BSN<RN

Is Peds ICU an option? That would be a great stepping stone, in my opinion. If not, I would advise doing Pediatrics or Mother/Baby. If at all possible, you will need something that gives you some experience with baby assessment and management of care that incorporated conditions and skills encountered in the NICU.

Hi all! I received a scholarship to attend the NANN annual conference in Dallas October 22-25. It will be my first time attending a professional gathering; I am a new nurse in a Level III NICU and hoping to gain some foundational knowledge- also looking forward to the poster presentations and exhibits. Is anyone else planning to attend or willing to offer any tips so I get the most out of this opportunity? Thanks so much!

If child experience is really what they're looking for- what about getting on a Postpartum/Well baby Nursery floor or Labor and Delivery with the goal of getting 6 months- 1 year experience then moving to NICU?

She sounds very misinformed and overly opinionated! I may be a bit biased because I've lived here for 18 years but I haven't encountered any issues that would cause me to advise anyone to not practice as an RN in Florida. The pay is a bit lower than other areas of the country but the cost of living is also a lot lower- no state income tax, etc. License costs have also went down and in my experience the Board of Nursing is fairly good with turnaround times, etc. I say if you want it- come and get it! Good luck!

Good to know, thank you.

Thank you! How long of a class or training is it?

HI all, I am a new BSN grad who just obtained a job in a level 3 NICU. I did about 5 weeks of preceptorship in this unit, so I kno w bit of what I am getting in to, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me more about NRP. We are required to obtain it within 1 year of employment and I want to do it ASAP. What all does it cover?

I had very similar scores, didn't even get that good of results from Hurst, and passed in 75 questions. Keep your test date.

In my opinion, Lippincott was much easier than what I saw on NCLEX. I feel it can be a good guide if you want to evaluate how you're doing (try to get as close to level 8) but I wouldn't invest money in it beyond the 2 week trial.

I found it to be very worthwhile. Yes, It is a lot of content, but it includes helpful tips and each module comes with related questions. There are about 1500 questions to do and they reset after you're done so you can do them over and over again.

Nursing schools usually require all-white shoes, which sometimes aren't the most comfortable. I started out using nurse mates, which held up pretty well, but as the clinical hours lengthened I needed more athletic shoes, so I got some Skechers with memory foam insoles- lifesavers!

I completed a 144 hour preceptorship in the NICU and my school also had a good relationship with the nurse manager- Precepting students were chosen based on an interest in obtaining a position as an RN. I got to know a lot of the staff during my preceptorship and expressed my interest in getting a job after graduation to the manager, who told me to call her after I passed boards. I passed NCLEX, called about an interview the next day, and the following day I interviewed and was offered the job. It was very smooth! Best advice is that if NICU is what you really want, let people know! Do your research on the facility, identify what it is that makes you want the job, and sell yourself.

Northwest Florida Graduated May 2, 2015 Passed NCLEX May 22, 2015 Hired May 28, 2015

Hi! I live in Pensacola and just graduated with my BSN. We have three hospitals- Baptist Hospital which is downtown, West Florida Hospital and Sacred Heart Hospital. West Florida is for profit owned by HCA and the others are non-profit. I am not sure about what the contracts look like, but Sacred Heart is hiring mainly BSN nurses right now to work towards Magnet status. I would look online as to what positions are available, apply online, and then give it time to process. Then call the unit managers. If you have any other questions, feel free to message me!

Hi All, I graduated 2 weeks ago, and have been made eligible by my state board of nursing and am just waiting for my ATT from Pearson. Idealy, all the documentation verification would be completed and I could test right after graduation. But I hope to test before the end of the month, which would be 4 weeks +/- post grad. I took a week off after graduation to rest my brain and body which is going to give me about 3 weeks of studying. But I have a tendency to over study. I did ATI through my school, then HURST review, am going through NCSBN 3-week plan, and have Saunder's if I end up testing later. I'm averaging about 4-5 hours of studying a day which isn't as much as I would like to do. I feel pretty strong on the concepts but am still struggling with prioritization. How much and how often did any of you study while waiting to test?