My NCLEX Experience!

So, I've been studying almost nonstop for the NCLEX. I started in May, but I didn't really study hard core until after I graduated and applied to take the exam. I didn't over study, but I didn't not study either. I think I did about 800+ questions between Saunders 4e and LaCharity's Priorization, Delegation and Assignment. I also studied Pharmacology Made Incredibly Easy. I did a couple questions on Facebook ( onsome nursing community) and did HESI and ATI exams. I have to say that nothing really prepared me for this exam. The NCLEX was a rude awakening. I felt like I knew absolutely nothing on that test. I guessed on pretty much everything except the math questions.

My exam consisted of prioritization, psych, 2 math problems, 4-5 select all that apply, nursing roles, elder abuse and, nurse conference teaching material and medications...lots and lots of medications, most of which I didn't recognize. I got 76 questions before the computer shut off. When I finished I nervously left the testing center and went to wait for my sister to pick me up.

The drive home from Macon was crazy. I kept thinking about the exam. I barely remember the trip home.

I checked Pearsonvue and the Board website for results almost every hour. I tried the pearsonvue trick and got the good pop up. The good pop looks like this:



If you don't know what the good pop up is check Allnurses.com. They have full threads on how this trick actually works. I was excited about that. I actually freaked out when I got the credit card screen the first time I tried, but I think that's because I was trying to register without signing in. >_<

I didn't get my results the day of the exam (Wed June 29), but around 7:20ish today (June 30) I checked the board website and it said that I had no application. I freaked out again. I tried 3 more times before I finally went to the site homepage and checked to verify my license status. I didn't know I had a license at this point so I didn't think it would work. I left the license number blank because I didn't have one. It worked. It said my license was active. O_O <--- That's how my face looked after I read that!!!!! I'm so happy right now. I told my mom and my sister and then called my other sister and my cousins. They were all happy for me. XD I also told everyone on facebook because I've been keeping up with classmate results on there too. So far everyone on my friends list has passed. XD

NCLEX was hard for me. It's nothing like the questions in nursing school or Saunders. They make you actually think instead of being able to pick the obvious right answer. No answer on that exam is obviously right or wrong. They all look right and you have to think 'what will kill my patient faster', 'what side effect shouldn't my patient be having with this medication.' I didn't know the signs and symptoms of those medications but obvious nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea weren't the right answer because almost all drugs may cause those.

As for prioritization, I got a lot of questions asking which patient should the nurse see first after getting report. All of the patients in the options were sick, but you had to think about which one would decline the fastest if you didn't see them immediately. In some of the questions all of the patients were stable, but you had to decide which one would you see first, not based on critical situations, but on diet specification (insulin before breakfast or procedures to be completed in the morning. I also got one ml/hr question and one critical care math question that dealt with mcg/kg/min. I didn't even study math but I think I got both of those questions right simply because I took critical care last in nursing school.

Well, that was my experience with NCLEX. I'm glad it's over. Now to do well at my new job! I can't wait to start!

Good luck to everyone still waiting to take NCLEX. Breathe, relax and you'll do fine!

Me

Not a nursing student anymore!

I know I haven't updated this thing in ages. I'm sorry. The past few weeks have been hectic, exciting and just...yeah. But I'm done with nursing school. Yep. I graduated on May 9, 2011 from school and have been enjoying the happiness ever since.

So, I passed PCN 4 with flying colors. I went on into preceptorship on a med surg floor. I was assigned to work with a charge nurse which was very interesting. She not only had her four patients, but she also had to make assignments for everyone else. To say the least it was an interesting experience. My 96+ hours on that floor will be memorable. I have to say I got a bit too attached to my patients up there, but it's hard when you spend 12 hours taking care of them. You learn more about people when they are sick I tell you. I got a great evaluation and left their feeling like a nurse. It was a great experience.

I did not go to the pinning ceremony. I just didn't see the point. I had a pin, but I just...didn't want to go. I didn't get overly attached to the nursing program so being pinned wasn't something that meant much to me. I believe I'll be happier about my accomplishments when I'm actually a licensed nurse. I honestly think pinning should take place after you take and pass the NCLEX, but that's just me.

