ean29

You can, and I would suggest doing that. I got mine at the office after many reports of people never receiving theirs in the mail after they requested numerous times. It might make a trip for you, but it's worth the hassle I'd say!

They have start dates literally every month for new grads. There are no deadlines for applying but rather it's on a rolling basis (dependent upon departmental needs).

By the way, for those of you who are starting on the 25th, what day are you moving into town?

Hi guys, I mentioned before in other posts that I too am starting July 25th in Crit Care (Congrats Pokytrokyt on the job!) and I've been doing a ton of research about places to live in Baltimore and I've been down there twice to check out the city. This is the info I've collected and hopefully you guys will benefit from it. - High rise apartment/condo complexes in the city Hopkins has a list of housing corporations on their HR website and many give discounts to Hopkins employees. However, some of them are not in the best area (i.e. the block they are on is fine, but one block to the N/S/E/W is bad), so definitely visit! -Neighborhoods Livebaltimore.com has a breakdown of all the neighborhoods. You can also do a "Match me to a Neighborhood" interactive tool. There is also a link to Crime Stats of that area (you want to see how many murders in the past 10 days have happened near your future doorstep....) Specifically: Mt. Vernon: I believe this is like the "cultural hub" of the city Hampden: if you like safe funky, live here. It's unique, funky, and spots are very artsy Charles Village: Again, parts of it fall into artsy/unique, but I think other spots are iffy... GoogleMaps can be a great help, because it delineates which parts of Baltimore encompass these neighborhoods. City-data.com (click on forums and then find the one for Baltimore) is GREAT. A ton of threads about people relocating, crime, fun events, etc. A bunch of locals are on there and more than willing to give you a "real world" perspective of things. As always, some people have a more positive/negative view of things, so make sure you have your grain of salt with you. - Unique/Individual/Renovated Row & Townhomes Federal Hill/Fells Point/Canton are very popular areas with Hopkins folks and other professionals in the city and boast of these cozy homes. These areas are more expensive neighborhoods though. However, for my boyfriend and I, we're looking to live in one of these areas because we didn't want to live in a white-washed, "sterile" apartment (we're "nature" people anyway, so we knew we couldn't do a 19th story high rise). Instead we've found a bunch of charming multi story homes that have cherry wood, exposed brick, big kitchens, lots of windows, etc. -Suburbs Outside the City I haven't explored all of these, but the ones I'd definitely recommend are the Towson area and Cockysville (Loveland Farm Apartments are beautiful!). I've also heard great things about Columbia (a bit pricey though) and Ellicot City -Craiglist This website has been my saving grace. If you are looking for anything other than a managed apartment complex, go there. I've found some amazing places, while also finding some ads that I'm sure are scams. You just gotta use common sense. The GREAT thing about Craiglist is that you can see which neighborhood the place is in. Makes searching fast. If any of you guys have questions, feel free to send them my way! I might not be able to help, but I've come across a ton of resources in the past couple weeks, and I might be able to direct you in the right direction. ~Liz

I accidentally posted this in the wrong forum before, so here I am to correct my error! My boyfriend has a pre-employment colorblind test next week at a large Trauma center on the East Coast. He's never been officially diagnosed as colorblind but finds it hard to differentiate between different shades of the colors. When I went through this process (same hospital) I had to do the dot test where you have to identify the number in the middle of the circle of dots. He's worried that he might fail and concomitantly be denied employment. I couldn't imagine that happening - he obviously has no problem driving (red/green lights) and quite successfully made it through nursing school with no issues. Have any of you all had experience with these pre-employment tests? If you are color blind, have you found that hospitals still take you on? Many thanks for the replies - I'm hoping I can reassure him a bit from them!

