Abrillant12

It's been a while since I've taken the exam. The med math part is pretty easy and straight forward. The pharmacology is tailored towards the unit you'll be working in. As far as the internship goes, the length of the internship depends on the unit you're hired for. The ICU, for example, is 12 weeks rather than the standard 8 (I believe). More often than not, you'll be offered a job. In the last 2.5 years I've worked there, I think I've only seen 3 new grads not get offered a job or be asked to try another unit.

I don't really have a straight up answer for that. I feel like it may depend on the unit directors personal preference. The floor I work on, Tele and ICU, won't hire unless you already have a BSN. However, I do feel as though I've heard of a few ADNs who are working on their BSN getting hired on other floors. Your best bet would be to call the nursing recruiter and ask how it works.

so I have finished the internship and was hired per diem. I'm not sure how everybody else turned out but I do think a fair number were offered jobs. best of luck to you.

I believe is was 20 med math and 40 pharmacology questions. Make sure you know the trade vs. generic and be able to match it with the typical dose of that medication. I didn't know how to study for it so I took my pharmacology textbook from college and went through all 2000 pages of it to find medication that I had heard of before and their typical doses. :/ sorry. I know thats not much help.

I know this may be silly but is diabetes considered a syndrome? Originally I said "no" because I thought a syndrome was a group of symptoms that are fairly specific to a certain diagnosis. However, some people have been saying that it is because of Metabolic syndrome. Can somebody please clarify this for me

Thank you! I was never told about going to HR for a physical. What else do I have to look forward to? lol.

oh wow! sorry I went MIA on this thread. I didn't end up starting in November because I had to retake the pharmacology part of the test. I did pass and they said "we'll see you next month." I'm assuming that means I'll start the beginning of December on the cardiac floor. I'm not from this state so I was wondering if anybody knew what the chances are of getting offered a job at the end of this. Knowing I won't be able to go home for winter break to see my family is making me incredibly home sick. However, I think I'd feel a lot better if I knew it was a high retention rate of new grads after the internship.

Best of luck if you haven't taken the test yet!! Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

I was told I had to call and schedule a retake date, which I haven't done yet. I'm going to call Monday. I'm still racking my brain on how to memorize the different dosages, especially when the dosage depends on the Dx and the route of administration. If I can get through that part I THINK the rest won't be too bad.

Yes we did meat at the open house. I passed the drug calculations but not the pharmacology part. It was harder than I expected. I'm not exactly sure how to go about studying for it again or how long I should wait before retaking it. I don't think that the categories they told us to study really matched what was on the exam. I'm not sure if this is normal for NJ but I have never been asked to know exact dosages for medications I've always been told to look it up. I guess I need to find a new approach for studying. How do you plan on tackeling pharmacology the 2nd time around?

I imagine it will be. What can be worse than the NCLEX? lol. Good luck to you as well!

I take mine on the 15th and the nursing recruiter gave me a start date of Nov 3rd.

I hope your studying is going alright. I don't feel like it's possible to know all of these drugs so early in my career. I tried to focus on the drugs that are pretty common and skip drugs I haven't heard of, can't pronounce, or never gave a patient. Hopefully they stick to ACE inhibitors, BB, ARBs etc instead of asking about drugs like hydrazine and Clonidine. I'm trying to understand the drugs instead of memorize them. I hope the questions are straightforward enough that if I understand the drugs, I can pick the one the makes the most sense. I must admit, an unpaid internship and the possibility of not getting offered a per diem job at the end of it isn't much of an incentive to study like crazy.

Funny you mention this. I'm experiencing the same thing right now. I too have to know the exact same stuff you are required to know and I also have the exact same conditional factors. As a new grad I'm feeling fairly overwhelmed with the pharmacology part. Nursing school always said they didn't expect us to know much as new grads and that the hospital would teach us what we needed to be successful. I cracked open my pharmacology textbook from college and became immediately overwhelmed. I feel like i'm expected to be a walking drug guide. Many of these meds I have never heard of. Best of luck to you!

Hello fellow nurses, I moved to NJ after getting my BSN and passing the NCLEX. As most people know, the job market is tough. St. Peters University Hospital had an open house for New Grad RN's and they offered me an internship. The internship is unpaid, and they may or may not offer me a job at the end of the 6-8weeks. The nursing recruiter said that the hospital has a two part med math exam. Part one is med math and part two is pharmacology. I have no idea how many questions there are but I do know that I have to score at least and 85 on each part. I am trying to keep in mind that I am only a new grad and they can't expect me to be a walking drug guide, but my anxiety is getting the best of me. Has anybody had a New Grad Internship here that could shed some light on the pharmacology part of this exam? Sincerely, a very anxious new grad

Thank you so much! I was unaware the compact states offered two different types of licenses, which is probably why I was so confused.

Just when I thought I understood the NLC I find myself getting more confused. I'm a new grad RN licensed in Maine, a compact state. Recently however, I have moved to NJ while my fiancé attends grad school. After waiting forever my license is finally endorsed in NJ, which isn't part of the compact. I have applied to about 70-100 jobs with no success. Not only am I stuck in the rut of being an unemployed new grad RN, but i'm now concerned about claiming residency is NJ and its affect on my Maine compact license. If I claim residency in NJ will I have my license to practice in Maine? (I do plan on going home to Maine while we are on summer break). I called the Maine BON and they said that once I change my address I will no longer have my multi state license even though I will still be licensed in Maine and endorsed in NJ. Instead, I will be given a single state license. How does that work? Anybody have any light to shed on the subject?!