grad.rye.2012

Dear Allnurses Members, I just got a job at a real nice hospital. They offer tuition reimbursement for continuing education. I am currently a BSN RN, and would like to take courses for improving my educational level. Any courses/program you would suggest for me? My specialty after graduating is orthopedic nursing, as I work at an orthopedic hospital. Just for your info, there are a few restrictions for tuition reimbursement, and they are: Attendance at seminars, workshops, conferences will not be submitted for tuition reimbursement but rather will be managed through the hospital's continuing education budget via Accounts Payable, not payroll. Other education endeavors that are not eligible for reimbursement through this Plan are: Any course that instructs the employee in any sport, game or hobby Supervisory courses not part of a degree program Courses in preparation for a attainment of specialty certification or licensure Continuing education course Specialty certifications not required to maintain license I would really appreciate if somebody could suggest me any courses for taking advantage of tuition reimbursement. They reimburse $3,200/year. Thanks in advance.

I suggest Saunders for review. Kaplan for strategies to answer questions and also practice questions. NCSBN online course for practice questions. I emphasize practice questions. I am an international nurse from Toronto, Canada and passed in first attempt by doing this. Good luck!

Did your name show up as yet? Mine showed up the following day after I paid for quick results on Pearson Vue.

Just to update, I paid for the quick results, and I passed. I applied to Texas Board of Nursing. My name is still not up yet and today is June 12, 2013. I wrote my exam on June 10th, 2013. Hope I have my name up by tomorrow morning :)

Thanks!! I paid for the quick results and found that I passed. Can't wait to see my name on TX-BON. Until then, I won't be at peace. Lol

I am now a true believer of PVT. I finally got the nerves to pay for the quick results and found the status to be "PASS". OMG... I feel on top of the world!!

I wrote my exam on Monday, June 10th from Toronto, Canada. I applied for Texas licensure. Got a good pop-up after coming home n checking. When do you think my name would be up on their website? I am constantly checking their website and not having my name showed up is scaring me :|

I wrote the exam a day after you on June 10. I got a good pop-up as well on Pearson Vue. I am still in denial as well lol. Until I see my name on BON website, I will not believe . Will keep you posted on whether I officially passed or not.

If you have made 4 attempts, it means that you know your stuff because you have actually studied all 4 times. I would highly suggest you take learningext.com course from NCSBN. They have some questions that were somewhat similar to the actual NCLEX-RN exam. I took 8 week course and I am an International Nurse from Toronto, Canada. I wrote my exam yesterday and got a good pop-up on Pearson Vue, so looks like I passed. For you, I think even 3 weeks is enough (will save you money). Use the course only for questions, because the course content is too much to absorb (a normal person can't actually sit and go over it all... I did it initially, but couldn't keep up with the load later). So do all the practice quizzes, tests etc. and read their rationale. Sometimes, it may make you angry to not get some questions right, and their rationales do not tell you why you were wrong; they only explain the rationale for the right answer (which is their drawback). But practice makes you perfect; keep practicing! Do lots of practice questions!! I found Kaplan and all other practice books to be much easier than the actual exam. NCSBN was very much comparable with NCLEX-RN. So make your decision wisely. I am not saying don't do practice questions from Kaplan, Saunders, Lippincott; but I am suggesting you to be mindful of the fact that their questions are a bit easier. But practice from every resource possible. When I was doing the exam, I thought I was failing and almost gave up. I couldn't imagine myself studying again for this exam because I put a lot of hard work and efforts into this. So I somewhat know how you may be feeling. Please don't give up!! Do this for yourself!! You finished nursing school for a reason... and remind yourself that reason everyday to motivate you to study. Failing NCLEX doesn't mean anything; it simply means you have to change your strategies of studying. So good luck!

