jwils

I work as a RN in a urology unit in CT. We are non-union. Each day we are assigned to either pre-op, circulator or (urology) PACU. We were hired to work: Monday -Friday, day shift, No weekends, holidays or on call. We just had a meeting with our head manager telling us we are going to be required to start signing up to cover weekend call in the Main OR PACU (where we have never been officially trained). Can they do this?? I feel this is a major safety issue for patients and my license. I’m not sure who to contact and I don’t feel comfortable signing up to work on call in an entirely different department. Not to mention I live outside the allowed “30 mins” from the hospital.

Hi everyone, Just wanted to get some third party opinions on my current situation. I work in a fairly busy ED we see approximately 220 patients a day. When I was hired I was told the patient-nurse ratio was 4-1 sometimes 5-1. (A lot of the staff are new nurses or new to ED nursing) Lately in one area of the ED where we can fit stretchers our ratio can become as high as 8-1. A lot of these "stretcher patients" are BH and are there for psych eval in am. We also get a lot of ETOH detox patients on these stretchers who are also waiting for psych in am. Last night in this area 1 nurse had 7 patients and the other nurse had 8 patients without a resource or charge nurse to help out. One of the patients in the 8 pt assignment was in severe hypertensive crisis (220/140) and needed extra attention. When this was brought to the head management team of ED that nurse was told that this is a "good opportunity to use her nursing skills to manage the hypertensive patient." Also to "please let me how you were able to manage this situation". Please let me know your 3rd party opinions on if this is acceptable? Does it happen elsewhere? Do you feel it is a safe practice and okay? What would you do in these situations as far as mangers and work environment? Thank you!

Congrats!! Is psych the floor you wanted? I was just offered a position on a psych floor but I am unsure what to do...

Good morning I need advice please.... I am currently working 32 hours 3-11pm at a long-term care/short-term rehab facility on the rehab floor as the desk nurse. I do admissions, orders, treatments, etc and I am enjoying what I do however I want to broaden my clinical skills and have always wanted to get into the hospital. (I received my license in December 2013) I went for an interview at a hospital and was offered a 24 hour 3-11p/11-7a benefited position on the adult psych floor and would be able to cover the psych ED when there is a need. (ED is my absolute favorite) The big thing for me is to work in the hospital and broaden my clinical skills. The rehab floor occasionally takes IV's and occasionally will have a drain or g-tube but not often. The psych floor isn't a big clinical floor either but I feel it's a start in the hospital. So do I leave my current position for the psych job in the hospital or should I stay and keep looking? (I am also getting married in October so if I don't take this job in the hospital I am planning on waiting until the new year to start really looking) Any advice would be appreciated!!

good job RN!!! Who really knows about those darn SATA questions! some get so many and pass and some get 2 and pass. I just felt like I was being slowly tortured with the amount of SATA I got! lol but it's all over now :) we can relax. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Thank you!!

Im in CT and I also took the NCLEX today and got the good pop up!! My friend just passed a cpl weeks ago (CT) and 2 days after it was posted on the CT license website. So hopefully NY is quick also! Great job!

Hi everyone just wanted to share my NCLEX experience in case I can help someone else. I graduated 10/13 and my college required that we to take a mandatory Kaplan review class. I loved Kaplan I felt that it was very helpful because by doing so many questions you see so many different topics and I felt better prepared for whatever the NCLEX exam would throw at me. We also were required to take the HESI as our final exam grade and I felt HESI was a great tool. I did all of the qbank on Kaplan. I did all the q trainers (except #2). I would answer 50?s a day before I got my ATT. My qbank scores were mainly 60-64% in the beginning and then after 1 week into my NCLEX prep (when I was registered) my scores went to 70's. My trainers scores for QT5: 65%, QT6: 71%, QT7: 71%. I also did the 4 sample tests on Kaplan. After I registered to take the exam - which I choose a date 20 days from when I registered. I would answer 100?s a day. I would remediate all the questions right or wrong. If I had little to no knowledge on the topic I would look it up in the Saunders NCLEX review book and/or the Kaplan review book. I wrote key points down in a notebook and reviewed those occasionally. I made flashcards of lab values to study every night before bed. (take 5 a night in the beginning to start with and learn those the 1st night and add 5 every night until you have the main labs down) I also skimmed through the saunders book to refresh my memory. but I felt the most important thing that helped me was taking questions. I also would use the saunders cd that came with the book to answer more questions at work. I feel that Saunders questions are on the easier side so I preferred Kaplan as my main go to. I printed out and read through the NCLEX study guide that is floating around on here too and that gave me a couple key things to remember so I felt it was helpful. The day of the exam I tried to remain calm and listened to a playlist that I made of songs that football players use to get their head in the game lol. I watched a great youtube video to pump me up and give me confidence. anything to get me ready! I started the exam and tried to take deep breaths and remain calm. I just focused on the question in front of me. I have to say I felt good taking the questions. I did keep getting SATA and I felt they were trying to torture me hahaha but I just told myself this may mean I am doing good. I got to 75 questions- the screen went blue- I freaked lol- then the survey came on :) I legit jogged to my car did the pearson vue trick and GOOD POP UP! I have done the PVT 10xs since I got home and all GOOD POP UPS!! I will wait and see if I can get my unofficial results in 2 days on Thanksgiving! :) Good luck to everyone that still has to take the NCLEX! Believe in yourself- you can accomplish passing the NCLEX!!!

thank you for the advice! ill keep focusing on questions!

Congrats on passing!!! and thank you! I am just so nervous and it's down to the wire so I want to make sure I am not wasting time. I do feel that I am ready for the exam. Just want to fully prepare myself.

Hi everyone! I am taking the NCLEX for the 1st time in 18 days and am looking for any advice on making sure I am preparing myself appropriately. I took the Kaplan review course after I graduated. I got a 67.3% on the readiness exam. I got a 925 on the HESI exit exam. I am currently doing Qbank questions everyday and remediating the questions. I have done Q trainers 1-4 and wil do 5-7, one a week until exam date. My qbank ranges from 58%-66%, mainly 60% or higher. I also am reviewing areas I feel weak in using my Saunders book. And doing NCLEX online questions using saunders cd. Can anyone offer me any advice?? Areas I may want to look into?? Thank you!!

Hi everyone, I am taking the NCLEX in 19 days and am looking for advice on the best way to prepare. I took the Kaplan course and loved it! I have been doing Qbank questions, Q trainers and remediating all the questions. I also use my Saunders book to review content that I feel weak in. I am down to the wire and do not want to waste any time! I scored a 67.3% on Kaplan readiness and a 925 on HESI exit exam. I have been getting mainly 60% on Qbank's (i do 50 questions each time) up to 64%. I still have to do QT 5-7. Can anyone that has passed the NCLEX's new passing standard offer me any advice? Thank you!!