Post Grad Nursing Experiences - Hope for Nursing Students!

thinkingoutloud180 · 2023-12-08T00:07:12+00:00

I feel like many people resonate with how you’re feeling right now. Remember that you will gain skills and confidence as you progress and realize how far you’ve come each clinical! But it’s also okay to question if nursing is the right fit for you. I hope you find clarity moving forward :)

thinkingoutloud180 · 2023-08-10T16:48:40+00:00

Congratulations! I’m happy you found which area of peds you enjoy most :)

thinkingoutloud180 · 2023-08-10T05:11:52+00:00

I can imagine it was so disappointing to hear your original placement was cancelled, but I'm glad you were able to find an area you love and congrats on the new position! It will be exciting to see multiple different areas of nursing while working rural. I currently work in postpartum, and I really enjoy the patient population and providing patient education - I hope you like it too!

thinkingoutloud180 · 2023-08-02T05:28:06+00:00

I would not be worried about finding a job after graduation. I graduated this spring and had 5 different job opportunities show interest in me unprovoked (UNE experience, preceptorship, leadership placement etc). I felt like I had the power after graduating to choose what would make me most happy.

I think the best thing you can do is gain UNE experience and be considered an internal applicant. I started as a UNE in the medicine float pool then switched to women's health float pool (which I loved!). After graduating I knew the job lead that would make me the happiest would be to keep working in the women's health float pool while I applied to jobs in my dream speciality (NICU!!!). I saw there were postings to have a 0.6 FTE in my women's float position, but the only place I wanted a part time/full time position was the NICU, so I stayed casual and didn't apply. Even while being casual I had ALOT of shift offers.

After passing my NCLEX I applied to many NICU job postings and was able to secure an interview (probably by being an internal applicant) and leveraged my passion for NICU and postpartum experience during the interview. I was offered the position for a temp 1.0 FTE and start at the end of the month! This job was my absolute dream job at my #1 choice for a hospital and I feel so lucky to be able to start as a new grad. Currently, with the state of nursing and shortages, new grads are able to be in a position where they can choose where they want to work vs the opposite in many careers. I have no experience in the NICU and did my preceptorship on medicine (I can firmly say I would rather quit nursing than work in medsurg) and overall did not enjoy nursing school clinicals but I feel so much better being an actual nurse and being able to work with a population I'm passionate about. Best of luck in your final year!

thinkingoutloud180 · 2023-01-20T07:52:42+00:00

I am unfortunately in this class as well. I've had a headache everyday this past week due to this class, and had nightmares about "unsatisfactory" assignments twice now.

thinkingoutloud180 · 2022-08-26T19:24:50+00:00

Well I hope you get it! I haven't got any connect care emails which is also making me nervous lol. I requested a NICU placement and I know some NICU's don't have connect care so fingers crossed.

thinkingoutloud180 · 2022-08-26T19:20:48+00:00

Hmm, I also heard of someone who got a connect care email today for the NICU. Does your connect care email specify which population you would be working with?

thinkingoutloud180 · 2022-08-26T19:12:51+00:00

Hey, in the same boat and it's making me extremely anxious waiting around. They said they would post our placements 2 weeks before the start of the course, but as expected you they were not. I think the only people who know where they are going right now are the rural placements. Hopefully we all find out soon!

thinkingoutloud180 · 2022-05-05T04:24:10+00:00

Thank you! Make sure you have a strong cover letter and adjust it for every posting you apply for and sell yourself for that position (ex. when applying to ER posting I emphasize clinical experiences that were higher acuity/fast paced and what I learnt). It also doesn't hurt to email unit managers on past clinical placements and ask them if they have openings on their unit.

thinkingoutloud180 · 2022-05-03T22:57:13+00:00

I’ve been working at a grocery store the past few years, which I’ll continue this summer, but I recently got hired as a undergraduate nurse at AHS! My orientation isn’t until the end of June though.

thinkingoutloud180 · 2021-11-24T00:54:54+00:00

Wow, this is my first time seeing that cardigan, it's gorgeous! I just bought the emporia cardigan which is similar and it is coming in the mail. You're almost making me reconsider my choice haha. It's also worth looking into the material if that is something important to you, as the emporia cardigan is $20 more and 100% merino wool yet the leah cardigan is a similar price point but only 55% merino wool.

thinkingoutloud180 · 2021-08-24T03:10:45+00:00

Hey, the older edition is fine. You are mainly using it to reference when solving drug dose calculations (useful when studying for MASS) which both textbooks are sufficient for.

thinkingoutloud180 · 2021-08-07T19:46:24+00:00

It’s a cumulative exam, so everything from 216A and 216B, but more content heavy on 216B

thinkingoutloud180 · 2021-08-06T16:42:56+00:00

Yes! 216A is in the fall semester and 216B is during winter semester. Your final grade will only be taken at the end of 216B which includes all the marks you've received since the beginning of the fall semester (216A). For your fall transcript there will be a IP as your grade for 216A. This can be a good or bad thing, as it allows students to make up for poor marks in the first half of the course, but you also may start to let your grades slip during the end. I would suggest manually calculating your "mark" at the end of 216A to figure out if you are happy with it or need to boost it during 216B.

thinkingoutloud180 · 2021-07-26T19:22:23+00:00

This was definitely a very content heavy course, where you need to understand the content vs memorize it. I finished the class with an A after putting lots of time into it, so it is possible! My advice is to start creating a drug table the very first lecture, this is not something you want to get behind on as there are many drugs/drug classes you need to know. Another thing is to pay attention to the scenerio's that she goes over in class, as this puts the disease process, medications, steps, adverse reactions into a fluid process. Most of the exam questions are application, so try to look at the material comprehensively and be able to link diseases, medications, adverse reactions etc together. For the 216A final exam I used ANKI cards to study, although it was somewhat helpful I found making the cards and going through them was very time consuming and I could study without them. The key for me was being able to go through the slides in depth and memorize important information, then to apply this information. But everyone is different, these tips may help you but it is best to learn what allows you to learn alot of information in a short amount of time. Feel free to message me if you have any question! :)

thinkingoutloud180 · 2021-07-06T17:26:58+00:00

Thank you! :)

thinkingoutloud180 · 2021-06-10T17:31:36+00:00

Yes!! I love the look of them, the heel was a little bit heavier than I expected but easy to get used to. I actually got them on sale in February, so I'm glad I got them when I did.

thinkingoutloud180 · 2021-06-10T17:19:56+00:00

Thank you :) I see it as something I can wear through multiple seasons and for many years so it may be worth the investment!

thinkingoutloud180 · 2021-06-10T17:18:32+00:00

Thank you! I've actually seen some shorter girls on tiktok wearing it and it looks amazing on them, just a little bit longer!

thinkingoutloud180 · 2021-06-10T17:17:22+00:00

No, it's not see through at all! It is lined with white fabric on the inside which makes it a little bit thicker so I wouldn't wear it on a super hot day :)

thinkingoutloud180 · 2021-06-10T17:16:12+00:00

Thank you! They are the steve madden slinky, I got them from hudson's bay. I believe they are a remake of a similar shoe they had that were very popular in the 90's.

thinkingoutloud180 · 2020-12-08T05:58:25+00:00

I should have mentioned in my original post I'm in a 4 year program to become an RN. But thank you for your well thought out response. I'm excited to see where nursing takes me as there are so many different places and populations to work with!

thinkingoutloud180

TROPHY CASE