Andi777

How may I exceed your expectations today??? If I called the hospital that my mother was staying in, and heard THAT, I would immediately wonder what was being compensated for -- something pi$$ poor -- by some over-educated buffoon, probably in risk management.

Check with your unit. A lot of times there are pre-printed, tried and true handouts or presentations already available. Steer away from anything online that could possibly have a copyright on it. The last thing you want to do is THAT! But to get a starting point for your OWN material, try the standard Mental Health websites, magazines, professional journals, etc. Get your ideas, balance it out w/ evidence-based/ unit-specific and go from there. Make your own handouts. Nothing difficult. One idea our RN's came up with was Seasonal Affective Disorder. We found free copyright-free coloring pages on line of the Sun. We researched what SAD was -- made sure it reflected the general population of our unit (it did) and made some teaching points: what it was, symptoms, & positive coping mechanisms, then open discussion, Q & , and arts and crafts. The whole set up took maybe 15 minutes, on the fly, right before group started.

Wow, there are so many comments here!!! The funny thing is that I can relate to almost every single one except that CNA work is "beneath" an RN. I'm a brand new nurse -- just passed my NCLEX THIS week and have been working as a GN. I have been trained in both the Tech's job and my own job as an RN. I will also be training as the Unit Secretary as well as being floated to several other floors to learned various other jobs and roles. I have no problem with any of this-- I HAVE a scope of practice, which I accepted when I filled out the application for licensure. . The CNA does NOT have a scope of practice. We would all do well to remember this. We, as the RN, no matter what, have the responsibility when we clock in for the day to the scope of our practice, including reporting to the Charge nurse and supervision of unlicensed staff.. It is a huge responsibility -- so earning your $25/ hr (or whatever your RN wage is) and doing CNA/Tech work -- is really the financial duty (mistake?) of your nurse manager, and your sole responsibility is to either accept or not accept the assignment for the shift.

I think the answer is "it depends". I just took my nclex today and had maybe 3 questions w/ pharm questions. Of course the questions do not have Brand names and the meds were "odd ball" meds. There was no way I could have studied every med -- I new the generics basic classes, etc. But the odd balls... well, guess I just got unlucky. Best bet is to just know the basic ones and keep taking practice quizzes w/ pharm questions and hope you hit on the most common odd balls.

I also try to look as young as possible -- as I am new graduate but am 40-something years old. I do not necessarily look my age and I do have botox on a regular basis because I do not want to be aged-out of a job. So-- maybe it would be better if instead of attaching "race" to an issue, instead to use the word "prejudice" There are many kinds of prejudice!! My daughter and I had our hair corn-rowed one summer -- we have long blonde hair and it was fun to have that look and to match. I sure would not wear that to a job interview though.

-- Thanks for the clarification. Here's my wordy reply: Going back to the OP: if it is a question in the applicants mind of having a successful interview, then next the question to pose to the self: is having this job the priority? Expression of self? Income? I have NO idea what the importance or needs are of the OP, but from the sounds of it, the mention of race & hair style were stressed. If it wasn't, it wouldn't be included in the post. We are interviewing for NOT just a job but a professional career. The assumption is not personal expression! it is fitting in with the defined Code of Ethics in nursing that we are taught are OUR code of ethics. Is that not what we all studied? So... given this, it is reasonable to believe that one's attire, appearance and mannerisms would be conservative, professional, respectful and appropriate. What place is there for the outrage of: don't step on MY rights for personal expression? This is a client centered profession. If in anyway I could change something (much like a client would make modifiable lifestyle changes to avoid a negative future health problem) that would give me the advantage of attaining a job, then I would do it. I love nursing, I need a job and I cannot wait to be in a community of others who care about similar things. What did that mean to me during my interviews? I removed religious-oriented jewelry, wore appropriate interview clothing, shoes, covered any tattoos and removed piercings. Perhaps when I am working for a few weeks or months, it will become more clear what the expectations are. What is or is not accepted. And even then, I want to advance in my career and plan to model the actions of those positions. So go with your gut: if it feels like an uncomfortable decision that needs the opinion of many many others ... then you already know the answer. Finally: if you do not want to work for an organization that you feel is not a good fit (for any reason YOU deem important) then you should not work there. Going back to nursing 101, if the job is not in line with your values/ethics, then it would reasonable to move on with your search.

May I ask a question -- and forgive me if this comes off sounding ignorant, but I really do not know. How are "box braids" racism?

I have not taken the NCLEX, so take me with a grain of salt: SAFETY & SAVING LIFE are the biggest priorit. I have found over and over in my practice tests that if I pick ABC's and the safest options -- they are almost always right. NCLEX is it's own little world of where you have an order for everything and everything is headed for the worst possible scenario. Any change from baseline, no matter how small is going to crash in 5 minutes and your patient will die. Delegation & UAP & mental health questions: there's changes from the last NCLEX -- so be sure you have updated info. Nurses have 100% responsibility/Supervision for everything delegated or assigned (make sure you completely understand "responsibility/supervision/delegation/assigned) -- and also think about $$$ -- how best is the staff being utilized in the safest way possible? Good luck on the next try!! You'll do it!!

