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Susabella: I just stumbled upon this post by accident and am so grateful that I did. I am taking the NCLEX on 1/6 and have been feeling as if I've been doing awful on all the practice tests I have tried. I ordered the Mosby's CAT-RN online and was relieved if not somewhat shocked to find that I have a 99% chance of passing the test. I did the program twice today and had 78 questions the first time and 126 the second time. I got a 99% chance of passing both times. When I calculated what my actual score was on each test, I had a 76% both times. So if this thing is truly an accurate measure of our ability to pass, then I've been worrying my butt off for nothing over what I perceived to be very low scores on practice tests. In my nursing program, we were required to get an 80% for our testing average to pass a semester so when I kept seeing 60s, 70s and occasionally an 80-something on these practice tests, needless to say, I was a basket case. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that you made my day and quite possibly my week. Now I have the confidence I need to get in there and kick that test's butt! Thanks. Lisa

Hi everyone: I wanted to let you all know that I was offered a job at the pediatric hospital on the general med surg unit. I decided at the last minute that I was most interested in that unit so I only interviewed for that position to see how it would go. I interviewed Friday morning and was offered a job Friday afternoon. I was surprised at the quick turnaround but I was thrilled to accept the job. So I will be starting orientation the second week in January. Now that one hurdle is over, I must go study for the NCLEX. Thanks for all the support. You guys are great. Lisa:roll

Thank you everyone for all the words of wisdom. I have a couple of interviews set up this week in the local pediatric hospital. I will be interviewing in the NICU, a general med surg unit and a monitored bed unit. After speaking with the recruiter at the hospital and hearing more about the orientations etc., I really think that even though I don't have peds experience, I will be prepared to care for them after the orientation. This facility is very "new grad" friendly and highly prepared to nurture us in our new career. So we'll see what happens. I appreciate all the advice. It really helped me to make a decision and go for it. Lisa

I will be graduating in December 2005 and am very interested in pediatric nursing. I am living near a top notch pediatric facility and I'm sure if I worked there, I would get a lot of really good experience. What I'm wondering is this...is it better to get experience with adults first? I know that it takes some special skills to be able to work with pediatric patients...the art of distraction, special communication techniques, etc. I wonder whether getting used to nursing as a new career will be enough of a challenge without adding the extra skills required to take care of pediatric patients. I love kids and I relate well to them so I really think that I would ultimately be interested in pediatric nursing, but I want to go down the right path so that I am fully prepared to take on the challenge. Any words of wisdom out there? Thanks in advance. Lisa

Hi Kim: Yes, you do clinicals in groups and no you don't get to choose your groups. They generally split the class into two or three groups of no more than 5-6 students, however the class sizes have been getting bigger since I started school so the group sizes may change. You practice IM injections on your classmates but not IVs. You practice IVs on "dummy" arms in your second semester and final semester. There are not many opportunities during clinical to start an IV but they will allow you to do it if you happen to come across one. You just need an instructor with you to do it. Bed baths are practiced in lab on your classmates. I think those are taught in your third semester. One of the frustrating things about this school is that although they have a new state of the art lab set up for it's students, they are lacking in equipment. So you will find yourself doing a lot of pretending. "Well, I would be wearing gloves for this procedure if there were any in the lab"...and so forth. As with every educational experience, there are good instructors and not so good instructors. You generally learn very early on who falls into which category. For the most part, the instructors are knowledgable about theory and helpful in clinical. My advice to you is to respect the instructors who are the toughest on you. They are tough on you because they see something in you that you probably don't see in yourself and they push you to find it. Some instructors are much more intimidating than others. The best way to handle them is to be 110% prepared. Do your reading and prepare for clinical. Research medication that you know you will be giving and know the side effects, action etc. about each drug. You will always shine if you spend the time preparing. Nursing is not rocket science but it takes a diligent person to be competent. I will be starting my final round of clinicals this coming Tuesday and I feel entirely prepared to work with just a preceptor and no instructors around. Your skills and confidence come with time and you will swear in the beginning that you will never be able to care for more than one patient, but it will happen. I'm sure you'll do fine. Lisa

Hi. I am a senior nursing student at Riverside School of Professional Nursing graduating in December 2005. My best advice to you is to spend the time reading the books as boring as it may be. Test questions will often be based on information from the textbooks that wasn't specifically covered in lectures. There is a computer system called Meds Publishing that you will have access to. It is an online program that has NCLEX type questions on it. Each semester you will be allowed access to content relevant to the course you are taking. During my schooling it wasn't mandatory to utilize it but I think that it is mandatory now. Anyway, it is invaluable at improving your test taking skills. Practice with it as much as you can. They will tell you until they are blue in the face that it really helps. IT REALLY DOES! There is a mentoring program in place at the school. Most incoming students are matched with a student further along in the program. Use your mentor as a resource. They have been where you are and will have some valuable advice for you. Mrs. Brooks, the student advisor, will ask if you are interested in the mentoring program. I suggest you tell her yes. Also, familiarize yourself with the Health Sciences Library. Even if you just go in and shelf browse one day, it gives you a whole set of resources that most students don't bother to utilize. It will enhance your learning. Clinical rotations are challenging but for the most part you are prepared to do what is handed to you. No matter what you have done in your past with regards to education or work, nursing school is a totally different ball of wax. It challenges you in entirely new and different ways. It's a whole new way of thinking. Embrace every learning opportunity you have and put your heart and soul into it and you will do fine. Good luck and enjoy it. Lisa