Still Travelling

Hey everyone, thought I would check in. I am still travelling throughout California with my nursing career. I am loving it so much that there are no thoughts of settling back down any time soon. I sign up to work 13 week contracts with various hospitals. I currently do these contracts using 3 travel companies. I usually sign up as an ICU RN but occasionally sign up as an ER RN to change it up a little and practice different skills. I love the fact that I am in charge of where I go and am able to negotiate my terms of pay and schedule. It is a different kind of positive mindset going to work knowing that you are there because you want to be and can leave when ever you are ready for change and some new experiences.

Aging Blog Links

Hey Everyone!
I know that this blog is aging and that there are links that are no longer working. There are too many for me to find and edit on my own. I would really appreciate a comment under any posts that you find containing faulty links. I still receive email notices for any comments anywhere in this blog and will be able to fix or delete bad links. Thanks for visiting and helping out. Happy hunting!

Travel Nursing

Hey everyone, I hope that all is well with you and yours. I have been doing travel nursing in California for the past year to enhance my learning experiences while working on my RN to MSN in nursing education through Regis University online. If anyone is interested in the travel nursing or travel registry experiences, drop me a line. I have been traveling with my husband while living in our motorhome and have really been enjoying the adventures so far.

Pediatric Advanced Life Support

Here is a 35 question PALS practice quiz.

PALS Quiz

Advanced Cardiac Life Support

Here is a practice simulator from SkillStat
This simulator shows up very small if you use the Firefox browser but works well in other browsers (such as Safari for you Mac users).

ACLS Practice Simulator

Test your ACLS knowledge with this quiz from ACLS.net.

ACLS Practice Quiz

Quick Basic Critical Care Drug Reference

I found a basic drug list used for Temple College's Paramedic Class. This is a great quick lookup list for ACLS drug review and for the N7 Critical Care class. It is straight to the point with the mechanisms of action explaining when and not to give.

Just the Basics - Drugs

Basic Life Support

Check up on your BLS knowhow with this 25 question multiple choice quiz.

Guidelines change from time to time but the basics still apply.

This quiz with rationale comes from the United States Mine Rescue Association.

BLS Quiz

CCRN

Woo Hoo! I passed the CCRN exam tonight and am feeling really good right now! I scored pretty much the same as I was getting on all of the practice exams on the CDs and in the books, so I recommend practicing questions and studying around them, rather than just plain reading outright.

SEARCHING PAST NURSING BLOGS

This is an FYI post for all of you visitors to this blog. You are able to easily subject search all of the past nursing blogs (links on the right) by using the blog search box found at the top of each blog. Type in a key word ex. "PDA" and it will bring up every post that has this key word mentioned in the title or anywhere  in the body of every past post from the creation of the blog. You type this same word into each and every past nursing blog to find all of the jewels that have been posted by all of the previous nursing classes. Remember that we have all "been there and done that" before you and have much to offer to help you in your nursing journey. 

Examples of good key words are, N7 exam, practice questions, cardiac, respiratory, ABG, EKG, SNA, NCLEX, help,  video, etc. 

Another way to look for help for your current classes is to search the previous blogs by the same semester that you are in. For example, if you are currently in N7 and are looking for all of the help you can get, search the archives of the previous blogs during their third semester. Look at the time that they were pinned and count backward by the month, or count forward from the time they started the program. If you for example are in your 3rd semester 2nd month, which happens to be Feb or Sept (depending on wether you are to pinned in the spring or fall), look in the previous blogs under these same months and you will see their posts looking as if they are in your class right now. It is a great help to use all of the helps that are out there for you. Why re-invent the wheel?

So..... Happy Hunting Everyone!

Keeping This Blog Current and Relevant

I want this blog to continue to be useful to all nurses, whether licensed or student. If anyone knows of any useful links or information that you feel should be included here, please post in comments or let me know at:

bboss947@sbcglobal.net

Thanks and Happy Nursing!

Class Reunion

Is anyone out there interested in having a class reunion or organizing one?

