Nurse & Nursing School Megathread: The NCLEX is the spookiest test you'll ever take

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Nurse & Nursing School Megathread: The NCLEX is the spookiest test you'll ever take

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Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Annath posted:

Med Surg floor of a hospital near me has ratios of 9-10:1 often enough that my classmates are hesitant to apply there.

Jesus loving christ I am never leaving my ICU. That's appalling.

# ¿ Apr 3, 2015 02:00

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 09:56

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

We never did iv starts on each other during school, though on a slow nights I've let new nurses/residents start on me and my first start was a nice er nurse when my unit sent me down there to just iv everyone for practice.

There's plenty of time during your orientation to get practice, in my opinion. Ask around your unit.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2015 22:51

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Etrips posted:

My hospital is still offering $20.50 / hr extra for certain units. Yes, we are short staffed.

That's pretty close to my base pay. Christ. Where do you work? I'll go live through hell for a year if it means I can get rid of these loans faster.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2015 05:56

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Annath posted:

Not yet working as a nurse, but in general here in the US I don't think it is possible to accrue 3 weeks of vacation no matter how long you don't use it.

I have more than that already and I've been working at this hospital for under two years. I also took a lot of daily PTO when they were downstaffing last summer during a lull. I get plenty of PTO, I just can't use it unless I want to go crazy with vacations in February or something. After this year, I'll be hitting the accrual cap pretty regularly, so I'll just sell it back down to 80 hrs every year for an end-of-year bonus.

kissekatt posted:

According to news reports, Blekinge county here in Sweden offers 20 000 SEK (~2 300 USD) per week for nurses willing to postpone their summer vacation. Alternatively, they can get double the vacation time*.

Yeah, I, uh, don't suppose I can move to Sweden and work under my Pennsylvania license? 'cause I'm down for that.

e: PTO is also my sick time, so there's that I guess.

# ¿ Apr 27, 2015 03:15

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Bring scrubs so you can shadow if they offer, though.

# ¿ May 9, 2015 05:11

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Don't get a lab coat everyone will laugh at you. Check the uniform code of the hospitals you're applying to before you buy for acceptable colors. Buy one per shift.

# ¿ May 10, 2015 04:37

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Koivunen posted:

Has anyone here actually been asked to shadow immediately after an interview? That sounds kind of weird tbh, especially if they don't specify to be prepared. You'd think they would have to consider all the applicants before deciding who is going to shadow, and at least give some warning. Then again IANAManager.

It was offered to me, and accepted, on three of my job interviews. For two more, I had either done my final clinical rotation on the unit and worked as a nursing assistant and so both times the manager said that I could shadow but they didn't see the point.

Maybe its a system thing.

# ¿ May 10, 2015 22:10

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

The hell are all these new grad programs/internships? You don't have to apply for only them, unless va's weird.

# ¿ May 11, 2015 03:42

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Lava Lamp posted:

Anyone ever worked a weekend contract? My manager mentioned it as an option during an interview. Basically, you agree to work all weekends except like 8 off per year kinda deal. The bonuses sound nice, but I'm a little worried about not having a social life if I do that.

The only people I know on them are either trying to power through NP school as fast as possible and hate it, or have kids and want to have a parent home 24/7. Everyone else who tries it leaves quickly or gets kicked off the program because of the strict call off requirements.

# ¿ May 18, 2015 01:08

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

djfooboo posted:

Our hospital just sent out an email saying compressions saved lives the most (via EBP), so unless you work ED/ICU/code team, you get BLS only.

A good chunk of our floors have ACLS, but as mentioned upthread, you lose ACLS pretty quick unless you're doing it a lot so, at best, they've usually only started compressions by the time we get there. I've certainly never seen them try to do anything with the meds or airway. I guess one or two stays and charts.

# ¿ Jun 1, 2015 15:22

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Most of my night shift workers don't daydrink immediately after a shift and it makes me sad, so I have to do it by myself.

The lack of not-poo poo bars anywhere near the hospital is a huge problem.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2015 04:04

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Epic Doctor Fetus posted:

You're getting $6.75/hr differential, that's basically a drink an hour.

I'd murder for that differential.

# ¿ Jun 4, 2015 18:28

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Roki B posted:

Or playoff hockey.

I'd be so sad whenever I had two alert and oriented patients during a good hockey game and they weren't watching.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2015 07:27

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Koivunen posted:

ICU tends to have different rules than a general floor regarding restraints. On general units four side rails are considered a form of restraint, in ICU it's a safety measure and we often have all four up. Doc orders, monitoring, and charting is different too for actual restraints.

You should report that nurse because that's messed up. Could have gotten a chair alarm if she thought she was a fall risk.

