peachy512

Hi everyone, I graduated nursing school this past May. I worked as a CNA for 2 years on a surgical floor at the hospital where I'm currently a nurse. Instead of trying to take a job on my unit, I opted to try a different service line. I'm in a new grad residency program where we pick a service line specialty and then we have the option to rotate to different units within our chosen specialty if we choose to do so, or we can opt out of rotation and interview with the unit we're currently on to get a permanent position on that unit. I chose the women's/children's specialty because in school I was very disturbed by the exponentially increasing maternal mortality rate in the US. I've been on L&D and am currently on LDRP, and while I love the job and being there for my patients and alleviating their fears during scary emergencies or answering the questions of first time parents, I'm missing my old unit so, so much. I oriented on days for L&D and will go to nights, which I don't really care about that, but I've bonded with the day staff and when I did a few night shifts, I definitely don't fit in with the night staff at all. They're younger than I am, and it just felt really clique-y and not very welcoming. There are multiple nurse residents on the unit right now, and well all feel this way and have noticed a difference in how we're treated versus how the direct unit hires (that are also new grads) are treated. My old unit is definitely not the easiest to be a nurse on: high patient turnover from surgeries, we would get some really sick patients. Some that were pretty much intermediate ICU, and some confused and combative. Definitely a completely different world than L&D and LDRP. But the people who worked there were great and it was genuinely my most favorite job I have ever had. The entire time I was there, everyone was so willing to teach me things and my annual evals all had great reviews from my coworkers. We loved working together, our teamwork helped our super busy unit run like a well-oiled machine. Float pool nurses love coming to our unit because even though we are busy, we help each other. And my managers were great too.. there was a shift where one of our sister units was short a nurse that my unit manager took 7 patients, and my assistant managers would take patients on the floor as well if they need to. Our manager was good at fighting for her staff and recently was able to get their ratios reduced from 6:1 to 5:1. I'm just feeling really conflicted and intimidated. I'm not contemplating going back to my old unit before my year in the residency is over, but I am wondering if that would be something I should try to do after my first year. I love what I do in L&D/LDRP, and it's intimidating to go from patients that are for the most part healthy to patients that are super sick, busy, and cannot do a lot for themselves. But I want to really feel welcomed and like I'm part of the team, which is something I haven't felt in the units I've been on in the residency. I don't need to go get coffee or drinks with my coworkers after work or anything, but I'd like to not feel like the black sheep. Am I crazy for wanting to go back to a med/surg unit? Is what I'm feeling normal? Has anyone made the transition from L&D/LDRP to med/surg? I know it's a drastic change, I'm just wondering how others have handled it. Thanks everyone! Sorry this post is so long.

I hear you. Some may freak out at you: "You mean you didn't know you were gonna be in direct patient care?!" But it's so different when you transition from student to nurse. If you already know you won't last more than a year in that setting, then definitely look elsewhere. If you CAN stick out your year, I would try to do so because you are definitely more marketable with a year experience, but if you find that you can't, address your 'why' in a positive way in future interviews. I hope you find the right place for you!

