evmarie

From graduation it took about a month for them to process all of ours and for us to get our ATT! Congrats on getting through school!!

Also focus on prioritization and delegation!

UWorld was probably what helped me the most (there is a free trial for a week, search this site or Google to find). The rationales are great and I felt that it really helped to prepare me. Don't get discouraged if you are making in the 50's and 60's score wise because I was and I passed the first time! I also did the Hurst review. This helps to get your core content down. Overall just try to remember you can not know the answer to every question. However you can know enough to make a correct educated guess! Make sure you get a good nights sleep the night before and eat a good breakfast. The day before the test just try to relax so your brain is not fried the next day! You can do it!!

The day before my test I just tried to turn my brain off. You know the information and no amount of studying at this point will do you any good. It will only stress you out! So watch your favorite movies or tv show. Go for a drive, go swimming, or take a walk! Make sure you get a good nights sleep, set 5 alarms, and eat breakfast! You will do great :)

Hey guys! I just passed my NCLEX and have been working as a GN for the past month and now I have 4 weeks of orientation left before I get turned loose on my own. I will be on a Surgical Telemetry floor with 6:1 pt ratio (with a tech) and 5:1 pt ratio (without a tech). I was wondering if anyone had some advice on how to organize yourself. I know I need to get a routine but I wondered if anyone had some good examples of this. Maybe a good checklist of some sort? I was thinking of getting a binder with dividers to put my MAR and updated physicians orders in every day. Unfortunately my hospital still has paper charting so that's why I am using more primitive methods haha. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Also thank you to this site for helping me make it through the past two years. Just reading others posts sharing the same anxieties and questions helped me so much!

My Orientation is Aug 20th! Its only five days away but I feel like I might burst from excitement! Then class starts on the 26th! I have my core nursing class Monday and Wednesday. Then clinicals Tuesday and Thursday. And dosage calculations! I can't wait! I'm sure once we are all studying for that first big exam we may wonder why we were so excited haha! Good luck to all!!

I was unsure about that as well! That is very good to know! That is so much driving for you guys at different campus's. It will be worth it though :) I still need to get shoes, extra pair of scrubs, and a lab coat. I have all the required books and most of the ones they mentioned at the first orientation. I am getting very anxious for Tuesday!! I can't wait! We need to keep this thread going in school or be friends on Facebook and start a group. It would be really helpful for an online study group type thing! And if we have questions about hw and reading! It's almost here guys, Im so excited!! :) About a month in we might be asking ourselves why we were ever excited haha!

I'm so anxious as well! I can't wait to get started. I keep checking my email I feel like they should be sending us more info... But I guess they will just wait for orientation.

I had to call three or four times to get them to approve all my things! I found out I just had to talk to the right person apparently. I really don't know why we couldn't have turned it into the school instead of using this third party system. All my items are approved though it was just a lot of hassle getting them to do it! I still haven't gotten all my books and stuff yet. I was in between jobs this summer so I have been struggling just to pay for all this stuff... The shots, doctors appointments, plus all the online things that charged fees have really put a dent in my wallet! Now I can focus on getting the books and things. I am excited for our next orientation! :) I finally feel excited about school now that this record tracker stuff is over with!!

Also how long did it take most of your documents to no longer say pending? Its making me nervous!!!

I had to register for "my account" through the first email they sent you. Then I emailed myself the proof of insurance once I was signed up! I was waiting around or an email like they promised as well!

I really appreciate everyone's encouragement! I got stuck by myself on a hall tonight. It was pretty stressful but I learned a lot. I still just have a long way to go with speed. I like what the above comment says about getting a routine down. I can't wait to have that because right now I just feel overwhelmed. And as for someone telling me I'm incompetent that happened to me too tonight. Made me feel absolutely awful. We were short on techs so I had to run to another hall to help someone while a lady was on the commode. 15 mins later I got a chewing out. I deserved it I should have waited until she finished and helped out after. It's just hard to figure that out without the experience! I'm learning I guess patients and coworkers will have to bear with me for a bit. I am trying my best and working my tail off. So hopefully I will improve, I don't want to give up but I am thinking about going to part time just to ease up on my stress level and maybe doing some home health on the side so I can compare the two.

So it has been about two weeks at my new job and I already see why people run from LTC. I am working the 3-11 shift five days a week. I have been floating between halls a lot which makes things hectic. Especially since I am not super familiar with all the patients. I am trying really hard and I am absolutely exhausted when I get home. I feel like I can't keep up! The CNAs are way over worked. Most of them don't even have a second CNA for their hall. I know I need to work on my speed but it really bothers me to take short cuts I feel like I am having to sacrifice patient care in order to gain speed... Is this something I just have to get used to? I have another job opportunity with home health but I feel like I will be giving up and I hate that. I absolutely love my patients even the needy ones... I just wish I had more time for each of them. This job is one of the most mentally and physically demanding jobs and the nurses don't help at all. I have so much respect for CNAs. I am going to RN school in the fall and I just don't know if I can handle both... Home health might be a lot easier with school. Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated. It feels good just to talk about it because I haven't told anyone. I feel ashamed of being so stressed and seeking other options after only two weeks

I start a LTC job next week in Tennessee and it starts at 9 an hour. Sadly I am pretty excited about it! I was an assistant manager in retail and made 9.50 but was having to drive an hour to work everyday! It sucked.

This was a helpful thread! And all of you seem somewhat positive about the LTC environment which doesn't happen often on these boards! I am starting my LTC job (3-11 shift) next week. And it is good to have a basic run through of what we will be doing! Thanks!