MrsCuoco

I flunked HS bio twice before they just passed me with a D to prevent me from not graduating. Science literally made me cry every night over homework. When I decided to apply for nursing school and had to take anatomy & phys 1 and 2 as prereqs, I was scared but I plunged in anyway. I studied HARD. I stashed flash cards everywhere...I even whipped them out in between tables at the cafe I worked at. And I got A's...in both classes AND the labs. In fact, twice I got the highest exam grade in the class...to my utter astonishment! Out of 230 students! I had no natural "head" for science and still don't. I just WANTED it. Bad. So I discovered there's a world of difference between the 16 year old me who hated school and had no clue what I wanted out of life, and the 35 year old me who definitely had a purpose and direction. And wasn't going to let a science class stand in my way.

Yup. My "thing" is phlegm. I can. Not. Handle it.

I just got hired. The DON said my cover letter was very honest and refreshing and impressed her. I'm also a fresh grad with no experience. Message me and I'd be happy to send you a copy

Yeah...I wanna know so I can work there! Hal my class works in LTC and they repot being run off their heinous!

I've heard that fewer and fewer places are doing credit checks, because your credit score just isn't that relevant in determining if you'll be a good nurse. This is mainly because there are just too many reasons why a person may have a poor credit score. Sure, you might be a shady dishonest person...but the majority of people, ESPECIALLY in the recent heinous economic climate, have found themselves on he low end of the credit score totem pole and are helpless to do a whole lot about it. For Pete's sake, why would you go to nursing school and try to get a job???? ~OH DUH! To make money to pay bills and get out of your debts! What a novel idea! See...it just doesn't make sense to exclude someone from a job factoring in a credit score. Me...I just got hired, and wasn't asked about mine, but I was advised by a nurse recruiter friend that if I was asked to provide info, to be upfront about it and say exactly why- that my idiot ex husband put all our bills in my name, got my car repossessed and "forgot" to file taxes for 4 years. Well ok I'd say it in much nicer words, but you get the idea.

Oh my...from your lips to my ears. Nursing school has put me so far into debt it's not even funny.

It's no longer a hard and fast rule that a resume has to be limited to one page...in fact our class hired a résumé expert to come teach a seminar and she said its virtually impossible, especially for healthcare professionals, to put the vital stuff on there and have it be only one page, and that hiring managers are no longer nixing applicants because of a resume longer than a page. Also, could you get a letter of recommendation from an instructor or a preceptor that was really impressed with you?

My class had 30 students- well, 25 graduated anyway. Some has jobs lined up before pinning, and maybe 3 don't have jobs yet. A handful of us just lined up jobs in the past couple of weeks. I got hired on at a nursing home where 6 other fellow students are, but I'm also waiting to hear if I get a second interview at a docs office I'd RATHER work at, and waiting for USA.jobs to post a listing for a PN at the local VA which is my dream job!

Be patient. Nursing grads take the boards in clumps and so the state BON gets inundated with results and they get back logged.

Sometimes all you can do is just...keep...applying. Everywhere. Even the places you might not want to. Have you applied to every local nursing home? I just got hired at one that employs 7 other former classmates and not a one of us had 1 year's experience. Are you submitting a cover letter with your résumé? I would...and craft it to be personalized to each facility and make sure they know what they'd gain by hiring you. Also try ihirenursing.com ...it's a paid job matching service but for a buck you can get a week's trial. In the week I was a member I was matched to 36 job opportunities that were never listed in my local paper. You can also suit your résumé and get a professional critique in a video! Very cool. I had no trouble canceling my 1 week trial.

I'm extremely picky about grammar and spelling in real life, but in texting, facebooking and forum posting, I give people a break. It's just not that big a freakin deal.

Have you applied at LTC facilities? When my LPN class graduated in May, the nursing homes were snapping us up left and right. Still are- 3 of my classmates and myself all got hired within the last 3 weeks at a facility already employing 4 more of them. None of us had any experience except some of us were CNAs. Keep trying.

I live in western colorado (grand junction) and we have TWO out of 3 area hospitals that employ a high number of LPNs, and there is ZERO talk about phasing them out of nursing homes. I graduated from an area LPN program in May and all but a couple of my classmates are employed now in nursing homes, doctors offices, and hospitals. There are jobs here!

I am 37 and just graduated from a practical nurse program. In August I begin classes that are prerequisites to apply for the AAS program and after that I still have a boatload more prerequisite classes for the BSN program. But I'm going to stay the course and see it through because I'm determined. You're never too old or too challenged in your personal life and family dynamics to go to college if it's what you really want. There is ALWAYS a way.

I have encountered several people both in my university and online who got the "good" pop-up and it turned out they had not passed, and vice-versa. Granted...I'll be trying the trick myself when I take my NCLEX in a few weeks, but I won't be shouting from the rooftops "YAY I PASSED!" until I get my official results. It might be accurate for a percentage in the high 90s of people but my gawd...if I was one of the ones who the good pop up was inaccurate for and told everyone I passed based on that...well, how embarassing!

Nooooo! If you know for certain that you are fuzzy on acid base balance or lab values or major classes of drugs or s/s of certain disease processes you should definitely do a little brushing up. You don't have to totally re-learn everything, just maybe crack open your textbooks and do the chapter-end quizzes or any disc resources again. You can use all the rationale tricks and decision tree methods you want but if you really don't know squat about the content that'll be of little help. My graduated class just took a 2 day seminar from a Kaplan rep and she was pretty emphatic about doing a little review of concepts that you have trouble with.

Just beware. I know of 6 people that got the "good" pop up and it turns out they actually failed. It is NOT 100% accurate. Go by your actual results before sharing news.

Advice: don't waste time worrying about people in your class who don't seem to appreciate the fact that they're in those seats. Only worry about yourself. Unless you're doing a group project....then raise hell if someone slacks.

I chose to do the LPN program as part of my university's career ladder model because I am 37 years old and wanted to be entering the workforce as a nurse ASAP. I graduate in 6 days! I'm glad I did it this way because nearly every nurse I have encountered during clinicals who was an LPN before becoming an RN feels they are far better prepared for the workplace. The RNs I have encountered who were not LPNs first tell me they wish they had been. The BSN mentor students who are assigned to shadow us during med-surg clinicals are amazed at how much us "lowly" PN students actually know! Not to bash on any who got their BSN only...just saying that I feel, and that I've met many nurses who feel that being an LPN first is truly a superior educational track.