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 ...

Hi there. I just accepted a position as a new grad on a progressive care unit. The shift is nights, 7-7 3 days a week. Its self-scheduled to an extent, proper staffing trumps all, but staff desires are accommodated wherever possible. I'm looking for...

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 ab...

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... N...

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 d...

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 di...

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 ...

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.

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, witho...

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 ...

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 cours...

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 ...

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 da...

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 ...

I'm exploring what options there are with regard to working as a Nurse Practioner, either in the hospital or primary care setting. My understanding is that the NP is largely converted to a Doctoral degree now. However, some people have put down the...

Thanks! You've given me some valuable insight! I had resigned myself to needing a Doctorate prior to working as an NP. While I still plan on pursuing a Doctoral program eventually, it is exciting to find out I can have a rewarding career with a Mast...

Awesome! Thanks for the info! Ideally, I'd like to work in the hospital setting, at least initially. I want to see interesting cases, and help critical patients. However, hospitals bring with them irregular hours and loads of stress. I do want to s...

I was just accepted to VCU'S RN-BS program which is (almost?) entirely online, and designed to be done while working as an RN. It's a well known, respected school, so I'm not worried on that front. I would definitely suggest looking into local/semi...