Catalin

Definitely not worth it. My friend works for amazon and makes $300,000+ yearly. Works 2 - 3 days out of his week. He doesnt have even 5% of the responsibility I have as an RN. Doesn't have to deal with violent patients who have no reprecussions for their actions, no working holidays/weekends/nights, all remote. I'm learning C++ now

hello all, My point in this post is that its all just incredibly disappointing how we're treated even worse now than we were before, and the public is paying attention to us now. I picked up this Overtime because I had an emergency before christmas that ended up costing a lot. I needed all those hours to pay for it. Everyone else seems to have it much easier. Especially that post where teachers got a bonus. It's unreal

I've been working through this entire pandemic and it has been nothing but stressful. I am now motivated more than ever to find work off bedside. I now join the increasing number of burnt out nurses who look to leave bedside. Which is awful because bedside is the most important part of nursing. I look at my friends with envy as they all don't have to commute. Or those who were lucky enough to have their facilities shut down and collect significantly more than I do on unemployment. Meanwhile I'm over here wearing mask and goggles for 12.5 hours each night while being begged to pick up at least another four hours, all while dealing with my increased workload as we can't even get to minimum staffing levels. Not even to mention being at an increased risk to exposure to getting covid. All this while having my paycheck taxed to oblivion. I worked unbelievable amounts of overtime this last period because I need to pay off my credit card. I worked every holiday, I worked at least 100 hours a pay period. I lost 55% of my paycheck to taxes, I really needed that money and I put in the time and effort to make it. It was absolutely heartbreaking for me to sacrifice so much during the holidays and then to just have most of it taken away. Where is the incentive to work during this time!? I'm not in it for just the money, when the patients praise me for the work I've been doing, it feels great. But I am burnt out from the increased workload and now I have to ask my family for money to pay off my bills. There are those making significantly more than me on unemployment while just sitting at home. I know this because they brag about it. There is no doubt in my mind that covid has made things significantly harder on all of us working bedside. But what's the point of it now!? The government can't even give us hazard pay or even a measly tax break. If we, as nurses, are so essential during this time, why can't we be treated like it?

All my friends and anyone I meet in a tech field (CS/IT) seem to have it good. Higher pay than RN's, less stress, always able to take breaks (and they take longer breaks during their 8hr shifts), frequent bonuses, good hours, work from home, and unbeatable benefits. None of them do anything work related when they're off the clock. I like nursing but we're treated as if we're disposable no matter where we go. I believe I chose the wrong field.

Well, it's more of a family run CNA school. None of those options are available. There are lots of jobs available in my area, but at this point, after all the things I've dealt with in my career, I don't want to go to anywhere that's not a major hospital in my area. It's been the same nightmare over and over again. I had high hopes for my psych/detox facility but it turned out to be the same trainwreck. I've had someone look over my Resume and Cover letter and we both remade it, but still no calls. What do you think my chances are of getting into a hospital at this point?

I currently teach CNA's for a local CNA school. Its the perfect side/2nd job but the hours aren't there. It bums me out because I really enjoyed my rotations in the hospital. My preceptors said that I was "more like a coworker than a student." But I cant even get interviews for their floor. They encouraged me to apply and were references.

I've been trying to get into a hospital job for the better part of 2 years. No luck. Every job I've been able to land treats their nurses poorly and they're all jobs that have incredibly high turnover (like a SNF for example). I have 1 year experience in a SNF, 1 year in an inpatient psychiatric/detox, and one year in teaching (which is the only one I enjoy, but has no full time option).

I'm having a hard time finding a good job in Nursing and I've just been frustrated with the field in general. Im heavily considering just leaving the it behind entirely. I've had no enforcements or any sort of issue with my license. I'm considering just going back to school for Computer Science. But what else is my bachelors good for?

I'm in the process of growing out my hair and job hunting at the same time. I've gotten comments to shave, which isn't a problem. However I've sacrificed my sanity this summer dealing with all the sweat that comes with having a mop of hair on my head in this heat and I'd really like not to shave it. I don't style, all I do is shampoo and conditioner. Any suggestions?

