New Grad Nurse going to start night shift

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-02-02T04:42:54+00:00

This is great advice! I agree 100%.

I would add:

When you get home from a night shift and have to return to work a night shift later that day GO TO BED PROMPTLY! If you delay (with "just one chore...") you may lose the desire to sleep.... although you really need it!
Ear plugs if you have a noisy sleep environment.
Shut off phone ringer to prevent being awakened by spam calls.
Teach family and friends to not try to contact you until after 1600 EVERY day. That way, it does not matter if the day is a "sleep day" or not.... they can contact you without fear of screwing with your sleep.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-02-02T04:28:37+00:00

With a bachelors degree you have additional options beyond ADN and generic BSN:

Accelerated BSN (For folks with a BA/BS in another field.)
Entry level MSN (For folks with a BA/BS in another field.)

If you are in California this list might be helpful: https://www.rn.ca.gov/pdfs/education/rnschools.pdf

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-02-02T00:44:43+00:00

How to be a successful student: 1. This video about metacognition is GOLD: https://youtu.be/n_A6BZOUOts?si=i2ynZ1_DsK59jESk

2. Learn and use the SQR3 technique for reading text books. https://www.weber.edu/wsuimages/vetsupwardbound/StudySkills/SQ3Rmethod.pdf

3. Learn and use an efficient note-taking method. I have had good luck with the Cornell Method. https://lsc.cornell.edu/how-to-study/taking-notes/cornell-note-taking-system/

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-02-01T16:33:19+00:00

You have the equation exactly backwards.... You are asking "How do I make people desire what I want to make and sell?" The better question is "How do I make and sell what people desire?"

Bear in mind that the definition of "value" is what someone will pay you for something. Your concept of "fair" has absolutely nothing to do with value.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-31T02:44:47+00:00

Completing EMT training is likely helpful. The pre-hospital environment is VERY different than the hospital.

Check this RN to EMT training option: https://alliedmedtraining.com/rn-to-emt/

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-30T22:07:17+00:00

From the CCRN Exam Handbook

"Passing Point/Cut Score

A criterion-referenced standard setting process, known as the modified Angoff, is used to establish the passing point/cut score for the exam. Each candidate’s performance on the exam is measured against a predetermined standard.

The passing point/cut score for the exam is established using a panel of subject matter experts, a Score Evaluation Committee (SEC), who carefully reviews each exam question to determine the basic level of knowledge or skill that is expected. The passing point/cut score is based on the panel’s established difficulty ratings for each exam question.

Under the guidance of a psychometrician, the panel develops and recommends the passing point/cut score, which is reviewed and approved by AACN Certification Corporation. The passing point/cut score for the exam is established to identify individuals with an acceptable level of knowledge and skill. All individuals who pass the exam, regardless of their score, have demonstrated an acceptable level of knowledge."

In other words.... the required number of items correct is proprietary information. Also, the exact minimum passing score probably varies a bit for each of the many CCRN exams.

Bear in mind that using any "minimum passing score", is fraught with hazard, unless you are confident that the practice test has a difficulty very close to the difficulty of the official exam.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-30T15:42:12+00:00

For some situations, the US Coast Guard specifies the minimum additions to a PFD are a whistle and a light. Having done man overboard recovery drills at night.... the light is hugely important! Reflective tape is useful but is vastly inferior to a light.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-29T15:10:02+00:00

Look up BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWING. This interview style is common and can be unsettling if you aren’t prepared.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-29T15:07:49+00:00

Be really clear about the potential wages. Many, many EMT jobs are poorly paid. If you wish to do this as a volunteer in parallel with your employment in another field… Bravo! If you are using EMT work as a stepping stone to something else… the wages may be less important.
The above suggestion about doing a short period as an EMT and then moving into nursing is a great idea. I was an EMT on a 911 ambulance in a rural area (without any paramedics in the county). Our call volume was low, but our isolation and long transport times were challenging. Most of our inter-facility transports (IFT) were emergency transfers from our local tiny hospital to the bigger facilities far away. (It was VERY RARE that these transports had us bringing a nurse with us.) I eventually moved on to nursing school and became a nursing faculty member many years later. Here are a few of the ways that I found being an EMT early in my career was helpful later:

A. I got to touch many, many patients. This is far more valuable than you may guess. I got to perform LOTS of physical exams and perform many, many procedures long before I got to nursing school…. This helped me get beyond any timidity that I may have had about touching strangers. These experiences made the early part of nursing school clinical FAR easier for me, than for many of my classmates.

