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Hi, newnurse! I agree with LadyLeopard on this--it's best to look at new grad positions now, look at their timelines and then prepare yourself for it. I graduated November last year and didn't start looking until October, and I thought that was already too late (missed out on so many applications!). While I've heard some hospitals do take graduate nurses/those with interim permits, the hospitals in my area as far as I know take only those with an RN license BUT soon-to-graduate nurses and those who already have an NCLEX date are free to apply.

2mint, I'm also from SoCal haha! Congratulations to you too and a very happy new year! 2016 will be great for the both of us!

Hi, everyone! I'm a new BSN graduate (got my degree last month), took the NCLEX on the 29th. Computer shut off at 75 questions, the entire exam took 1 hour and 5 minutes. I've been constantly checking the Breeze website for any chance that my name would pop up. That was also the first thing I did when I woke up today and found out I am now a registered nurse! Study materials: Kaplan Live Review (includes Question Trainers and QBank), ATI review books (if your school uses ATI, please download the PDF versions of the books on the ATI website--they're very useful especially if you're trying to quickly search for a specific item), Saunders 5th edition (the yellow book). I also used UWorld for a bit (with a free trial), and it was great. Honorable mention: LaCharity's book on prioritization and delegation is really good too, but I couldn't make full use of it due to lack of time (and my brain already being fried). After graduating I wanted to take a break from studying (wrong move--keep studying!) so I didn't actually review for the NCLEX until I got my ATT sometime in late November. After that, it was studying almost everyday. There were days when I felt too burned out from the intense review I tried doing, and whenever that happened I would close my laptop and stop studying. I thought it was very important to keep my sanity and refresh and then go back when my head is clear and I could think again. For those who are using (or planning to use) Kaplan to study, I recommend it. I didn't get to use a lot of the Qbank (only used around 150 questions specifically targeting my weakest points) but I thought the questions were harder in Question Trainers 6 and 7 compared to the actual NCLEX. This recommendation, however, comes with a caveat: the rationales for the questions are really short and, unless you make full use of their decision tree, are not quite helpful. The Kaplan 3-day live review focuses on getting the decision tree down pat, and I honestly thought it was stopping me from genuinely using my brain the way my brain naturally works, so I decided not to use it. What I did instead was to review all the questions AND all the rationales and if I don't understand something I would go to my review books (ATI, Saunders) and occasionally to my nursing textbooks (and Google, hah) to find out more. This, I feel, is the most crucial part of studying for the NCLEX--if there's a term, a process, ANYTHING that comes up in a question (or in an answer!) that you don't know or aren't sure of, READ ABOUT IT. It's not just about getting the right answers, but understanding why that's the right answer that is key. UWorld is great at this as the rationales they have just explain everything and you don't have to search for it at all, so if you're on a budget I would highly, highly suggest it. To all the new and not-so-new graduates about to take the NCLEX, YOU CAN DO IT! Believe in yourself!

I just had a panel interview yesterday for an RN position. I was thinking of writing thank you notes and figured it would be best to do it via a handwritten note. My aunt (who's also a nurse in the same hospital) says it's much better to do it via email as it's speedy and easier to reach them. The problem with this though is that I don't have each of the interviewers' emails (there were 7 of them)--I only got one of them, as she handed me her business card immediately after the interview. My aunt did tell me that it's easy to find out their e-mails through the internal system, since I have their names. The question is, wouldn't it be rude (or creepy) to send them all thank you e-mails even though they did not exactly give me their business cards/contact information (and I didn't ask)? It just sounds inappropriate to me, and writing handwritten cards a much better (and more thoughtful) practice. Thanks for any advice.

I was reading my patient's drug orders, one of her PRN meds is Kayexalate, and the doctor states on the orders that it is to be given for her constipation. Now this confuses me, because I read in my book that one of Kayexalate's common side effects IS constipation. She's on bowel protocol, which means she's already having trouble with her bowel movements as it is; shouldn't the Kayexalate be removed from her PRNs? Or is there another reason why the drug would be given for constipation? Her K levels pre-clinical are within normal range. Would love it if anyone can give me an idea of why it was ordered that way, or if the doctor made a mistake. Thanks

Pt is female (oops, did I not mention that? haha), and according to Pt, she hasn't drunk alcohol in about 30 years. I read in her history that she had a lady partsl bleed around 2004 (Pt is currently in her 60s); as for melena and bright red blood on stools, her last BM was prior to her admission (2 days before my clinical), and there wasn't anything on her charts to suggest bleeding, nor did the Pt say anything when I asked.

