Carabella

Just go in and do your best! Take a deep breath and keep calm... And you will pass!

As someone who has been a registered nurse for awhile, I actually remember nurse's residences... They were all nicknamed "Menopause Manor"... LOL! Point being, nobody went back to live with their folks after graduation!

New York State has requirements in terms of clinical hours.

Uggggggh! Floating should be distributed so nurses take turns. It is not right that you were treated like this. When I started in nursing, I got a five week classroom orientation, and then a critical care orientation after that (I started on a cardiac unit). I was then precepted until I was ready. I was comfortable with starting lines, drawing blood, codes, interpreting ABGs, EKGs etc... We had time to talk to our patients and teach them! There were no "scripts"... Clearly we were expected to be compassionate patient advocates. Having said that, it was okay to respectfully stand up for ourselves; and administration had our backs for the most part. I soon felt very comfortable as a critical care nurse! All of my colleagues from those days fondly remember those times. I really liked critical care and ER nursing but things have changed a lot and I now practice in a hospital, but away from the bedside...

So true!

Did you get your official results yet?

Yikes! Unfortunately, sometimes nurses and other hospital staff do steal... When I worked in the ER as an RN, I had a patient who actually went into a cabinet that was really hard to get to and stole my wallet! The joke was on him, because my money was in another part of my pocketbook and I called all the card companies. Travel light and take what you need, securing it as much as you can :)

I love this!

When I started out as a new nurse (25 1/2 years ago), there were a lot more career bedside nurses. Nursing can be very physically demanding, and I think a lot of nurses who still might want to practice have gone for jobs away from the bedside, or in less physically demanding settings. Also, some nurses do switch to 8 hour shifts, finding them a better match for work life balance.

Basically, you are asking permission to tell because you have made up your mind ALREADY... You are burning to turn those students in because you think that you have studied - and you want to get the other students (who you feel have not worked as hard as you) in trouble. If you tell, rest assured the entire student body will somehow find out it is you. Further, there is a chance the whole semester will be invalidated and you will get a chance to show how wonderful you are.... By redoing the semester... Or, the future tests will become so incredibly difficult that you might fail out. You can pretend you are "concerned" about the other students' future patients, that you think it is "unfair" to your instructors, etc. But the cold reality is you want to turn people in and that is your motivation... I strongly suggest you focus on yourself.

Why don't you focus on passing and graduating? The tests in nursing school are often taken from a variety of published resources. You run the risk of having your entire class failed out based on some sanctimonious desire. Nobody likes a brown noser....

Congratulations!

I took the JATA test and passed (2013)... I was told by the recruiter it was a CDI test (it wasn't... Pretty much critical care, critical thinking). Which could have been bothersome as I flew across country for the interview and did not prepare at all for the test... Had I not passed, I wouldn't have even been interviewed! So my recruiter gave me info which did not indicate I needed to review.... It was a challenging exam, but doable. Fortunately I had critical care experience! I got an offer and accepted it, but have since left the organization for another CDI job. JATA "owned" (sarcasm intended) hospitals can be challenging to work for, not because the work is hard, but because some of their consultants are exceedingly difficult and unpleasant to deal with... Every single CDI nurse I worked with has left that facility and move on due to this reason. Other than that, I really enjoy CDI and the hospital where I currently work.

So true! I loved nursing and critical care, however as nursing became more corporate, things changed. I still love critical care but much of practicing as an RN has nothing to do with taking care of patients. It is not unusual to switch units three times in one shift. I have been working in Clinical Documentation Improvement since 2009 and it is a way to work in a hospital, use my clinical knowledge, and still have my sanity.

I was thinking the same thing... I've been an RN for 25 years and when I graduated, nurses at every degree level worked at the bedside (or away from it). Nursing has changed a LOT since I graduated. And administration, revenue driven health care execs, and regulatory issues have chased a lot of nurses from the bedside. I am not saying that this is a good thing, but it is a fact. I love being a nurse, however, many of us reach a point where we need to switch to jobs away from the bedside to remain sane, practice good self care and be there for our loved ones...