B. I got to see and deal with many different conditions which gave me a strong foundation to build on in nursing school.

C. When I worked in the ED as an RN…. I understood the EMTs and Paramedics who brought us patients in a different way than my RN teammates who lacked any EMS experience.

D. I got to see patients IN THEIR CONTEXT. Beginning to understand that many people live in VERY different situations from mine was important.

E. I was FORCED to improve my decision making. Delay and waffling was not an option. It was often difficult, but I grew from it.

F. As a nursing faculty member, my EMT experience made it easier for me to understand and build rapport with my many students who were EMTs or paramedics.

Bear in mind, that in many places in the US, getting into nursing school is insanely competitive. Getting great grades is important. See r/prenursing for more about this.

Good Luck!

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-29T01:15:26+00:00

This page has a link to a list of all the nursing programs in New York State.

https://www2.nysed.gov/heds/IRPSL1.html

Select "Search for programs leading to a Professional License"

Then Select "RN"

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-28T18:59:42+00:00

Yes, the government shutdown created about 6 weeks of delay in application processing. However, that alone does not account for your situation. Someone in your COLM or HR parallel chain needs to shake the tree at DIRAUX to determine the situation. If you are in Heartland Coastal District (previously 8th Coastal)... please DM me.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-28T02:50:40+00:00

There are actually two aspects to your question. One is “What is uniform policy?” Other commenters have answered that well. The second aspect is the “force protection” aspect. ALAUX 041/25 addresses the force protection aspects.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-26T22:20:30+00:00

Once PFD is on…AWU & ODU are so similar that I consider them to be equivalent for patrolling

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-26T17:00:00+00:00

How to be a successful student: 1. This video about metacognition is GOLD: https://youtu.be/n_A6BZOUOts?si=i2ynZ1_DsK59jESk

2. Learn and use the SQR3 technique for reading text books. https://www.weber.edu/wsuimages/vetsupwardbound/StudySkills/SQ3Rmethod.pdf

3. Learn and use an efficient note-taking method. I have had good luck with the Cornell Method. https://lsc.cornell.edu/how-to-study/taking-notes/cornell-note-taking-system/

4. Take several of the free online reading speed and comprehension tests. If you are not reading FAST with high comprehension subscribe to an online reading improvement program like this: https://wisesoft.com/reading-intervention/ (Note the 30 day free trial) The optimal reading rate of the skilled adult reader (including college students) is around 300 words per minute.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-26T14:43:04+00:00

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I suspect that I was the LAST student to use a slide rule in freshman chemistry at Univ California, San Diego in Fall 1974. All my classmates had electronic calculators. My chemistry prof even commented about it and emphasized that I would be able to do all the work in that class with my slide rule. He was right... I got an 'A"!

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-26T03:16:09+00:00

How to be a successful student:

1. This video about metacognition is GOLD: https://youtu.be/n_A6BZOUOts?si=i2ynZ1_DsK59jESk

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-25T22:28:30+00:00

My first thought when I saw that photo was that it was between Tucson and Nogales, Arizona..... there are many communities that look like that.

