toucheturtle

The Strokers?

My husband and I found that we really like having a 15 year mortgage. It increases your payment a bit, but greatly reduces the amount of interest you pay over the life of the mortgage. Your house gets paid off before you know it. We'll outright own the first house we purchased in a couple of years (we have renters living in it and their rent covers the mortgage). Our current residence will be paid off in about 12 years. We're now in our 40's, so we'll have paid off two houses while still in our 50's. One thing to keep in mind, as others have said, is that houses are expensive. Just when you've dealt with one problem or expense, another rears it's head. We always have some project or repair that we're saving for or needing to work on. Some repairs can be hugely expensive, such as new roofs, plumbing, water heater/furnace/appliance replacement, etc. Also, be aware that homeowner's insurance usually covers after the first 20% of a major repair is paid for by the owner, should you have major damage to your house. For example, if you had storm damage/flooding/fire, and the damage was $100-200K, it could cost you $20-40K out of pocket before your insurance kicks in. You should make sure to save a nest egg just for home emergencies. Good luck!

Wow FutureBSNurse, you won't need most of what you listed. I just finished my ADN and BSN, and I just want to caution you not to get too much before you actually start school. Here's what I used throughout my whole 3-year journey in school. Timbuk2 messenger bag - worked great for school and clinicals. Scrubs - 2 complete sets. One to wear and one to wash. You'll never want to see your school scrubs again after you're done with school. Don't invest in too many sets. Stapler 3-hole punch Post-it flags Pens - find a brand you love using because you'll do a bunch of writing with them. Pencils for test-taking Highlighters 3-ring notebook with reusable divider tabs. I used the same one all the way through school. I just erased the tabs each quarter. Laptop computer, though I didn't take it to school very often. Decent printer - $100 HP Officejet from Costco Full size iPad during my BSN, as it was lighter to haul to school than my computer. Could have lived without this though. Littman stethoscope Cheap penlight (you'll lose it or loan it out, never to see it again) Bandage scissors Small (1/4 page size) Moleskine notebook with blank pages - made this into my personal reference notebook that I took to all clinicals. "...Made Incredibly Easy" - Only get these as you need. I think I only used pharmacology one Saunders NCLEX RN Examination Assigned school books You'll want a comfortable place to study, but you really only need a decent desk or tabletop, a chair that you're comfortable sitting in for hours (and hours), and a good desk lamp.

Just a little correction on this. An MD completes a 4 year undergrad degree and then 4 years of medical school. They then do a 3 year residency, and perhaps even a multi-year internship should they specialize within their specialty (ie - cardiac peds, maxilofacial plastics, etc).

I graduated from NSCC last June and just finished the RN to BSN program at UW Bothell a week ago. I went straight into the UW two weeks after I finished at NSCC, and took my NCLEX during my first quarter at the UW. It was a great program that I'd recommend highly. Meeting so many other nurses who are ADNs and discussing their career paths was invaluable. Through networking with them, I definitely had a leg-up in getting job offers - first as a substitute school nurse, and just recently getting a position as a postpartum nurse at Swedish, in the residency program. Class was just one day a week, all day from 8:30-5:30-ish (class usually ended a bit earlier). It was four quarters long. Several classes were hybrid, so we only met every other week or less in-person. I think you can complete stats during the program, as long as it's completed by graduation. I know several people were taking prereqs during the program (foreign language, chemistry, math, etc). I met so many amazing, brilliant nurses during the program, and already miss it (though I don't miss the homework!). If you think you might want to go to grad school in the future, then you might want to go the brick and mortar route. As I understand it, WGU doesn't give grades, except for some kind of grade equivalency if requested (??)

I graduated with my RN in June 2013 and just finished my BSN at the UW today. I passed my NCLEX back in July 2013.

AnnieMathilda I recieved my offer letter today in email. Yay! I'm from Seattle - I live over near Children's Hospital. I actually graduated from nursing school (NSCC) last summer and have been working and finishing up my BSN at the UW (I graduate in two weeks). I passed my NCLEX last July. Don't worry, it's pretty easy. I'm game for whatever the schedule ends up being. I'm just glad to get a residency, so I say "bring it on!" Postpartum is where I've wanted to work ever since I had my clinical rotation at Swedish postpartum. I volunteer with PEPS (Program for Early Parent Support) leading mother/baby groups and I volunteer at Children's Hospital. I love the mother/baby dynamic!

AnnieMathilda - I haven't heard anything since I heard from the recruiter that I was being offered the job. No email, no snail mail. She said that I should be receiving a background check packet sometime in May or June. Do you remember if that was going to be in email or snail mail? Regarding the three in a row - I know that part of the residency is hospital orientation, part is residency orientation, and the last part is department orientation. I would guess the department orientation would be the point where you might be able to request 3 days on in a row. I have friends at Swedish who have that type of schedule. Since we'll be the newest of the new, it might be hard to get 3 on in a row right away. Plus we'll need to work variable weekends.

