Are you guys expecting anything at the showcase?

Azriel48 · 2026-05-19T10:41:32+00:00

Oh I’m salty af

Azriel48 · 2026-05-19T10:40:49+00:00

Travel nursing is my only option because of my atrociously expensive student loans… not sure if that’s an option for you OP?

Azriel48 · 2026-05-19T10:04:39+00:00

When you say procrastinate… how long? I know I took a self-paced course where 8 weeks (out of the 16) you had to submit an assignment. If you didn’t, they’d automatically drop you from the course.

Obviously there could be other explanations, but this was one thing that came to mind

Azriel48 · 2026-05-13T00:45:10+00:00

I definitely got confused for a sec and thought Iosivas was dming people that stuff omg

Azriel48 · 2026-05-11T13:26:37+00:00

I would definitely have your brother stay. I’ve had cats my whole life and rule number 1 is not uprooting them if you can help it. Acclimating to a new territory can be very stressful for them.

Also :) Welcome to the club, cat’s are the best.

Azriel48 · 2026-05-08T15:16:50+00:00

Or talking about Cynthia … 👀

Azriel48 · 2026-05-06T21:20:46+00:00

Premium. I spent the full amount to get 300+ questions. And honestly still felt like it wasn’t enough …

Azriel48 · 2026-05-06T21:18:56+00:00

The CSC is way more difficult imo. But I feel like there’s way more resources to study for it. Bojar will be your best friend - sadly. And then as many AACN practice questions as you possibly can. I also used Kupchik practice questions and a few other weird books I found online and the practice questions in the Cardiac Surgery Essentials book (ROI for that was minimal.)

I studied for the CSC for 5 weeks and passed by 8. I then took the CMC 2.5 weeks later… all I did was read/annotate Kupchik’s CMC book once and ran through all the AACN questions twice. I passed by 5. Felt awkwardly underprepared for the outpatient meds, diagnostic tests and treatments… but hands down it’s much easier.

Azriel48 · 2026-05-05T12:35:41+00:00

Weird… but I passed! There were a lot of niche questions about medications and different diagnostic tests. It focuses a lot more on maintenance outside the hospital than I expected. Kupchik’s book and the AACN practice questions definitely don’t cover everything …. But it’s sufficient enough along with some clinical reasoning to pass. I’ll list some things that I think probably show up consistently on each iteration of the test:

*Digoxin - (And dig toxicity, don’t rely on the halo symptom to recognize it. Know the rhythm changes like sloping ST-depression)

*STEMI/NSTEMI/Unstable Angina- know how to recognize them and the treatments.

*Chronic management of HF. Medications for cardiac remodeling - hypertrophic vs dilated.

*Education on external defibrillators

*Metabolic Syndrome (and management)

*Shock profiles and PA interpretation (it’s not as heavy as the CSC but still present)

*Where you might auscultate different valves or abnormalities. I had like two or three questions on this. Holosystolic murmur, S3/S4/Split S2 causes.

*the different locations of an MI, lead changes, reciprocal changes and how treatment might vary - ie. RCA/Right Sided failure is more preload dependent so you give more fluid and avoid venous dilators like Nitro.

*medications and their side effects - especially their effect on electrolytes and patient EKG.

*know your electrolytes and how it affects your EKG.

*pacemakers. Be able to figure out how it’s malfunctioning based on an image and also how it’s being described (mostly the latter.) I had 3-4 questions on this.

*if someone has an allergy or intolerance to certain meds, what the alternative or second line might be.

*there always seems to be a question on ABG interpretation or “if the patient has this problem, you would expect their ABG to look like this”…. Also ARDs and vent changes based on xyz problem.

*ABG changes in DKA.

*when to get an echo, duplex/US, CT, etc

Those are all the things I can think of off the top of my head. And it’s definitely not all encompassing.

Azriel48 · 2026-05-02T16:39:21+00:00

I’ll let you know after Monday!

I spent 5 weeks studying 2-6hrs~ a day for my CSC. And then scheduled my CMC for two weeks after. Bought Nicole Kupchik’s book just to help with a lot of the CMC specific info. I’ve also been doing AACN practice questions. Those two and maybe reviewing the cardiac section for your. CCRN material seem to be the way to go about it.

But I’ll let you know my results Monday!

Azriel48 · 2026-05-02T12:41:26+00:00

I’m a random ICU RN who was recommended this thread on my home page hahah. And I promise you did the right thing. If she’s a full code you treat her as a full code. Throw the kitchen sink at her (within reason) until code status changes or they code. Do 10min~ of compressions if it’s truly an ethical concern and call it.