Um, I attended graduation. It was hot as hell that day. The black dress I wore soaked up most of the sweat, but the drive to the center was torture. The program took forever to complete, but it was nice for what it was. My family was there to congratulate me which was all I really cared about.

I just went to my first nursing interview on Friday. It went well for the most part, but I'm sure I could have done better. Nerves...they will be the death of me. Hopefully I'll hear back from them soon about whether I got the position or not. -crosses fingers-

I got my ATT to take the NCLEX. I've been studying here and there using saunders, but to be honest studying questions just seems like a waste of time. I'll keep at it. I've done about 200 questions so far.

If any of you are in the process of preparing to sign up for the NCLEX please take note of the following prices. Had I known it would be this expensive I would have saved more than the money I did.

NCLEX- The actual exam is $200
Board License Application- This pays for the license you'll get when you pass the exam- $40
Background Check- $50

Total= $290

The process to sign up is fairly simple. I signed up right after the first HESI attempt which sped up the process after I graduated.

1. Sign up and pay for the NLEX exam. http://www.pearsonvue.com/nclex/
2. Go to your state Nursing Board site and pay for your license. In my case I had to go to http://www.sos.georgia.gov/plb/rn/. You MUST go to your own state's website.
3. Get your background check. We used Cogent. You must pay online. Print the registration code and take that with you to the site. This is the website we used. http://www.cogentid.com/index.htm

After you've done that your school will email your transcript to the board and they will make sure that you have everything else completed (application and background check). To check on your status you can log into the board website. Everyhing should say Completed and not Pending when everything is done.

The Board will send you a ATT (Authorization To Test) through your email if you put an email or by mail/phone etc. I chose email since it's faster. You log into the NLEX website on Pearson and schedule your testing date. That's it. You're done.

I wish someone would have explained that to me before hand. I have to say I was lost. Hahaha

I'm waiting to hear from my sister. She's driving me to the testing site since it's almost an hour away and my car won't make it. I'll hopefully get to take the exam this month. Wish me luck.

Well, that's all for now. If you have any questions email me at dragonlvr452@yahoo.com. I don't check the comments sorry.

HESI EXIT EXAM!!!

So....yeah, I passed the HESI exit after THE FIRST ATTEMPT!! Yayayayayayay! I swear I got up Friday thinking that if I didn't pass it was no big deal. They gave us 3 attempts to pass the thing and this first attempt was wayyyy earlier than any attempt they had ever given in the program. My thinking was, if I didn't pass then it wasn't really my fault. They hadn't introduced all of the material to us beforehand so it wasn't my fault that I didn't know half the stuff on there.

After I dropped my mom off at my sister's I drove over to the school, sat in the car for a while listening to SHINEE and then took the long walk from the Clearview parking lot to the CCT building room 122. I sat outside with this other girl who kept asking me what the PT normal levels were for coumadin. Like I fucking know. She was freaking out over such a tiny detail. THIS is why I don't talk to people before exams. They start freaking out over stupid stuff like coumadin levels right before a huge exam like every question on the exam is going to be about coumadin. So, I politely told her I didn't know and tried to block out all the pre-test chatter around me. Yapping about the test five minutes before an exam isn't going to improve your score. I know from experience and you'd think they'd know after being in this program for ever a year.

I sat in the very back of the room. Perhaps it's a nervousness thing but having people behind me during an exam makes me nervous. I feel like everyone's watching me take the exam. Weird I know. We got ear plugs but I only used them for 30 minutes or so because they bothered me.

During the exam people constantly got up and went to the bathroom. I never took a break because it wouldn't have calmed my nerves. It would have made me more nervous. Some people seemed to get up just to get up. I'm used to sitting for hours at a time. We do that every monday and thursday for lecture so I didn't see what the problem was.

It took me 4 hours and 30 minutes to complete the exam. It was 160 questions with 10 being pilot questions. Pilot questions don't count toward your score so actually it was 150 questions.

