studentbear

I have a strong interest in working in the NICU and understand that I am well-suited for it because I work in a methodical/systematic way and am very detail-oriented. I have experience working as a float unit CNA, so I've been exposed to lots of different units, and I find that the units I prefer are often ICU or tele/step-down. I have no exposure to the NICU, however. I've begun a FHM course, joined, AWHONN, and have been generally doing things to try and show on my resume that I am interested in this specialty. I've been feeling sort of confused/uncertain about which direction to focus on, because I love working on cardiac step-down units. I think this is because of how those units are run compared to med-surg ones (very teamwork oriented, nurses tend to partner with techs to get care done, not chaotic, ratio is lower, etc.) but maybe there is an aspect I'm missing? Would the NICU operate in a similar way?

You sound pleasant.

First of all, I'm 30 and will be 31 when I graduate next year with my BSN. Please try not to put pressure on yourself to hurry up and finish you degree! I definitely sympathize with you, believe me. But I put a ton of pressure on myself to hurry up and get my career going (got accepted to a BSN at 27) and then ended up being forced to take 2 years off due to health issues. You'll get there when you get there and there will probably be plenty of other "non-traditional" students like you and me in your cohort ? I can't personally speak to the schools you've been accepted to but I am attending a nursing program in Boston. I think you should go with Salem State with the pros/cons you mentioned about each. From what I've heard, plenty of schools don't have preceptorships and some schools (like mine) are beginning to phase them out so IMO it's not a huge deal. Plus, with this covid stuff who knows when we will have face to face clinicals again.

Does anyone have experience with the nursing.com bundle which covers content for pre-nursing through new grad? It's 2 years of access and is about $492. I just wrapped up my junior year of nursing school and it seems like it would be nice to have something to prep for NCLEX (obvi not yet) as well as content review. I do well with structure for content review rather than just going over my notes. I know Uworld, Kaplan, etc. are all popular options but I'm specifically interested in this nursing.com bundle.

Tangentially related.. how do you find what your state requires for clinical hours? When I looked it up, it said that states "recommend" hours, but couldn't find actual requirements. I thought schools set clinical hours, not the state.

I'm in Boston. I had my mental health clinical yesterday with no word on future cancellations and we were supposed to have maternity clinical today, but I woke up to it being canceled. All simulations and labs have been canceled. Classes are remote until early April (although I foresee classes staying remote imo.)

It's easy to get discouraged by the first exam. I don't think I passed my first fundamentals exam (our minimum is a 77%) but I finished that semester with A's and B's. I'm now 3/4 of the way done with my junior year. Re-evaluate your study techniques and plan to do better next time. Nursing school isn't easy for many people. You have to adapt and overcome. Print out the powerpoints and skim the chapters before class. During class, add notes to the powerpoints. Then review the powerpoints. Do lots of practice questions (ones in the back of the book, UWorld, a practice question book, whatever.) Make flashcards if that helps you.

What you're describing is imposter syndrome and believe me, unless your cohort are unusual af, many/all of them are also experiencing it. I've been a CNA for several years and while I have lots of the interpersonal skills and technical skills down pat, I still second guess myself over silly details. For example, once I even did something once that I knew better than to do! I recapped a needle with my hand (it was the kind where it's builtin, so I just did it with the same hand that was holding it.) I had never done that ever and idk what I was thinking. Try and take a little time the night before and/or right before clinical to review skills. Just have a little cheat sheet handy, something to refresh your memory. It may help. I'm glad the antidepressants sound like they're helping you. Please make sure you're taking care of yourself as it'll help manage your anxiety and general wellbeing (enough sleep, balanced diet, regular exercise, etc. at MINIMUM)

Ok thanks! Got it, thank you.

When you say "apply from the start," you mean register with Pearson Vue or?

I'm set to graduate next year and planning to relocate to another state across country shortly thereafter. I know sometimes it can take a little time to get an ATT. I'm wondering whether it would make more sense to just plan to take the NCLEX in the new state? Rather than waiting for the ATT, taking the test, and then submitting for endorsement.

Forgive me if this sounds petty. I want to join my school's SNA. On the first week of this semester, I asked the president of our chapter when the meeting would be. She said she didn't know yet. I followed up about a week later and she said emails would be sent out "soon." Still nothing. SNA is important to me for networking, resume building, etc. I'm getting frustrated with lack of info. Is this something worth escalating eventually? If so, to who?

Following

Thanks for the info. I wonder how competitive it is compared to Boston area hospitals. We're a pretty small city but have several ABSN, BSN, and ASN programs nearby. I was recently told by a clinical instructor that unless you have an "in" at a hospital by working as a tech, you need to get a job through a new grad residency.

I'm going to try and sift through the new grad residency program threads but wanted to make a post in the mean time. I'm set to graduate with my BSN over a year from now (May 2021) hopefully with at least a 3.0-3.2 GPA. I'm originally from the West Coast (WA and then CA before that) but moved out to Boston in 2016. Thought I'd stay here forever but increasingly over it. Anyway! I'm leaning toward relocating to SoCal after graduation. My understanding is that it's a pretty competitive area for new grads. How competitive are new grad residencies for BSN graduates? What are some ways to stand out as an applicant? I have about 10 years of various experience in the medical field (acute care, home health, etc. as a CNA.) Mainly been doing in-home care while in school. Does anyone know if coming from Boston will carry any "weight" (in Boston we're all very aware of MGH being #2 in the country, Children's being #1, and so on but no idea if anyone outside of Boston really cares about that)? I have family that works as UCLA but not in nursing. I'm sure I'll have letters of rec, extracurriculars, etc. to add to my resume. Would ACLS or other certifications help? I'm just trying to get an idea now on what to expect, so I can plan accordingly. Obviously my #1 priority is doing as well as I can in school and passing NCLEX on the 1st try.