Don2014

I had a similar situation only 2 weeks ago. I had my first day of a 5pt load with admits and discharges. I knew it could have gone better, but when I asked my preceptor what I could have done better, there was no response. The next day I was asked to...

Where did you decide to go? Any other recommendations?

45 year old new grad here too. After being downsized from NPR, I went into night weekend program at a local community college. I found that the night students were highly educated, focused and had little time for drama. I have a couple words of advic...

Apparently the oil from your skin can degrade the tubing. Maybe the cover will aslo extend the life of the scope? I just got a Littmann Cardiology III ( good sounding scope BTW) and want it to last a while.

Two masks with toothpaste in between. Works wonders!

To answer your original question - Yes, I have a friend who worked construction for 20+ years and is now a fantastic ICU nurse. He frequently flies to Haiti to help build houses and nursing duties! In other words, a great guy. There's good advice he...

In my experience, 3-4 patients is low and explains why no was running around. The unit I worked on (as a CNA) was 6 or 7, and some days were crazy!

From what my friends are telling me, the "non profit" hospitals they are working for are treating them just as Wal-Mart would!

I just started and can add a few things. It's location specific. My "home" is in a state of change with a new FA and almost all new nurses and techs. So, I'm training in a nearby location that is smoothly run from the top down. The company has many p...

I have been taking nursing interviews for a first job out of school and need some advice. I am older (45yrs) and am concerned that I looked too "corporate" in previous interviews by wearing both a jacket and tie. While I'm sure that dress alone was n...

Thank you Medic2 and Commuter! It sounds like I should ditch the jacket since this interview is for a staff nurse position. Now I have to work on the questions that are going to be thrown at me! BTW- This site has been an excellent resource for me. ...

I would not have made it through school alone. I stuck with a small group of 5 friends (who were all smarter than myself) who studied together and graduated with honors. The negative people will find people with similar attitudes.

There are going to be difficult people everywhere you go, even more if you work in a large hospital. Try to think of it as not just "school" but an opportunity to develop a professional attitude that you will use every day when confronted by unfriend...

I am just out of school as an RN and joined DaVita. I was surprised as well to see that they would hire without any experience. I will be happy to relay my experiences in this situation.

I want to thank everyone for making site a valuable tool. I visited many times before taking NCLEX! Anyway, I'm a new grad RN with 3 years experience in an ICU as a CNA, so I have good idea of what it's like to work in a hospital. But I haven't been ...

Hi guys! They offered a position with chronic patients in one of their out-patient clinics. I liked being there for a 10 hour shift and got see how the staff supports each other and observed a smooth work flow. I signed and start on Monday!

My advice: Remember that NCLEX is more about how to pass a test than nursing skills. I had to learn a completely different set of skills (in addition to nursing) in order to study and pass NCLEX. This is where Kaplan excels. I was not the candidate w...

I'm in the same situation, having a Bachelors degree in another field and an ADN. Looking at the BSN programs for colleges in my area, it appears that other than 3 or 4 courses that they are repeats of what I already have taken. Which leads to believ...

Hi! I'm in the same situation. I'm a new grad (passed NCLEX last week!) and a local DaVita clinic offered me an attractive hourly rate, but I only have experience working in hospitals. My solution was to shadow a nurse for a 12 hour shift to see what...

Thank you for advice! I requested to shadow a nurse for a shift to see first hand what the details of the job look like. Plus it seems like many of the opinions on this site differ based on the way specific facilities are run, along the attitude of t...

Don't fret! I got 175 questions and thought that was exhausting. I can only imagine how you feel. If you get all 265, then it's an average of the final 100 or so questions. So that may take longer to calculate?

There is no substitute for the hard work that you're already doing. Understanding patho is paramount. But I can say from doing both that the Saunders questions were easier than Kaplan. The scores I got confirmed it. 58-65 in Kalplan and 70-80 with Sa...

Just took it today with 175 questions. I was in the test for over 3 hours! I took a (third!) break at 170 and was exhausted. Luckily it stopped at 175. It seemed like every other question was a SATA and a priority. I went with a friend who was done i...

I talked with an oncology nurse yesterday who did all 265 and passed. I've heard of the folks who have gotten a cut off at 75 and failed!

What they are saying is - Don't go too far into debt for this (or any profession). I went to a community college and got an ADN for about $2,000 with some support from my hospital and a scholarship. I know what you're thinking, but I can get one, ...