tandv07

I graduated with my BSN with a gpa of 3.7 in May 2013. I applied to take my boards in March and everything was sent in by the end of May. I disclosed that I was convicted of a misdemeanor (concealment of goods under 200) in 2011 before starting nursing school. I explained the circumstances around it and provided official court documents and a supporting letter indicating rehabilitation. Throughout nursing school, criminal background checks were required before each year, therefore I had to get approval from the facilities to do my clinicals there. All three facilities approved me with no problem. I was hiring at our local hospital on the Neuroscience floor. My employer was and is aware of my background check and it went through an approval process. I will have been there 3 months on August 20th. To the point of my post: the VA board of nursing's approval process has been very slow and there's a big lack of communication between us with what has been going on. I just received a letter yesterday stating that I had to attend an informal conference hearing before a final decision was made. The kicker is that I have no idea when this conference is going to be, all they told me was they would let me know 30 days before the date of the hearing. This would be fine if I wasn't required to test by August 20th for my employer. I spoke with a lawyer today and he said these types of cases are very common and almost always work out, especially with the circumstances surrounding my case. Most of my classmates applied for licensure in Tennessee and a few had misdemeanors on their background check. The approval process was done in a month for them and they were allowed to test without going before the board. I was wondering if it would be in my best interest to also apply for licensure in Tennessee in hopes of getting a quicker test date. Sorry for the lengthy post, but it's a very complicated situation. I appreciate any helpful input and please no lectures on my mistakes of my past. I am very sorry for what I did and I have paid for it every day since then. I'm just wanting to move forward with my life and achieve my dreams. Thanks so much in advance.

Thanks everyone... I have several NCLEX books and it does seem a lot easier than ATI. The questions are so tricky, it's not that I don't know the material, I can practically recite the ATI book lol. But our ATI can hold us back, I would much rather it count as a grade...I finished with all A's last semester and this semester and the thought that one exam can hold me back is treacherous. I take it Friday, so I will let everyone know how it goes!

I took this last semester. Definitely review in depth of surgical asepsis, auscultating heart sounds, suctioning, and care of an indwelling catheter.. Hope this helps!

I can definitely relate to you. While I'm starting my senior year of the BSN in the Fall, I still have no idea how I'm ever going to feel capable and confident by the time I graduate. Of all the nurses I've expressed this concern too, they all said they felt the same way when they graduate. In fact, they didn't remember a lot of what they learned and most of their learning occurred when they graduated and got a job as a nurse. Good luck!

Yes I did all of those and they are nothing like the final... They definitely tried to trick you. I know 5 of my topics to review didn't even have the information in the book where it said it would be. Such a crappy indicator of student performance. Our instructor doesn't teach out of the ATI book, so it was completely up to us to study it. Good luck on yours! Study the endocrine system and cardiac for sure!

I took my med surg comprehensive ATI final and failed by one question. We have a re-take in a few days and I'm extremely nervous because we have to obtain a level 2 or higher in order to pass the entire class (even though I have an A in the class, I will still fail if I don't pass the ATI) Our school takes med surg in 1 semester, 12 credit hours.. I was wondering if anyone has had to retake the med surg ATI final and how similar it was to the first exam. The exam I took and failed was EXTREMELY hard and detailed, most of the material wasn't covered during our course. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!