Call me Nurse Bee
I know I haven’t really updated recently. I’ll be completely honest with you all.
Between gathering my marbles to start my Youtube Channel (with which I am still working on one more mother’s day video that’s overdue by a week and a half), crying about not having work and feeling useless and unproductive; my roommate bailing out because she and I suddenly don’t see on the same level so to speak (No back story, I am not gonna throw shade),
and finally getting the results and card for my license in the span of 10 weeks (aka FOREVER); I finally was able to just sit down and write a small blog.
A legit, blog. Not just a pop-in like I have been doing.
I can’t lie. Getting this in the mail was a moment of glory for me. I felt powerful, I felt accomplished and I felt like to myself, I was worth something. For once, something I did truly came to fruition. I worked my little butt off getting passing results.
A friend of mine unfortunately did not pass, however, she immediately came to me after re-registering and asked for my iPad. I had bought and used NCLEX-RN Mastery to study. There is a PN version, but seeing as how there’s only slight differences in the things a PN and an RN do, I decided to get the RN version. I did at least 80 questions a day, even at the gym. I had Richard come along and read out questions as I did my weight-lifting and answered them. Wrong answers meant more reps. It really helped me focus.
I did buy the Saunders-PN study guide and tried their online exam bank but it was poorly scripted, timed out a lot and the book itself was not comprehensively organized in my opinion. It jumped back and forth quite a bit which confused and frustrated me. I’ll probably just donate it.
The day of the exam, I wasn’t really able to sleep. I tried but in the end only got about 3 hours of sleep. There was way too much anxiety built up. ‘Take your time! Don’t rush!’ I kept telling myself. I tend to be a fast test-taker so I wanted to slow myself down. I almost never fail tests but I didn’t want to give a failure even the slight chance of happening. So, when I finished the exam at 118 questions and having only used 90 minutes out of a 380 (5 hour) test, I started to panic.
I tried the “PVT trick” which isn’t accurate at all but hey, I’m superstitious and I’ve heard it gives you hope. The PVT trick is where after the exam you attempt to re-register for the exam; the idea is that if it knocks you back after putting in your information, you probably passed. It can, however, produce false-negatives (or false positives)and allow you to re-register (an expensive $200 lesson for some). It knocked me back but I checked obsessively. 2 hours after, 6, 12; 24; 48 and all the way up to three weeks after my exam just to be sure it was still kicking me out.
I’ll admit, it got really obsessive. The good news? That obsession paid off. I got that letter in the mail and several weeks went by without another word. I did receive a letter that had been postmarked for the day before my pass results stating that I would go for further review through the enforcement board. This was because under the policies I applied (which are changing this year, I think) any tickets or court fees exceeding $300.00USD must be fully disclosed. I had received a stop light ticket earlier in the year. My area takes those things very seriously (M.A.D. was founded in my town. That’s how serious they take it) and so my ticket was $499.99USD.
It didn’t cause me any trouble; it was my first ticket and I had paid it in full right after getting it. All it did was cause the wait to be about a week longer to get my actual card.
Poof! I’m a nurse.
I cried. Literally. I can finally say, I finished nursing school. It’s all done, set in stone and now I have something to be proud of. (Until I go after my BSN, that is. )
