Apollo617

Hello @Arr-tistRN. I started at the VA September 2023 with an ADN Nurse 1, Level 2, Step 3. I obtain my BSN within my first year and automatically moved to Step 4 at my year anniversary. I wrote my proficiency for Nurse 1 Level 3 as I was advised I needed to go to that Level before writing for Nurse II. There have been all types of mixups and I've been told that through "human error" an incomplete Board action was posted to my eOPF. The person who has been helping me told me that she doesn't think I got the promotion due to not meeting all qualifications/dimensions. I am looking for help with the appeal once I'm given final notice. I thought I'd done a thorough job and now I'm nervous about redoing this. I would really like to get to Level 3 so that I can try for Nurse II next year. Thanks!

My process took 3 months. I start 9/12

There's information and a link to the excel spreadsheet here. It was spot on for what I was offered when hired (I got a little more than expected).

Hello. I just completed the process and start with the VA 9/12. There is a form that you will complete where you will list all of your experience, certifications, research contributions, etc. A different HR rep will contact you for references and proof of all of those things. They'll also ask for another resume with specific information added in. Good luck!! It's a looooong process! Mine took three months.

Hello. I just finished my first semester. I was wondering if anyone could give me some info on what to expect second semester? I don't like how they name these classes and the class descriptions don't really give much information. My friend who goes to another school asked me if I'd have Pharmacology next semester. I don't know lol. We got a bit of information about 152 from Mrs. Arnold, but nothing about 170. Thanks in advance.

Here is a sheet I made for Pre-Assessment. This is the information you need to gather from the patient record in order to do pre-clinical charting. CLINICAL PREASSESSMENT-1.docx

I was originally Traditional and switched to Hybrid. 130 is an online class for everyone. 100 is the clinical class, but hybrid had lecture online. I had 106 and 200 lecture and lab in class. I opted to take both on the same day. So I only went to campus on Wednesdays. I had 200 lecture @ 0830 followed by lab. Then a 40 minute break before 106 lecture and lab from 1300-1700. So it was basically an 8 hour day of lecture and lab. It wasn't bad though. My clinical day was Tuesday. We were scheduled 0630-1300 at the hospital. We did have to go to our clinical site the night before to gather patient information. That was a bit of a pain. Especially for people who lived far from the clinical site. For 100, Powell schedules tests on a specific day and time. You would not schedule at Testing Center. So you have to be aware of that. Ours was Monday at 4. We met in class, went to Testing Center as a group. We had to wait until everyone finished to leave. Then we went back to classroom and re-took the test in small groups. Depending on the group grade, points would be added to the individual exam. So even though I only had class on Wednesdays, I had pre-clinical, clinical and exams on other days. Then skills check-offs and SIM. These classes take quite a bit of time. I just finished and made Dean's List without school consuming my entire life, so it's doable.

All white or all black. Totally enclosed. No holes. You have to be able to wipe them off. Your socks have to match your shoes--all black or white.

I have two. I have clinical one day and lecture/lab one day.

Hey. You will need burgundy/maroon pants. You can get those anywhere, but the tops and scrub jacket have to be purchased at Flynn O'hara on Midlothian because they have to have the school patch. ORDER EARLY because they can get backed up and take weeks. The jacket is about $50 and I think the tops were $20. For the pants, you can try Goodwill. Family Dollar, Dollar General, Rose's and Gabes on Hull St have really inexpensive scrubs. Walmart runs about $18 which is higher than what I pay at Bryan's in Regency ($14-16 and sometimes much cheaper if you don't need a special length). I can't go to the cheaper places because I need petites at 5'1. I specifically asked someone at my doctor's office about her burgundy pants and she got them from Gabe's. They were Grey's Anatomy and $7. I don't know any upperclassmen to ask. You'll need black or white shoes and your socks have to match the shoes. Congratulations on your acceptance! Get ready! LOL!

Stay up on your reading. That's important. Know your medical terminology and abbreviations. It makes things much easier. Feel free to ask any questions! Little tips would have made things so much easier for me lol.

Congratulations guys! I was this site looking for something else and found this thread. I started in the fall. I just wanted to offer some encouragement, advice and insight. I'd advise to get in the practice of managing your time well. There's a lot of work to do outside of regular lecture and lab that we didn't expect. You'll have Zoom sessions, pre-assessment for clinicals and for certain classes your exam times are scheduled for you and you'll have to be there for about 2 hours. We go to Testing Center together, take the exam, wait for everyone to finish and then go to a classroom. There, we get into groups and take the exam again as a group to earn extra points on the exam. It helps but it takes a lot of our time. If you are/were an honor/dean's list student, get out of that mentality. Not that you'll do poorly, but the grading scale is different. I was so excited to see that I had a 90 in one of my classes then remembered that's a B, not an A lol. The lowest passing grade is 80. Right now, I have 100, 89, 88 and 87.9. That's with minimal effort so I know my grades could be better. I work full-time and have a 4 year old so it's challenging. GET A CALENDAR/PLANNER!! There are so many different assignments due that it would be impossible to keep up without some sort of calendar. Stay on top of your reading and the assignments and you'll do well. The weekly quizzes can make or break your grade. There are only 5 questions so you can only miss one and still pass. It's hard but I am actually having a great time. I would LOVE it if I didn't have work because even though the reading gets boring, I actually enjoy learning about the different topics we have. Congratulations again and god luck!