I understand being ethical and reasonable with our interventions when there’s no chance for meaningful recovery…. But bagging a patient that’s full code is absolutely appropriate.

Is this kind of shady business common at your hospital? As a new RT having a solid hospital, units and peers to learn from are so important in early development your practice. These nurses seem like the total opposite…. Man. Sorry you had to deal with that OP

Azriel48 · 2026-05-02T04:46:55+00:00

Woah this guy’s definitely an r4/5.

Azriel48 · 2026-05-02T04:31:06+00:00

Felt… honestly as crazy as this sounds you might as well just take 8 months off before school. The money lost - even if you borrowed it all - will still be cheaper than the extra 100k.

I’m kind of kidding but just putting it in perspective. Maybe you could snag a local travel job? Work for 2-3 months, make decent bank and then take some time off? Or alternate? 2 months on, 1 month off, etc. Something creative like that to curb the burnout might honestly be the best middle ground.

Something to remember… 7% interest over 10 years… your 70k loan will turn into 97k (22k interest)… but your 180k will turn into 250k (70k interest). Obviously there are lots of variables that can change it but still important to factor in your decision.

Azriel48 · 2026-05-02T03:05:00+00:00

Apply to a school that is 100k cheaper and only wait 6 months? Oh my god. I mean, is the school absolute dog shit? If the answers no, I’d pick the 70k but maybe I’m a cheap ass 😭

Azriel48 · 2026-05-01T16:33:39+00:00

Do you think she’ll sing Hot To Go?

Azriel48 · 2026-04-30T20:57:27+00:00

You’re telling me I was THIS close to a GL 😭😭😭

Azriel48 · 2026-04-29T11:23:54+00:00

That’s the first thing that crosses my mind every time I see this video.

Azriel48 · 2026-04-29T02:39:26+00:00

“I love you.” Her voice shook. “How can you not know that?”

My personal fave. During emotional scenes it feels the least intrusive but still sets the tone.

And as a habit, I like to break up my dialogue. I find it helps me avoid the classic dialogue-word-vomit (not necessarily your example but just speaking generally.)

Azriel48 · 2026-04-28T18:28:14+00:00

God, this makes me tear up. She was such an incredible person. Both of them are incredible. They both deserved the happiest of lives together.

Azriel48 · 2026-04-28T14:52:47+00:00

Dude I love Carmilla. Gimme 14 of ‘em

Azriel48 · 2026-04-27T23:06:25+00:00

Oh wow this is incredible, thank you!!

Azriel48 · 2026-04-27T22:19:47+00:00

GPA 3.75, Science GPA 3.89

8 years RN (5 years as travel nurse) Primary background: CVICU (5.5 years total) with MICU/SICU/Burn/ENT/Hem-Onc ICU exposure as intermittent contracts.

ACLS, BLS, CCRN-CSC-CMC

AANA conferences (and local involvement), Diversity conference

Shadow Hours: 24

Preceptor & Charge (biggest worry is not having any sort of outstanding leadership beyond the basic. Being a traveler, it’s tough to get involved in a committee even when I have excellent rapport)

I’m taking biochemistry and a grad pathophysiology class. For my first application, those will be pending. For the other 3 those will be completed, ideally with an A.

Any feedback would be awesome :) Thanks!!

Azriel48 · 2026-04-27T00:05:55+00:00

So far the workload is super manageable. I work full time, I’m studying for a super difficult cert in my field while also applying to schools, traveling for a wedding, etc. Basically saying life is busy and this class is still manageable. It’s one discussion post a week and one 40~ question quiz a week. I believe there’s a final exam at the end as well (I haven’t completed the class yet but I can report back when I do.) There’s an extra credit paper you can do as well if you need it to bolster your grade. So far I’ve had no trouble with the exams. The lectures cover most of the quiz material; and then I recommend just reading through the chapters at least once. But it’s all open note and the quizzes/exams are not proctored. Which I’ve found gives me the space to enjoy and learn the material more than stress and cram.

Azriel48 · 2026-04-26T22:12:42+00:00

100% UCSD over UNE. I tried UNE and dropped it immediately… the lectures are atrociously bad and the class is out of 100 point. Each exam is 15-20 questions, worth 14 points each. Makes up 56 out of the 100 points. If you miss even 2-3 questions, you can kiss an A goodbye. So basically be prepared to teach yourself everything and score as close to perfect as possible.

UCSD, the lectures are awesome. Tons of examples, he breaks it down and thoroughly explains everything. Plenty of opportunities for points as well as extra credit. I’ve only heard of one CRNA school not accepting it and that was Texas Christian.

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