twiglette

Update: Sorry, read up on travel nursing here and found out it's not good to start out with it.

I am moving to Austin, Texas as soon as I receive a job offer and would like to know if any new grads here have worked with recruiters to find jobs. Background: Graduated from ADN-RN program in May 2014 (I know, I'll get to the Bachelor's hah) Passed boards last weekend, 8/2 Nothing really remarkable on my resume. I have a previous Bachelor's in an unrelated field and 1 year nursing assistant experience. I took my boards in my home state, but for a Texas RN license I am not moving until I secure a job offer Not sure how I feel about travel nursing because I am moving with a significant other but if anyone can shed light on this situation, it'd be much appreciated! My main concern is that because I am (very) out-of-state, I will not be considered as seriously as other new grads. Even though I do have the appropriate state license already, I think the inconvenience of interviewing me may deter employers. Also, I've noticed that some facilities require "computer in-box testing" for nursing applicants. I can't really afford to fly to Texas for interviews that may not even result in offers so I'm wondering if recruiters make any difference in my case. One thing is certain - we are moving and I want to facilitate the process. If anyone has advice or even an honest opinion, please share!

I think the requirements are different for every hospital so you'd want to ask HR or the nurse manager what they require before you sign on. Where I work, I'm required to work at least 2 weekend shifts per month and that's all. However, I've worked anywhere from 0 to 40 hours per week. The pro is that if I want time off, I just make sure I don't schedule myself for a couple days or even 2 weeks. The con is that when the hospital is overstaffed that day, they will cancel my shift. It's good for flexibility and possibly bad if you need a steady, reliable income. But again, this depends on the facility and their expectations when they hire you.

Same here. I studied content with whatever textbooks and materials I was required to buy. My second year, I purchased a Saunders review book and didn't end up cracking it open until 3 weeks before my NCLEX. Your professors will likely have NCLEX style tests, so getting ahead of the learning curve will benefit you. Google and the library have tons of resources.

Are there part-time and per diem positions in your area? During my first year, I worked every weekend and holiday as required by my old job. Before my second year, I got a per diem tech job on a med-surg floor. I love it because it's so flexible! I was able to accommodate ever-changing clinical hours, vacations, and finally, NCLEX studying. Working while going to school full time isn't bad though. In fact, it'll probably help you to be around nurses often! Best of luck.

Good luck, soon-to-be RN!! ?

Thanks! You'll probably come across these terms as you progress, but here's some info: SATA - These are "select all that apply" questions. You'll be given a question such as: Your client was just admitted with aspiration pneumonia. Which of the following interventions would you include in her plan of care? Select all that apply. Then you check off the interventions you would include - this could mean checking off every intervention given or just one. *Note that the NCSBN [National Council of State Boards of Nursing] says the NCLEX does not give partial credit for any questions. You need to select all and only the correct items. [*]You can use the Pearson Vue "Trick" to try to check your NCLEX results. Because some states take forever to send results, some students try to find their results out early by trying to re-register for the NCLEX a couple hours after taking it. If the test distributor, Pearson Vue, lets you pay for the test again, you may have failed. If Pearson Vue does NOT let you pay again, you probably passed. Please search for "Pearson Vue Trick" or "PVT" on the forum to find out more. This is just a "trick" - kind of like a loophole for getting results. It is NOT 100% accurate, so don't put all your money on the result it gives you. Wait until you get the official results/license number from your state's Board of Nursing. [*]Here's an example of a "which patient would you see first" question. The NCLEX will give you a scenario such as: You are assigned the following patients for the next shift. Which client would you see first? There will be 4 patients with different conditions [e.g. abdominal surgery 3 days ago, reports sudden chest pain, reports dizziness after dialysis, etc] You have to be able to prioritize which patient you will see first by determining which patients are unstable vs stable, acute vs chronic, safe vs unsafe, etc. Best of luck to you in school! Don't worry - just take it step by step and don't forget to have fun! There were definitely hard parts of nursing school, but we had so many good laughs and shared so many experiences together. I regret nothing!

Thanks for the congrats everyone. Now on to finding a job out of state ?.

