Interview Questions

Ask and ye shall receive!  Even though it's a couple weeks later...

In my last post, I mentioned that I had gone into my interview with a list of questions. I'll admit that I didn't come up with them all on my own...Google was my friend in that I searched for some questions to ask in an interview. I skimmed over the lists I found and picked some that I thought were relevant to my situation. And I didn't ask all of them, because most were covered when the interviewers were speaking. But I did get a chance to ask a few, a couple of which turned out to be "really good questions" in the words of the interview panel.

Here are some that I had prepared and asked:

• How do night shift and day shift differ as far as workload and keeping busy?
• What happens when census is low? Are L&D nurses floated?
• What is a typical day like on the unit?
• (asked to nurse manager) What is your management style?
• (asked to the 3 other panel members) How do you like working on the unit? Is it a good job, do people work together and get along for the most part?

So there you have it. Just 5 main questions, but apparently they were impressed with my interest based on the questions I asked.  It also helped that I was already familiar with the hospital and the mission/outlook/etc. and that I was able to give examples of what I had seen and liked/didn't like on other units as compared to the answers they provided about the L&D unit.

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On the job front...I'm now a quarter of the way through my orientation period (eeek!) and I am still loving it! I've learned *so* much the past 3 weeks on the unit! I'm able to do some basic stuff on my own (without direct supervision, but my preceptor or another nurse is always nearby in case I have a question or need help), I'm doing more charting, more interventions, interacting with the patients more. I'm starting to feel like an RN and not just a student...but I'm still a long ways off from being really comfortable doing stuff. That's completely normal and expected, though  :-)

12 more days...

...and I will be FINISHED with my 3rd semester of nursing school!  But of course, I have a lot to do in those next 12 days -- Leadership project presentation (including putting together said presentation), Peds ATI exam, take-home Leadership exam, 5th OB exam, and OB ATI exam...and study lots.

I just can't believe in 12 more days I will be FREE again!  I can read, I can watch TV, I can just sit and do nothing.  But this year is a bit different in that I start my externship in mid-May, so that means I'll be working 20+ hours a week.  I know I'll be doing a lot of learning, but I can clock in, do my stuff, then clock out.  No hours and hours of homework, no stressing over proper APA formatting for papers (that about killed us all this semester...I swear, nursing instructors seem to think life happens in APA format, therefore anything written must also be in APA format.  BS!)...just come home, sleep, do things with my kiddos, enjoy.

So...I shall disappear for the next 12 days, make my 2nd home in the library, get through...then FREEDOM!

For all others in the same boat -- study well!  :-)

Peace

Semester break almost over

Yep, time to head back for yet another fun-filled semester of nursing school.  Monday, 0800.  But I start the with the class I've literally been waiting 2 years for, so maybe that's a good sign that it will be a good semester!  I can hope, anyway...

4 classes this semester -- OB, Peds, Global Health, and Nursing Leadership.  I've got my books (cheapest semester yet!  Woot!), getting information off Blackboard as it's showing up...pretty much nothing left to do except start the readings for Monday.  But on this Thursday night, I'm not really feeling like reading.  I've got 3 more days to get it done, I'll procrastinate a bit more while I still can.

Monday starts with OB in the morning, Global in the afternoon.  As I'm sure I've mentioned ad nauseum, I'm so ready for OB.  Both times I was pregnant I read and read and read some more, plus I'm leaning toward OB nursing after graduation, so I'm hoping my previous experience and my interest will make this class one of those where I do well and really enjoy it.  Global...looking over the syllabus and skimming through the book, it looks like it *might* be kinda-sorta interesting.  Plus it meets only 5 times during the semester..twice in January, then once a month for 3 months.  Not sure why, but who am I to complain, right?  Peds...have been through a lot with both my own personal kiddos, again hoping my experience helps.  Leadership...another typical BSN course that we have to slog through.  Meh.  Interested in 3 out of the 4 isn't bad.

3 more days of freedom.  Going to run some errands, have a girls' night with the girlfriend on Saturday night, try to get 3 good 5+ mile runs in...enjoy the feeling of being stress-free for just a little bit longer.

Then, I'm on.  And probably not here as much.  ;-)

In the Year 2012

Of course all kinds of things can happen in the course of a calendar year.  But seeing as how my crystal ball reading skillz aren't all that, I cannot foresee all the various things that will go down In the Year 2012. That said, here are some of the high points I'm expecting for this coming year:


January - I start my 3rd semester of nursing school, known as the OB/Peds semester (I won't mention the more popular nicknames, just because I'm trying to keep things classy here...).  This is the semester I've been waiting for ever since I went back to school.  Bring on the babies!  Realize that a year from now, I'll be preparing for NCLEX...thinking that a year ago I was just getting started.