This reunion doesn't necessarily have to involve just our class. For example, it could involve all of Delta's nursing graduates.

Please let me know what thoughts you may have on the subject.

my email

bboss947@sbcglobal.net

Goodbye Chris Erly

Chris Erly was a nursing student who was a couple of semesters ahead of our class. Much of the helpful information that I was posting on our blog and passing around to help us get through N4 and beyond, came from him. I heard that he was quite the character and loved to stir things up while he was going through Delta's ADN program. After graduation, he took on a job as an ER nurse in Sacramento. He passed away on January 8, 2008.

Here is the link to his obituary.

Christopher William Erly

It's Nice to be Finished for Now...

Nursing From the Past

Here is a little something to show you all how far nursing and the nurse's role has come. My Aunt Bonnie took her CA State Nursing Boards on Aug 23-24, 1966. She was a graduate of Mt San Antonio College. This is an excerpt from her nursing book.

Serious Reader Note:
Nursing is a very demanding profession. To start with, nurses must learn everything a doctor learns, so that whenever a situation arises that might develop into a mistake on the part of the doctor if the nurse did what the doctor ordered instead of what he meant to do, the nurse can distinguish the latter from the former and prevent the mistake from occuring. Then nurses must learn how to use this knowledge so that neither the doctor nor the patient is aware they possess it, for in the former instance, it might cause the patient to lose confidence in the doctor, and in the latter, it might cause the doctor to lose confidence in himself. Finally, if, despite a nurse's best efforts, things are not going well between doctor and patient, and the nurse can't patch it up, the nurse must take the blame.
Nurses are very patient. They realize their reward will not be in this lifetime, for to receive even a fraction of the recognition they deserve would be to lessen the importance of the doctor. Nurses often believe in reincarnation.

So there you have it, the 1960's view of nursing. Boy have we come a long way from that thinking!

Where is everybody now?

Hello All,
I was just wondering what everyone is up to now that we have moved on into our new lives.

I am at Lodi Memorial Hospital. I am just about to finish their awesome 18 week new grad Versant program. I am now working night shift in the ICU department and loving it. There are 14 from our grad class with me.

I Passed too!

I found I had an RN License today!I am finally FOR REAL!
I took my NCLEX on Fri the 2nd of Feb in SF and my license was issued Feb 5th. Woo Hoo! I will post in the comments on how it went.

I passed!!

New RN Residency Program at LMH

Check out the group from the first day at Lodi Memorial Hospital's Versant New Grad 18 week Residency Program. Do you recognize this mix of new RNs and Rn-IPs?

RN sure looks good, doesn't it?

I took the NCLEX last Tuesday and found out Friday morning that I passed! What a huge relief...I don't know how the nurses who took the paper and pencil test years ago survived (it used to take 2 months for them to get their results)....I could barely make it through those three days! Even though I took Kaplan and used the Saunders book to prepare, I still walked out of that test feeling my results could have gone either way....but, it's over now and I've already started packing up my study space and even sold some of my books on Amazon. I start tomorrow at Lodi in their Versant program and will work right into their OB department. Good luck to all those out there still studying for the NCLEX!

I Passed

I woke up at 5:30 this morning and was unable to go back to sleep, so I checked the BRN and there it was...I passed! I am so excited. I must say, I took NO courses, but I did spend the best $39.95 of my life on the Learning Extension course that Caralee mentioned. It gave out 1000+ questions and trained your brain to go from subject to subject. The questions were written identically and by doing ALL of the questions I had a good feeling of what the NCLEX was looking for. Without it, I don't know that I would have felt as confident when I walked out of the exam. I got 75 questions and I new for certainty that the last one was correct...that helped me get through the 3 days of waiting for results. As I mentioned, I really felt good about it after the test, but was afraid to feel TOO confident...Good Luck to you all! It's a fabulous feeling to see those two tiny letters after your name and I know you will all enjoy the feeling as I did.

It is official--I PASSED!

I found out yesterday afternoon. The RNs at Tracy ER looked it up for me! Deborah Vogel RN
I PASSED!!!!! I am much more relaxed now, all I have to worry about is starting a new job now. Good luck to those of still waiting to take the test and Congratulations to all who have passed!