I wish they were different rules because that actually makes some kind of sense.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2015 20:21

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

I don't have a pre-printed thing, but if you put everything in the same place, it helps organize it while being flexible in case your patient has half a page of wounds to document or is a neuro trainwreck or something. Our hospital prints out frankly near-useless nurse hand-off reports that are good for holding vitals, recent labs, and that's really it. I just fold it in half and write on the back. Right side is PMH/HPI/narrative of stay in whatever long rambling order the previous nurse wants to tell me, left side is N/CV/R/GI/GU/MS/IVs. Consistent (because you're right, that is helpful) but flexible in a way pre-printed things aren't.

Works for me, though I think a touch more structure would be good if I had more than my two patients.

e: For instance, my med orders change so much and are usually so long that writing them down is pointless. I'll maybe note a PRN if its really important or different for some reason, but otherwise I'm not writing that down. Current IV drip rates go under IV access.

# ¿ Jun 25, 2015 20:46

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Annath posted:

Well gently caress, if I can figure out a day our schedules sync up I guess I'll ask her out.

Get used to having twice as many drinking buddies because you'll be on a constant rotating series of people to go out with because your schedules will never totally line up.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2015 02:22

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Does your state/hospital allow GNs? Some places will hire you before you get your license and start orienting you before you pass your boards. I think PA even lets you work on a gn license for a year, but none of the hospital systems near me accept them.

# ¿ Aug 23, 2015 21:24

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Roki B posted:

Bsn makes two bucks an hour more than associates at this hospital. They're magnet though so that's a thing.

Magnet here and you get a whopping 50c. Nothing for ccrn either.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2015 19:35

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Roki B posted:

Also CCRN gets you another two bucks an hour and fifteen hundo when you first cert.

Where?

# ¿ Oct 2, 2015 03:05

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

djfooboo posted:

I have never seen an LPN in a NICU. ASN's are even rare. This is anecdotal though. Find out if the hospitals you want to work in are "magnet" or not. If they are magnet, you will have more work to get hired as a non-BSN.

I've never seen an LPN in my hospital. We're magnet in a medium-sized city, but still. If you want to work in a hospital with a decent NICU, I think you'd want an RN and get your BSN while working.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2015 23:40

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

For not charting weights? What the poo poo. I work with a lady who hasn't charted anything resembling an assessment for years.

# ¿ Nov 7, 2015 04:47

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Koivunen posted:

Yeah, you are ACLS "trained" and your patients are more critical than a med/surg unit, but it's not an Intensive Care Unit. I'm not saying that as a jab towards you, rather your employer. You seem like you are genuinely passionate about your profession, but you are being screwed hardcore by your hospital. In general, or at least to the general public, critical care and intensive care are used interchangeably, regardless of whether or not that is technically correct. When applying for a new job with a different employer, it's really important that you be specific about what your previous work experience is.

This here. If someone said they had critical care experience, I'd assume they meant ICU, and that's about it. If you do want to describe what you're doing on a resume, go with "progressive care unit". Where I am, in the hospitals that do use stepdowns, I think we just count step-down patients as two patients for purposes of staffing ratios but they're on regular floors. Roughly.

e: and honestly, if they want med-surg, they might prefer PCU to ICU. I know I'd have a hard adjustment taking care of more than two patients, especially ones who aren't on a monitor all the time. Plus, most of my experience doesn't exactly translate. There aren't exactly a lot of titrateable drips and vents on a med-surg floor, and its a very strange day when I don't have at least one of the above (and usually means we're backed up transfer-wise on the floors).

Ravenfood fucked around with this message at 11:45 on Nov 13, 2015

# ¿ Nov 13, 2015 11:42

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Annath posted:

Speaking of, when I am looking for new jobs, should I bring up the lovely ACLS education? I'll have my certification, but I genuinely don't feel like I know the material yet.

You probably won't feel comfortable with it until you do it. Its loving simple for a reason, but you need to do it (and not just the compressions because that lets you just shut off your brain).

# ¿ Nov 14, 2015 06:59

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Annath posted:

I guess what I mean is, should I explain that I only got trained via the online modules.

Personally I think I'd benefit a lot from the actual ACLS class, but I don't want a potential employer to turn me down because the training is expensive.

I wouldn't mention it in the interview, especially if you're moving from PCU to med-surg floors. And again, even a class won't help that much. You need to get in there and be in one or two.

# ¿ Nov 14, 2015 14:37

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Tacier posted:

Is it basically inevitable that you'll have to work the night shift for a while when starting out as an RN in a hospital setting? I feel like I'd have lot of trouble swinging back and forth between a nocturnal and normal schedule in a vain attempt to have a normal social life on my days off and am curious if that's at all avoidable.

Not at my hospital. They won't let you work nights only until roughly 6mos off orientation, sometimes more/less depending on the person and staff need.

E: and nights are sweet as gently caress. I just hit a bout of SAD this fall so am coming off of nights-only (and only get $1 differential) but I'm still probably doing 75% nights voluntarily.

E2: but you won't get days-only until you're really senior or working in something like GI lab.

Ravenfood fucked around with this message at 04:32 on Dec 17, 2015

# ¿ Dec 17, 2015 04:28

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Epic Doctor Fetus posted:

Whaaaaaaaat? This calls for a burn-the-hospital-to-the-ground riot. The only real benefits of night shift are knowing you make ~$10k/year more than day shift scum and avoiding The Joint Commission.

