achurley

It's so refreshing to see a grown man vulnerable, crying & open to sharing his personal story....also, going above and beyond calling out the healthcare persons/teams by name who made a difference in such an broad open forum when he could have used that time in a more self-serving way. Bravo & support your local children's hospital!!

WOW, congrats!! I'm so thrilled for you - that is amazing.

I think that it would be wise to finish out your New Grad orientation and do your best to make the most of the first year on your unit of hire. If it is true that your hospital system has opportunities in the Pediatric clinic, where your goal is to end up, the opportunity to transfer will probably still be around at some time or another in the near future. However, if you bail out early, it may probably leave a sour taste in someone's mouth. It costs a great deal of money and time to invest in training a New Graduate nurse. Also, is it possible that in this Ped's clinic position you may not have the close mentorship, length of time and detailed training that your new grad program offers? Possibly. Probably best to obtain the "great chance to gain experience" as you stated while looking for some volunteer nursing opportunities that involve children and/or joining a professional nursing organization like Society of Pediatric Nurses (SPN) so that when it's time to transfer you look like a desirable Pediatric RN candidate.

It sounds as though you are on the right track and making many of the important moves to become a Pediatric nurse. I also did my Pediatric rotation at my hospital of interest, my nursing instructor who also worked there wrote me a very nice letter of reference. Keep close with this contact you have made! Your plan to transfer after 6 months to your employers partnered children's hospital is on target. I only had 3 months of experience at the children's hospital that I was offered a position in their New Grad RN Residency for (so don't let the short time being there deter you) - being an internal candidate is a huge advantage. It is helpful to have a PALS certification and possibly others depending on your area of interest (i.e., NRP, STABLE, or a Neonatal Critical Care Course). Yes, not all employers require them but they may be stated under a 'preferred' section or you could obtain them within a specific stated time after new hire (ie., must have within 6 months of hire). If you live/want to work in a market that is saturated with new nurses, it would not hurt to have these under your belt when they are looking at other candidates with a similar background/experience as you. In doing so, you present yourself as taking a proactive role in wanting to work with this population (versus passive). You could try to look for local job postings in your area at hospitals of interest for which certifications are preferred or ask your old nursing instructor. You could also join a professional nursing organization as most of them have reduced student rates (ie., The Society of Pediatric Nurses Society of Pediatric Nurses : SPN Membership ). If you can't afford to join it while in school, state the specific one that you plan to join in your interview.

@RningOnFumes Yes, your school will take care of this "Conferred degree" but it doesn't happen until after you have finished the nursing program. They send preliminary transcripts with your coursework to date, so that your application, backgroud, etc. can begin to be processed and so that you can recive your ATT but it's not until the BRN has confirmed your diploma from your school that you will get your NCLEX results (and thereby License number). The best way to explain this is to read what my school states on their webside "You will officially graduate when our University has processed your graduation and when the School of Nursing submits your Official Transcripts, showing the awarding of your BSN degree, to the State BRN. The earliest degree conferral can occur is approximately 4-6 weeks after official grades have posted for CSUSM coursework. You may be able to take the NCLEX exam before this date, but the BRN won't release your exam results to anyone, including you, before we get the official transcripts to the BRN and they process them in Sacramento." ...I'm sure each school has a different timelime for this process so you would need to check with them.

I took my NCLEX-RN in CA on 6/28 as well and have not seen anything up on the Breeze either, so I feel your frustration in this waiting process when other candidates can find out in 48 hours. My exam shut off at 75 and after 24 hrs I did the PV trick and got the good pop-up. One thing to add is that another student in my cohort took her exam on 6/29 and got a letter in the mail from the BRN two days ago (7 days post exam) that she had not passed NCLEX (she also got the bad pop-up when doing the PV trick). This letter is called CPR (Candidate performance Report) you can read more about it here Candidate Performance Report | NCSBN, as it is something I did not know about until recently. For now, my understanding is that until your school sends your conferred degree to the BON and it is processed you will not see your license number up on the Breeze. For example, my school FedEx'd our final transcipts on 6/27 with a tracking number and they were received in Sacremento on 6/28 - according to the current processing times for NCLEX results it could take 2-4 weeks for us to hear anything. Do you know when your school sent final transcripts with your degree conferred? I believe this will likely factor in to when you see anything up on the Breeze! This may require you contacting the registrar at your university. As hard as it is, feel confident for now that you have not recived a CPR and got the good pop-up, until you are notfied otherwise! Cheers.