WOOHOO!!

It's official - I passed! :) Shelby, RN - That has a nice ring to it...Congrats to all of you, too...We did it! :)

Student Nursing Association

Meeting: February 5, 2007

Locke 314 1:00pm

Nursing Success Tips & Tricks!

Come see what it takes to get through the nursing class you are in and the tricks to making it happen successfully:

Play a part and pay it forward…
Share what you know with those that are where you were.

Elections! Elections!

Now seeking interested students for the offices of:
President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer

Train with the current officer through this semester - take your position and train the next class through next semester.
Great leadership opportunities and looks great on your resume!


Special Guest: 24 Hour Fitness representative Brandon will be at the meeting to offer a special SNA discount!!
It’s difficult to schedule time for PE classes with the Nursing schedule;
Make sure that you keep your physical health a priority.

All nursing students welcome
Pizza and free Raffles for SNA Gear!!

official RN

Yea, I passed. It wasn't as bad as you think it will be if you really study like they tell you to! All you can do is your best. I am so glad it's officially over and I can move on w/ my life.

I passed

I too had myself convinced that I had failed and would certainly be jobless and homeless in a couple of weeks. All is well in the world now.Don't be suprised if you can't sleep before or after taking that crazy test, we are all having the same feelings. Good luck to everyone !!!

N-CLEX Results

So, perhaps I'm the only one in the dark, but where do we see the results posted? Everything I read is about how to apply for the exam, or what to do if you need to retake the test, but I see nothing about the actual results. Are they simply emailed to you, or sent in the mail? I tried looking on the BRN website, but I'm not sure where to find them, other than to do a license check as if I was applying for a job...can someone please direct me? Thanks :)

Took my boards & have results!

Ok, I took my boards on Tues & got the results on Fri. I passed! I have heard that it can take longer to get the results, so try to be patient.
I didn't get any time to study. We are buying a new home & selling ours. I am also starting the RN to BSN program at Sac State, so with work & kids there didn't seem to ever be time to study. Honestly, I don't know how much studying would have helped. The test was so different from what I expected that I don't know how you could study for it. After two years of the RN program, you know what you know.
My test shut off at 75 questions, & I didn't feel like I had answered enough right to have passed so soon. The more I thought about it, the more I was certain that I had failed. All I could remember were the questions that I thought I had gotten wrong.
So, the moral of the story is not to worry!!! You will probably walk away feeling pretty uncomfortable. The wait will seem like forever, but it will come.
Good luck to everyone!!

NCLEX exam results

Hi everyone! For those of you like me who've already taken the exam, and those who will be this is for information so you won't freak out. Kimberly Duntsch and I have already taken our boards and couldn't figure out why our results haven't been posted yet. It normally takes 48-72hrs. Kim contacted Mary Neville and we found out that our official transcripts just arrived to the BRN last week. We were told that it can take a couple of weeks to process-2-3weeks, and anyone who has taken their boards will not see their results posted until this paperwork has been processed-SO DON'T THINK YOU FAILED! The BRN is extremely slow. It is taking forever for some people to even receive their IPs....Good luck to all-I hope this is helpful!

Has anyone taken their Boards yet?

I am still waiting to hear from the State (since my speech teacher didn't post my grade until 2 weeks into Jan which means that I will probably be one of the last ones who gets to take the NCLEX), so I was wondering who has taken their test already and what was it like.
I would love to hear all about it and I know that others would too. Here is a sampling of questions that inquiring minds would love to ask.

When did you take your test?
What testing facility did you use?
How soon did you know if you passed?
Did you take an NCLEX prep course?
How was the testing environment? (noisy, cold, warm, distracting, perfect, crowded, etc.)
What made you feel comfortable and confident?
Which preparation strategies worked for you and which ones did not?
What made you feel nervous?
Was there anything really surprising or unexpected?
How many questions did you get? (optional)
How do all of the practice test formats that we have used throughout the program compare with the actual test?
How were the breaks?
Were you able to get a snack or a drink?
Were you allowed to bring anything inside, like a purse, car keys, cell phone, etc?
What did you do the night before?
What did you do after the test (go home and cry from stress relief, party, go on vacation, kick the cat, make contact with family members for the first time in 2 years)?
If you could do anything over again, or prepare in a different way, what would it be?