Oh love, I'm so sorry you're going through this. I think I'd probably be in similar shoes as you (being a new grad RN) if I hadn't worked as a CNA in the hospital for 2 years during my ADN. First things first: try to figure out what precisely is causing you to cry before and after and sometimes during every shift. Is it the work environment? Is it the sacrifices you have to make (holidays/weekends/time with family) now suddenly starting to set in? Is it being on your own and being responsible for people's lives for 12+ hours? The sadness you're experiencing may be the normal reality shock we new grads go through, or it may be something more. I totally feel you in that working nights can really suck. I'm okay getting through a night shift (as long as I have Red Bull!!) but they really mess with those glorious days/nights off. And when you're working nights during the holidays it's like you miss SO MUCH because you sleep all day on Thanksgiving (missing family time) so you can work that night and then sleep all day Friday recovering! I get it, I really do. But you CAN overcome it. Try the typical night shift formula of blackout curtains/shades on your windows, "do not disturb" on your phone, sleepy meds, whatever works for you so that you can be decently rested for your shift. Some have suggested trying to celebrate the holiday on a different day, and thousands successfully do that every year because of exact cases like these. My loved ones and I do this when we must. Working holidays can be tough... on my old unit as a CNA, holidays were done by seniority, and lots of the staff had been there for forever. So guess who worked Thanksgiving day, Christmas Day, and New Years Eve last year? And if I had stayed there this year, I'd have been on Black Friday, Christmas Eve, and New Years Day this year because that same people always got the holidays off because they had literally been there for their entire nursing careers. My current unit as an RN has a rotating schedule, where every 3rd year you'll have all of the Christmas & New Years season off. Maybe suggesting something like this rotating schedule to management if your unit doesn't have it? (Sometimes that's a very hard thing to change though.) For your next position, if holidays are required, my advice would be to try to help someone else out. Perhaps in return they'll help you in some way, or good karma will come back to you. When I work Christmas one day, I'll probably offer to stay late for an RN that has kids since I don't have any yet. Those Monday through Friday 8-5 jobs aren't always amazing. Some can be very boring, and they often have less pay. You may not get as much of a variety of experience as an RN as you would in the hospital, which is something to consider if you're one day wanting to go to grad school. They do get to close during inclement weather though, so that's pretty nice (I live where we shut down the state when snow is forecasted, so I find that a very tempting thing). You're welcome to reach out to me any time. It can help to talk to other new grads :)

This 100%! I was getting SO discouraged during my exam because I only had about the same number of SATA that you did in 75 questions, but with lots of teaching and priority. I was thinking I was failing! So lesson learned, just because you don't have lots of SATA doesn't mean you're failing!

If you DO end up pursuing an LTC facility, keep in mind that your patient load may be higher and the skills you learn will be different that what you learn at a hospital. It's not to say it's not valuable, it's just different. If you have your heart set on working at a hospital, keep working at it! Over the course of several months, I applied for 18 different jobs at the hospital I currently work at as a CNA (and have for the last 2 years) and I didn't know ANYONE... knew LTC was definitely NOT for me and this was my dream hospital, so I didn't give up. Now I'll be joining their New Grad RN residency in July. Don't listen to people who say you have to "know" someone to get into the hospital because it isn't always true -- it can just make it easier. My advice is to keep working at it. Are you on good terms with ANYONE in the healthcare field? This world is rather small and people know each other. It can be a classmate, relative, friend, or your teachers and instructors. If you're not having any leads on your own, I recommend speaking to the people you have good connections with and seeing if you can get the name of a manager within a certain unit in the hospital. They can then pull your resume from HR. Also, if you have anything relevant to the job (I emphasized my customer service experience and how I can hold a conversation with anyone) put that out there and discuss it in the interview. Also -- be sure the person recommending you can speak positively of you, and that they also have a good work ethic. It's not a guarantee at a job offer, but it helps you get in for an interview.

Thank you! My school had us use Kaplan as part of our program, but independently I chose UWorld and I also purchased the 3-week review from NCSBN since they write the NCLEX. My requirements for school were to do all of the Q-Bank in Kaplan (averaged mid 60s), all the question trainers (averaged mid 60s), all 4 sample tests (averaged 60s), the diagnostic (I got 63%), the 2 predictors (got 70 & 71), and the readiness test (got 69). With UWorld I chose the one that had the Q-Bank and 2 assessments. I took the first assessment before starting using UWorld and got somewhere in the 50th or 60th percentiles with a High chance of passing. Did the Q-Bank and averaged in the 94th percentile with 1,000 questions leftover, did the second assessment 3 days before NCLEX and got 96th percentile with Very High chance of passing. I got the NCSBN just so I could verify information that I felt conflicted between sources, like scopes of practice for LPN/UAP, blood administration (esp. times), and lab values. I made A's and B's in school. The test itself, I felt like there were times where they didn't give me enough information. In my priority questions, no one seemed to stand out. And I didn't always choose "airway" as the answer. A lot of mine was teaching and priority. I only had about 7 SATA, I had 2 put in order, and 2 math. Maybe about 5 medicines or so, 1 I had literally never heard of so just guessed as best as possible. My number one tip is don't get discouraged (like I did) while you're taking it, thinking you're getting what people say aren't "passing level" questions. I thought I was getting all content (which is kind of the truth when you're being asked about teaching) so I thought I was failing the whole time. People *think* they know all about NCLEX but they really only kind of know about it, what NCLEX considers passing or failing questions. Because mine was created with so much teaching/priority/content, I can't say anything specific stood out as far as helping the best except for doing well in school, though NCLEX looks exactly like UWorld. I wish I could though. Everyone else I've talked to from school says they felt like UWorld helped with content and understanding why a question wanted a certain answer, whereas Kaplan helped them narrow down choices when they didn't have any clue.

