ThatChickOmi

Got the Moderna vaccine earlier this afternoon. My arm is a little sore, but nothing too crazy. It didn't actually get sore until 6-7 hours later. I feel fine otherwise. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

Before I became a nurse I worked in delivery driving a box truck for almost 9 years. The money was alright, but the work was just downright brutal, working outdoors at all weather conditions, rigorous and physical, lifting heavy stuff, working 45-50 hours a week on average, sometimes more. Nursing isn't a walk in the park either and sometimes it gets downright annoying dealing with the same people dealing with the same stuff, not complying, verbally abusive, frequent flyers, etc.... but I make more than I did as a box truck driver and I only work 3 12-hour shifts instead of 5 shifts....that is a fair trade-off for me. Just working on finishing my BSN program hopefully by early next year, I'll be golden. My work-life balance is much better.

I have nothing to add, but I hope your username is based on your love for basketball.

I work in a hospital in Connecticut. My unit along with many others have been converted to Covid-19 only. Yeah, it's real.

WOW!. And I was complaining about my job wanting us to re-use our masks.

I had no prior healthcare experience either and got my first job within a few months of graduating nursing school. One thing I did have going is most of my previous jobs I was at for some time (8 years, 5 years). Relax. You'll get a job. May not necessarily be your "dream" job, but you'll get one. I recommend reading up on how to answer common interviewing questions appropriately, reheorifice with a friend if you have to.

Graduated in May 2019, NCLEX in early July, started first job mid-August. I agree, start applying ASAP. Many in my cohort started their searches as early as April. I started applying and set up my first interview within a week or so after graduating, got lucky.

If you're aware of what you're doing wrong (Read the questions too quickly, don't read the whole thing, overthink) then not sure how other resources are going to help. You need to slow down, ease up on the anxiety, and focus. No NCLEX guide is going to help you with that. I used UWorld mostly and passed on the first shot. Read ALL the rationales even when you get the answer correct. Good luck.

I'm not gonna lie and say it was easy but I wouldn't say it was impossibly hard either.

You're better off leaving now before dumping even more cash into schooling you don't want to begin with. Your parents are being unreasonable. Not everyone is cut out for nursing, or being a star football player, or being a doctor, or a musician, and that's okay. I don't get overbearing parents that try to push their own agenda onto their kids.

Try applying to hospitals in southwestern CT. Stamford, Greenwich, Norwalk, Bridgeport. All are relatively close to the train stations and taxi/Uber/Lyft is popular around here. All are also fairly close to NYC.

Thanks for the tip!

This. I'm a very introverted person and do things mostly alone. The first semester and most of second I studied solo 100% of the time, and while it kinda worked, I felt I got more out of it when I also supplemented it with studying in a small group (there were usually 3-4 of us, anything more than that would turn more into social hour than studying). We'd cover 1-2 topics each session and quiz eachother using different sources (UWorld, Saunders book, etc). I feel my grades improved once I added groups into it.

I don't do it at work. I make time to workout on my off time. I'm a runner, so even if it means cramming a quick 3 miles after getting home from night shift, that's what it'll be.

I'm basically 3 weeks off orientation myself. I'll admit that there have been times where I thought I scanned a med and I apparently didn't, sometimes the screen times out and the administration is incomplete. Nobody is perfect. You didn't hurt anybody. Sorry this happened to you.

We use Epic at my hospital too. Did Epic not prompt you that the meds were administered too closely to each other? It'll have a pop-up and you need to select "RN Reviewed/Dose Appropriate". I can understand maybe being 1.5-2 hours off but the screen will tell you, and you'll presumably be like "Oh, right. I'll push the admin time to a later time." but less than 3 hours after the last dose.

Let me clarify, I know to always ask if it's a situation I've never had or an unfamiliar intervention but sometimes I'm like 99% sure I know the answer but I need validation to "be sure". Like whether I should call a doctor about something or a drug question, etc...I'm still struggling with my communication skills with doctors. At nights most of the time they seem very annoyed if you reach out especially if its something that ends up not requiring further intervention. It's a little demotivating.

I am quite literally right there with you. Just graduated in May. Only been off orientation for 2 weeks at my first job and it's been a rough. I have to restrain myself from asking too many questions and try to figure things out myself before calling for help. I just don't want to screw up or overlook something, ya know? Good luck. We'll both be needing it.

If you still live at your parents place and don't work, you can probably pull it off. Honestly, I wouldn't have been able to do that while still working 25-30 hours a week. Microbiology is a rough course to take all on its own. I winded up taking micro the summer before my nursing program started. Quite a few students tried to take Nursing 101 and Micro concurrently and ended up failing because it was too much. And if it's any consolation, I just graduated nursing school in May and I'm 34. But I've known really REALLY driven people with full time jobs, kids, and still pulled nursing school off....so I mean, it's definitely possible. But I can't say I'd recommend it unless you have a solid support system at home or a plan.

Usually before anybody offers any sort of input, people want to see what you've come up with first. This isn't the place if you're looking for someone to just hand you answers.

6-7 hours a day 5 times a week? That seems like serious overkill. I used like 90% UWorld and maybe 10% Saunders NCLEX review and passed on my first try. I did questions, questions, questions....And that's maybe an hour a day, at most. I studied for about a month. Sometimes too much isn't good either because you go into nauseating detail over everything and the NCLEX is testing only on entry level stuff, just a broad spectrum of topics. I'd get a different tutor since this one isn't working out for you.

I honestly wasn't really worried about failing the test. I was very well prepared. I finished the test in probably just about an hour, 75 questions. Walking out, I felt like it was easier than I anticipated. Nursing school exam questions were definitely much more challenging...lol Despite all that I still had that TINY little fleck of "Hmmm....what if I didn't pass..." but I think everyone has it.

After every shift, but I'm not paranoid to the point that I change in my non-existent garage/mudroom. My shoes go along with my other running shoes (on the bottom) on the rack and I wash my scrubs along with my other clothes. I live in a small apartment in a building, I don't have anywhere else really to put them. I have Lysol and Clorox wipes in my car that I wipe down my shoes with after I leave the hospital but that's about as germaphobic as I get. *shrug*

Yeah, I'm a firm believer of not mentioning anything too specific about work online, even "closed groups". I'll allude to the fact that I'm in healthcare, and maybe vaguely say something about having a rough shift or something, but that's it. And I absolutely don't mention anything on my own page about it, aside from tagging people in funny memes.

Right there with you. On my 5th week orientation as a new grad at my first job.....It's slowly getting better but I still have my moments. I'm still a little frazzled giving report, it's a little demotivating when the nurse you're giving report to pauses and says "You need to tell me that." and I'm like "....Oh."