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I think it's really helpful, gives nurses a little time to check the blood sugar, give the tray, give insulin. Patients do sometimes get frustrated with the delay in getting their trays/food not being as hot.

Day shift does glucose check and insulin on my unit. Additionally, our diabetic patients have trays labeled with a "Med Alert" label, meaning they are delivered to the nurse's station and not directly to the patients.

Typically you want the entirety of the securement device to be completely underneath the dressing, both for reliable securement reasons but also infection prevention reasons. On occasions I have seen part of the securement device outside of the dressing, but this is something I try to avoid. Agreed it can be a challenge with certain lines, or PICC lines with long ELs.

Ditto. No need to place this patient on bedrest, just education. After seeing quite a few thrombocytopenic patients develop SDHs or other brain bleeds I definitely take headache complaints fairly seriously.

There's a Facebook group for those accepted. Look for UC Davis New Grad Residency 2017

Anyone else hear back yet? is anyone interested in a FB group?

I've been told managers have until Jan 4th to call for interviews.

First off - nursing school is challenging but ENTIRELY doable. Literally millions of nurses have made it through school, some smarter than you and some not as smart. I just graduated from an accelerated BSN program and the most challenging part for me was the amount of material combined with long clinical hours (we did 12hr shifts, which was great experience, just tough when you had an exam to study for the next day). A few snippets of advice off the top of my head: - Find students you connect with and can rely on. Form study groups and share resources and notes. Forget being competitive, you're all going to be in the same boat and need to focus on succeeding together. - Be active and participate in lectures. Answer and ask questions in class, your professors will get to know your name and they can be such a great resource. - You can't memorize or learn everything. Don't even try to. There is SO much information out there. Focus on 1) passing each class, 2) providing safe care in clinicals. Pick up on what each professor emphasizes and how they want you to think, this will help on exams. Don't be afraid to ask for help in clinicals. If you feel uncomfortable or unsafe doing anything, ask your clinical faculty or assigned RN. You are there to learn and are not expected to know everything (or anything in the beginning). - Utilize all your resources - tutoring, other students, office hours, reliable internet resources (Quizlet can be very handy), textbooks, etc. - Schedule in some time to relax - watch an episode or two of TV, go for a run, cook a nice meal, have some wine, play with your pet or kid. Yes you will be overwhelmed, but you still need to take care of yourself. Spending an hour on yourself will not make you flunk nursing school. - Relax and spend some time with your patients during clinicals. You will probably have more time than the floor nurses (especially during your first clinical rotations when you're limited to what you can do), some of my best early clinical moments were spent helping bed-bound patients wash and comb their hair, educating them about their condition/disease, and chatting with them about their children/previous careers/cats/what have you. And try to enjoy the crazy ride :)

Hi all - I just accepted a new grad position starting Feb 27, can't wait!

Thank you all so much for the positive feedback. I've accepted the position :)

Hi all - Wanted to seek some advice and opinions about a general topic. What are your thoughts about how easy it is to move out of oncology and into another speciality, and about how applicable oncology experience is to other areas of acute care? I ask as a new grad considering a position on an (inpatient) Oncology unit. I know that I want to do critical care/ICU eventually in my career (say within 5 years), but I do also enjoy oncology. My main concerned is getting pigeon holed in a speciality and having a difficult time finding another job at a later point. Would you advise accepting an oncology position or looking for another position (such as Telemetry)? I appreciate your feedback!

Hmm... I've generally never counted solid foods as intake in mL. When looking at intake & output, we're usually concerned about fluid balance, so PO fluid intake (water, milk, soda), IV fluids, or NG/PEG tube feeds. Solid food shouldn't really be converted to liquid volumes.

I'll be graduating from an ABSN program shortly, and I believe the reputation of the individual ABSN program is more important than the general reputation for all ABSN programs. My school has a good reputation in our area, and I've been lucky to have really great clinical experiences. I'd look into what the clinical schedule is like - we did 12 hour shifts and started them after only 5 weeks of lecture, and I found the 12hr shifts to be very beneficial compared to some schools which only do partial shifts. Also consider if the programs have preceptorship, mine was a great opportunity to practice more like a "new grad RN" and I learned a ton. I feel prepared (as much as one can coming out of school) to start working as an RN at my first job. Keep in mind that accelerated means accelerated. I've had no break longer than a week and a half in the past year, and your class/clinical load will likely be much heavier than a traditional program (in terms of weekly hours). Let me know if you have any additional questions!

I agree with AceOfHearts above. If this was your first HESI, don't stress too much. It is likely a different type of testing than you are used to and the "right answers" will not always be identical to what you've learned in class or seen in clinical. Do you have access to Adaptive Quizzing or Case Studies/Patient Reviews (through Evolve) or any form of practice questions through your school? There are a few great HESI review books, but once again, I wouldn't stress too much if this was just your first experience with HESI :)

I don't think you automatically need to move. I know plenty of new grad RNs with jobs in the Sacramento area. I know of at least a few hospitals in the Northern California area that will only hire (or give much higher priority) to BSN over ADN nurses, so getting your BSN will certainly be helpful in the hunt! Look into areas directly outside of Sacramento and the Bay Area as well - think Vacaville, Fairfield, Vallejo, Stockton, and more rural areas up North (eg. Auburn Faith, Marshall Medical Center in Placerville, Sierra Nevada Memorial, etc).

