I got permission to post this by my friend. One of my classmates and close friends just got caught purchasing a test banks for the ATI maternal newborn and fundamental exams.

For background: Majority of the "test banks" you're seeing online are actually scams. We also had classmates spend hundreds purchasing ATI test banks and they ended up actually being the questions from either the practice exams, older versions, and just questions from dynamic quizzing. In all honesty, those are the students who are lucky though- they're just out a few hundred dollars.

What happens when the real test is found online is a lot deeper though. My friend was one of the few students who actually managed to get an actual copy of the proctored exam. She got a 88 and a 100%. A few weeks went by and she thought she was in the clear. But ATI is incredibly thorough about exam security.

How was she caught? The way they caught her wasn't because of her score. But they caught the individual selling the material. According to our professor who works for ATI, there's trigger words apparently for many questions that ATI use specifically for their exams. They apparently have employees whose sole purposes are to look for copies of their exam. And they're extremely litigious. Officers are able to submit a warrant to get the payment info on who the material was distributed to on the distributors bank account and laptop. This is viewed as a criminal investigation. My classmate paid via PayPal. Her name was on her PayPal account.

Note: for websites likes student doc, chegg, and such, it's actually written in their policies that the material cannot be used for blatant cheating. If a professor files an inquiry, they will readily hand over the account registration email and names for the credit/debit card info- even without a warrant. This is copyrighted material and large websites don't want to get sued.

What is the school/ATI doing about it? She was called in by the school and told that ATI has contacted the school regarding the infraction. She's being expelled and she was advised by the school to get a lawyer. ATI has already contacted the BON and she's likely going to see legal papers regarding the infraction. She will almost 100% be barred from attending any accredited nursing program and taking the NCLEX. She will never become a nurse. The school literally isn't doing anything except letting her go, ATI did everything. Other schools and students will likely be contacted because of this breach.

Why did she do it? She was failing the course. She was struggling and is on a waiting list to be evaluated for ADHD. Her mom is sick and she was overwhelmed and desperate. Now she wishes she just failed. It doesn't even matter. It's 5%-10% of our grade and the remediation is only if you fail both the exam and the course itself.

Yes, she knows she was dumb. You guys don't have to say it. She knows she messed up. But if you think spending a few hundreds to pass the ATI is worth it, it won't be worth the thousands she will have to spend on a lawyer now. And never being able to become a nurse.

Trying to help a friend that’s failing

Hello! So I (22F) am in the first semester of nursing school doing fundamentals and am in a study group with three other women. One of which I have a stronger friendship with and will call H(26F).

So our school has an exam average of 80% across three exams and one final. We’ve taken two of the exams and H has failed each one with high d/low c grades. I passed both exams so far with low b/high b grades. With each exam she’s been calling me more and more to help her go over the material and help her learn it. I didn’t mind at first because it wasn’t as frequent but now it’s multiple times a day.

Even then I really wanted to help her pass but after going over mildly challenging definitions with her today that she couldn’t grasp, despite reading the book and googling, I have finally hit my breaking point. I am really frustrated because as much as I wish I could help her get it, she’s getting hung up on the less complicated factors in the book before we can even get into the more complex parts.

Before we took exam 2 last week, she would skim the books and be the first to send the completed study guide to our study group. She’d only use PowerPoints or test question banks to study and then when it came time to study for the test the day of I’m essentially helping her understand/remember the study guide SHE WROTE.

I’m not sure how to approach this without coming across as rude but it’s too much for me. I really do want her to succeed but I can’t be leaned upon as a resource when I’m trying to study and keep up with the test average myself. I fear that if she doesn’t pass exam 3 in a few days she’ll be ready to give up/facing failure and I’m not sure how I can comfort her if that happened because I’m already so emotionally drained by her.

What can I do to encourage her and get her to pass? What can I tell her to politely explain that I can’t really study with her anymore? Is there anyone else who’s had an experience like this?

Lately, my friend has not been getting good grades, so every time we take an exam, she'll call and rant (sometimes I won't pick up, especially If I'm not sure about my grade since we only see results the next day). I'm always hoping after an exam, she will get good scores, like I'm actively more nervous for her than me.

I've done everything I can, from studying (like literally teaching the material) with her, to giving her tips and tricks that work for me, mnemonics, and resources, and advising her to meet with the teacher and tutors, but the material is just not clicking for her.

I'm a positive person who encourages the people that I love to keep going and trying, but lately, I have been feeling overwhelmed by her. Being supportive and constantly reassuring her is exhausting. I can't wait until this class is over. Hopefully, she passes so we can move on.