Congratulations on passing NCLEX-RN. I wrote the exam yesterday too, but my test was booked for 2:00 PM. I know I should have booked for an earlier time, because I found myself to be sleepy during the day time d/t lack of sleep . I wrote from Toronto, because I am a Registered Nurse here in Toronto, Canada. I am moving to Texas soon, because my hubby lives there. I felt that the exam was extremely difficult. It made me think on a very different level. Some questions, like you said, I was very confident on. However, some made me think "what on Earth would have made me study for this detail of the topic?" I mean, I studied for almost all the common topics, but they tested me on a microscopic cellular level. I memorized almost all the meds with side effects. I used Saunders, Lippincott, Kaplan and even took 8 week course on NCSBN; so you can imagine how much I might have studied for it. I actually got to the testing centre early (at 12:45 pm). They let me in and I began the exam around that time. I got all 265 questions and I was speechless after writing it. I had more than an hour left on my last question. I didn't know whether to cry or what. I got home and thought of doing the pearson vue trick and it gave me a good pop-up. So looks like I passed. However, my name is not on TXBON, so I guess I will have to wait. I should have my name on it by Thursday. But I am pretty confident that pearson vue trick would be accurate. Again, Congrats to you and I have my fingers crossed for me :).

I wrote mine the first time and passed. I'm from Toronto. My dad checked the mail in the afternoon time today. I was out with my mom to doctor's clinic while I got texts from friends saying they got the mail. I right away called my dad and asked him to check the mail. He gave me a good news, but I really wasn't ready to believe him until I actually saw the mail with my own eyes!! Feels so great to have that mail in my hand :). I was jumping up and down running around my house, declaring that "I PASSED". It's such a relief... honestly :| For the future writers: You may feel anxious after you finish writing the exam... I, in fact cried for almost a week after writing the exam, because I was positive that I was failing. Then, thankfully it was my brother's wedding in a few weeks after the exam, so that kept my mind off of it. Still, the thoughts sometimes made me feel very low. I always do this thing while writing the exam that I mark the ones I am confident I will get right. This time I marked and saw that I was getting 54/200 right. This honestly scared me to death because in previous exams, I was sure about a lot more than that. This increased my anxiety to a level you cannot even imagine. Therefore, make sure you pick the options you think are CORRECT!! Don't fall into their trap of distractors. Practice, practice practice by answering the questions from Mosby's practice questions book!! Have good knowledge base as well, because without knowledge, it's not possible for you to pass. The questions in CNA book are nothing compared to the actual CRNE questions because they make them wayy harder and wayy more confusing. Use that CNA book wisely and don't expect the questions to be as easy as them. Read the rationales and see how they could word the questions to confuse you. Most importantly, Read LEWIS!!! Read POTTER & PERRY!! Base your reading according to the CRNE competencies! They are of high value. Read them everyday and make sure u didn't miss any of those competencies. When they write in brackets (e.g., *so and so...*) think of other topics that could cover that competency. Buy a new set of highlighters. Highlight and make sure you know all those competencies. Sometimes the answers could be one of the competencies as well. The Mosby's comprehensive guide is another resource many people used for this exam. Use this resource wisely! Don't read it all... maybe only the parts you may lack knowledge in. Again, I didn't read every single page of it. I only read the things that are common or some things I may have heard from someone. Make sure you start reading this book about 5-6 months ahead of time. Finish it about 1-2 months before the exam and go over the highlighted points everyday while reading Lewis and Potter & Perry. Again, you don't have to read every page from Lewis and Potter & Perry. You may just have to read the common conditions that are most prevelant in Canada. Also, things you studied in school; you may refer to the slides from Patho course. This is exactly how I studied and passed. After finishing the exam, I know many people who were confident that they would fail, but they passed too. Hopefully these strategies would work for you. I have always been an anxious exam writer, but this exam was the most anxiety provoking exam I have ever written in my life. I'm just so happy that I passed. Good luck to all the future writers and I hope you feel the same way as I do very soon :).

Thanks KatsanchezRN ! I will make sure I get help from PSWs and other colleagues of mine. We too have pictures of the residents in our MAR; however, they haven't been updated in ages. It's hard to recognize the residents that way. Hopefully tomorrow goes well :)

Thanks so much :)

I will be working day shift, which is why I'm a bit nervous :|

Hello everyone!! This is my first posting on allnurses.com :). I just graduated and was offered a job at a Long term care facility. I did my fourth year nursing placement in this long term care facility and I really enjoyed it. I loved the residents and during the period when I was off after graduating and getting my temporary licensing, I really missed them. When I was offered this position, I was so thrilled and excited to start. However, I'm worried because as a student nurse, I only had to care for 10 residents by the end of the semester. As a Registered Nurse (Temp), I will be responsible for 30 residents. It will be very challenging because it will be 3 times the workload. Plus, I don't know the residents from the other wing and most don't have name tag bracelets on them. How may I prepare for my first day? Any tips would be well appreciated :).