Wondergirl0905

Melatonin doesn't do a thing for me, unfortunately. My husband works rotating shifts and has a Rx for both Ambien and Lunesta (no, not for the same time!) I've tried his Ambien a few times but I feel like I have vertigo if I get up in the middle of t...

I've been an RN for about two years now doing 12-hour shifts on a surgical floor. I started out rotating between days and nights but switched to just nights in March (the rotating was too disorienting for me). I had been doing fine on nights until th...

I am coming up on my one-year anniversary of becoming a nurse; this was a career change for me. Prior to being an RN I basically worked M-F 9-5 jobs with occasional weekends or late nights, but no overnights. I worked most recently at a small non-pro...

I'm on a surgical-tele floor at an academic medical center. Our patients have pretty high acuity at times. We also receive overflow of medicine, trauma and neuro patients. Our floor has 4 pods with 2 nurses on each pod and 1 LNA. Our ratio is 1:4-5 f...

While I also wished I had been an LNA (they are licensed here in NH) during nursing school for the experience/exposure to the hospital setting, I was able to get a job last Feb just fine. Out of our class of 26, only 2 were LNAs/techs during school -...

Agreed! I always "default to the good" so to speak. I can't know for sure whether a particular patient is addicted to pain meds or has such chronic pain that they have become dependent on narcotics just to get through their days. I'd rather risk givi...

This is great. I have been working on an inpatient surgical unit the last 8 months and still worry that I'll miss something. We have a huge variety of patients (vascular, CT, transplant, bowel) that it makes my head spin to keep up with all of the po...

Hi all - I just need to vent. I graduated in December, passed my boards in January and started a new grad residency program with a surgical floor in February. It is an intense program at a Level 1 trauma center, with a three year contract. I was so e...

congrats! sounds like you're in a good place - good luck!

In my area - NH/MA, it is very difficult for new grads to get positions at acute care facilities. We just graduated in December so some of the problem is that hospitals here only hire new grads after May. Out of 26 of us that graduated, about 10 have...

nursemissy8 - is it going any better for you lately?

Does anyone know if you can write off the cost of a new RN license, including the fingerprint fee and NCLEX fee? Thanks! :)

for me too!

I am slated to take the NCLEX in three weeks. I graduated three weeks ago and have done only a handful of practice questions. The first week we had no power (for 6 days R/T an ice storm), then came all the holiday fun. I am hoping if I crunch down ov...

The online tutorial through NCSBN I thought was helpul - it has tons of practice questions and they are the ones that write the NCLEX. I thought it was helpful to see their rationales. http://www.learningext.com/students/ Don't give up! Give your min...

Congratulations!

Well, I pulled it off and passed today with 75 questions!! I wasn't so sure when I left the test center. But I studied hard these past three weeks, using Saunders and an online tutorial with NCSBN (the ones who write the NCLEX). I think it was a good...

I think this point should really be emphasized. I myself, also a second-degree new grad, am nervous about entering acute care (which for me begins in February). But I really want to give it a shot and develop a strong foundation that will serve me we...

I feel so similar - my husband is a police officer and couldn't find anyone to swap his shift so he missed my pinning and award ceremony. My parents came, but I really wanted my husband there - he's put up with so much and our relationship is really ...

I love hearing this kind of feedback. I just graduated and start my first job in February - I can't wait to get the first year under my belt so I can feel competent at nursing!

Just to clarify - it's a study guide that includes a CD. Also, I really like the HESIs, at least for final exams (haven't taken the Exit HESI yet). They are standardized and scored against others who have taken it so you are scored based on how you p...

Which HESI? In addition to the Exit HESI, almost all of our final exams are HESIs. They make a study guide, which I think helps a lot (in addition to Saunders). NCLEX-RN® Review with HESI StudyWare CD-ROM Publisher: Elsevier (September 1, 2005) ISB...

Correct. I am looking at new grad residency programs and some have GPA requirements. NYU's is 3.5. Good luck!

I'm halfway through an accelarated 16-month program, currently on a 2 week break between semesters. I feel like I can't even function without having something to read or work on for school. I have so many things to get done around my house before sch...

Thanks all!