I've been lurking on this forum for the past 2 years and I feel like I can finally breathe and post something helpful here! Thank you for all the advice, support, and resources you guys have [unknowingly] given me throughout my journey !! Here are the details of my exam: Computer shut off at 76 questions 13 SATA, a bunch of meds (I'd only heard of half of them), a lot of "which patient would you see first," "which statement indicates need further teaching," delegation, and community health. Tried Pearson Vue Trick and got the "good pop-up" Paid $8 for Quick Result at 49 hour mark Exam review/things that helped me: I was broke from being on leave and paying for school, so I decided not to pay the $300-$600 for a review course and just wing it. I had heard great things about various reviews (Hurst, Kaplan, Lacharity to be specific), but it seemed to me that what these companies were offering were things that I could do myself, for free. Note: I do not thrive on structure. I can't study from 8-3 for 4 days in a row. Never have, so I stuck with what worked for me. Know thyself! Volunteer/work at a hospital. I am so grateful to the nurses on my unit for teaching me when they didn't have to. I found that clinical hours weren't sufficient so I found a nursing assistant job part-time. It cuts down so much time later on when you have nursing responsibilities when you can perform tasks like bed baths, toileting, blood sugars, and vitals like a boss. You'll also get to hone your bedside manners! With the power of the internet, I found the following resources that helped me the most: Kaplan Decision Tree. Just Google it and you'll see several charts. This is the only resource I used from Kaplan, unbeknownst to them. It's very basic, but gets to the point. NCLEX RN Mastery App (Android). I tried the Lite free version, then upgraded to full for $30 after my classmates+coworkers raved about it. 1600 questions, GREAT rationales, list of lab values, and visual graph showing you your strengths/weaknesses. Good for small breaks during the day! ATI. My school required us to pay for ATI and I continued using it after grad. Overall, good questions and rationales but not sure if I'd purchase it if I didn't already own it. [*]I purchased Saunders Comprehensive NCLEX-RN Review 5e last summer. I thought it was an excellent review book - the content is very straight-forward and I should've used it during school too! However, I found the rationales to be severely lacking, so I didn't utilize many of the questions in the book/CD. [*]Finally, what carried me through nursing school and even the NCLEX was my strength in Anatomy & Physiology. I wasn't good at test-taking strategies, "thinking like a nurse," or even developing hardcore study habits. This isn't everyone's strength and I certainly wouldn't suggest that you don't develop hardcore study habits, but make sure you have your A&P down pat. The cascade of signs and symptoms are not magical - internalize the biological processes early on so if you forget a list of side effects, symptoms, or interventions, use your A&P to reason it out. It will make learning disease processes and meds a lot easier! **One last thing - sometimes it helps to just not talk about it. For some people, the sense of community can reduce anxiety and benefit you. For me, I was off of social media almost the whole 2 years of nursing school. I found that it was distracting and any school-related talk was almost always negative ("Nursing school sucks; why did I do this to myself; I hate my professor!"), so I tried not to participate and I felt so much better! Good luck to everyone taking it and to those still waiting for results. Be confident in your abilities, save the freaking out for post-test, and don't eat anything weird before the exam!

Hello pjatx! I was about to start a new thread with the exact same question but then I saw this. I'm also an expected May '14 graduate interested in working at ASH hopefully by this fall. I don't see many reviews of it online and would love to get some first-hand accounts on what it's like to work there. At my psych clinical rotation, I noticed that the nurses don't really participate in the group therapies, or rather didn't have time to provide therapeutic care in the midst of crises and staffing shortages. I would love to work in a place where nurses are more involved in giving that care, although I know it's unrealistic to think I won't be documenting and dealing with medications for a good chunk of the day. I called their HR dept 2 months ago and woman on the phone told me a bit about the perpetual entry-level RN listing. Summary of what she told me: - High turnover rate because of the "nature of the job." (expected) - They hire twice a month - Can go in for on-campus interview, sometimes on the spot! (this may be a problem for me because I don't currently live in Texas) - Go through initial orientation until you're comfortable on your own If anyone has worked at ASH, especially recently, please share your thoughts and experience with us (=