I had another interview today -- this time at a state facility. Much more structured interview questions but the panel interviewing me were long time co-workers and obviously liked each other a lot -- good bantering and a sense of family. That really impressed me! One tough question: "What if I told you right now that this interview wasn't go well at all. (pause pause pause.... I held my breath..) What do you say about that?" I'm not going to tell you my response -- I just want to put that out there for folks to think about. An impressively good question -- an out-of-the-box question.

Hey all! Here's a question for you about BUN values. Hurst Review states normal as 6-23, School told me 7-22 and HESI (2014) states 10-20!!! Those are some big discrepancies when the NCLEX practice question I just did asked what a NORMAL value was and gave me the following two RIGHT answers. Answer 1: 7 Answer 2: 22 The rationale for the NCLEX app stated the norm was 8-21 The option of 15 was also given -- which I probably should have picked because it's right smack dab in the middle (I now know this is the smartest option)! In a real NCLEX question, is it your understanding that the values are going to be so widely varied in 'norms' and the questions also so close to one norm or another? In the working world, I know that I will go by my organization's policy, but we're talking about NCLEX land.... so is there an NCLEX land of correct lab values that we should know? Thanks, Andi

Yes, that is clearly stated. :)

Hi!! I am pretty excited ... just finished nursing school on Monday and had my first interview today (just a couple hours ago, actually) on the behavioral health unit at a local hospital system. That is my DREAM JOB!! Where I have wanted to work since I was 8 years old! I put applications in despite being told there were not openings. By the way, this is the first job interview I have ever had in my life (I was self-employed previously) I was well prepared for the interview -- I was on here for the last week reading up on good interview skills, how to prepare, etc. Also I went to the college career counseling center (which was really not very helpful -- as it was geared towards business/ technical degree jobs) One thing: in my small community.... as students we did all of our clinical rotations at the hospitals where most of the school graduates work at once school is done. There are not a whole lot of the tough questions like "tell me about the biggest mistake you ever made" or even the traditional "what are your strengths/weaknesses" What DEFINITELY came up: 1. Why do you want to work here? 2. Tell me about how you handle conflict (and the answer is 'approach it right away') 3. What would you do if a patient refused his medication? 4. What shift(s) do you prefer? The many questions I had to ask were fairly well answered during the hour-long interview. I met with the hiring manager, the floor manager and one of the nurses. The nurse was a nurse that I had shadowed during my clinical experience --AND SHE REMEMBERED me!! Anyway... I should hear in a couple weeks!! I also have an interview NEXT Friday at a state institution that may be a good fit... we'll see!! Andi

What a great idea!! As long as it's nursing or at least health-care related... This type of service IS offered at my school. However it is geared more towards the business technical portion of the school. The representatives came to our 2nd to last nursing lecture and did a terrible presentation. I DID make an appointment to review my resume and cover letter and go through a mock interview. It ended up being more of a brainstorming session for both me (who has NEVER EVER interviewed for a job) and for the career counselor who admitted not once did a nursing student come to see him. He actually had to google nursing interview process!! I've gotten a lot more helpful advice right here on AN!!

I agree about acute care 1st. However, addressing the other issue: where do you want to move.... are you provided the opportunity to spend some time in each locale? Have you family or friends in either place? At the very least, during interview process, spend a few hours walking the halls of local hospitals to get a feel for the atmosphere, perhaps? I speak from an experience: I had decided to move to Maryland with my boyfriend a couple years ago-- we had been together 5 years (long distance with every other week weekend visits, holidays, etc together) I loved the area, the weather. The opportunity arose where taking a semester off from the nursing program was mandatory so I stayed from December through September with my boyfriend. I subleted my apartment in NY. At a winter party that year, I met a woman who was the hiring manager at Johns Hopkins -- I had her business card and her cell phone number! So a job may have been close at hand. Seemed really promising! It was awful. NO friends. NO family of my own. His family sort of "adopted" me but I was the 3rd wheel. I tried places to go, library, church, boat club. Nothing. I didn't fit in! The nursing school there also didn't want to accept my educational background and would have wanted 2 semesters worth of other pre-req's. So I def needed to return to NY to finish up. Upon return, I felt "HOME"...I knew I wasn't leaving again. Hopefully I didn't come off as a know-it-all here. I just wanted to relay that it was such GOOD experience of what was really not in the cards for me. Your experience may vary! I have no idea what it is like to be from another culture. I have lived in a white community all of my life. Our major University (Binghamton University) does attract a diverse population. The graduate nurses work the minimum 2 years and then move on. Since I have seen only a handful of diverse nurses after the 2 year point in the hospital setting, it could be assumed that our community is not conducive to diversity. I am not young: I am in my early 40's and worked in Real Estate for 12 years -- VERY involved in the community. Wishing you the best in your decision. The salaries seem similar based on the apartment prices you quoted.