COWman's Corner of the Web

So I just thought I would share this picture I found online.

Come one! Come all! The latest issue of the best nursing blog carnival is up and running. Check out


As always, Kim at Emergiblog did an amazing job putting everything together. Laughter, tears, a little bit of everything. Take a peek inside your a nurse's head. It not (usually) as scary as you might think.

Since it is time for another issue of Change of Shift, I thought I would provide some completely unsolicited and totally subjective advice about surviving the NCLEX. So, here you go. Here is the standard obvious disclaimer: the opinions expressed here are solely those of the poster and are in no way connected to anyone with an actual say in the matter. Your mileage may vary. Do not submerge. Clean with soft cloth only. May cause drowsiness; use care when driving or operating dangerous equipment......

• Breathe
• Remember that you have earned the right to be there. If you were not going to pass, you would not be there. No nursing school is going to send you out to fail, and they have made sure you will pass.
• Inhale, exhale, repeat as necessary
• Block out the entire day, but do not schedule anything else. Set aside the entire day (7:00am to 7:00pm). You will definately not that much time, but you don't want to be worried making that afternoon appointment.
• Breathe
• Take your time and go slow. Read the entire question and all of the answer options before you even try to answer it. Read the question a second time, then select the appropriate answer.
• Lather, rinse, repeat. (Oooops. Wrong list.....)
• Keep breathing
• Stay in the now. Forget a question as soon as you move to the next one. Don't worry about the next question until you see it. The only question that matters is the one on the screen. The past can not be changed (and you can't go back to change and answer) and the future is yet to happen (and you have no idea what the next question will be).
• Inhale, exhale, repeat as necessary.
• Don't be afraid to take a break. If you need to leave the room, do it (follow your testing center's instructions for leaving the room!!!). If nothing else, every couple of questions, just close your eyes and take a couple of cleansing breaths.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. (Darn it! Wrong list again..........)
• Pamper yourself after you are done. Go out to a nice lunch. Sit in a park, reading your favorite trashy type of novel. Celebrate with a huge chocolate sundae. Go shopping.
• Keep breathing
• Remind yourself that you did your best and that is all you can do. If, for some reason, you did not pass this time, you can try again. True, it will be expensive, but your license does not say how many times you took to pass the boards. You can pass the boards, and every time you need to take the exam will make you all that more familiar and comfortable with the exam.

That pretty much sums up my completely unscientific and unofficial guide to surviving the NCLEX. Hopefully it will help someone out there pass her/his boards, or give some insight to the friends/families/people who've met them once at party of nurses about just exactly how it feels to try to survice the boards.

I found this picture on the web one day, and I just knew that I would have to use it in a post after I passed my boards. According to the caption, these are the male nurses on staff at Dixmont Hospital in Dixmont, PA sometime around 1920. My guess is that the majority of these guys were nurses in world war 1, but that is just a guess based on what I know about the history of nursing. However, it is still nice to have an idea of who my professional "forefathers" were.


Saturday afternoon I received my actual, official license in the mail. In all honesty, I was expecting something a little more. I received a "certificate" that was, and I quote, "...suitable for framing..." and a cut-it-out-yourself, paper wallet card. Not exactly anything spectacular. But, it's real and official, so that is what really matters. I would have been just as exciting to get a piece of paper with one of those stickers like we got in second grade (Okay, I just went to the idea of "What would it be a scratch and sniff of?".....).

Buster got home from Kansas last night/this morning at about 1:30. Of course, he wanted to surprise me so he did not call ahead and let me know he was coming. So I just about had a heart attack when I was awakened by footsteps in the hall in the middle of the night. And our dog, being the wonderous watch dog she is, didn't do anything except wag her tail. I'm not sure if she knew who it was and was not concerned, or if she is just getting too old to care. Scary thing is, it only took me a couple of seconds to recognize the footsteps and stop being worried too. Guess I am lucky that it was Buster and not some psychopath...... (***must refrain from making comment*****)

.... and I have a license number, and my status is "Approved".

OH

MY

FREAKIN'

GOD(DESS)!!!!!

I PASSED THE NCLEX, AND AM NOW OFFICIALLY A NURSE!!!!!!!!

Okay...... now that I have *that* out of my system......

Now I just have to watch the mail for my actual physical license and the assorted documentation that goes with it. The feeling of relief that came from just seeing that number on the screen will be nothing compared to actually holding that piece of paper in my hands. I made the mistake of checking this while at work (like I was actually going to wait until I got home. Yeah right). Now I have to try and focus on my current job for the remainder of the day. Now comes the fun part of trying to find a nursing job. Of course, can't do that until The-Spousal-Equivalent (Buster) figures out where he is going to be working. One thing at a time....

Well, yesterday was THE day. I took my NCLEX yesterday. Now I just have to sit around and wait for the results. I can check tomorrow afternoon-ish with the testing company to see if I passed or not, if I am willing to pay for it. There is a tip circulating among nursing students about checking with your state nursing board's website and trying to verify your license. According to rumor, you should be able to tell if you're being assigned a license or not. I'm not sure if this will work here in Ohio or not, but I'll give it a try. The test itself was not quite as bad as I had worked myself up to think it would be. The security of the testing center was tight. By the time I started taking the test, I was half convinced I was getting the nuclear launch codes, not taking a freakin' test. I completely understand why security like that is important, but jeeze.

In terms of the test itself, I have no idea how I did. The test shut off at 75 questions (which I have been told is statistically, a good sign) and the majority of my questions were higher difficulty prioritization questions (again, another statistical good sign from what I've been told), and there was only 1 question where I just picked an answer becuase I had absolutely no clue. I guess that I'll know tomorrow afternoon.

I really think that we should have been given a goodie bag of chocolate and Xanax when we walked out of the testing center. Last night I was simply too drained to worry about my results. Now that I have had some sleep, I am nervous. Tomorrow afternoon will not get here quickly enough.....