nursingwithjen

I was 18 when I started, I'm now 20. I will be graduating from a RN program in May.

I did not do a nursing preceptorship through my school because I was also working for the first half of this last semester and there weren't any preceptorships in the area I want to work in, but I reached out to the HR department at a hospital that I am interested in working at and they are arranging some time for me to come shadow on the specific floor I want to work on. Yeah, I won't be able to do any skills or anything, but at least I will get to see what a 12 hour shift looks like on that floor in that specific hospital. Not doing a preceptorship won't affect my ability to get a job since this hospital has already asked us all to come work for them once we graduate. So if there is a hospital that you have done clinicals at, and that you potentially want to work at, you should contact them to see if you could do something similar.

I was just the generic track, but I'm pretty sure we take the same test. It was incredibly easy! Know abbreviations, conversions, and how to read an abbreviated sentence and translate it (5mg ordered PRN AC translates to 5 milligrams ordered to be given as needed before meals), also do a quick brush up on your simple calculations from pharmacology. The only calculations on the first semester test was like if you have an order for 5mg and only 2.5mg tablets are avaliable, how many tabs do you give? There are 20 questions, all multiple choice. I'm now in my second semester. The second semester test was just as easy they just added in reconstitution calculations. I love ABAC's program! First semester is VERY challenging, but it gets easier once you have the hang of things. We went from 68 or 70 students first semester to hardly 40 second semester. Good luck! :)

I am taking the semester 1 pharmacology validation exam tomorrow at ABAC. Has anyone taken it before? I've been studying basics like metric conversions and abbreviations. The sheet they gave us explaining the test said that there will only be nonparenteral calculations. How hard was it? How many of each type of question was there?

Thank you everyone for all of your wonderful advice! I am spoken with my instructor and she says that I should be eligable to take the exam after my first semester.

Thank you so much!

I recently heard online that once you finish Funds, you are eligible to either sit the CNA exam or can use your transcripts which show that you have completed your first semester in order to get a CNA job. Is this true? I'm in Georgia by the way if that helps at all.

Keep in mind your goals as a nurse. I want to be a midwife and in order to get into a grad school I need at least one year of experience as a nurse. So, I have decided to get my ADN so that I can work while I do my RN-BSN bridge program, and then by the time I'm done with my BSN I'll already have that 1 year experience and can apply to grad programs right away. It really just depends on your goals and such. Also, some hospitals will pay for you to have further schooling. I know a lady whose husband is in the military and she decided to just do her ASN in case they were to get transferred to a different state/country.

Thank You! After reading these responses I've decided to go for it!

I was just wondering if it would be worth while or advantagous in any way as far as my nursing career if I were to become a CNA while I'm in nursing school. I'm going to be doing a two year program, but I'll need to have a part time job while I'm in school. Would being a CNA be helpful when applying to future jobs after I become registered?