Update: I passed! Just got my unofficial results. So the PVT worked for me!

The problem is there's literally no way to tell what you should and shouldn't study. I had a nagging feeling that I should review content because I was good at questions and priority etc but terrible when I'd get a question featuring random content. I'm glad I listened to my instincts because my NCLEX was majority teaching and prioritization, which requires content knowledge. I find out tomorrow if I passed for sure or not, but I got the good popup with the PVT and had 75 questions. But I'd go with your gut about what you need to review. So many people told me not to review content, and I'm glad I didn't listen. Like I said in my earlier post, my 'who do you see first' questions had answers that weren't glaringly obvious. No one ever seemed terribly emergent. And they say to prioritize "Airway Breathing Circulation" in that order, but there were several times where there was an "Airway Breathing" answer and I definitely didn't choose those. That's what I hated about Kaplan; "It's always Airway then breathing then circulation... except when it isn't!" Too many exceptions in their process for me, but it's worked for others. NCLEX is so individualized and unique, so your studying should be as well.

I've been a CNA for 2 years and just graduated nursing school last month, starting in L&D in July. This is a career change for me as well. I've worked on a busy med/surg floor but am lucky to have an amazing team. I absolutely LOVE what I do! You'll get ungrateful patients and families, but you'll also get the ones who are so incredibly grateful for every little thing you do. Out of all the days I've worked, I have maybe 3 or 4 days that were just miserable, but never caused me to hate my job at all. Objectively, it isn't the easiest. You can get disrespect from other members of the care team in addition to patients, you might end up with a rough assignment, you might have to work weekends/nights/holidays (especially in the hospital), you'll have someone not make it, you'll make a mistake that you shouldn't have (we've all done it), you'll put in 15k+ steps in a day, you grab some crackers from the nutrition room when you're too busy to sit down for a real lunch, you'll care for a 700lb patient or someone with a raging GI bleed. But honestly, none of that has taken away from the innumerable positives I've encountered in this field. I love making a difference in even just one person's life, I love knowing that what I do matters, I love being there for others when they're at their most vulnerable, I love seeing pictures of my patients' pets and sharing them pictures of mine, I love being able to really get to know my patients if I have them 3 days in a row, I love that I can work anywhere in the country, I love that the pay (in my area) is decent, and I love that every day is different. A lot of it depends on having a good team and manager, though, and the hospital that I work at has quite a few great ones. I got lucky! You're always gonna have Negative Nancy's in ANY profession and on any unit. If it's something that's pulling at you and not getting out of your head, I say check it out. I had classmates who were in their 50s who came back to school and were so happy they did! You'll never know until you try. :)