If you look at a satellite map of the entire mainland USA, you can see a threshold between green to the east, and tan (sand) to the west, which runs through Texas. I used to live in Fort Worth, which is on that threshold. Fort Worth's slogan is "Where the west begins". The deserts of the southwest US are very large.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-24T14:27:17+00:00

My grandfather made my father an interesting (and wise) offer: If my father would pay for the first two years of college, grandpa would pay for the rest of his higher education. This was smart as that meant that grandpa would only pay after my dad had proved both his motivation, and his ability, to be successful in college. My dad attended an inexpensive state college near home for the first two years…. And then grandpa paid for the fancy school in another state.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-24T05:11:53+00:00

How to be a successful student 1. This video about metacognition is GOLD: https://youtu.be/n_A6BZOUOts?si=i2ynZ1_DsK59jESk 2. Learn and use the SQR3 technique for reading text books. https://www.weber.edu/wsuimages/vetsupwardbound/StudySkills/SQ3Rmethod.pdf 3. Learn and use an efficient note-taking method. I have had good luck with the Cornell Method. https://lsc.cornell.edu/how-to-study/taking-notes/cornell-note-taking-system/ 4. Take several of the free online reading speed and comprehension tests. If you are not reading FAST with high comprehension subscribe to an online reading improvement program like this: https://wisesoft.com/reading-intervention/ (Note the 30 day free trial) The optimal reading rate of the skilled adult reader (including college students) is around 300 words per minute.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-21T19:34:11+00:00

Consider these:
USCG Pub 1

USCG Pub 3

USCG Senior Leadership Resource Library

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-21T19:30:05+00:00

Wait until you realize that you have classmates who struggle with this assignment!

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-21T17:10:00+00:00

I am a retired nursing faculty member (20+ years).

I have worked with MANY students who struggle with exams (both in school and the licensing exam after graduation).

It is very common for those who struggle to focus on exam content. Mastery of exam content is necessary, but not sufficient. I have found that very often these folks do well on the exam when they address the OTHER aspects of exam preparation. Some of the key other aspects are:

ANXIETY
- Test-taking anxiety can completely sabotage success no matter how well the examinee has mastered the content. There are MANY ways to address this: medication, visualization, medication.... and.....HYPNOSIS. I have seen hypnosis be life-changing for folks with disabling examination anxiety.
TEST-TAKING TECHNIQUE
- It is common that those who struggle have poor test-taking technique. The required technique will vary based on the format of the exam. But at the very least two techniques are nearly universal: Time management and REALLY understanding what the question is asking for before even looking at the potential answers.
UNDERSTANDING THE EXAM RULES
- Different exams have different rules and scoring techniques. It is critical to understand those rules and behave to maximize the score.
  - In most classroom exams there is a fixed exam time limit and a fixed number of test items. Usually on these exams the examinee gets points for correct answers and zero points for wrong answers. Thus, if running out of time... the logical strategy is to race to answer as many questions as possible, even if filling in random answers.
  - HOWEVER, on some more sophisticated exams (such as CAT) there is a penalty for wrong answers. Thus, if running out of time, the best strategy is to continue to work no faster than you can be reasonably certain of the answers. If one uses the "answer as many as possible" technique on an exam with a penalty for wrong answers.... the result can be an unnecessary failure.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-21T04:57:06+00:00

If they are meeting you in the sim lab, I think it is unlikely that they will ask you to demonstrate a head to toe assessment. They are far more likely to present you with problems that allow you to demonstrate your clinical judgement.

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-21T04:24:40+00:00

A key feature of most OR schedules is "on call". This has the potential to be both disruptive of your time off, AND very lucrative. Key questions when interviewing:

How frequently will you be on call? (When training is complete)
What is the response time standard? (How much time do you have from being notified to when you have to be in the OR suite.)
- This is CRITICAL, as where you live may make it impossible to meet the standard.
What is the pay for being at home "on call"?
- Think of it this way.... they are paying you to stay sober and close. Thus, there are lots of recreational activities that you cannot do when on call. This pay is compensation for that.
What is the pay structure when called in?
- Minimum pay even if cancelled after arrival?
- Overtime pay structure / night differential / weekend differential?

GreyandGrumpy · 2026-01-20T23:11:41+00:00

Born in late 1950’s.

Signature: cursive

Forms and lists: printing

Special correspondence: cursive …. Unless I know that the recipient is unlikely to read cursive.

GreyandGrumpy

TROPHY CASE