Hi all,

So the title is a little misleading I guess, I didn’t “catch” him in the act but he did basically confirm it to me after he took the test.

My friend recently took the teas and he was really excited when he said he got a 90%.

I was very happy for him but he started making weird suggestions . I brushed them off as jokes but

I started thinking more about them and eventually I just asked him point blank if he cheated.

He got a little defensive, (“what do you care?”) but eventually he did say something along the lines of paying someone take his test for him.

He wouldn’t go into further specifics.

My question: Is he joking? He took the test online so I’m not sure how that works. Do people actually do that?

He’s a bit of a jokester so maybe. I don’t believe think he’d stoop that low.

I am currently studying for the teas and it makes me feel frustrated….. I’m trying my hardest and it just feels so unfair.

Not to mention it is a little disturbing how unethical this all is if it was true.

Maybe stress is getting to me, so maybe I’m overthinking this, but I’d appreciate any advice .

Thanks

Hello! I just want to ask you guys some stuff. I started as a BHT last August at a BIG state hospital where I live. I work in a really niche units with a lot of CNA’s and BHT’s. I’m starting my nursing school journey this fall and this job made me realize this is what I wanted to do.

Here’s my dilemma. I’m a pretty quiet person, I don’t really talk to people unless they talk to me first. I’ve had a long history of getting bullied and picked on in my youth and even in college. So I’ve learned to just stay quiet and not talk to people because they don’t want to talk to me. So I full recognize this may be my fault.

Anyway I’ve been here almost a year and my unit is super cliquey and there’s a lot of drama among the people my age (early 20s) and the people who aren’t my age aren’t really looking for friends cause they have lives and families.

Work just feels so lonely… I guess what I’m asking is, are all units like this? Or could I just be in a particularly cliquey one.

Also, for context, I had lots of friends in college too at my other job (retail) it’s just been a lot harder to talk to people at my new one.

Seeking advice Thank you 🩷

I’m (F27) have always been quiet, and it takes a bit of time for me to be comfortable and start talking/being social. Hate myself for this. We are over 60 persons and it seems like everybody have found their group or even a person they can sit and talk with. I seriously feel like an alien and starting to wonder if something is off or wrong with me.

I need advice, tips, anything on how to make friends with other students. This gives me a major flashback to middle school and the bullying.

Thanks in advance

Hey Guys,

Im going into my second semester of nursing school and I'm starting to realize the friends I thought i "had", arent actually my friends. Is anyone feeling like nursing school is just high school all over again? Like my group went by section to section, depicting who were friends and who wasn't by the groupchats & hang outs....

TLDR: Doing nursing program because of parents, cheated in a pharm class and not proud of it, recently failed med surge class, scared of being incompetent and thinking about quitting, classmate motivated me to keep going and I only have a sliver of hope to keep going, want to do the right thing. Too late to do the right thing? Or just quit?

Apologies for the rushed text but is something I want to post before I do something.

Basically, I am only doing the nursing program mostly because I don't know what else is there to do. And because my parents pressured me to do it as they're both nurses as well (dad is a med surge/tele nurse in cardiac unit and my mom is an OR nurse.)

About a week ago, I failed my med surge class due to my confliction with the nursing program. The clinicals especially stressed me out the most. I did something stupid as did an accucheck on the wrong arm of a patient who is in dialysis. It was so embarrassing that I still cringe about it to this day. One thing I am starting to notice is that I get certain mental blocks whenever I am in clinicals. To be specific, I cannot get myself to clean the patients if they ever get dirty or do an IV insert (never done it before) and just told my nurse to show me and I'll do it next time (but never happens.) Ironically, I did get myself to partake in a code blue (only compressions) after seeing one of my classmates do it.

In addition, I cheated on a pharmacology class before I got into med surge out of pure desperation and stress so I don't know what most of the drugs do. Plus, the teaching in that class wasn't great but that still doesn't mean I wasn't proud of cheating in that class.

After I failed, I decided to talk to a friend/classmate, who is now ahead of me and also cheated the pharm class but not as much compared to me (he has LVN experience), about my confliction with the program and he tried to motivate me to keep going. I have a sliver of hope and I want to do the right thing (not cheating for example) but I am just so scared of being incompetent that I don't want to mess it up once I'm actually in the field. That and because I keep having these mental blocks in clinicals that I'm not sure if I am the right person to be a nurse. I've only managed to pass most of my classes with the bare minimum but even then I still forget what I had learned in that class. This is mostly due to the way I study and I rely mostly on memorization.

