Nurse7970

Well I had my interview. I left feeling pretty happy. The HR manager said she felt I interview very well and exemplified the qualities of the organization. I went to next interview with the nurse manager and the nurse manager for the CCU (medically managed heart floor) was there too because they said I was a very qualified candidate so they were interviewing me to place me where they think I would fit best and where I would like best. I loved both managers and really what they try to do individually and together. I really would be happy with either floor, but see myself drawn toward a surgically managed patient. At the end of the interview, the manager for the CCU thanked me for my time and said I'm going to excuse myself now and let you finish talking with the nurse manager of CV and shadow in the CVSICU (by the way it is CVSICU) since that's the position you applied for. I talked to the nurse manager more for CV and she did ask me which floor I would like to work on. I really do have I love for the surgical side so I said CVSICU. I loved the shadowing experience too! Such an awesome place to be. I was trying to contain myself the entire time and be professional and not stare at anything with too big of a smile lol!! I am confused though if this means they see me as a better fit for CV than CCU? I don't understand why I wasn't asked to come shadow or see her unit. So basically I'm a little confused. I left feeling pleased, but now I'm not sure the longer I analyze everything. I'm worried because I wasn't asked to see both units that this means I may not be a good match. I felt like my interviews had great ebb and flow. We related well, I genuinely like what the hospital offers and the units. The managers are incredible. I'm nervous because I have no experience it's the intensive side of cardio and I am a young, though ambitious and dedicated, nurse. What do you guys think of all this and how it went? I was offered a position in labor surgical room today too, but am waiting to hear back from them. So stressful and exciting!

Thanks for the insight, guys. It's a level two trauma center so I don't know if that would matter at all with deciding what kind of cases they would handle. I will definitely post how it goes!

Hello! I received some pretty disheartening news about a month ago that my hospital was closing. I have worked on a med surg/telemetry floor with the occasional float to our small ICU for about a year now. I have my ACLS and hospice experience also. Of course I was very saddened by the closing and still am, but I am delighted that I am now being presented with the opportunity to interview in a CSICU.. And even more they want me to shadow for a few hours after! Scary but exciting! The floor is titled CSICU and not CVSICU or CVICU.. I know from the recruiter it's a cardiac ICU floor.. But I was just wondering if anyone could tell me if there is any difference between these acronyms? And from my understanding of CVICU (if it in fact is like one) I will be dealing with fresh hearts/CABGs. Could anyone who maybe has more insight elaborate on what a CSICU nurse would do and share any interview tips? I have reallllllly gotten to love cardiac and I want this job so I'm researching on here and the internet as much as I can! Thanks!

So I'll try to make this as brief as possible. I have been working at a small hospital (think 75 beds) for the past five weeks on a med surg floor. I was hired before I graduated (new grad here) and was extremely grateful for the hire on my one and only interview. I figured hey what the heck you can always use med surg experience and I'm not picky and I figured my first choice specialty is insanely hard to get into right out of graduation in my area! So I accepted and have overall had a pleasant experience. Absolutely ADORE the people I work with! Such a wonderful crew! There's some negatives to the way the floor is staffed and overall policies, but hey, no place is perfect. Soooo, my preceptor from my clinical preceptorship (in my first choice specialty) called me and told me she put my name in for a job interview and told her nurse manager how amazing I was and she thought I would be perfect. So if I wanted it just to go and apply and she'd tell her nurse manager. Down side? I could possibly be interviewing for a temporary position only lasting til July! They have one full time one that the nurse manager told about when I expressed concern. The couple employees there that I know have told me that the hospital doesn't really rid of temporary employees once hired if the need isn't there for the specific job they are working in come the temp date. They just relocate them to different department. Which I'd be okay with. Love the hospital! So I guess I'm just kind of at a place now where I'm thinking am I insane to even be thinking of giving up a full time job for a possible dream temporary one?! I have bills! I am not a risk taker! Also, Does it give you a bad reputation to leave a job, if following resignation protocol, in a situation like this? I am not a job hopper and have only worked at two places other than this since I was 15 (with no work gap) so I'm very uncomfortable with how this works. Also the small hospital i work for is owned by a health company that owns a ton of hospitals in my area. I don't want to burn a bridge. Even if I never return to their company, I want to be looked at as a respectable person and show them the respect they deserve if I am to get and take a job. Thank you for any insight. :)

You're scores look good! I always had problems with secon guessing too. I did it a ton with my actual test also and still passed in 75. I think it's importan when you do second guess to objectively look at your options and apply it to the knowledge you do have and why you initially hoose certain answer. Take your time on the real test too! Work through those thoughts and doubts! Better to take forever than rush and fail!

Worked for me. Quick results confirmed today. Five other classmates all have the same tune. :)

Your scores remind me a little of how mine went with the all overness. Obviously you have some content down solid or you wouldn't be picking up those seventies. Go back to 1,3, and even 5 and pick out your misses and calibrate that to hurst content. That's what I did with my low content. Didn't cough up the cash for hurst, but did supplement with previous material from classes. Seemed to help!

Just thought I would comment on this thread because I had the same question before I took my test. I'm a very in depth person and I research everything. In my own personal opinion and my professors agreed, the nclex did not change in degree of question difficulty, but it did in the statistical margin of what passing is. These "conference questions" I am seeing mentioned esp. Earlier in this post aren't any harder than any other. SATA and sequences aren't any harder in my personal opinion than the regular questions. Maybe my regular questions were above average? I don't know or maybe it was just my nerves, but I didn't find any type to be harder than another if your knowledge base was close to standard with all. I took the NCLEX RN on 07/09.. 20 SATA, 1 EKG, and 1 drag and drop. I guess I did have conference questions too.. But I can't even estimate because I didn't think anything of them. Test shut off at 75 questions. Took me 2 and a half hours. Slowest test taker ever! Always was the last one out of a test in school. Lol Didn't feel great at all. Didn't actually feel anything at all. Lol said I wasn't going to do the pearson vue trick due to my uncertainty of it. Didn't make it an hour without doing it. Lol Got the good pop up. Paid for quick results, got the unofficial pass. My point in all this is I was a very nervous prone person, never much confidence, but a lot of hard work continuously and despite all the recent changes and uncertainty I passed my first time. If you don't, keep trying. Everyone can do it!

Thanks! You are right! having confidence does help. i can say i didnt go into it peobably with as much as im told i should have, but being on here definitely helped me! Congrats to you too, again :) P.s. hope you told your family.

Just wanted to confirm your overwhelming intelligence.

Welllll........ I PASSED!!! I'm so happy! Thank god. PVT seemed to hold up in my case in comparison to my quick results. Thanks so much to you and everyone for all the positivity! So happy!

Agree. Ohio is the worst. I know of three others who are in the same boat as you. Heard they are extremely understaffed. Sucks for us, but only so much a limited number of people can do. So sorry to hear about all your troubles.

Yay! Congrats Sparkles1! I think it's safe to say you passed! Lol awesome!!!!

Ahhh! Thanks to you both! I am cautiously optimistic. I definitely wasn't smiling when I walked out. Lol I kept telling myself during the test "remember what your allnurses friends have said." Lol I just wanna say how happy I am there is a forum like this for nursing students and nurses to support each other. I appreciate you guys and everyone else for taking the little bit of time out of your lives to help ease the anxiety of a perfect stranger! I will post again when I know officially i have passed (hopefully I don't come back and say I failed! Lol)

I feel like you took those words out of my mouth. I found my test to be much harder than kaplan. Shut off at 75, got the good pop up. Still insane,y nervous.