Why is it so hot and sweaty on the burn unit? I ask because I'm considering applying for a tech position there (moving from dialysis) to get more patient care experience. I've seen children on the burn unit every time I've had to go over there and that part unsettles me. Anything else I can handle.

It sounds like you should do the night shift unless you have someone to watch your child after preschool for a few hours. I work nights and I prefer it. My son is with my parents while I'm at work. I get off in the mornings and take him to school, then I go to school and come home to sleep awhile. I will admit that I typically do not get my proper amount of sleep each day/night, but I'm working on it. I've never been one to sleep for an 8 hour stretch. Doing 3 overnight 12s in a row is rough. That's what I do. But then I get 4 days in a row to myself. The hard thing about working nights is that you're actually losing two days for each night you work. What I mean by this is: if you work monday night, you have to rest/sleep Monday during the day before your shift and then sleep Tuesday during the day after your shift. If you space out your nights, you really do lose time/days. If you clump them together, it's rough but you get it over with and have 4 free days. You can adjust. Your body will have no choice. Get blackout curtains or a sleep mask and take a lavendar shower before bed laying down during the day. You'll find ways to make it work.

We put everything in a patient belonging bag: bicart, cartridge, saline, dialyzer and crit pieces. Most nurses keep a wrench in their tote bag where they keep their supplies: gloves, needle packs, gauze, quick clot, etc. The hoses are kept in the machine room and we grab one on the way out and usually hang it on a machine or RO.

I didn't buy any packages. If you're in Organic Chemistry, you don't need that stuff lol. I think that's more for people who haven't really had much science or taken many college courses in general. Or for people who don't test well. There are enough free resources online without buying expensive packages. I just used the things I listed and I really didn't have time to study much because of work and full school load.

Hello, I'm a Dialysis Tech on the Acute Unit. I work overnights (7p-7:23a), so it's pretty slow most of my shift. When I get to work, I check the unit to see if there are patients still running dialysis and how long they will be there. As long as patients are on the floor, the water quality must be checked every 4 hours. Then I get a list of "travels" where nurses go to the patient's room or to ED to do dialysis and I go help them with machine set up or to bring the machines back at the end of the treatment. Working nights, I don't get to use my skills much. I will insert dialysis needles every now and then. I love to be sent to other units to draw blood from a patient's fistula or graft. Most of our patients are in the Critical Care Hospital (CICU, MRICU, etc) so I get to see a lot of different things. I try to help out when I'm there if a patient needs to be turned or changed. The nurses are usually surprised that I want to help (I don't have to because I'm not considered a Care Partner and I'm really only there to set up for dialysis), but I like to do it. I feel like I'm missing out and not using my skills. I don't want to be the dummy in clinicals lol. I've asked if I can shadow or fill in/PRN in Psych because that's my goal after nursing school, but I think going to one of the ICU floors or ED would be more beneficial.

I took it today. I got an 86 overall. The ATI Secrets book by Mometrix and the Kaplan study guides were the only ones I bought. I have read that the ATI guide isn't very detailed. I also read posts here from people who got high scores and watched the same type of videos on YouTube and followed their tips. Everyone recommends Khan Academy, but I never watched their videos. Science: Mometrix video on YouTube, Pocket Prep list of 20 things to know for the science portion is very comprehensive (I looked everything up on Quizlet and made a guide), RegisteredNurseRN gives some really good tips and mnemonics on how to remember things. Know circulatory, respiratory and endocrine systems very well. Know glands, specially male reproductive. Know the female reproductive system and how it connects. Know details about the skin such as layers (what's in each layer and it's function), protection, melanin, etc. Know how to balance a chemical equation, states of matter, mass, etc from chemistry. Math: I did practice problems from The Organic Chemistry Tutor on YouTube. He has a TEAS Math video and I practiced those same problems over and over and Math was a breeze when I have never been good at math. Know how to calculate areas, diameters, etc. Know conversions. Fractions are most of the questions so know those in and out. The video I mentioned will help. Reading: McAllister. I never watched her videos, but a couple of Facebook groups I joined mentioned tips from her videos and it ALL came in handy. Understand different writing styles and purpose of the passage. Know punctuation, how to follow a directions and a recipe, know where to find different types of information: encyclopedia, dictionary, etc. Good luck!!! I was a nervous wreck for weeks leading up to this test and I'm so glad it's over!! I ugly cried all the way home. I still cannot believe I passed and it's OVER! My school admits based on TEAS ONLY!!! As long as basic requirements are met, they rank by the TEAS so I was nervous about not only passing, but getting a competitive score.