It was pretty much what I expected. The typical behavioral questions - working on a team, a conflict, a disagreement, why do you want to work in postpartum, etc. It was a panel interview with 4 people. They were very nice.

I was offered a postpartum residency position last week. I interviewed with the department on 5/8 and was offered the position on 5/12. The HR person who extended the offer said they would be completing the hiring round for the entire Sept cohort within the next 1-1.5 months. Sounds like postpartum was one of the first to hire in the cohort.

Hi! I also accepted a residency position in postpartum starting in September 2014 at Swedish First Hill. I think that others will be trickling in as they complete more hiring. The HR person I spoke to said that they will be doing hiring for the next 1-1.5 months for the Sept cohort.

Mine was 77%. It wasn't often that students didn't make the bar on exams in my cohort. I don't think anyone failed out due to grades on exams. If they were asked to leave, it was because of performance in clinicals.

I interviewed for the Sept 2014 Swedish Hospital residency program on May 7th. I'm waiting to hear back whether I will receive an offer. Anyone else out there playing the waiting game?

This forum is for the new grad RN Residency Program starting in Sept 2014, at Swedish Medical Center, in Seattle, WA.

I'd love it if you could share any info that you find regarding custom gloves. I have very short fingers and even XS gloves are too long by about 0.5 - 1cm per finger. The thumbs fit fine. I don't have any problems doing most things, but once in awhile I screw my glove tips into luer locks when hanging IVs. Thanks much!

Maybe another alternative would be completing your biology degree from UCLA, and then applying to a nursing master's program? You would skip the BSN and go directly to an MSN.

I worked for a university medical department that had the same sort of cap thing. It's wasn't that the individual raises were capped at 2%, but that the university was capping the average of the department raises at 2%. So if someone was to get above the average (3%), then someone else had to get below (1%). Really, it's only a 1% disparity, which is pretty minor. Someone had to take the hit this year, and perhaps your friend who received 2% will be the 1-percenter next year. If you bring it up with your manager, you could possibly be found in breach of policy and lose your job. Managers aren't kidding when they tell their employees not to talk about salary - they know it's a topic that can hurt morale. I'd suggest you let the issue go and work to be the star employee at the end of next year, so you're the one receiving 3% at raise time! :-)

Take the job. Who better to understand your symptoms and challenges than people who work with pregnant women all day! :-) If you're still in the first trimester of pregnancy, I would guess your symptoms might lessen/resolve as your pregnancy progresses.

My cousin is the CTO (chief technology officer) at a major hospital here in Seattle. Her and I were just discussing the qualifications for analysts the other day, as she was encouraging me to move into that area of nursing when I graduate next year. I have 7 years experience at a big software company (guess which one??). It's as a program manager, not software programming. She said with a nursing degree, some familiarity with software, and project management experience, I should have a fairly easy time finding an analyst job. She said that they want people who can bridge the software/nursing world, but specific software experience wasn't so important - that training generally comes on the job. The big bummer for me is that I can't work as an analyst at her hospital, as she doesn't want any appearance of nepotism.

They're both vesicants, so might it be a pretty harsh brew for the vessels if administered together? I'm just a student, so likely totally off base. Just a guess.

Decembergrad, you can calculate your full-time yearly salary equivalent by multiplying your hourly rate by 2080. At least that's how they do it in HR/payroll. :)

I think what you're planning on wearing sounds great. In my opinion, a hospital hiring manager stating that you're overdressed is pretty unprofessional. It's not as though you were interviewing at Mickey D's. When I was interviewing folks to work at Microsoft, men generally wore slacks, loafers, and button down shirts. No coat or tie. Microsoft has no dress policy at all, so anything more would have looked overdone for the culture. But for the more formal setting at the hospital you're interviewing at, I think you're spot on. If you want to casual it down, wear a button-down shirt and a sportcoat with your dress pants and tie.

I use a Timbuk2 laptop messenger bag - which I love and is a great size. I'm not sure why you would need such a huge bag. Do you need to bring a large number of books to class every day? Most folks in my cohort use backpacks or messenger bags.

I'm currently in nursing school - I've completed my first two quarters. I'm averaging around 3.7-4.0 in my classes. I don't think you need to be a brainiac to succeed in nursing school, you just need to work hard. Make sure you keep up with the work and study whenever you have the opportunity. Don't put off studying or completing assignments because you'll find that it will pile up quickly. Nursing school moves fast, and you really can't let yourself fall behind. When you're in the middle of clinicals and medsurg, it gets a little crazy. You will have some very late nights during those terms. Just keep your head down, your eye on the prize, and you'll do just fine. Good luck and congratulations!

Can you take the classes at a different school? Maybe a community college? The one I'm attending offered most of the key pre-reqs every quarter. Good luck and hang in there!