Thank you for the positive post! As a nursing student about a month away from graduating, I am so looking forward to all the learning experiences to come and to the day when I realize I am starting to feel comfortable as a nurse.

I'm currently half way through an ABSN program (my program is 12 months, super accelerated). It's been a crazy 6 months but I've enjoyed it immensely so far. I was warned that the first 6 months were the most intense and things are beginning to lighten up as we finish our Critical Care Rotations. Prepare for a LOT of information thrown at you. The vast amount of information combined with clinical hours (we do 2 12 hour shifts/week) has definitely made this the most challenging thing I've done so far, but it's doable! As far as stats go, my undergraduate GPA wasn't super impressive, but I did very well on the TEAS and had strong letters of recommendation. Best of luck to you!

I'm currently in an ABSN program, and while it's an incredible amount of work and information condensed in a short amount of time, I'm still very glad I choose to go the ABSN route. I would rather complete school in a shorter amount of time, my program is 12 months (we don't get 2 weeks off, 1-1.5wks max). I like to think that I'm only missing out on 1 year of not working rather than 2-4 years. Our motto is - you can do anything for one year! Or one and a half in your case Definitely think through all the options and make the decision that works best for you. Also, my area really doesn't hire ADNs, so I knew I was going for a BSN, something to keep in mind when weighing option 1 vs. 2 or 3. Best of luck!

I'd love to hear suggestions as well! I can recommend the "New Nurse Podcast." It's hosted by an newish ICU nurse and discusses a variety of topics such as an average day in the ICU, sepsis, and hemodynamic monitoring. I've only listened to a handful of episodes and I believe there are no longer any new episodes (last is from 2011), but there are quite a few to listen to. The only other related podcast I listen to is one called "Sawbones." It's a husband and wife (she's an MD) who discuss odd medical topics and medical history. Sometimes a bit goofy, but always entertaining. They have one episode on nurses and the history of nursing. It's one of my go-to podcasts to listen to while I'm jogging. Good luck with the program next year and good luck!

Definitely don't give up yet! I'd start looking around for ABSN programs (Accelerated BSN) near you and see what specific prerequisites they require and how they calculate their GPAs. There are quite a few ABSN programs in CA. Then start retaking prerequisite courses, focusing on the sciences (biology, micro, anatomy, physiology, etc) and really working toward A's in all your repeated classes. Keep volunteering and try to pick up a paid job in healthcare too. A few options I'd consider - CNA, medical scribe, EMT-B (requires taking EMT course, so may or may not be an option for you). Start meeting with advisors from the schools you're interested in and discuss your situation. Discussing what you struggled with during your years as an undergrad and how hard you had to work to retake courses and improve your GPA should help you create a strong personal statement. Plenty of schools do look at the big picture, but you'll need to start working to raise your GPA first. If you're dedicated it can be done. Good luck!

They told us we have 10 days to pay the tuition deposit :) So hopefully the wait list will start moving soon!

Hi All, I too was very excited to receive an admissions email yesterday! Mine says Peninsula, and I have been unable to speak with anyone today, but I am hoping it is supposed to be Sacramento. Does anyone know when they'll be asking for transcripts or grades from any outstanding courses we had in progress? I can't wait to meet you all :)

From what I've heard (at least from previous timelines), applications typically don't get passed on to Samuel Merritt and the admissions committee until early August. I think July is used for processing and verifying transcripts and test scores. My transcripts are still pending arrival as well, although I feel like they should have arrived by now!

I'm a (hopeful) pre-nursing student who currently works full time in the ER. I've noticed a huge difference in how I process things which occur at work vs. outside of work. While working, you go from patient to patient, each with a unique history and story. I don't have the time to become emotionally invested in each patient, because you quickly must move on to evaluate the next. After a busy and stressful shift certain things may hit me on the drive home and I'll fully process the emotions attached then. Every once in a while a case comes through which does catch you off guard, but you have multiple other patients to attend to so you don't have time to dwell. This isn't meant to sound like you don't care about the wellbeing of each patient, because that certainly is not true, but you'll come to realize the best way to help is to stay calm, process each patient, and evaluate how you can help. I'm not directly involved in patient care, and I certainly don't claim to speak for anyone but myself, but this is how I've come to view working somewhere stressful like the ER. A family member is an entirely different situation, and I would not let the situation concern you. It's natural to feel concern and worry for those we love and care about. I'd argue it's a sign that you'll make a great nurse!

Hi everyone! I had the same problem with the documents section, and like luxi07 replied, I just updated my same TEAS report five times. About myself: UC Davis B.S. in Cell Biology Last 90 quarter units GPA: 3.4 Science GPA: 3.02 TEAS: 94.7% Adjusted Individual Score (100% in Math and 95.2% in Reading) I've been working full time as an ER Chief Scribe since graduation (past 8 months). Submitted my application yesterday, guess we wait now! I would love to get into this program :) Did you all apply anywhere else? I just did SMU for now.