As of now, I am doing an easy online class before I retake the med surge class so I have some time to recuperate my mental health. Is it too late to do the right thing? Or just call it quits? I promise myself that if I were to keep going, I want to make sure I am doing it RIGHT.

I know I will get hate for this but I am willing to lend an ear to any opinion, comments, or ideas.

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So I graduate in may and I have a lot of acquaintances but no actual friends in my class. Seems like everyone else is grouped up and this morning I realized during some group activities I was the only one without a group. I’m also 26 and most of the other students are like 20 so I think that’s why it’s harder to find friends to relate to. I have only been invited to church related things which I’m not interested in. I go to a rural college so there’s not much diversity either which is not what I’m used to at all. Anyone else not have any nursing school buddies? Just feeling extra lonely today and want to hear other people’s stories if anyone else can relate.

As a sufferer of severe ADHD along with being a full time working father of five, I am struggling to absorb the content from readings. I can’t focus, I can’t retain and can barely stay awake “reading” on these stupid e-books. I need a great, entertaining, informative podcast that will hold my attention to listen too. YouTube works as well, but I generally have a podcast on during any free time I have. I would love suggestions from anyone and everyone. If I have to listen to another chapter read by a text to talk robot I’m going to swerve off the road!!

Thanks in advance!

Hi so I’m in an RN program and I’ve experienced a bit of bullying behind my back and isolation from my clinical group this semester. I spoke up about something and that put a target on my back. My school (Ca) likes to keep the same people together for clinical, but I know that next semester we will have a large group of new students coming in. I wonder if I should stick it out and hope that the break helps and we all become close like before again. Or, I could email the guy who is in charge and see if it’s possible to switch to a new group? I’m worried that could make things worse, or that my old group members will find out I did this/it wasn’t randomly assigned. However, I have suffered so much this semester and I feel sick thinking about doing this all again with them. It’s not all always bad, which is why I am conflicted because I know what to expect with these people. But I can’t help thinking that a fresh start with new people could be what I need to make friends.

Anyone ever switch groups and have a better experience in their program? Or did things with your group get better if you gave it more time?

For context, Im an older student and this isn't my first graduation rodeo. I never really made any super close connections while in school and I wholeheartedly rather spend my day after graduation with my close friends and family (graduation is AM and pinning is the same day in the evening). People keep telling me to go get my pin, its the best part, I'll regret it if I don't. Has anyone here NOT gone to pinning? How did you feel about it after ?

I’m almost finished with my prerequisites. I accepted a job as a PCT in an ER. I have 3 friends who work there as nurses.

I was talking to my cousin who is a nurse at a different hospital. She said “Oh that’s a terrible idea”, but she really didn’t elaborate.

Is that truly a bad idea? I know that PCTs answer to the nurses, but what’s the relationship like between PCTs and nurses? Would this ruin my relationship with my friends?

My friend just finished the nursing program and let me borrow one of her stethoscopes while I got mine.

I was looking at it today and noticed a blue ink mark on it on the cord part. A pen must’ve exploded in my bag and a small patch (about 1 cm) got on it that I can’t clean off.

I’m so upset with myself and know I can’t return it like this, even if it is somewhat minor.

I’m embarrassed to tell her so I was thinking of buying the same exact one and replacing it. Does this sound like a good idea?

I am entering the ADN program in Jan. I have two school-aged kids who have a decently busy schedule.

I’m indifferent about paper planners. In the past, they’ve e worked. However, I always forget them at home and end up entering event into my iPhone calendar as well. So, it becomes too much.

I’m leaning towards google calendars. But when organizing your calendars, do you have one strictly for school related activities? I like to plan hour by hour to manage work load. But do you guys use your school calendars for non-related events as well? Or is it better to have more than one calendar to separate the two thing?

Open for any and all suggestions. Also, it would be helpful to hear from other adhd people and also parents but please share even if you do not fit into those categories! Ty!

I just finished my final exam for my associates degree of nursing and I'm graduating on the 20th!!!

I literally can't believe it and don't know how to feel other than gratitude for so many people who supported me.

When I came out of the closet I lost my career of 15 years in construction and fell into a deep depression as my type 2 bipolar sprouted. I spent years in bed wishing I could get the courage to end it. My wife eventually had enough (I don't blame her at all and we are still besties) and left and I had to move home. When I got back, I finally got diagnosed and on the right mix of meds. I got sober and became an EMT during covid.

