Blinkie2003

Get wet uworld for sure. Worth every penny. You can do it!! Good luck!!

I personally had a good amount of maternity. Since we all get different tests, it's hard to say what one should focus on in terms of a subject area. My advice is to get comfortable with SATA questions, priority questions DEFINITELY, and lab values. Don't stress when you get a med that you've never heard of either. You're gonna get questions about stuff you literally have never heard of or maybe read like a paragraph about way back in fundamentals lol. IT'S OK!!! You aren't an expert. In Uworld I would do anywhere from 10-30 questions per test and I would do them on all subject areas. Every once in a while I would do a 10 question quiz on just one subject (usually my week areas) like pharmacology or maternity. It is more about how you prioritize and apply your knowledge base rather than your ACTUAL knowledge base. Think about patient safety and the patient above all else!!

Yes! Uworld helped for sure. You won't see as good as questions on the NCLEX but Uworld helps make you feel more comfortable in both knowledge and strategy in my opinion. Redo all the questions you got wrong and read ALL the rationales. You'll do great!!

Thank you!! I did a Kaplan 3 day live session (my school required it) and did most of their trainers and some of their qbank. Over the last 4 weeks I've been doing questions from Uworld. I didn't have the money to buy it for myself, so when she passed she gave me her login info to use the questions. I couldn't track my overall progress and I didn't have any of their readiness style tests, but just doing the questions (75-150/day) was great. Their rationales are AMAZING too. I learned SO MUCH MORE just from their rationales. I swear. If you can afford it, BUY IT. even though the questions on the NCLEX aren't really like the actual NCLEX questions (which mostly are kind of random and vague and your like *****), it helps your brain get into the mindset needed for the exam. I promise you you won't know half the questions they ask you lol. REALLY get comfortable with SATA questions. Most importantly, TRUST YOURSELF. Take deep breaths, take mini mental breaks as often as you need to, but don't take too long per question. Spend only 1-2 mins per questions. DON'T over analyze the questions either. They are very short and to the point. Choose your answer the same way. You got this!!!

I PASSED!!!!! Holy **** balls!

So I took the NCLEX today!! Shut off at 75 questions. Praying so hard that I passed!! It had me do the research question section at the end, and someone told me that was a good sign? Lol. I'm not going to do the PVT. Promised myself I wouldn't, and just wait it out. My state (NJ) has 48hr quick results, but my classmates who have taken it already had their license # posted to our BON within 24hrs so I'm going to start checking that tomorrow afternoon! I would say half were SATA and I felt like I had a lot of maternity questions too. 1 EKG strip, maybe 1 or 2 drag and drop, and the rest were multiple choice. What a weird exam lol. I literally have NO IDEA if I passed or failed. Hopefully I passed though!! Congrats 2016srnfcc on passing!!!!

My friend gave me her login info for Uworld so I could atleast use it for the questions/rationales, but I don't have access to any of the self assessments and I can't track my "overall" status. I've def done hundreds of questions though, and I also used Kaplan (not completely, but a good chunk) and my diagnostic and readiness scores on there was pretty good, so I think (hope!) I'll be OK! I'll def be using meditation imagery of dancing wine bottles to relax me during the exam HAHA.

Thank you!! They always say "you'll never really feel ready" to take it, so I'm doing my best to remember that! I've never had test anxiety either so I hope it doesn't start now. However, I have a feeling I'll be mumbling wtf under my breath through the whole thing, haha. I literally have plans to head straight to a bar after. Send all the good juju my way!!

Sending good vibes your way! I take mine on wed and I'm starting get a little wigged out LOL. I've heard it was vague and everyone walks out of there like WTF just happened. Praying I pass!! Let us know how you did!!

Thank you for response Lane as well as suggestions. We do have pre and post conference, some more in depth than others. We also have certain expectations per speciality (formally written) and we do meet them all. We also have skills checklists as part of our requirements (foley insertions, wound care, ostomy care, trach care, suctioning, priming tubing, etc etc) and we do "skills days" in our schools sim lab where we are shown the skills, perform them for our instructions and then get signed off on those (if we perform them adequately). If any of said skills come up in clinical we are able to perform them (some under supervision of instructor or staff RN, some on our own). I think part of it is we are assignment one patient (usually) and spend over 6hrs on the floor. When taking care of only one patient, there can be a lot of down time in between. We do have a ton of paperwork we have to submit so that down time isn't always a bad thing. We are proactive in asking the other students or nurses if they need anything, and every once in a while you'll get a great nurse who will let you shadow her for all her patients and perform as many tasks as you can with her. However, these nurses are few and far between, unfortunately. Some times you'll get a nurse who will literally ignore you and wants NOTHING to do with a student. When confronted with that situation, in my experience, I tent to get extremely self conscious and shut down. We are there to learn, even if only by observation in some instances, but some nurses don't even want us in the same room as them. It's a shame. Our rotations are held within the same hospital network, but the sites themselves vary. The particular hospital we are affiliated with has 3 main campuses within a 20 mile radius of our college campus so we are able to rotate throughout the system. Each specialty is either 7 weeks or 15 weeks so the floor/unit and staff are ever changing. Our instructors are normally pretty helpful, however they do have 8 students per group and can't always be with every student for extended periods of time. Our particular program is also going through a major overhaul which has been a very unorganized and major thorn in our sides so this may have something to do with my dissatisfaction. As noted, the clinical experiences are what you, the student, make of it so I just need to be more vigilant in pushing for further teachings and opportunities for learning. Thank you again!

