The saga of my first nursing job

Here I am, three and a half months after graduation, and I have already been through my first nursing job. When I graduated, I was still optimistic that I would find that perfect L and D position; I just might have to work nights or a less than optimal shift. Little did I know...

I started sending out applications to all of the local hospitals as soon as the excitement from graduation was over. I never received a single response, not even a "No, thank you." The hospitals advertised internship programs, but I think you would have had to work for them as a PCA while in school to have a chance for a slot. I heard that some of the hospitals weren't even having their internships, even though there were positions posted.

I did get an interview with an infectious disease doctor, but they were looking for someone to start right away, and I wanted to wait to start working until my kids were out of school for the summer. I didn't realize that would cost me the job, but apparently it did. I never received an official rejection from them, but when weeks passed and I didn't receive a phone call, I put two and two together.

In early June, I received a phone call from someone in HR at one of the local hospitals; someone had dropped out of their graduate nurse academy before it started, and I was recommended as a candidate. I was extremely excited about the opportunity, and went in for what I thought was a successful interview. The nurse manager who interviewed me assured me that I would hear from him whether I got the job or not, and they were trying to make a quick decision, because the program started soon.

During the second week in June, I volunteered as the camp nurse at Cub Scout day camp. It was my job to clean out the nurse's station and make it presentable, (and clean enough so that I felt I could treat patients), shop for first-aid supplies within a budget, administer medications, and treat campers and adults for cuts and scratches, as well as heat exhaustion. I learned that a popsicle can go a long way toward making a child feel better! I sent one child to the hospital that week with a broken arm, and only one other child had to go home, because he was vomiting. It was a lot of fun, and I made a contact that week with the local county's hospital district. He asked me to send him my resume, which he would forward to a recruiter.

I was scheduled to take NCLEX on June 28th, and decided to focus my time for the next couple of weeks on studying, and not worrying about looking for a job. After all, being an RN and not a GN would make me much more desirable...I called the hospital where I had interviewed, because I never heard a word back from them...they went with another candidate who had some nursing experience. That confused me, because the job was part of their Graduate Nurse Academy; we were going to be trained on every aspect of the job, and everyone was a new nurse. I was disappointed, but not discouraged yet.

...To be continued

I'm still here...

I am going to try really hard to get a post up about graduation, pinning, taking NCLEX, and starting a job. I am still trying to get used to my new schedule, and it's exhausting. I haven't forgotten about the blog; please email me at stethoscopesandscrubs@gmail.com if you need to get in touch with me.

Pinning Details

I ordered my dress for pinning, and you can see it here: Scrubs - White Cross Tie Back Scrub Dress | Lydias Scrubs and Nursing Uniforms We have the option of wearing white scrubs or a white dress, and I figure this is probably the one and only time I will wear the white nursing dress, so why not? I ordered my pin from my school, but I think I was one of the few students in my class who did. Everyone complained about the price, but we were given a price sheet back in November, and it is something special that I will look back on and be glad that I have. I am also wearing the traditional white nursing cap, and already have that tucked away in my closet. I can't wait to put the whole outfit together, and recite the Florence Nightingale oath with my classmates. I just have to get through HESI first!

HESI Results

I went into the HESI exam last Friday feeling like I was completely unprepared and nauseated. I spent two hours taking the tests, having to sit on my hands at times, because I am an extremely fast test-taker, and I really wanted to slow down and read the questions carefully. I took one break when I was halfway through, but I just wanted to get it over with and put it behind me. There were a few questions that had terminology that I was unsure of, and there were many questions that had me staring at the screen, trying to decide between two answer choices.

I was shocked when I submitted my final question, and saw my score of 804. I kept my composure as I reviewed the rationales for the questions that I missed, then went to the room where the score analysis sheets were printing. I talked briefly with our program director, who was monitoring the printing room, and left as quickly as I could. My goal was to not talk to anyone before I reached my car, and I managed to hold it together until I reached the parking lot.

That afternoon, Facebook was all abuzz with celebration, and I didn't have good news to share, so I kept quiet. I had a long talk with my husband, and he realized that I need more time without the kids to study. I researched online test review programs, as well as more books on Amazon, trying to decide what my plan of action is going to be in order to be better prepared when I retake the test on May 10th.

So, here's my plan: I met with my clinical instructor to analyze my results, and she has suggested rereading the chapters in my med/surg book relating to assessment (that was my weakest category), and rereading my psych book. I know I can't possibly make it through all of my review books in the next month, but I took a diagnostic test on the CD that came with my Saunders book, and it gave me a 6-week plan for chapters to tackle each day. Since I only have 4 weeks, I do have to condense that a bit. I am going to continue with Hesistudy, and I've registered for the online Kaplan review. BTW, if your school subscribes to the Kaplan program, you can take the class for $300 if you call them to register.

So, basically I am going to try to live and breathe HESI for the next month. The dishes will have to wait, the kids might watch a little too much TV, but I am determined to graduate in May. I have three more clinical days, one more unit exam, and a comprehensive final standing between me and graduation. I can't wait to get my life back!

HESI is next Friday!

Eek! I haven't studied nearly enough. Several students in my program attended review classes that focused on HESI and NCLEX over Spring Break. The ones that I heard about were the Kaplan program, and the Hurst review. I've heard good and bad points about both programs, but chose to spend Spring Break with my children instead of attending a review class.

I have four review books for HESI/NCLEX, and we have a weekly schedule that we are supposed to be following to study for the tests. I haven't kept up with it, for several reasons. First, there's just not enough time to prep for class, attend class, study notes from class, prep for clinical, attend clinical, complete clinical paperwork, keep with the kids, the house, the husband, cooking, grocery shopping, Cub Scouts, etc, plus do hundreds of review questions each week. I've been focusing on the questions that relate to the subject that we are studying in class each week, and that has helped me to further understand the pathophysiology, symptoms, nursing diagnoses, tests, treatments, etc. for each disease or disorder. I do plan to spend some time in the next week going over subjects from earlier in nursing school, but it is a standardized test, and with such a broad subject area, it's so hard to study effectively. I hope this doesn't come back to bite me!

Looking for more resources

If you know of any other student nurse blogs that I need to follow, or helpful sites for student nurses, please leave those links in the comments so that I can add them to the site. It will help me, plus help keep others informed.

Student Nurse Survival

I just received a Twitter notification that I had a new follower, SNSurvival, and clicked over to check it out. I also checked out their website,and there is some valuable information on there. Please go and check it out, and tell them I sent you!

***Update 10/29/2012: that website and Twitter username seem to be gone.  Any idea where they went?