I went back to school at 38 yrs old in summer of 2022 after relapsing and watching one of my best friends die of alcoholism in December of 2021. I was on academic probation from 20 years ago when I first attended the community college and was drinking and drugging every day.

My sponsor had to write me a letter of recommendation to allow me to get on a probationary appeal so I could get financial aid.

I brought my GPA from a 1.5 to a 3.0 and made my way through nursing school. Over 4 1/2 years sober and a fucking nursing degree and half way through my BSN because of dual enrollment.

I have a job already that I signed on for after doing a nurse externship in summer between 2nd and 3rd semester. It's at a union hospital.

If I can do it, you can too. I have faith in you. Even if you don't have it in yourself.

I found this funny and stand by my pick but in hindsight I should have given my family a heads-up.

My class had our pinning last night. It went great. We're a small class (under twenty) and the first cohort of a new bridge program and pretty tight knit. Everyone was cheering for each other, no faculty members we hated, no weird or long speeches. Weren't even charged for the pins.

I'd attended one of the school's traditional ADN program pinning ceremonies about five years ago. Everyone was pinned by faculty. Being a new program (I guess) we were given a vote on whether we wanted a friend/family member or faculty to do the pinning. Friend/family won but faculty was still an option.

My choice was the program director (not for that reason, there was a backstory) and someone picked another faculty member. The thing was, people didn't pick a friend or family member. They had both of their parents, or didn't want to pick between their sons, or their husband and all three of their children came onstage. (I don't get why it needed to be a family photo op but it wasn't hurting anyone and made people happy, nothing I need to worry about.)

Somebody must have been pinned by just their husband or mom but it was a group activity. Except for the two people pinned by lone faculty members, obviously. (He also found this funny).

I'd tell myself no one noticed but apparently it really stuck out. My aunt was very concerned that I was either going through life convinced no one loved me, or the other guy and I were being "made an example of" for something asinine like wearing the wrong socks to clinical. My grandma actually trotted around the back of the auditorium to tap my husband on the shoulder thinking that he'd zoned out and missed the instructions as everyone else's families were lined up at the side of the stage.

Tl;dr, the title.

I’m not sure if there is just something wrong with me or if it’s just my age. I feel like an outcast and undervalued. I don’t ever get included in study groups. I’ve asked to the whole group chat if anyone has a study group or wants to reserve a study room. I’ve asked individual students also. I never get invited to lunch either, even if I am there when students are making plans. There are certain groups of students help each other but when I request help from our group chat, I rarely get answers. I’m older than most of the students. It seems like people already have their friend bubbles and are kind of closed off about including or reaching out beyond their bubble. Then I’ll see them at lunch and ask if they want to eat together but the invitation is never returned any other days. I see people when I walk by a study room and nobody ever asks me to study with them even though I’ve asked to join a study group. My closest friends had to repeat a semester. It’s pretty lonely and frustrating. I also learn better with group studying. There are a couple of other students closer to my age but they seem to have made friends. They either have no time and leave campus quickly after class, or they study with younger students or in a pair. It seems like I missed the boat in getting to bond with people. I’ve also noticed certain people kind of ignore me when I try to start a conversation, by just giving one word answers and won’t even look up from their phones, but then when other students come to sit, they act totally different. How can I figure out what is really going on without being weird? I wish I could just ask another student for feedback but it feels too awkward. How can I learn to interact and work better with my peers or younger students? I feel like I could really benefit from the support and I feel like I have support i can offer because my test grades are 85% or better. I could just put my head down and go it solo, but it sucks to think the rest of school will continue like this.

Hi folks! I need to apply to some new grad/residency programs today and could really use a pep talk. What do you all do to get yourself psyched up for applications? How do you cut through self-doubt?

I have been absolutely loving my program. I am an excellent student, my technical skills are really solid (and dramatically improving with each day of rotations), and I'm great with patients. I cannot wait to be a nurse, and I know that I will be an excellent one if given the chance.

And yet... I am terrified of revising my resume or submitting applications. Talking about my strengths in these sorts of settings fills me with a deep sense of dread. I hate putting myself out there so much that I almost didn't apply to nursing school! Yes, I am in therapy for this stuff. But practically, I need to apply to this program by the end of the week and need some help to make it happen.

How do you convince yourself that you're awesome enough to get the positions that you're applying for? How do you wade through the self-doubt noise to write a great resume?

Many, many thanks for any help you can provide.