Annath

You didn't harm your patient any more than you'd "harm" a patient who bleeds a little when changing a wound dressing. The insertion and removal of a piece of plastic, smooth as it may be, into a very sensitive part of the anatomy that isn't intended to have things going inside it is going to cause some irritation. You did the member equivalent of causing someone's gums to bleed because they haven't brushed often enough. Relax and don't worry about it. Focus on doing well in school, and don't let this event cause you to second guess yourself. Hesitation and uncertainty will harm more patients than foleys any day of the week.

As a new grad, we were taught the following explicitly: Nursing school doesn't exist to teach you to be a nurse anymore, it exists to teach you to pass the NCLEX. Your employer will teach you the skills/attitudes they want you to know. Med/Surg is absolutely the boring basic standard unit that most people start on. Its a good place to learn the basics, but making a career out of it is a poor choice. I'm not saying I agree with these sentiments, but that is the attitude that faculty had.

Haha, the Virginia Board of Nursing License Verification phone number just confirmed I passed!!!

I just think its funny they thought 15 patients was unsafe. The nursing home I did clinicals at my first semester in nursing school had a CNA:Patient ratio of 1:18-20 4 CNAs and 2 RNs per wing, (wing=4 halls) 3 wings. Plus various orderly types who didn't chart but could help move patients/change linens. And however many nursing students the facility could get their hands on.

That's my understanding as well. I am going to check the VA Board of Nursing after start of business tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have an entry in the database! For what it's worth, Pearson gave me an error saying I had recently sat for the NCLEX, and did not let me re-register, when I attempted to submit payment after the exam.

Haha, thanks! Rationally, I know I almost certainly passed. I did both the Kaplan and ATI classroom reviews, and I have always been a very strong test taker. I just don't deal with anxiety well. Especially since I was in an unfamiliar city and had no one to talk to before the hour drive home! I am also the first person from my class to test, so... no pressure!

Kaplan was both harder and different than the NCLEX. I think the Kaplan decision tree was helpful. The actual questions we practiced in Kaplan seemed tailored for the decision tree, while the NCLEX was definitely not.

Walked out of the testing center about an hour ago. I have no idea what to think about the test. Nothing comes up when looking for myself on the VA BoN license lookup. Although it HAS only been an hour... I was a decent student in Nursing school... Never failed a class, got mostly Bs and Cs in school (80 is a C in my school. Same everywhere?) ATI predictor gave me like a 95% predicted chance to pass first try... but I feel like I bombed. There were drugs on there that I'd never heard of... And despite what Kaplan said, there were way more than 2% of the questions as not-multiple-choice. Probably 1/3 were Select All That Apply! How long does it usually take for the state board to get my info? Will it show up before the 48 hour mark where I pay Pearson to see the results?

This is part of the reason why I applied for jobs on stepdown/progressive care units instead of trying to jump straight into the ICU (where I want to end up). It definitely seems like the best way to get acclimated to the critical care mindset, without having the same pressure as you'd find in an ICU. That said, one of the facilities I applied at offered a dedicated New Grad Residency. 12 months long, divided between working the floor and training dedicated to transitioning from Nursing School to working as a Nurse. The facility accepted new grads onto its ICUs, and the training you'd receive was tailored to the position you accepted. This was the only place I applied for an ICU position, because of the extra support I'd have as a new grad. In the end however, I got a fantastic offer in a different facility, on a Progressive Care Unit, so that is what I chose. The residency would have been great, but that facility is very slow with moving through applications, and I got an offer elsewhere before they even interviewed me.

Fantastic! I'll definitely check out your website! Hungry for knowledge describes me perfectly! I actually just bought myself a copy of the Merck Manual so I could learn a little more about diseases and pathology than we covered in school. Of course, it's sitting unopened until I pass boards!

I know they said everyone has to work 2 weekends a month. Honestly that's great for me. The job I'm at now (literally, I'm typing this on my phone) I've been at since before starting nursing school, and I've had to work literally every Saturday and Sunday for the past 3 years. Outside in the weather to boot

Hi there! I just accepted a position for nights on a Progressive Care Unit as a new grad (busily studying for NCLEX!) I've always loved the idea of working with critical/acute patients. I love organizing my day, prioritizing, and getting to really exercise my brain. I'm interested in what the typical day to day (or in my care night to night) is like in a higher acuity setting. My nursing school clinicals were almost entirely in Med Surg, with only a handful of days in the ER/ICU. My instructors suggested that I'd enjoy critical care, which is what led me to explore those options. I'd love any perspective you might have, or things you wish you'd known going in. In case you're curious, I'm currently enrolled in an RN-BS program, and hope to become an NP (adult gerontology) eventually.

They do offer self scheduling. Obviously not everyone can get Friday off for example, but they accommodate employee preferences wherever possible. Shouldn't be too big an issue for me if my goal is having consecutive days off rather than specific days off. How often is the schedule usually done in these cases? Weekly? Monthly?

What job works 7 nights a week O_O

I've heard some people say that maintaining a day life on your days off while working nights on workdays can be really difficult. I'm glad to hear that maybe it's not so bad. I accepted the nights job because the differential is really good, and I need to build a savings. Honestly, anything is better than my current job where I work outdoors every single Saturday and Sunday, in heat (or cold)!