NrsNikster

When I passed my boards two years ago, I applied to every hospital in my area. Nobody was hiring, especially for new grads. I went to a Fresenius one day a month after I passed my boards and was interviewed and hired within a week. I have been working for Fresenius ever since and haven't looked back. I have even transferred to another facility out of state due to a move I had to make and still had no issues. There are definitely some challenges in dialysis and can sometimes be overwhelming. However, once you get the routine, you should have no issues with anything. Now I must admit, I sometimes do want to consider applying at a hospital to do floor nursing, but I always fall back on dialysis. I'm gaining a lot experience daily and most importantly I have a lot of fun learning and gaining the respect with my patients. Good Luck. You'll make the right decision....

Hello. As a new grad I was recently employed by FMS. And I must say I'm glad I took the position. I trained as a PCT and as a nurse with no dialysis experience and enjoyed ever bit of training that I received. Now every job has its perks. Of course they tell you one thing at your interview then once you get on the floor, its a whole different story. But I have just decided to accept that. Of course this isn't my dream job but I must say that I am continuously learning on the floor. I love the patients and the environment (well sometimes). I love the pay as a grad nurse also. Not too shabby. If I was you, I would go for it. And if its not for you, leave. Good luck. :-)

Some of your lymph nodes you are not supposed to feel such as the ones in your armpit. But if they are palpable that is a sign of infection.

If I remember correctly I scored a 58% on my qbank and ranged from a 51-69% on my question trainers and my higher question trainers were #5,6,7. You'll do fine.

Study freak.... yes I did use Kaplan to prepare for my nclex and passed on the first time. I think without kaplan I probably wouldn't have passed. I highly depended on kaplan and used every single material the online class provided. I did every single question in the q bank and did all of the question trainers on top of going over the course content review. On top of kaplan I did Hurst review too. As long as you have put every foot forward and tried the best that you could, you will do fine. I wrote a discussion on my journey on passing the nclex in detail so you can read it from there (find it in my profile). Good luck!!!

Med surg is a lot of material to remember. The way I remembered all the diseases and its process is in a specific order.... What it is... patho... clinical manifestations and s/s... treatments... complications (what happens if things go bad)... and then the nursing process. I tried to do that with every disease. And then purchasing an additional book such as a nclex book to quiz yourself on that disease will also assist you in remembering it along with reading and understanding the rationales. Pretty much what you are doing is preparing yourself for the nclex in so many words. Send me your email address. I would like to forward you something that also helped me throughout med surg. Hope this helps... NrsNikster

Questions questions questions. oh did I say questions!?!?! As a RN, preparing for test in nursing school was very difficult, I must say. But please do as many questions as you can in regards to the subject and topic you are studying. the saunders comprehensive nclex book is a great holy bible during nursing school. Do as many as you can ladies and gents. Good luck.

I agree. Always remember your ABC's (airway, breathing, and circulation) in that order and you should be able to put them in the correct order. Oh!! and don't forget Risk for Infection in relation to this situation.

Kudos to you and your actions, but I'm curious to know what happened to Rita....

Thank you all for all of your opinions. I will definitely take in consideration everything that is said!

Hello everybody!! I need somebody's help right now. So, I received a call today from a recruiter from a staffing agency who looked at my resume and was impressed with the previous experience that I had. To sum it all up, he offered me an immediate position out of my state to NC for a RN position at a correctional facility for 13 weeks . I was told at the end of those 13 weeks depending on how well I do, I could come on permanent or continue to travel to different sites and have different assignments. So basically I would be a Travel Nurse. Now according to all the incentives and everything, the offer sounded real good. I'm just iffy about the whole thing, especially with the Correctional Facility part. Honestly, it kinda scares me. He also told me that if I don't take this immediate position that everything would still be on file and if anything else came up in my immediate area, they would let me know. Should I take it? I don't know if I'm just being desperate because I want a nursing job or what. Does anybody have or know anybody that has experienced being a Correctional facility nurse or as a Travel nurse?!?!? Please give me your opinions!!! Comments greatly appreciated!!! Nikster

Saunders comprehensive review.... The best to use through nursing school in my opinion.

Don't give up! Keep studying! It'll all pay off at the end...

Oh yeah I forgot a lot of programs take a different hesi as entrance exams for nursing programs. I was referring about the comprehensive hesi that you take as a graduate exit exam that some nursing programs require to pass to graduate from the program.

Well in my opinion the book is "ok"... It's just a big review book. But ALSO in my opinion the HESI is harder than the freaking NCLEX. I took the HESI several times (yes I said several) then eventually passed. Then I took the NCLEX ONCE and passed!!! Like I tell everybody else, don't let that test define how smart you really are... Good Luck!