February - I'm sure something will happen in February...

March - I turn 36 years old.  I have my last spring break as a student (unless I become insane and go to grad school to get another graduate degree...)

April - My 3rd semester winds down.  Take my 2nd-to-last round of finals, of ATI exams.

May - Begin my 3 months of freedom!  Catch up on sleep.  Fix any nutritional imbalances.  Thankful I'll have more time for running.  Hoping I have either a part-time CNA job or a nurse externship to be looking forward to.  And if not, well, just enjoy my final summer where I'm not working.

June - Slow month, unless I'm working or externing.  Will be getting a lot of running done.

July - Another slow month, unless I'm working or externing.  Still getting a lot of running done.

August - I start my 4th semester of nursing school.  This is it, my last semester!  Paying my last round of tuition, buying my last round of textbooks.  My baby, my little kiddo...she starts Kindergarten.  And my big girl...she switches schools to the 4-6 building.  Doesn't seem possible. :-(

September -I'm sure something will happen in September...probably starting my preceptorship..?

October - My final fall break as a student!

November - My final Thanksgiving break as a student!  Final semester winds down.

December - I take my last finals, my last ATI exams...and I GRADUATE!  December 13th, baby, I will be a graduate nurse, will have the BSN portion of my title!

Then In the Year 2013, I get to spend a lot of time preparing for this little thing called the NCLEX.  Study study study, take the darn thing, pass it, and I will be an RN!  Procure a job, and I will finally be Kendra, BSN-RN.  Or Kendra, RN-BSN.  One or the other.

School update: Textbooks all arrived.  OB/Peds book is *huge*.  Just shy of 2000 pages, just shy of 9 pounds.  Seriously...I weighed it.  8.8 pounds.  That's the weight of a young infant!  Gonna be fun hauling that book around...

Happy New Year! 

July already?

I can't believe the year is half over already!  I'm now on the downhill slope of summer...meaning I have more summer break behind me than in front of me.  Classes start 7 weeks from today...yikes!

As  mentioned in my last post, I had lunch with some of my classmates last week.  Just 4 of us could make it, but it was great seeing them.  One of them brought her little boy with her...she was pregnant during the school year and had her little boy the Tuesday after we ended our classes on a Thursday back in May (she cut that one pretty close!).  He got passed around the table and us mamas who are a few years removed from the newborn stage took turns holding and feeding and burping him.  I came home smelling like a baby and I spent the rest of the afternoon swooning with baby fever (imadork!).  But at the same time, it was nice to enjoy that sweet baby, then hand him off to his mama.  This is exactly why I'm looking forward to OB/Peds class next spring and have an interest in working in Mother/Baby.  :-)

That's about the only nursing school related update I've got.  Booklists not released yet, haven't started reviewing content and preparing for fall classes, haven't practiced vitals and basic assessment.  I really need to get on that...

Not much else going on.  Keeping up with the walking and running (did a non-stop 2 mile run tonight...first one since recovering from knee surgery and getting back to running), trying to keep kiddos entertained, doing boring, mundane stuff like cleaning the house and keeping up with the laundry.  Woo, I'm really livin' the life. ;-)

Happy 4th!

I'm up for a little challenge

Nevermind that it looks like school will be for realz kicking into gear this week, plus I'm playing catch-up on reading in prep for our first round of exams starting next week...but hey, why not add some more to my plate?

I first saw this over at Estelle's little corner of the Internet...and have since seen a couple other people post it as well (although I can't remember who all is taking part...)  Well, count me in.  I'm going to give the 30-Day Challenge a go.

I'm adopting Estelle's MO, though -- probably won't get a post each day, thereby not completing it in 30 days, will try for 60 days, but may not make that one either, may alter the order, may pick and choose which ones to answer.  It's not a formal assignment for school, so if I wanna take a few liberties, I'm gonna take a few liberties!

So...starting sometime later this week, watch this space over the next however-long-it-takes for little random snapshots of me/my life.  I can't promise anything majorly exciting or earth-shattering...because I'm pretty much a normal person with no OMG!! kind of story...but still.

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Quick school update (since this *is* a school-related blog, after all...): got 10/10 on my first journal for Community Health...ATI critical thinking test tomorrow...hospital computer training Wednesday so we can input patient data during clinicals...first Community clinical on Thursday at the local WIC office...  BUSY.  Plus I got my photo ID today, creating a need to stop by the local scrub shop for one of those little clip-on ID tag-holder-thingies (Pink!  What other color is there?)  Then when I got home, my sphygmomanometer was waiting for me.  Look out, world...student nurse, armed with a BP cuff, needing practice!

Alrighty, kiddies, time for this girl to hit the books and get prepared for tomorrow.  You have yourself a happy and a healthy.  :-)