New format

Thank you Bonnie and Debbie, with your help we now have the new beta format.

TEST BANK AND RESOURCES FOR ALL SEMESTER NURSING STUDENTS

Think NCLEX!
Class test bank is sorted by systems, more or less. Good practice for all semesters. Please let me know on which subjects you would like to see more tests.
TEST BANK
ATI Testing Link with OUR Codes
Nursing 101
Bulletin Board
EVOLVE TEXTBOOKS
Question of the Week
Fern's Blog
Nursing Center
Nursing CEUs
Medical Learning Links
The (CEU) continuing education courses and tests do not cost anything. The prices that you see are for nurses who need the CEUs for credit. Look through the clinical topics and pick the subject that you feel you need to know more about or want to take a practice test to see if you really understand.
SJDC Student Nurse Blogs
Pinned 12/2006
4th Semester
3rd Semester
2nd Semester
1st Semester
I will keep changing the post date on this link to keep it current and easy to access.
bboss947@students.deltacollege.edu
bboss947@sbcglobal.net

NCLEX questions available

On learninext.com, the NCSBN NCLEX question site, 5 weeks of 24 hours a day questions are available for $69.00. It is a computer base NCLEX question review by the NCLEX creators. An excellent resource for studing for the boards.

Caralee

There will be class on Tuesday!

Even though Delta College will be closed for a National Day of Mourning for the late President Gerald Ford, the Nursing Department is going to go ahead with the NCLEX review course slated to start on Jan 2 at 0800.
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE THAT YOU KNOW WHO IS REGISTERED TO ATTEND!

Delta RN Prep Course Dates and Times

Tuesday , Jan 2 (0800-1600)
L 118
Module 1
0800-1100(Bromme)
1100-1400 (Batson)
1400-1600 (Lab)

Wednesday, Jan 3 (0800-1600)
L 118
Module 2
0800-1000 (Semillo)
Module 3
1000-1300 (Batson)
1300-1600 (Lab)

Thursday, Jan 4 (0800-1600)
L 118
Module 4
0800-1100 (Semillo)
Modules 5 & 10
1100-1500 (Sevilla)
1500-1600 (Lab)

Friday, Jan 5 (0800-1600)
L 118
Modules 6 & 11
0800-1300 (Bromme)
1300-1600 (Lab)

Jan 6 - 15 (NO CLASS)

Tuesday, Jan 16 (1100- 1900)
L 314
Modules 8, 9 & 12
1100-1900 (Batson)

Wednesday, Jan 17 (0800-1600)
L 118
Modules 7 & 13
0800- 1400 (Batson)
1100-1600 (Lab)

Thursday, Jan 18 (0800-1600)
L 228
Computer Lab Testing
0800-1600

Friday, Jan 19 (0800-1600)
L 228
Computer Lab Testing
0800-1600

Review Help

You may want to check out Fernisa Sisson's blog for review help.
Fern's Blog

NCLEX INFORMATION ARRIVED

I have received my information from the BRN and have registered with Person VUE. The IP comes after the information under separate cover. It has been interesting and cost $200 to register. I hope to do my test at the end of January.

NCLEX Exam

Does anyone know which website we go to to schedule our NCLEX date?

Grades!

Grade are posted on line on the Delta web site. You will need to log on like you do to register and look at the FALL 06 semester. While you are there you might as well register for the NCLEX review at Delta, SPRING 07. The course code is in your student e-mail.

HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON!!

Congratulations Everyone!

Wow, we finally made it!!!!!!!

Meeting at Chili's

We are meeting at Chili's at 1100 on the 21st before the pinning practice. Hope everyone can make it.
Don't forget to bring a 6 inch poinsettia (any color) to practice for the stage.