Yes I have a BSN. Seems like no matter what I cant even get an interview though. Starting to get a little hopeless

This is all I've been trying to do for months now. But no matter what I can't even get my foot in the door. I live in Washington State and I've been constantly applying for local hospital jobs in my area. Now I've been an RN since mid 2017 and an LPN for a year prior to that. The local residency programs don't want an experienced RN. But every time I apply I'm told I don't have the proper experience. I currently work in an inpatient psychiatric unit and teach a little on the side. I've worked a year in a SNF and really don't want to go back. I'm clueless into what I can do to get in.

I'm so frustrated with this entire experience so far. I feel like once upon a time it wasn't this bad. I see you have a lot of experience, has it always been like this??

I'm in disbelief over how nurses are treated. I've worked in several areas and completed internships in many more as an lpn and RN. I've been licensed for 3 years and I'm already fed up. Patients, doctors, and management treating me like nothing. And what is up with all this bureaucracy!? I dealt with it in a SNF, but hospital settings? Why aren't patients held accountable for attacking RN's to the same level as police officers? Where are the laws for safe staffing ratios? I spent five years getting my license and Bachelors. You all know how hard nursing school was, even though we don't use the majority of things we were taught. Yet my friends with majors in engineering and computer science easily found first jobs that already pay significantly more than me even though I have experience. Don't even get me started about how hard it was for me to find a somewhat decently paying job. Seems near impossible to find work outside of low paying Ped Home Health companies or another SNF. Venting aside, how do you put up with this? I'm already ready to hang up the stethoscope and go back to school for CS. I'm completely losing my flame to care for others at this point.

The thing about Psych is that we don't have doctors or the equipment like Med/Surg does. When I worked M/S, we had different doctors throughout the day whether it be at 3PM or 3AM. We don't have IV machines or any equipment. We needed to remove stitches that were already there when a patient arrived and we didn't even have a suture removal kit. We really don't have much and aren't prepared to handle it in case things go downhill.

I work psych. My inpatient facility states that you're only allowed 12 patients, but I've also heard of days where it was 14 due to not enough staff.

Thank you all very much! I can rest easier now :)!

I'm an RN in Washington and a friend of mine recently asked if I can do her B12 injections to her hip for her... I have known this family for over a decade and would love to help. As far as legal things go, am I allowed to do this? I've done some research and can't come up with a clear answer.

Honestly, I did 80% of all my studying through Mastery. Definitely the best and most helpful. I will only recommend them. I only did ATI because I was remembering the answers to all of the questions on another run so I found it useless after I already did all the questions. Definitely buy it and the NCLEX simulations as a package.

Edition? You mean like the books? I didn't use any books. Only the ATI website with the practice questions. I had access to the 2013 tests and 2016 tests. I didn't use ATI as much as I used NCLEX mastery which helped for both my RN and LPN. Have you tried that out yet? I highly recommend it. I passed my NCLEX-RN. PVT is still a viable method as of late-July 2017

NCLEX mastery app. Use the simulations too. Least expensive option as well. Check out my guide!

In August of 2016, I passed my NCLEX-PN with 85 questions in under an hour. The results were very surprising considering that I pulled the lowest scores in my class during nursing school and I still struggle a little bit with written english. https://allnurses.com/nclex-discussion-forum/nclex-pn-guide-1066224.html Today in July 2017, I took my NCLEX-RN with 75 questions in under an hour. Did I feel like I knew what I was doing? Absolutely not. I could mostly narrow it down to two. I had a decent amount of SATA, I'd say around 20. I had around 6 drag and drop (in order). I had a lot of OB (my worst) and my first question was an OB one too (yikes). A lot of prioritization questions as well. I expected the test to shut off at 75 and it did. I was going to do the experimental questions, but I was shaking as I barely slept and ate the day of the test (it stressed me out for sure). This being said, your test will not be exactly like mine. The NCLEX RN and the NCLEX PN are VERY similar. One is NOT easier than the other. Study hard. I walked out and attempted the PVT trick. I initially thought I got the good pop up, but instead I got a message that said "The candidate currently has an open registration for this exam. A new registration cannot be created at this time." This made me concerned, but it was replaced by the good pop-up after around 2 hours. This being said, I'm not 100% sure I passed it and will update this thread with my pass/fail result. Again: My study strategies did not change from when I wrote my guide on how to prepare for the NCLEX-PN. I did 3000 questions. Mostly utilizing the NCLEX Mastery program on my computer. I scored low-high 50%'s. I also used ATI provided by my nursing school (which I ALWAYS scored Level 1's and below Level 1's) to pull scores of low 50's to low 60's. If you're pulling over 50% on your practices, you should be fine IN MY OPINION. How hard was the test in comparison to the actual test? I feel like the practice questions were a little harder. Props to the developers of NCLEX Mastery, that was the app that made me feel a little more prepared. Any questions?

