EmTheNewRN

I had to laugh at the sudden image of supervillain Emesis the Nemesis... I was going to say "not much grosses me out" (I'm the kid who loved staring at the human slices in the Museum of Science and Industry and grew up watching veterinary medicine of aaall kinds with a snack in hand) but I have to admit the eye stories made me remember that if I ever see Major Eye Problems in person I may lose my cookies!

I see the political side (If you come here legally and contribute to the economy, welcome to the U.S.! I do believe if you're mentally capable you should the effort to learn functional English, and that its unfair to increase the cost of healthcare by requiring an interpreter while the business or taxpayer foot the bill.) and the nursing side somewhat differently. If you are a non-English speaker under my care I'm going to do everything I can to get you what you need. My brother gets touchy about interpreters because my sis in law is deaf, and struggles to get appropriate interpreter services, despite the fact that she's protected by the ADA and she doesn't have the option to learn spoken English. She has an advantage in that she is comfortable with English syntax, but many deaf people are trained only in ASL, which is remarkably different (it is a separate and unique language with some English crossover) and can cause miscommunication even if everything is written down.

As someone who is in a not-the-greatest first nursing job in LTC, I don't have a lot to offer, but perhaps a little. First and foremost, take any constructive advice to heart, regardless of whether the nurse giving it says it nicely or not. Be assertive about learning & doing while you are in orientation and there is another nurse to spot you. Don't be afraid to ask for help if you need it. You will learn very quickly what kind of place you are in and how supportive they will be about helping you succeed. Regardless, the job is what you make of it. Don't get sucked into any drama, focus on your own performance, and look for opportunities for professional growth. Look for posts by experienced LTC nurses like CapeCodMermaid for some great info :)

None of us had licensure handed to us by technology, we earned it by learning & testing, same as nurses before the advent of the mobile phone. As far as I'm concerned, being showered and wearing clean clothes was enough for class. But as a recent grad, there's no way I'd show up to interview or turn in an application without a crisply ironed button-down shirt, dress pants, nice shoes, and my undivided attention. It has nothing to do with classes preparing us for more: my mama taught me better.

I care about each patient as a person, which is a valuable trait in nursing; however, it is important not to be consumed by it. I am working on learning to maintain a healthy work-life balance because "taking them home with me" doesn't help anyone. That is an honest statement from me, and my hope is that it reflects positively because empathy/caring is a positive trait in general, but it's important not to let it interfere with your clinical judgement or your own sanity. If there is something about you that is good as a person but can become a weakness as a professional, I think that's a good place to start.* *I'm relatively inexperienced so if the pros have a different opinion I'd love to hear it!

Have you used any other company's practice exams? Do you notice a trend in what you are getting wrong? Are you taking the practice exams too frequently and fatiguing yourself? Look at what you got wrong and the rationale for the answer. If you are missing questions based on information you can't recall that requires a different approach than if you are missing questions because you aren't comprehending the question itself. Try to figure out why you're missing what you miss, and target that type of question/logic OR content area for review. One thing I can tell you is that I found 60's-70's to be very common Kaplan scores when I was doing my own NCLEX digging on Allnurses. Word is that Kaplan review is MUCH more challenging than the real exam. I got 60's-70's in multiple test brands (including Kaplan) and low 80's with ATI. I was terrified out of my mind but ended up passing with 75 questions on my first attempt. You may never FEEL ready, but that doesn't mean you don't have the knowledge you need.

My facility (I'm in orientation) has a unit that dispenses the little baggies. There are no more than 3 meds per bag and each comes with the med name, strength, # of pills, and the med's physical description. It is very simple to identify & withhold a specific med if needed. The pharmacy is responsible for reprogramming the machine regularly, and there is some extra stock in it so that if Mrs. Smith's warfarin has just been increased from 3 mg to 4 mg, you punch a few buttons and it spits out your 4 mg tablet for today.

"I told you nurses enjoy the poking, prodding, & probing way too much!"

My college provided access to an interview prep site that said questions like those aren't about whether your answer is accurate, they're designed to show the interviewer how you think. If you come up with a viable way to calculate the answer, you supposedly look good. I think it's crazy.

trinity hospitals in minot, nd. finding housing in the area would be extremely difficult (nearly impossible with pets) and there are definitely drawbacks to the hospital, but it's work. there are discussions about the place here and a ton on city-data.com (including members in the area who will send you housing search resources). there is a recruiter offering $21-32 base pay, up to $5,000 moving expenses, $5,000 sign-on bonus your first day (for a year's commitment, 5k bonus again at year 2) but you have to go through the recruiter for those bonuses. pm me if you want the recruiter website. zenstudent is the only rn i know of who took the job and is active on allnurses: https://allnurses.com/nursing-first-job/first-job-typical-676048.html but there are other/older discussions about the place, too. i've heard rumors about central pa hospitals needing staff but don't have any specific resources on that. try searching through the other an forums, you'll find other places mentioned.

CapeCodMermaid, I wish there were a "Love" button.

The fact that you are upset over the situation is great: it means you care, that you take the responsibilities of the job seriously. I'd be more worried about someone who only said "Yeah whatever, I'm human, it's ok." Which is mostly true! As long as human beings are responsible for medical care, there will be errors. Don't take it lightly, but don't think it means you can't be a great nurse. The way to grow through this is to figure out if there is a pattern to the way you prep/pass meds that is causing mistakes and fix that when you get back to work, whether it is your current job or a new one. I'm a notebook nerd, it's the way I have gotten through new jobs in the past (and the way I plan to get through training for my first nursing position, also LTC, which starts next week!). When I learn something important, I write it down for review later and for having on-hand when I need to perform a skill. If you need a little help focusing on the task, in all seriousness, try writing down each step in your med pass, (or anything in particular that you have been forgetting) including the rights/checks. Pull it out for a quick look when you're doing your med pass. If a notebook wouldn't work d/t infection control issues, you can use index cards or business card sized papers, which can be laminated or kept in a plastic sleeve you can sanitize.

I felt like walking at commencement (which I did for family) was impersonal and a little ridiculous, since I only had the option of attending commencement in May when I still had summer classes to attend. No one skipped commencement due to pinning - many people did both, many did neither. But they are different ceremonies that celebrate different things. I felt like my pinning ceremony was more intimate and honored my entrance into nursing, not my exodus from college.

Talk to your nursing staff and get a few more details. Will they still let you start an RN program from scratch after you've got your LPN? How competitive are admissions to the transition program? My school's transition program was very small, and based purely on numbers, so if you had a low score on what they looked at, there was no way you'd get in because each semester there would be new applicants with higher scores than yours. If, on the other hand, you have a good chance of getting into the transition in the next year or two it would be worth it to have a break from school and focus on learning the job while avoiding extra tuition expenses & redundant classes.

I don't know any reason why honestly documented experience of any kind shouldn't be included on a resume. As a new grad with work experience but no nursing experience, I got all kinds of conflicting advice on resume content (including to list my specific classes taken as "skills." Thanks for nothing, Career Services!). In the end I used 2 separate sections: one for work experience and one clearly labeled "Clinical Experience" where I listed hospitals I had clinicals at and duties/skills that I personally had performed. Where you would normally put the job title I put "ASN student". The same can be done for volunteer, as long as you are very clear, ie a section titled "Clinical & Volunteer Experience" with specific listings done in your chosen resume format. Will they conisder it "experience"? Depends on what the employer is looking for. The purpose of a resume is to to showcase yourself. If you have history that makes you more suitable for the job, it's fair to include that.