Hi. In general, Davita doesn't really have hours that are conducive to nursing school. It really depends on the clinic and what the work requirements are. There really isn't flexibility to work nights (unless it's a nocturnal clinic) or full weekends because they're closed on Sundays. I just left Davita for a hospital dialysis job so that I could work overnights in order to go to school. I was supposed to work 4 ten hour shifts at Davita that started around 4am. Usually, on MWF I worked 4am to 8p/close because we had a third shift of patients. TuThSat my hours were 4am until we finished which was around 3. One semester, my clinical coordinator allowed me to have Tuesdays and Thursdays off for class. But then it's hard to get your hours in. If you're OK with working less than 40 or even 30 hours a week, it might be doable. We had a phlebotomist in our training class and everyone thought she'd be the star pupil and she was the worst. It's really fast paced and she wasn't used to it. I came in with zero medical experience after taking a CNA class. I caught on pretty well and did fine. The phlebotomist quit/got fired after her extended training was over because she just couldn't keep up the pace.

I'm surprised Davita wouldn't hire you. I came from a customer service/banking background and had only taken a CNA course when I applied to DAVITA. I went through the STAR program which is their paid training program. I knew NOTHING about dialysis and they trained me. Check to see if a Davita in your area has a STAR program. I know you already went through school, but maybe it's a foot in the door. Also, try the hospitals. I worked at Davita for two years and now I'm at the local hospital in Acute Dialysis. Just keep applying. It's hard. You have to REALLY sell yourself. Get some resume help to amp it up and highlight all that you know. I had a round robin interview with about 4 people. The lead interviewer really liked me and decided to hire me with zero medical experience. She said that I had the compassion it took to do the job and she could teach me all the technical aspects. I really emphasized patient care and talked about people I knew who had been through dialysis.

I think there's a misconception about dialysis. I worked as a PCT in a chronic clinic and when I interviewed at a hospital for CICU, they sort of scoffed and tried to put me off. I had to let them know that much more than dialysis goes on in these centers. Some of those patients have many varied illnesses, so you will learn a lot. Patients code while in treatment. We have had so many emergency situations. You WILL use your nursing skills even though it's a "specialty". You just have to highlight that on your resume/cover letters and in your interviews. I was surprised that the nurse manager from nephrology was in on my panel interview for CICU and he was clueless about what went on in the clinics. They were surprised by the many skills I'd used, even as a PCT, and I got the job. I work in an Acute hospital setting now, and the senior nurses look to me for help because as a PCT in the clinic, I did everything and experienced a lot. I work with patients all over the hospital in different units with various illnesses and conditions, so I'm being exposed to everything from transplant to peds to icu to psych. I even work with the inmates in our "hospital jail". Dialysis isn't a one trick specialty. You just have to seek new experiences and let people know that you're well-rounded.

The acute nurses at the hospitals in my area work at least 12 hours a day. I am at hospital now and there is no shortage of hours. I came from a chronic clinic where it depended on the clinic (staffing and census) whether or not nurses got their 40 hours. I have not seen a shortage of hours for nurses at any hospital. That's odd.

They want to hear about patient care, that you're compassionate and want to help people. They will teach you what you need to know about dialysis. They initially want to know that you have the heart because you will develop close relationships with your patients as you'll see them all the time and get to know them well. Look on the Davita website and learn the core values to mention a few during your interview. Davita is really a "touchy feely" type of place, and they want to know that you'll fit into "the village". I came from a Finance environment with an education in Psychology. I took a 6 week CNA course to get my foot in the healthcare door and my first job was for Davita as a PCT. The interview cinched it for me because I did my research on the company and had personal stories to tell about people I've known on dialysis. I had not one minute of healthcare experience. I went into the STAR paid training program and 3 years later, I still love it. I had to leave Davita because I needed a nocturnal job while in nursing school. I'm at a hospital in Acutes now, but I'm still PRN at Davita. Good luck! You'll love it! Just pace yourself in training and don't let the needles scare you. Once you're in a clinic, it's smooth sailing. All the PCTs do patient care and nurses pass meds and call in prescriptions and orders.

Gingko Biloba is a supplement that helps focus and memory. It can also help with anxiety and has other benefits as well.

Next semester I'm taking Chem, Anatomy and Physiology 2, Nutrition and Sociology. I feel your pain. Maybe even more since I work full-time too. Time management and self-care will be essential!