Go Lopes! GCU nursing program- traditional. Experiences?

toy85 · Aug 10, 2013

Hey awesome idea! I'd like feedback too. Ill be sure to follow this post. Ill be at Banner Boswell. Are you at the main?

jarielle22 · Aug 11, 2013

Hey awesome idea! I'd like feedback too. Ill be sure to follow this post. Ill be at Banner Boswell. Are you at the main?

Awesome!! Yes I'm at the main campus but my friend Tina is going to banner Boswell :)

jaysn · Aug 20, 2013

Hi there. I found this website very helpful when starting at gcu so here are some helpful hints you may find interesting. I am a level 4 student and I can only speak for the St. Joe’s campus (I was only on the main campus for orientation) and will only speak to what I found helpful as everyone will have their own style.

Don’t sweat the massive amount of reading:

At first, I tried to read every assigned chapter before class (sometimes 5 to 10 chapters) and feverishly took notes while in class. Through trial and error, I found that I was actually missing at lot of what was being taught by trying to writing everything down. My solution to prevent burning out was to record lectures (so I could be present in class), only skim the chapters before class, and print the power points the day before class. Our lectures were usually a direct summary of the book so for some of my classes it was not necessary to even read the books other than to understand a particular pathology or concepts not understood through lecture (But keep this in mind: tests are based off the book).

Know what is important to read:

I found the ATI books very helpful. You will get an ATI book for each area of study at the start of each class. This was a life saver for me. What might take 50 pages to explain in the textbooks will be summarized in 7 pages in ATI. The ATI books are like cliff notes for the text book and I based most of my studies off of them. Sometimes they will contradict the text book but if this situation arises on a test you can challenge the question and cite the ATI book which the school typically honors.

Take time for you:

I found that nursing school takes a lot of time. I work one to two 12 hrs days, have one 12 hr clinical, and have two to three half day classes a week. Needless to say, you should find time to cut loose and see your partner or friends. Make sure you take some time to do something that is not school or work related here and there.

Learn how to take the tests and understand the fundamentals:

I hate to say it, but at the end of the day it comes down to how well you can test. Our tests were more tricky than hard. They will test your ability to critically think around a situation. Tests tend to get deeper and more complex with each level progression. Really understanding the ADPIE critical thinking model helped me out a lot. Just understanding this method allowed to me to correctly answer questions without even knowing the right answer when I was lost on a question. Also, get the Saunders nclex review book.

I hope that helped.

There is a lot of negative comments from students at GCU but what I have found is that people who are disgruntled or failed out are the ones that are upset and blame the school for this or that. I personally have learned a lot and feel it is a great program. Its not perfect by any means but on that note, no school is.

jarielle22 · Aug 20, 2013

Hi there. I found this website very helpful when starting at gcu so here are some helpful hints you may find interesting. I am a level 4 student and I can only speak for the St. Joe’s campus (I was only on the main campus for orientation) and will only speak to what I found helpful as everyone will have their own style.
Don’t sweat the massive amount of reading:
At first, I tried to read every assigned chapter before class (sometimes 5 to 10 chapters) and feverishly took notes while in class. Through trial and error, I found that I was actually missing at lot of what was being taught by trying to writing everything down. My solution to prevent burning out was to record lectures (so I could be present in class), only skim the chapters before class, and print the power points the day before class. Our lectures were usually a direct summary of the book so for some of my classes it was not necessary to even read the books other than to understand a particular pathology or concepts not understood through lecture (But keep this in mind: tests are based off the book).
Know what is important to read:
I found the ATI books very helpful. You will get an ATI book for each area of study at the start of each class. This was a life saver for me. What might take 50 pages to explain in the textbooks will be summarized in 7 pages in ATI. The ATI books are like cliff notes for the text book and I based most of my studies off of them. Sometimes they will contradict the text book but if this situation arises on a test you can challenge the question and cite the ATI book which the school typically honors.
Take time for you:
I found that nursing school takes a lot of time. I work one to two 12 hrs days, have one 12 hr clinical, and have two to three half day classes a week. Needless to say, you should find time to cut loose and see your partner or friends. Make sure you take some time to do something that is not school or work related here and there.
Learn how to take the tests and understand the fundamentals:
I hate to say it, but at the end of the day it comes down to how well you can test. Our tests were more tricky than hard. They will test your ability to critically think around a situation. Tests tend to get deeper and more complex with each level progression. Really understanding the ADPIE critical thinking model helped me out a lot. Just understanding this method allowed to me to correctly answer questions without even knowing the right answer when I was lost on a question. Also, get the Saunders nclex review book.
I hope that helped.
There is a lot of negative comments from students at GCU but what I have found is that people who are disgruntled or failed out are the ones that are upset and blame the school for this or that. I personally have learned a lot and feel it is a great program. Its not perfect by any means but on that note, no school is.

Wow thank you for all of your advice! I definitely will save this post and use it throughout my schooling! This helps especially with studying and the testing because I always hate having Togo through trial and error with my studying thank you for making it a little easier on me!