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.

Is ANKI similar to Quizlet? I typically use Quizlet which I love because I can put it in "test mode" which turns all of my flashcards into practice questions.

I tried to make this short but unfortunately that didn't work out (TLDR at the bottom.) I am returning to my BSN program after 2 years off-- I completed my first semester (fundamentals, health assessment, pathophys, and nursing research) with a decent enough GPA (>3.0). I had to withdraw my second semester due to some health issues and I'm finally going back this fall. Anyway, I have a tried and true method for studying, except I remember I would run out of time to complete the whole process before an exam. Let me explain. My process is thus: 1. Skim assigned chapters before class 2. Print out powerpoint slides and take notes on them in class 3. While re-listening to the lecture, combine the powerpoint, my class notes, and any pertinent info from the lecture that I caught while re-listening 4. Make flash cards 5. Practice questions 6. Make a study guide 7. More practice questions Often I would just barely finish the note re-writing, possibly run through my flash cards once, and make a study guide before each exam. I remember it would take me hours upon hours to do step 3-- I'm talking 8hrs for a 3hr lecture was typical. This is the process I also used for A&P, microbio, etc before nursing school. I'm reviewing the content from my first semester to prep for the fall when I return. I'll be taking med surg and pharm. I'd rather try and hone a more effective study system now, rather than while I'm in the midst of classes again. Do other people have a similar process or am I just a weirdo? Any suggestions? Critiques? TLDR; I spend hours re-writing my notes from lectures and am not always able to do other studying (flash cards, practice q's, etc.) prior to exams. I'm worried that I'm wasting time on re-writing notes when I could develop a more effective method. Help!

That's gonna be a no from me dawg. But seriously, unless you're hard up for $$$ I'd run the other direction. Trust your gut.

bump

Commenting to follow because I'd also appreciate hearing from other student's first hand experience. I'm curious about WCU's attrition rate because I've heard rumors that they will boot students from their program pretty easily. I understand lots of nursing programs are like that, though.

Hey, I'm considering applying to WCU (specifically their LA campus.) I'd love to hear any and all first hand experiences from graduates of their BSN program. I'm generally very skeptical of for-profit schools, but I've come across some good experiences with their program so I'm curious to hear more.

I'm considering applying to WCU and would love to hear first hand student experiences. I am generally very skeptical of for-profit schools, but the only other options in the LA area for a BSN degree seem to be tremendously difficult (for a degree that is already quite competitive!) to get accepted into.

I'll try to be as brief as possible with the backstory for brevity but this post will probably be quite long. I had some health issues during my second clinical semester (fall 2017.) Near finals, it became apparent I would need to withdraw, regroup, and return to retake the classes the next semester. I ended up needing more time than that and then some other life things occurred (my marriage fell apart and was followed by mental/financial issues related to that.) Needless to say, the time off from school was much longer than originally anticipated. I always did the appropriate paperwork (readmission application, etc.) and made sure to stay in contact with my advisor. Each semester I touched base with her and each time she said it would be okay for me to delay. Fast forward to now and apparently the nursing director needs to review my application. My advisor never mentioned that someone else would need to review my application so it's not something that I anticipated. It makes sense but now I'm unsure what the outcome may be. I'm beginning to get anxious because some of my pre-reqs are 5+ years old, which obviously could create complications should I need to reapply at the same school or elsewhere. I'm just wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation? What was the outcome? Were you able to return? Did you get rejected? Etc. Obviously nobody can predict my situation but experiences from others in the same situation would be so appreciated! TLDR; I had to withdraw from my nursing program in fall 2017 and am hoping to return fall 2019. My advisor unexpectedly needs the nursing director to review my application and I'm concerned about the outcome. Looking for experiences from others.

I know ABSN is more rigorous than BSN, but almost all of my BSN classmates work. Many of them live with family but many of them do not. Our program discourages working above 20 hours/week but I know many classmates that do. Point is, it can be done.

Wow, this thread went an interesting route. Came here to contribute my anecdotal experience as a former anti-vaxxer and somehow we've entered Duggarland.