I took my NCLEX today. I had 75 questions and was finished in about an hour. I didn't have much SATA, only about 7 or so. I had 2 'put in order' (one of which I had never even heard of so I tried to make it make as best sense as possible), 2 math, a few meds, and LOTS of teaching/communication and 'who to see first.' I tried the PVT and I got the GOOD popup! I'm surprised because I didn't think I was getting your typical 'hard' and 'passing' type of test questions that everyone here seems to say they get when they've passed in 75 questions. My school made us use Kaplan. We had to do the entire Q Bank, Question Trainers, Sample Tests, Readiness Test 48 hours before boards, and had a 3-day live class about the decision tree. I personally used U World (The one with the 2 assessments [i did 1 before even starting my Q Bank and the 2nd 3 days before NCLEX] and the Q Bank [have about 1000 left]) and the NCSBN 3-week course just to make sense of information and content that I felt was conflicting between study aids/school, like scopes of practice and lab values. I think Kaplan could help as far as how to pick an answer when the question is really random, and U World was good for content/rationales, but honestly my test was so much teaching and communication, no 'who to see first' was super obvious either, it was almost like a crapshoot when it came to content. My Kaplan Scores: Q Bank and Question Trainers averaged in the 60s, Predictors A & B 70, Readiness Test 69 with a goal of 61 My U World Scores: Assessment 1 was something like 60th percentile (can't really remember) with High chance of passing, Q Bank was 94th percentile, Assessment 2 was 96th percentile with Very High chance of passing Grades in school were A's and B's, worked full time 1st year, part time 1/2 of my 2nd year and PRN my last semester, took NCLEX about a month after graduation. I did quite a bit of content review of where I was weak, and I'm very glad I did since my exam, like I said, was so. much. teaching.

I haven't read all the posts here, but maybe my unit is just really nice. I was hired as a CNA for my dream hospital in a neuro surgery recovery unit on night shifts with NO experience (and no, I didn't "know someone"), and I work exclusively night shifts since that's what I interviewed for. I could have gotten days (I was given the choice during my interview for neuro and when I interviewed for cardiac as well), but I told my manager that my nursing school would be days, so nights would work best. I have never gotten the impression on my unit that one has to pay their dues for a day shift. None of us night shifters even want it! I don't think you're asking for special treatment at all. You have a child and are entering into nursing school. That is life, and that is what you are working with. Don't let some of the replies ere discourage you. Keep looking, and you'll find the right place for you! :)

I'm working 7p-7a as a CNA and I LOVE it. The unit I'm on has fantastic team work, we get paid more for being there at night, and it's much less stressful than day shift. Don't get me wrong, nights can get busy, especially if we're short staffed and then they pull one of us to go sit, but because we don't typically have families there constantly asking questions and the patients are usually asleep, we can catch up and are less likely to be pulled in a million different directions. The autonomy is great too, and while 12 hour shifts CAN drag on, I much prefer having the 4 days off! That being said, I have been told that day shift is better for your body, makes it easier to eat healthier, and is likely easier for those who are married with families, but everyone is different.

Funny that you post this, because last night on one of my training shifts as an overnight CNA at the hospital, I hurt my shoulder pulling a pt up in bed with the CNA who was training me. It was to the point where I couldn't do my job (happened to my dominant hand/arm) and have since had to file workers comp and I sat in the ER for hours waiting to be seen. Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night. Anyway, what I'm learning is everyone is different with what they can handle. The CNA training me seems to think it's easier to pull a pt up in bed when the bed is higher, but for me being shorter, I prefer the bed lower so I can use all of my body rather than just the arm I'm leading with. I'm learning that you need to learn yourself and know how to speak up if you can't do it properly. Not only is it dangerous for you, but it's dangerous for pts as well. Lifting weights at the gym doesn't hurt either, I suppose.

If you're in a pinch on looking neat, my quick makeup fix is just foundation primer (clear, to smooth skin out), concealer for the under-eye circles, blush, and mascara (that I really try to coat on to open my eyes up). I'll put on some pencil eyeliner if I feel like it. I usually have my hair straightened too, because otherwise it looks like beach hair gone bad. I also have a habit of wearing pearl stud earrings, and those really do wonders for a professional image But trust me when I tell you this: they've probably seen worse. You wouldn't believe what some people will show up in.

Hi there! I'm in the same boat as you: already have a Bachelors in a different field, but going back for Nursing. I'm choosing an ADN program at a local community college, and hopefully once I complete that and have my RN I'll be able to get a job as an RN to help pay for an RN to BSN program. I'm going this route because financial aid is lacking for second Bachelors degree students, so self-pay (and scholarships if I'm lucky) are pretty much the only options. Plus this way I don't add to any debt I already got from my first stint in undergrad. Good luck!