Buy the 30 day access to Uworld. The layout, look and feel is very similar to NCLEX - you can do a 30 question demo on their website for free and also use the phone app to answer questions while you are on the go and don't have access to a desktop. UWORLDs rationales are superior to ATI in my opinion. Each time you get an answer wrong review their rationale (which is like a mini content review). Good luck!

After the 2 months or 90 days maybe, can you talk to your hospital manager about going per diem? You may loose benefits but you can have more control and flexibility with your schedule while keeping your status as an internal candidate.

I found Kaplan and Saunders NCLEX study books at the public library. Although, as many users have already stated, Uworld is the bomb.

You can start by searching under the Topic 'Nursing Student' and further under 'Study Tips for Students'. This will surely get you a few good hits. Otherwise, I wrote an article here https://allnurses.com/nursing-study-tips/from-one-student-1020425.html and you can scroll down to the section entitled "Assigned Readings" for help on this subject matter. Also, charts and tables in the readings were always useful for me. Good luck!

@selizabeth01 Thank you for starting this thread and I am so sorry to hear about your disappointing experience ... It sounds so frustrating and heartbreaking. I truly hope and wish the best for you though! I was hoping that there are others out there to connect with that have received offers or will be receiving offers soon. I am an Internal House PCA. My first choice was NICU and second choice was Surgical. I had interviews with both units. I did not make the second round of interviews with Surgical. However, I received an offer from NICU shortly thereafter to my sincere excitement and shock (they did not hold a 2nd round of interviews). I am so so thrilled. To my understanding they will be hosting a sort of 'meet-and-greet' the week before our Residency start date, so I am looking forward to getting to know you all then. In the meantime, maybe I can create a Facebook group for us to assist in keeping us all in the loop about our new leap and journey into the nursing world? I would love to hear which units everyone else was invited to be on. Let me know or PM me!

You can also add the Facebook group named CSUSM Nursing Marketplace - these are current and former students selling used and cheap textbooks, barely worn labcoats, etc.etc.

Hi there, You will want to start by visiting a guidance counselor at your school. They will have a good idea of the classes you need and help you create a solid plan. After that, cross check that the classes they suggest meet all the requirements for the Nursing Schools you plan to attend (which can usually be found on their website). Most classes that have a lab component requirement (i.e., A&P, Microbio, Chem) cannot usually be taken online and are the most challenging. Since most Nursing Schools have moved away from wait lists and work off a point system, GPA will likely be considered in your application. If you can take any of these harder lab classes before baby #2 comes that would be preferable. If that is not feasible, make sure as you take them you have a solid support system in place and don't overload your schedule, risking poor grades. It may take longer to finish your pre reqs but only taking 1 or 2 classes a semester and getting A's versus 3-4 classes and getting Bs and Cs will make a difference when it comes to actually getting accepted or not (in competitive programs). Work hard and it can be done! I was 28 when I started pre-reqs. My son was 1 when I started pre-reqs and 2 when I started nursing school. I just graduated and he is 4 now. Good luck to you!!!

Hi Cheystarr2010, Not only are part-time PCT positions but there are also per diem positions (which provide even greater flexibility but usually no benefits). In my opinion, it is worth it. My story: I was working full time as a Medical Assitant when I decided to pursue Nursing. I cut back to part-time to do my pre-reqs and then to per diem during school (working 1 day a week and more during school breaks). During my 5th of six semesters, I realized too (with the advice of instructors and other students, that I should get acute PCT experience). I was worried about about making the change also because I adored my coworkers where I was at, the mission of the organization that I worked with and the patient population but I had outgrown my position and desired new challenges. I left on great terms, asked for letters of recommendation and references. Even though the pay was $3/hr less, I knew that the networking and internal status at the hospital would give me an edge when it came time to apply for the new grad residency program there and that in the long run would be worth it. After only 3 months there and still on orientation, I applied for their NewGrad RN Residency, interviewed and was offered a position! You could still continue your current role and make the experience relevant during an interview. However, you won't have to make a full-time commitment to become a PCT and it will likely make you a more desirable candidate (especially if you apply to hospitals you want to work at, you will already know their mission/culture, charting/EHR system, policies etc etc). Good luck!

@ Bearsbart I'm SO happy that the article helped you temporarily realign your perspective and remember your 'why'. The wild physical and emotional ride will shake you to the core but you will be so proud when you have faced the hardest challenges and realize how truly strong you are to make it and how you've evolved. Today I recieved my dream job offer in the NICU in a New Grad Residency Program!....it's been all soooooo worth it.