Oh wonderful! I'll see you at orientation on July 25th! I'm on your (kind of sister) unit the Cardiac Surgical ICU. Enjoy your good news! ~Liz

Hi Pokytrokyt, First off, congrats on getting your interview! As people told me, that's a great accomplishment in itself. As for the interview, even in the specialities and sub-specialities, I'm getting the feeling that each manager has their own style of the interview. For example, I didn't get any NCLEX like questions, anything about meds, procedures, etc. Instead they really focused on me - on my philosophies, my qualities, and characteristics. My interview was very much a discussion/conversation rather than a rapid fire question round. The only direct questions I was asked was to describe a challenging situation and how I handled it, along with "What is the greatest thing you have to offer the unit?". I was also asked if I had a support system around the area. Oh and she asked the usual - "Why cardiac? Why cardiac critical care?" Also intertwined were more subtle questions about my philosophy of teamwork (interdisciplinary, rounds, communication, etc), beliefs on patient/family/nurse interaction, etc. It was a very relaxed environment (well, in as much as it could be with the mantra of "This is your dream job...this is your dream job..." going through my head). I interviewed on a Wednesday and my manager told me she wanted to have a decision within a week, two at max. However, I ended up hearing back like 48 hours later on that Friday morning they had offered me the position. Best wishes to you and shoot any more questions my way!

Ah, apartment reviews, I know! Sometimes I think I should just stop reading them, otherwise I'll *never* find a place to live. I'm spending two days next week doing the apartment hunting gig - I'll share with you what I find. Maybe it'll help you! Back to the original topic, when I called the MBON about license by endorsement, I was prepared to deal with battle-axes. However, they were quite helpful and prompt; maybe it was a fluke but it's always nice when you can get answers out of a board of nursing.

Coming from someone who has lived in and been educated (BSN, RN) in NE, it's a very tight market up here for nurses, ADNs in particular. Certain hospitals within these states are specifically only hiring BSN nurses; I've also heard that certain states will be mandating a BSN to be an RN (some are probably much more well-versed on this topic than I - just sharing the bit I've heard). So if you had any desire to work in the NE area, I'd encourage you to get a BSN if possible. Regardless one of the biggest things I'd encourage you to do is somehow get your foot in the door at the hospital of your choice - or any one in general - outside of your nursing clinicals (i.e. CNA/LNA/tech, EMT, externships, etc.) because that greatly helps your chances to get a job after, whether it be at that hospital or another.

Where in the country did you get hired right out of school into the Nursery/PP? I only ask because my best friend is trying to get into that area as a new grad and has found all doors closed. As a new grad, one of the best pieces of advice I've heard is - Don't think you'll be able to learn everything before you hit the floor. It really resonated home with me for I had been planning all these extravagant study tools. NOT to say that brushing up on key concepts is bad, but don't overload yourself. Like the poster above said, it's your first day, it's been a while since OB - so just let yourself learn. That being said, I bet there is a ton of stuff online also that can guide you. Best wishes!

I've spoken at great length with many of them - I believe any of them would be more than willing to help. If they aren't able to answer your questions, they are usually quick to transfer you to another recruiter or someone who can.

Hi Moej, I'm also a new grad who will be in the Hopkins Residency (not Peds, though, but Cardiac Critical Care) and will be coming from another state. Like Sweetie85 said, definitely talk with the recruiters; I've never come across individuals more friendly and willing to talk with you than these people. They will be able to tell you better than I about the experience requirement. However, in my situation, I had an externship in Critical Care that totaled about 300 hours, thus "qualifying" me as experienced. I was told by a recruiter that they consider you experienced (in Critical Care) after 120 hours in the field. So in that sense, the 6 months you work could count. Best wishes to you! I'm also completely new to the Baltimore area (coming from NH woods), and hopefully by the time you are coming in, I will at least have my feet under me. Feel free to send any questions my way too.

Thankfully another success story - got the good pop up yesterday after taking the boards and at 8 am this morning I could see my name and license number on the NH board of nursing. Whew, thank goodness that's over!

Oh boy, thanks for the heads up about actually needing to go there in person for this stuff. I'm in Sweetie85's position of being a new grad to start July 25th and moving down from NH. I'm headed down there next week also, and this (along with apartment hunting, ah~) is priority. Sweetie85, do you already have the paper copy of your license? I won't have mine in time and I'm guessing that might mean I'll have to get it when I go down before we start in July. Perhaps I'll have to work off my compact license while they process my temporary one and then work off the temporary one while they process the official one. Man, why isn't there a national license??