When I finished I seriously thought I failed. I sat there wiping my dry erase board clean. I thought I'd make a 800 or something. I suck at HESI exams. My med surg exam score wasn't great and our professors kept talking about how hard this exam was. It WAS difficult, but it wasn't so hard that I felt like I wanted to have a mental breakdown.

When I saw my score, a 980, I took in a sharp breath and my expression was like this O_O or maybe like :0. I was so proud of myself. I still am. As soon as I got to the car I called my mom and told her I passed. This is after I calmly walked from the testing room. We were told not to react within the room. :) My mom was proud and so was my sister. I would have gone to celebrate with everyone in Illges, but I really only wanted to be with my family.

So, that's my HESI experience. I'm done with that exam. There's no more retest and no more sitting their for 4 hours. XD

Yay me. I'm one step closer to becoming a nurse!

Exam 5. A is what I'll make on you.

Today is exam 5. I'm sitting in the computer lab waiting to get started. I'm not nervous about this material, but I'm not exactly confident either. Here's hoping that I get an A. LMAO. You know what, I'm going to get an A because I studied the material. I know it and I believe that I'm comfortable with it enough to take the exam. XD.

The results are...

I made an 82.5 on the exam today. Hopefully I'll get points back so my average will stay 85. I'm just going to be a B student in nursing school. >_> I haven't made an A on any exams this entire semester no matter how much I studied. Hopefully I'll pull an A on the next 2 exams. Here's hoping right? -sigh-

Lots to catch up on

So, even though I haven't been updating this blog I have still been taking courses, going through clinicals etc. I promise to post a summary of my clinical experiences here in the future, but right now I'll post what I'm doing this week.

Today I have another exam. It covers cancer, vulnerable populations and abuse. Yeah, those are very random subjects, but I'm not making the exam. XD I don't think it will be that bad of an exam because most of it is common sense.

We also get our last paper back. I'm nervous to see that because it's been ages since I looked at that paper--about two months actually. At this point I don't even remember the points I was trying to make in the paper...so we'll see how that goes.

On Thursday we have a presentation at a hospital. I'm nervous about that as well. Hopefully I won't have to speak during the presentation because I made the powerpoint, did most of the research and help APA format and correct the guideline...I think that makes me exempt. I'm going to ask about that.

This is the last week of clinicals. I've been doing OB for the last three weeks. While I thought that I would enjoy it, it hasn't been all that exciting. The babies are adorable, but it feels like med surg. I don't hate med surg, but it's not as fast paced as I would like. Hopefully I've done well this rotation.

Well, that's all for now. I'll update again after this week is over. It'll be hectic so pray for me!

Me

Two weeks down. How many more to go?

Classes haven't been as stressful. It is a bit more relaxed this semester than the last two. I guess it is because I'm used to it, but I think it's because I get a fresh start.

My goal this semester is to be proactive. I'm going to stay on top of my medications, study and stay ahead (although I rarely fall behind anyway), and do well in clinicals. By well I mean, perform my skills with ease, talk to my patients without feeling nervous, report my medications smoothly. I will not hesitate to do anything. My critical thinking skills will improve and all around I will be a better nurse. I can do this. It's not that hard. XD I'll take it one day at a time.

On another note, I passed my calculation exam last week. I got a 100 so I'm done with that until the Spring. Our first exam went well. I got an 85. I plan on getting an A on the next one. ^_^ Um, lets see. Other than that things have been going very well. I'm going to pray that it stays that way. I need a stress free semester. I really do.

I love watching the Juniors. Their stress reminds me of my stress during that first semester of school. Trust me, it's hard to forget the tears, the moments of balling up on my bed and thinking 'this isn't for me' and 'why am I doing this again.' I can't say that I don't have those thoughts now because I do, but it's getting easier. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it looks amazing. Juniors, you CAN DO IT. Take it one day at a time. It can only get better from here. Take it from me, I've struggled more in nursing school than I have my entire school age like. Middle school and high school seem like kindegarten compared to this. Really, all you high school students need to suck it up. If you think high school is hard you have a rude awakening coming.

Peace, love and happy times.

Me