to apply this round though.

That's awesome, MatyIce! Congratulations. Would you be willing to share anything about the interview experience or about your application stats? I just took the GRE, and scored a 161, 161. I'll have about a year and a half in the ICU by the time I apply, and an thinking about studying for the CCRN.

I hope your interviews go well! Positive thoughts being sent your way :)

I really needed to see this today. I'm a few weeks away from my "nursary," and feel like I can keep my head above water. . . most days. I still have so much to learn!

Thank you all for chiming in. My unit has been going through a lot of changes - the ICU director and nurse manager were just replaced, and the CNO was replaced a few months ago. The suggestions are great- we currently get our own blood as we have (some days) one CNA for the three units. We also draw and bring up our own labs. The charge nurse usually does not have his/her own patients, and that was the case. Unfortunately, the report I normally receive is "no drips are going to run out while I'm gone, no calls out." The doppler is kept on the crash cart, which was just outside the room. My grabbing it may have wasted 10 seconds. You're right though, Been there,done that, I should have started bagging/compressions right away. I'm still learning, and know that it will be a career-long process. Any other suggestions that I can bring to my conversation with the nurse manager? What is the typical ratio for the ICU? I know I'm new, but I tend to feel a little overwhelmed with 3 patients on vents/drips, which most of our patients are.

I am a fairly new nurse (this month will be 1 year), but I am starting to notice things in my unit that concern me. As a for instance, this week: 3 ICU units in the hospital, each 8 beds. My unit had patients (one code bed for the hospital). Three nurses staffed, which meant that two of us only had two patients. One nurse went to CT with one of her patients, and the other nurse left to get blood. Neither gave me any type of report on their remaining patients. Alarm goes off in one room, I see that he's on levo, so I brought the doppler in with me to confirm no pulse. Thankfully, the charge nurse saw me pulling the crash cart, and a nurse from another unit heard my call for help. My question: Is it really safe to have only 3 nurses in the unit, and how do I keep another nurse there with me when both were carrying out stat orders?

When are your interviews? I am going to be taking the GRE at the end of this month, and starting the application process for next year. I'd be very interested to know what the interview process is like, and what your applicaitons looked like. :)

Just an FYI on vitals. I was a little confused by how the lab instructor in my class explained patient body positioning for BP. It's completely outlined on page 104 in Nursing Interventions & Clinical Skills. Amongst other things, the patient's arm should be supported, and the legs should not be crossed because it alters the reading. I can't find anything that tells us what we're supposed to read for Nursing Skills Lab. . . does anyone know where I should look for that?

I hope everyone enjoyed their first day as much as I did! All that stress, and I am quite comfortable with our first two professors. I even purchased two uniform tops for 1/5 of the bookstore price. I'm hoping tomorrow goes as smoothly as today did, and that I'm not jinxing anything (I'm Irish- we have to think about luck

Hey guys- I too have been trying to work as much as possible in order to save for the 16 months to come . . . I'm going to continue working, but they scared me into cutting back on hours during at least the first few months. I have a few questions for you guys though- I purchased a stethoscope from Medisave USA over 2 weeks ago, and the order is still 'processing.' Did anyone else purchase a stethoscope from them? I'm worried that i won't have it in time for our first lab. Has anyone received syllabi from classes other than Fundamentals of Nursing? I received that one and *will* read for the first class, but I fear that I will be behind in the other classes since I have not received word of any reading that needs to be done prior to the first class.

The professor emailed it to me... I am in sequence two, which might be why I received an email and others have not. Also, I think it is a wonderful idea for all of us to meet up after our first class :)

What a question! Most energy drinks are actually pretty bad for you. What I would actually suggest is to cut out all caffeine from your diet until we start classes. This will not only break any addiction you have to caffeine, but will also make you more sensitive to it. If this is not possible, please make sure that you're drinking enough water to counteract the diuretic effects of whichever energy drink you end up with. Try to break up the reading a little. Read a section, or ten pages and then take a break in which you move your body around to get the blood flowing and allow you to renew your focus when you do get back to reading. I find that reading actively- taking notes while reading, highlighting, writing down questions that I may have about the material, etc- helps with even the most technical reading.

I am in sequence two. Hopefully we're all able to keep up and in touch during the next year and a half! I :D

I am a return student to college, and when I was going to school last time, I tutored for the SAT and FCAT for grades 5-12. I learned a TON about test taking strategies during this time, which is a huge aspect of critical thinking tests. Also, my last degree was in a health care profession, and the boards for that profession had a horrible first time pass rate. (About 50% lower than the current NCLEX pass rate!) Most of my classmates and I studied for it and passed it on our first attempt, which might be why I still think that studying hundreds of NCLEX questions a week before we learn the material is an efficient way of studying. Our ATI exams are intended to help us adjust to the way questions will be presented to us on the board exam. Honestly, we'll have months to study for our board exam after we've completed our classes. . . and I don't know about any of you, but I already received the syllabus for Fundamentals of Nursing. I'd rather worry about the test we have in September than the (NCLEX) exam we have in 18 months. UGH!!! I want my books to come in already! lol- also, purchased my stethascope today :)

http://www.allheart.com/di57455.html I got these pants at a local store (last pair), and I love them! all of the other scrub pants I had looked at seemed to be fairly translucent. These are very comfortable and flattering, but are a little short for me (5'8", size small).

Does anyone know if we are actually only in clinicals one day a week? I need to put in for a change of schedule for work and am just trying to make sure I that I don't have to change it again because of clinicals changing or something.

I did not take a critical thinking college class (I didn't know they existed!), and I received a 90% on the overall critical thinking test, with results on the second 'test' that were not that surprising to me. I know that I personally need to look at test questions on tests like this as though I have no other information other than what was provided to me within the test. I'm sure we'll all be able to improve our critical thinking skills, particularly where it matters: when dealing with situations that arise from being a nurse. As for studying board questions starting now... I personally think it's a little premature. I like to tackle one goal at a time though, so that may just be me focusing on our upcoming classes.

Sequence two! Though I have no idea what the difference is! lol. When or how do we find out where our clinical rotations are?

Me too!

Does anyone know it the Drug Guide for Nurses in Davis's Drug guide? That's the only one I'm finding online... http://www.amazon.com/Daviss-Drug-Guide-Nurses-Deglin/dp/0803623097/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1311265092&sr=8-1