Sac State Fall 2013 Applicants

U.S.A. California

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Hello Everyone,

I am about to send in my application to CSU Sacramento for Fall 13 and was wondering if there are any other people in the same predicament. Would love love to hear your experiences as well.

Thank you Nurseinthemaking20, that was very helpful! Now I can plan to study some medical terminology over the summer.

I will be interested to see what happens with pharmacology, because I am planning on taking it in the Fall.

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Nurseinthemaking20: Thank you for all of that information! :up:

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Specializes in Neonatal, NICU level IV.

Nurseinthemaking20 you did great but here is a little clarification:

-they said that once you get to nursing school you will have to get over being that perfectionist who always wants an A. One of the girls actually mentioned that she got an 80 on her first nursing exam and she balled her eyes out because she was so used to getting A's. They said get used to B's and C's a lot of the times.

-- This is somewhat true however; there are a few who still get straight A’s. It is doable, just not likely for the majority of people. Also, it should be noted that I know of many who failed at least one test. So be prepared.

-they also went over each semester a bit. The first is general med-surg, second I forget lol, third is peds and OB, and 4th is your senior preceptorship which is where u get to pick which floor you liked the best out of your rotations and spend a bunch of hours there learning.

-- 1st :

- Med surg = basic patients mostly stable. Topic in class include body systems and the many things that go wrong with them. Anatomy, physiology, etc… This class is your hardest content and time wise.

- Intro to professional nursing = Lecture, reading, project. This class definitely gives a lot of people a hard time; many people’s first B.

- The rest (3 classes: clinical practice, assessment of an adult, professional communication) = There will be some time spent studying for the first 2 classes listed for tests but the main focus of these classes is simulation lab and check-offs. The communication class is pass/no pass an takes little to no effort at all.

-- 2nd :

- Advanced Med surg = Critical patients (ICU, neuro, cardiac, tele). Hardest class of the semester just like 1st semester. Anatomy, physiology, etc… you will study a whole bunch. Say good bye to fun.

- mental health = Just like it sounds you will be learning about and working with mentally ill patients. Not a necessarly hard class but you will have 4 tests and there is a clinical portion as well (acute and community).

- Research and Writing intensive = sounds fun right? Doesn’t need much explaining, this class is just going to be work.

-- 3rd :

- Pediatrics = This is med surg for little people. Erikson Stages of development, how different ages present differently, anatomy & physiology… 3 hour lecture each week, clinical, 3 tests (difficult tests)

- Obstetrics = Postpartum and L&D. Lots of babies, mommies, and all that comes with them. 3 hour lecture each week, clinical, and 4 tests.

-- 4th :

- Clinical preceptorship = you get to suggest what you want to do… there is no guarantee! It is 255 hours of one on one mentorship with a nurse. Very challenging but also really fun.

- Leadership = 4 quizzes, lots of long lectures, reading, and papers. This class is mainly busywork.

- Community Health = Clinical 90 hrs. 3 major projects (hope you like group work) and 3 tests. Not the hardest class but it takes a lot of time out of your week.

-then they went over pharmacology….

-- Don’t waste your money in the summer. Take it as part of first semester if it is not already integrated. It is an online class worth 1000 pts. There is over 100 pts extra credit, the final is open book, open note, open internet, and the rest of the class is quizzes and 2 little “projects”.

- Also, there is going to be this test that we take like the second week into school that we have to pass with a 90 or better! It's on medical terminology, so they suggested getting a medical terminology book this summer and going over it a bit.

-- This is an abbreviations test. They are going to give you pages of abbreviations and the meanings and you need to memorize them. You get 3 attempts to pass with a 90%. Studying random terminology is not going to help. Just study a lot when you get the list and make flash cards.

-- There is also a Math test that you will need to get 90 or higher. Again you have 3 chances. it is on dosing calculations.

-lastly I asked about working while in the program. The main message was that the 1st and 2nd semesters are the hardest and that you should really not work. And to even take out loans if you have to. BUT there were two that said that working ONE 8 hour shift a week was doable. But that's it.

-- Yup… Don’t do it if you don’t have to.

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Thank you to you too, VintageSwagger! You've also been extremely helpful! I'm quitting my job right before the semester begins, and I don't think that's a decision I'll regret making. :cheeky:

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Thank you VintageSwagger!

I love all this information today, because I am feeling rather clueless about everything...

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Specializes in Public Health.

Like VintageSwagger said, the abbreviations test is not really a big deal. I meant to bring it up during the panel, but everyone was really enthusiastic for medical terminology so I didn't want to discourage anyone from taking initiative. It's a very short list, I can give you a sample of what's on it:

CC - chief complaint

CNS - Central Nervous System

c/o - complains of

CPM - continuous passive motion

CSM - circulation. sensation, movement

DNR - do not resuscite

DOA - dead on arrival

DOE - dyspnea on exertion

(I keep them on a poster on my "nursing wall", which is basically a wall in my room I've dedicated to nursing information, so I'm just typing the first section of terms I saw).

I think in previous semesters, a lot of people have gotten the list ahead of time from someone else they knew in the program if they already knew someone. Since you guys have a summer ahead of your first semester, I don't know how early you'll get the terms list, but you can shoot me a message with you email and I can send you more of them to study!

Also, I've been doing mentoring for a couple semesters, so I have copies of my patient prep writeups that I showed my mentee scanned that I got full points on, so she could get an idea of what type of information they were looking for, but you won't need that until much later.

And if you are taking pharmacology, there are tons of blogs out there with the quiz answers, and you are also allowed to use the internet to look up questions for the final. Just copy/paste the question into Google and more often than not, you will find a blog with most of the questions. The one I used was N14 Pharmacology but there might be others with more questions/answers.

You guys will be assigned a mentor at your orientation, and your mentor can be your go-to person for advice and questions too once you've been to orientation. I might be assigned to one of you! :cheeky:

Also - buy a planner! A lot of people use the "UnCalendar" because they sell it at orientation, but I didn't like it and honestly prefer a regular one. It's been a saving grace for me and a bunch of my friends in the program.

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Your welcome everyone. I did my best to remember everything that was said. Vintage swagger thanks for all the clarifications.

Vickeymarie- you were on the panel?! I was there in the back the one that asked about working while in the program.

Vintage swagger- for pharmacology, how is the final. To be honest I've also found a lot of the answers online for the quizzes. Are the answers for the final available once you type them into google? I'm not going to lie, I've put pharm on the back burner a bit so that I can focus on bio 26 and stats so I can't say I remember much from the lectures. So I'm quite worried about the

The final.

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Thanks SO much for the help everyone! This eases my mind on a number of points (like taking Pharmacology this summer).

If anyone else wants to join us on Facebook, the page still isn't searchable for some reason. Just use the URL facebook(dot)com, then add /groups/142312835955474/ and it should take you right to it.

So far it's an "open" group, so anyone can join or see what's on the page (maybe even non-Facebookers, not sure). If we want to change that later, we can.

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Oh, wait! It IS searchable! Finally.

Search for "Sac State BSN" and it should come up. The full name is Sac State BSN Fall 2013.

Sorry for all the posts about this. Moving forward...

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Joined the group!

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Also just joined! :up:

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Me too! I actually set up a Facebook. Not a crazy one, I'm not one to flaunts family/kiddos pictures online because there are too many creeps out there, ha ha!

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