RnRnurse

Hmmm. Curious as to why crit care nurses are not in high demand. Would it be because of a lower critical care patient population so the need isn't as high? I never really thought of that. If that's the case I may expand a wider net and consider the army. Though, being prior enlisted Air Force training alongside the army at an army post, my opinion of the army isn't too great. Perhaps I could get over that. Thanks for your input.

Hello. I've recently applied for the Air Force Nurse Corps Critical Care, however, I was not selected this cycle. This was most likely due to a personal incident I had involving an apartment fire I went through and having to relocate and start my life over again I missed the first board cycle and was put into the second cycle. According to my recruiter, I was most likely not selected due to there not being any open critical care slots for the second cycle. Bummer. My recruiter said I had one of the strongest packages he's had. My recruiter suggested to reapply and I'm sure to get impending available critical care slots. I currently work as a trauma ICU nurse in a Level 1 trauma center and have an EMT background. I'm am 10 years prior service enlisted Air Force and am looking to get back in. My question is (or rather what I'm seeking is guidance) in addition to reapplying to the Air Force Nurse Corps should I also apply for the Navy Nurse Corps as a second option? Has anyone applied to two services at once? My reasoning is this. When I applied for RN jobs I didn't limit myself to applying to one hospital, but I applied to every hospital within my area to increase my chances of employment. My first choice would obviously be the Air Force (due to my familiarity), but I would consider the Navy as second. I suppose I'm asking this as I'm being conscientious as to the work that goes into it by the recruiter and having to decline one for the other if I'm accepted into both. Thank you.

Hello. I am a recent BSN graduate who also took the NCLEX-RN last week. I currently have an EMT job working for peanuts doing 50-60 hours a week trying to find time for studying and the family. I was incredibly anxious waiting to take the NCLEX as I knew two people who both did five hours with 265 questions. One passed and the other failed. I longingly waited for my ATT and had been studying from about 20 minutes a day to three hours a day depending upon my work schedule. I used Hesi, made flash cards, wrote notes, did the NCLEX RN mastery app, and a friend gave me their log in to Kaplan as I didn't have the money for it. I began studying hard since graduation in May and where as several of my comrades received their ATT, tested, passed, and started work as early as June and July, I was still waiting for the ATT. I was anxious knowing that the longer you wait the worse your chances at passing are. I even researched what higher level and lower level questions were and the myth of "if your last NCLEX question isn't higher level then you failed" and also "if you get a lot of SATA questions you're doing good". I finally got my ATT the second week of August and figured the only way I knew I was going to be ready was to just take it. Maybe it was a smart idea, maybe not. I had plateaued my practice test scores in the mid-fifties and felt I couldn't do any better. How am I going to know everything? I felt if I had a good grasp of strategy then I would be okay. Test day came. I went in and after #75, #76 came up. And it just kept coming. #100, then #150, then #200, then #250, then #265, then blue screen. I had maybe 25 SATA and maybe 40 priority questions. I had a lot of scenario/outcome and a lot of general knowledge/recall questions. I was devastated. My last question was a general knowledge/recall question. I knew I failed. I also had a lot of repeat/reworded contact precaution questions. I felt I didn't know a damn thing on that test and I did a lot of guessing. I was sure I failed. I knew it in my heart. I prepared for looking for another job, putting in as many hours as I could for my current and how was I going to pay rent let alone pay for the NCLEX again? I found out I passed. Don't know how I did it, but I passed. I guess what I'm trying to say is is that maybe all the NCLEX myths are just myths. Study the best you can, do your best and you will succeed. If you do not, don't give up. Keep going.