Hi, everyone! I really need help with this for my care plan. I need to put in rationales for abnormal lab values and I'm not sure if what I have in mind is correct or not. Here are the details: Obese (BMI:44) diagnosed with CP, hypoxemia, and pancreatitis. Complains of N/V, HA and abd pain, has SOB. Patient takes the following drugs and solution: D5NS 1000 mL at 125 mL/hr, morphine 2-4 mg Q2H PRN, ibuprofen 600 mg PRN, amlodipine 10 mg daily, Cymbalta 60 mg daily, Protonix 40 mg daily, Lovenox 40 mg daily, Lithium 900 mg daily, Remeron 45 mg daily, Zofran 4 mg Q6H PRN. Hx includes HTN, GERD, depression, bipolar disorder, and dyslipidemia. Pt was NPO, then switched to clear diet. Pt is also on NC 3L. Here are my questions: 1. Pt's lab values show that the neutrophil level is elevated but slowly going back to normal level (89.3, then 84.4, then 70.2). This indicates inflammatory response, possibly due to pancreatitis, correct? 2. Next, the lymphocytes are low but are slowly coming back up (5.6, then 9.0, then 19.7 during clinical day). I'm not so sure why the lymphocytes are low in the first place, but could that be because of malnutrition from being on NPO then clear diet? 3. RBCs are trending down and decreasing (from 13.6 on admission, 12.3, then 11.7). I looked at the meds and the only one that had a side effect of anemia is ibuprofen. I know that D5NS is a hypertonic solution and could cause the RBCs to shrink, but I don't know if that means the RBC values going down. 4. Hgb and hct are also trending down (Hgb: 13.6, then 12.3, then 11.7; Hct: 38.1, 35.6, 34.8), which would indicate anemia. Would anemia be due to overhydration using D5NS, perhaps? Or is there something else I'm missing? 5. BUN is also trending down--it went from a normal value of 13, then decreased to 8, then 5. I'm thinking it's due to the decreased protein intake from the clear liquid diet, but does the D5NS have something to do with it too? Also, can anyone point me to a site where I can get "drug" information about fluid infusions, like D5NS? I'm talking about typical dose, precautions, nursing considerations, side effects/adverse effects. I can't find it in any drug handbook and I need to cite a source for all information, so I can't just come up with the information myself. If there are any values/information that I still need to put up, please tell me. I'd be grateful for any help!

@nissy_nc Condolences to you, and I hope we still get to see each other once you start in April! :) @MarineWfe09 88% is really high! :) Good luck and I hope you get in to Cohort 34!

@ksantos92 Mine was 87.3%, and I have around 3.5~3.7 on the Math and Sciences GPA (forgot my calculations to be honest). @nissy_nc Yay, we got in! So we'll see each other on the 30th then.

Hi, guys! I just got an acceptance e-mail from NU! Did anyone else get an e-mail?

Hi, everyone. Still no news? I'm trying not to freak out, but I'm going crazy with all this waiting! I really thought we'd know by now, but I guess my expectations of their efficiency and the ease of sorting out the applicants are a little high.

Hmm. The example for the 3.84 GPA doesn't make sense to me mathematically since only 30 points maximum are given for the Math and Science based questions--it would be wrong to have 41.143 points in that case as it exceeds the points given for that particular part. I'd expect someone with a 3.84 GPA to have less than 30 points (~2.80+, maybe). Only someone with a GPA of 4.00 would get the whole 30 points, which is why I said in my previous post that if that's really the formula for the Math and Science based GPA, then anyone with a GPA of over 2.8 would get more than 30 points since: 2.8*10/28*30 = 30 points

Yes, your new explanation was the one I initially did before asking here at Allnurses and it's the same as calculating the GPA regularly, but the one you said where I have to multiply it by 10 and divide by 28 is not the same as that one, so I got confused. Thanks anyway!

SammiN, in calculating the Math and Science Based GPA, where did you get all those numbers (ie. 10, 28...although I'm assuming the 30 is from 30%)? Because if I plug in any random GPA, if it's greater than 2.8, the result will be greater than 30, which isn't correct since only 30 points is considered. As for the cohorts, I looked at the NU website and it says the cohort for the Generic Entry Bachelors and the Accelerated PB Bachelors is SD 33, while the LVN-BSN has the cohort code LVN 5, so I don't think it's the same. Good luck in taking the TEAS!

Hi, everyone! I also applied for the same cohort--now it's the crazy waiting game, but I guess the days will pass by quickly as it's already October. They did say we'll hear from them around the last week of this month, yes? Does anyone have a clue on how they calculate the Science and Math GPA? I thought I understood it during the Nursing Forum, but now that I'm actually wondering about whether my GPA is competitive or not, I doubt I understood it at all. Oh, and I remember the proctor for my TEAS said that they get about 150-200 applicants for each cohort. I don't know whether this cohort has that many applicants, but whenever I think about that number and how only the top 50 applicants get in, I get so panicky and jittery. Good luck to all of us!