@Vanessa145 I just finished the program 5/20! I cannot completely give accurate advice on the job market as I just started applying for New Grad positions in the past few three months. However, in my opinion, the job market for unexperienced new nurses in Southern California (specifically SD) is remarkably tough since it is a desirable place to live, which will draw in experienced nurses from other areas as first-line candidates. In any case, as long as you chose a BSN program (recommended since many job posting specify "BSN preferred"), there will be hospitals that the CSUSM program is contracted with for clinical placements. Here is the link for the San Diego County consortium Welcome To The Official Website for the San Diego Nursing & Allied Health Service-Education Consortium so you can get an idea of the hospital/clinical site pool that CSUSM gets its placements from (if you scroll down the right side you will see "Agency Info"). My main piece of advice is to get an acute care hospital position as soon as possible (now and then another please if you happen to relocate) as a nursing support staff/aide (equivalent= Health Care Assistant, Patient Care Assistant, Nursing Assistant, etc.) even if you can only do it per diem. You might have to start out as a volunteer until you have your first acute care hospital rotation in nursing school then you are usually eligible for nursing support positions. This will allow you to be an internal candidate, see and apply for the New Graduate Nursing Residency Programs before anyone else and increases the odds of you getting an interview. Also, when you have your senior internship placement, use it as an opportunity to network, give it everything you have and more because it's a potential opportunity for knowing a contact person in the hospital. I have applied to 4 Nurse Residency programs so far and the only one I even heard back from was the hospital that I am a Patient Care Assistant for. I got two interviews with them probably because of my internal candidate position. allnurses is a great tool, I'm sure you can also find some good forums from USD and UCLA School of Nursing for more opinions. Good luck and PM me if you have any other specific questions.

One of my favorites is Johnson & Johnson Discover Nursing | Campaign for Nursing I wrote an entire article dedicated to this topic...hope it helps... https://allnurses.com/general-nursing-student/how-to-nab-1027401.html

@Faith-student-nurse I really like you idea of using a different colored pen to write down your weak spots missed and areas of review based off learning objectives!

@RunBabyRN This is extremely valuable advice! Thank you sooo much, I greatly appreciate it. Congrats on your position.

Yes, with the DiscoverNursing link I posted, you have the option to choose your level of education you are seeking scholarships for. You can search for Master's degree or Doctoral degree. Similarly, with the FastWeb link, upon signing up, you would choose the level of the degree you are seeking and those scholarships will be posted for you.

I am looking for advice to make the most of my upcoming senior internship with Scripps La Jolla, CA in L&D. I want to be as prepared, professional and efficient as possible. I plan to let my preceptor know that I appreciate and enjoy constructive criticism. Also, research more about the hospital department and review fetal heart monitoring basics. I became NRP/ACLS/PALS certified over this past break and went to an AWHONN meeting. I feel especially worried because the census was very low at my clinical site where I did my OB rotation. This unfortunately resulted in me not being able to observe not even one lady partsl delivery or c section. I did very well in didactic ending with an A and scored Level III (97th national percentile) in ATI for the Proctored Maternal Newborn section. I feel really fortunate to have a placement with this population and plan to work hard and hopefully stand out (network). Do you have any suggestions for what I can do ahead of time to come as prepared as possible? Any of your valuable input would be much appreciated! Thank you in advance!

Approximately $4-,5,000 the 1st semester and $8-9,000 for the following 5 semesters. Not including other costs: uniforms, stethescope, books, ATI 'nurse in a box" access ($1,100), health insurance, skills tote ($200), background checks and immunization tracking access, living & transportation costs.

For all those not admitted into Summer yet...don't loose all hope. I was asked to join the summer cohort (along with 3 other students) the day classes started and joined everyone on day 2. Sometimes people can't pay the fees for school or they get excepted into abother school that was their first choice.

I have been working per diem as a medical assistant while in an ABSN program. I have a four year old and it has been challenging but I don't regret anything about it. I second what NurseBeth said about becoming a nursing assistant while in school because you have an opportunity to be an internal candidate when you graduate. I would have done that but I love the not for profit that I work for sooo much that I can't say goodbye just yet.

@TYHK1 I attend the Temecula campus even though I live in San Marcos. I actually find that San Marcos is a nice central location. I have had clinicals in Hemet and San Diego and I feel like this is in the middle. However students tend to make carpools from all areas of the county so you can't go terribly wrong. You will usually only attend lecture once per week anyhow, except the first couple weeks of most semesters when you are practicing skills in skills lab on campus, those first few weeks you may go there 2-3x week. I also started in summer. You usually have only Medical Ethics, Physiology of Nutrition & Culture and Medicine Healers; no clinical course work.