Well, avoiding tJC and families. And yeah, I know, its terrible. The problem is that there are only two hospital systems in the area and a ton of nursing schools, so the ability of nurses to actually advocate for higher wages/leave/anything is pretty limited. I work at the larger system, where the most recent attempt at unionization was weak, half-hearted, came during a massive fight between the two systems, and came from the SEIU, which hadn't done their research on what our nurses actually seemed to want. So, all of the above meant that the system was basically free to blitz everyone with tons of anti-union messaging (and fire the organizers because they knew the hit from the NLRB would be fine). And while the smaller, unionized system down the road does offer better differentials, it seems their base pay is low enough that it breaks roughly even, which means pro-union people can't even point to them to say how much better it is, because they're SEIU too. So yeah, its lovely, but there isn't much I can do about it besides move. Which I do plan on doing, but the problem is that I generally like it here.

On the other hand, I passed my CCRN about an hour ago, so I should be good to apply most places!

e: To be fair, the system I work for seems to do pretty well with staffing ratios and benefits, its just wages that are a little low.

Ravenfood fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Dec 17, 2015

# ¿ Dec 17, 2015 23:20

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Iron Lung posted:

Thanks all appreciate it. I'll pick up a hemostat most likely, and apparently a ton of booze and doxylamine to appease Roki B (and help me fall asleep early the day before 5am clinicals).

Find out how strict they are on shoe dress code and if they are kind of slack, get yourself the most comfortable shoes you can.

# ¿ Jan 3, 2016 01:52

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

At least in Pennsylvania, I can't see any reason to go for a PA instead if NP if you already have a RN. I think.

# ¿ Apr 12, 2016 21:57

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Etrips posted:

What is a scab?

Strike breaker.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2016 12:31

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Annath posted:

Eventually I want to work in either infectious disease or emergency medicine, because I want to spend some time working with Doctors Without Borders.

Emory has an ER-specialized FNP program, fwiw. Dovetails fairly well with both of those.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2016 14:25

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

That's $10/hr more than starting ICU BSNs make in the Pittsburgh area, fwiw.

# ¿ May 7, 2016 03:46

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

I saw more, did more, and got paid more as an unlicensed nursing assistant than I ever did as an EMT-B.

E:. A lot of hospitals will hire nursing students into CNA roles very happily.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2016 21:09

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

OMGVBFLOL posted:

"Unlicensed nursing assistant" doesn't really sound like a job that'd be advertised... did you get that person-to-person?

Not everywhere requires a license or certification to be a nursing assistant. Some are as simple as getting hired by the hospital and getting trained by them on-the-job.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2016 23:25

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Nostalgia4Dicks posted:

Ya that's what happens when every 20-something-year-old girl has wanted to be a nurse since like 2006

poo poo is so insane competitive it's ridiculous. The standards they keep raising are absurd

Now if only they'd stop quitting after 2 years, maybe staffing wouldn't suck so much.

# ¿ Aug 19, 2016 19:22

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

OMGVBFLOL posted:

Would it be weird to put MSN on your resume but not have any advanced practice study?

I don't hire, but if I was orienting a new grad who told me they had a MSN without any experience I'd probably be a little wary about it. And the people who went on from my ABSN right to FNP school have me extremely nervous too. I mean, I learned more in my first month of orientation than I ever did in my ABSN, and going to be an NP without that experience seems just wrong. Maybe I'm paranoid and trying to justify not going to school immediately to myself, or I'm viewing it solely from the perspective of being in the ICU, but still.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2016 17:21

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

B-Mac posted:

The sheer amount of NPs turned out every year is mind boggling. I'm sure there are some quality ones making it out but looking at some of the programs out there it's laughable. They really need more hard science and less leadership bullshit.

It's pissing me off because I'm eyeing ACNP as a career and I really don't need more competition to drive my salary even lower than it will be.

# ¿ Aug 22, 2016 06:48

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Nostalgia4Dicks posted:

So when they gonna require a doctorate for it

2025

# ¿ Aug 22, 2016 06:53

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Basically. I'm a nurse, end of story.

# ¿ Aug 27, 2016 23:07

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Koivunen posted:

Working for the ME is my dream retirement job. No sass from patients and no family drama, just slice and dice.

OPO wouldn't be awful, even with some of that family drama. It'd be interesting at least.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2016 23:20

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# ¿ May 22, 2024 09:56

Ravenfood: Nov 4, 2011

Hughmoris posted:

Yeah, my hospital offers $2500/year for BSN and $3500/year for a graduate degree. Maybe I can stretch my Masters over 10 years.

Honestly you're probably better off going to a university that gives good tuition benefits for teaching clinicals and doing that instead of working.

# ¿ Sep 8, 2016 20:26

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Nurse & Nursing School Megathread: The NCLEX is the spookiest test you'll ever take

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