I can only vouch for the TEAS as I've taken that

Depends on the test. Is it the TEAS V? If it is, I would buy the book and package from ATI.

I would look into the NCLEX mastery app as well. It's only $30 and you can buy a practice exam for $10. Well worth it and helped me study for mine! Did your school provide you with ATI or Kaplan?

Before I begin, I would love to thank NurseBre94 in advance for helping me calm down prior to my test. I'm writing this for the other non-straight-A students who are very nervous about their exam. I'm right there with you, I spent many hours stressing and worrying about my exam and not believing that I could pass it. My resources were a Saunders Test strategy for the NCLEX PN book from 2006, ATI questions (Provided by my school), and the NCLEX Mastery App ($30, BUY IT), and the NCLEX Mastery PN Simulation exam ($10 more, and it is VERY worth it!). I know when I was reading about NCLEX strategies, I wanted to see how people were doing on their practices. On the predictor, I scored a 64.7% and I was given a 77% chance of passing the NCLEX. I was initially scoring in the 50's and low 60's on ATI before running through them again. My strategy was to think about selecting an answer before I selected an answer. The second time running through the ATI's, I was scoring in the 70s. I scored a 55% on the NCLEX Mastery Simulation and 56% on everything total. This app was amazing and I can't thank the developers of it enough! I just want to repeat again: it's worth the $45 to get the app! ATI was also a very important app and I just want to say that it was frustrating with the way they wrote their answers. However, I stopped running through ATI as I was remembering the answer choices. At the end of my LPN program, I had pulled a 3.0 GPA. I started studying 3 weeks prior. The first week, I put in an hour-a-day. The second week, I REALLY kicked it into high gear, studying 6-8 hours a day. This was a terrible idea as I was blowing my summer away. The last week, I put in 3-4 hours a day with 2 in the morning and 2 at night. There were nights where I would study more at night because I do better. The last 2 days, I did not study at all. I went cliff jumping the first day and got a pretty good sunburn which led me to stay inside and play Xbox for the day before the test. Whatever takes your mind off the test! I took my mind off of the NCLEX to give my brain a rest. I told myself that I put in enough time and work. So I took my NCLEX yesterday and stopped at 85 questions in less than an hour. My heart stopped after the screen turned blue and I thought that I failed for sure. However, I had at least 20 SATA questions on there which brought me relief because I knew I was doing good because of these. AT THE SAME TIME, around question 80, I had started thinking that what if those SATA's were the experimental questions which led me to panic a little. I was also given an EKG strip, a picture, "put-in-order" question. The whole thing. It was everything that I expected with no surprise. Remember, there are 25 questions in the test that are used to gather data and aren't counted against you. I did the PVT using the remnants of a gift card (less than $2 on it), got the good popup, and started celebrating! Of course, this will be short lived as I work towards my RN now :). With all this being said, you don't have to do what I did. I'm writing this to help the other average students. You can do it. You made it through nursing school and we all know how hard that is. Just put in a little more effort and DON'T STRESS YOURSELF OUT! Give yourself time to study and put in the work, I must have answered over 3000 practice questions before taking it! I wish all of my fellow PN testers the best of luck, you all deserve it.