I had no previous medical background prior to nursing school, so our first rotation (LTC facility, 3 weeks into program) was absolutely terrifying. After 4 weeks in LTC I did 7 weeks in the hospital on a pulmonary unit, 7 weeks Peds, 7 weeks L&D (my favorite although I agree mother baby was a bit "dry"), 15 weeks MedSurg, 7 weeks Psych (in patient short term hospital so that was pretty useless), and now I am on a PCU for the next 14 weeks (1 week down, yay). I suppose I was a little harsh in using hate, but I certainly do not enjoy them majority of the time! The CNAs (we use the term PCT-patient care tech, in our hospital system) have been the most helpful! They really are great and are always willing to show you and help you with anything and everything. Even though we stay within the same hospital system for rotations, we move locations so the equipment varies and store rooms and linen rooms etc change, and the PCTs are always willing to show me the ropes. I suppose I'm just always so nervous and apprehensive on clinical days that I began to dread them, and that spurred my "hate" rant! Thanks again for all the input!!

Our instructors mainly just let us go do our own thing as well, and if I need assistance with something I could go to them, but it's mostly like "go pick a patient, let me know who you pick, meet me back here at this time for dinner break". Then, we pick our patient, hear report, introduce ourselves, do a head to toe, safety check, etc etc, go back and review patient chart and get our gazillion patient forms filled out, go check on our patients again, check with nurse to see if they need help or if they are doing something we can assist with etc, can pass meds with the nurse who is assigned our patient or the instructor (there is normally 8 students per group) but that's basically the gist of it. I don't know I feel like the only thing I get is anxiety and doubt on clinical days. I mean, I'm great with the people aspect (years of CS in the past) and in terms of skills when we do them in our lab scenarios I excel, but on site I just feel so blah about the experience. Last semester my instructor was the ANC for the cardiac floor, so we went to shared governance meetings and staff meetings and once we attended a code, so those other experiences broke up the monotony of the shift and were interesting to me. Maybe "hate" is too strong of a word, but I definitely do not enjoy them most of the time. Thanks for your input!

Do most nursing students hate clinicals as much as I do?? 90% of the time I'm not actually learning anything, I always feel like I'm in the way, and most of the time I feel inadequate or that I have no idea what I'm supposed to really be doing. Does every nursing student feel this way (outside of a teaching hospital environment)? Many of my fellow students also do not look forward to clinicals. For reference, I am in my final semester (Thank you Lord) of a 2yr ADN program. We started on site clinicals within 3 wks of our program, and we have traditional 15 wk (give or take) semesters. I am a 2nd career student (32yr old) who already holds a previous Associates and Bachelors degree in two other fields. Just looking for others input!

Hi Amberpohlhaus! I live in south NJ, in my last yr of an ADN program and also looking to move to Wilmington area after NCLEX..although I am looking about 30min south in oak island/southport. I vacationed in Wilmington in my late teens on a whim and fell in love. I've been back a couple of times to Wilmington, Southport/Oak Island and Sunset beach and the surrounding beaches. I love them all. I have always planned on moving there when I got my sh*t together, which at 32 is finally happening haha. I am interested in L&D but feel like that's more part of my 5yr plan rather than as a new grad. I feel like I need more experience before jumping into that. Did you start in L&D as a new grad? Do you love it? Challenges? Looking forward to following this to see how you make out!!

Thank you PixieRN1! So far it seems either way it takes about the same amt of time/effort, although most recommend going the license by exam for NC route. Currently the NJ BON is a mess and it is taking months for nurses to get their licenses so moving right away may be the best way to go. I guess my plan was to stay here in NJ and work for about a year, gain some experience and make some money before making the move, since my savings will be depleted by graduation. I guess at this point it's more of a personal and financial decision though. What to do, what to do ������ Thank you to all so far! Keep the advice coming!