I'm all nerves!

I've been up since 6 this morning, tossing and turning in bed. I've been waking up sporadically throughout the night as well. I can't sleep!

I finally got up at 7 and took the mutt with me so Jon could get some more sleep. I definitely could sleep more, but my mind is racing, contemplating what questions will be asked during the interview. I don't know if they will have all our information in front of them, so I don't know how specific these questions will be. I read over my papers last night, just in case they ask me about them. It's highly doubtful, but wouldn't that look awful if I couldn't tell them what they were about? I am one of the authors after all! I also made sure I remembered all the steps in the nursing process of care, since I mentioned it and compared it to the scientific method in my statement. Thank you to my friend Sandra for pointing out this similarity to me! I really don't think they'll ask me anything too in depth, but I want to be prepared!

I went to an info session last night after work. The purpose was to hear from representatives from all the sponsor hospitals and to ask questions, so that we can rank them in order of preference. We were greeted with bad news right from the very beginning. One of the sponsor hospitals had completely dropped out. It happened to be my number two choice. I guess the day right after the associate dean sent out those letters inviting candidates to interview, the hospital contacted her and informed her that they were unable to sponsor anyone. I wanted to bang my head on the table when I heard this because I knew this hospital offered the most slots in the past. They are the ones who stepped it up in the program. Soooo.......available slots went from 96 last year to 48. You should have seen the dropped jaws and uncomfortable squirming in the auditorium when the news was announced. The hospital that dropped out had 40 slots to offer last year, down to 24, then down to a big fat zero. Stupid economy! I figured maybe that the number of slots had gone down, but not by that much! Hospitals in the area are hurting right now. My top choice hospital has eliminated raises indefinitely. My (now second) choice hospital is unable to offer jobs to all the newest grads they've sponsored. It isn't looking very good for new RNs.

I've been reading message boards about the whole process at the UA and went into that info session almost confident. My impression was that the majority of those who interviewed got accepted into the program. The interview is a way for them to see how well you communicate and if the program (and nursing itself) is the right fit for you. I think I communicate fairly well and I know this is what I want to do! But last night discouraged me. I got there early so I was able to watch people as they filtered into the room. When we got started I could see the auditorium was filled to capacity. The woman sitting next to me and I were trying to count how many people were in the room, since these are all the people interviewing. We were told that 130 were invited to interview. And now from those 130, only 48 would be granted admission. The program went from being competitive to being really, really competitive. I'm sure if the hospital dropping out had let the nursing school know earlier, not as many people would have been invited to interview. I don't know that I would have been.

With that, I have to get ready. The recently purchased suit and shoes are sitting in the closet, ready for action. Off to the shower I go. Hopefully in a few weeks you will be reading the thoughts of a newly admitted nursing student!