Langara College, Vancouver: Nursing Students

green_tea · Mar 30, 2010

Yep they're no longer accepting any application b/c the waitlist built up; one reason being that some people postpone their sessions. So I considered myself very lucky to be one of the last applicants that got on the waitlist.

thenodoubter · Mar 31, 2010

indigo summer ,

are there no other equivilents for these electives like at bcit that is transferable to langara?

thenodoubter · Mar 31, 2010

You guys are so lucky to be able to start the program. I applied last sept, but I won't be able to start until 2013. It's just a long waitlist! How long did you guys stay on the waitlist?

It took me 1 year, 8 months to get into the program, i'm finishing term 2 soon.

thenodoubter · Mar 31, 2010

I wish I was 1/2 way through! Once I finish term 5 at the end of April I will have officially made the 1/2-way mark. This next term should be good - only have clinical 3 days a week. No classes if you complete BioMedical ethics before starting the program (which I reccomend, BTW). On Friday I was talking to a friend in term 6 who was taking BioMedical Ethics and he was saying it was hard to have all the nursing classes plus that too.
Term 4 is very hard, glad it's over. Now I have exams this week and I can relax (or find a job).
Now I'm just rambling!
Take care,
Erik

Hi Erik,

Good to see another guy taking nursing, being a strong advocate myself. I was just wondering, how did you find Term 3? I heard there is 3 SPA exams, sigh. More specifically, how was Patho 2290? I have been reading some pretty disheartening comments on the instructor teaching it...

Cheers!

chihuahuaman · Mar 31, 2010

Hi Erik,
Good to see another guy taking nursing, being a strong advocate myself. I was just wondering, how did you find Term 3? I heard there is 3 SPA exams, sigh. More specifically, how was Patho 2290? I have been reading some pretty disheartening comments on the instructor teaching it...
Cheers!

Well, seeing as how I failed 2290... it didn't go so great! :lol2: Had to drop out of nursing for 2 terms before I could get back in.

I think the teacher doesn't teach, he just reads through his notes. FAST! Too much info for one term. You really need to be self motivated to learn on your own if you take him. When going through the notes, look for the two point questions and the ten point questions.

For the 2 pointers you have to write 2 things about whatever the question is:

"CASEOUS NECROSIS"

and you answer:

1. usually associated with tuberculosis.

2. affected tissue looks like cottage cheese.

The great thing about those is you can write any two points you want (as long as they're true and from his notes)

For the ten pointers he gives you 3 questions and you pick one such as "from HIV infection to AIDS" or "Ouch, I cut myself - from cut to healed" and write down all the steps.

He also has a few m/c questions, not many though.

The formatting of his notes suck, so it's hard to tell if you are still on the same topic or a new subtopic, etc. Bridges in 2291 does his notes way more logically.

Sunga is also teaching next term, but I never had him. Apparently his lectures go off topic on a regular basis.

The school offers FREE tutoring for nursing students in Patho. It should be announced on Blackboard.

I can't remember term 3 SPA's anymore. I don't recall them being too hard. One involves med math I think. They might have reordered the SPA's since I did them.

Take care,

Erik

thenodoubter · Mar 31, 2010

Well, seeing as how I failed 2290... it didn't go so great! Had to drop out of nursing for 2 terms before I could get back in.
I think the teacher doesn't teach, he just reads through his notes. FAST! Too much info for one term. You really need to be self motivated to learn on your own if you take him. When going through the notes, look for the two point questions and the ten point questions.
For the 2 pointers you have to write 2 things about whatever the question is:
"CASEOUS NECROSIS"
and you answer:
1. usually associated with tuberculosis.
2. affected tissue looks like cottage cheese.
The great thing about those is you can write any two points you want (as long as they're true and from his notes)
For the ten pointers he gives you 3 questions and you pick one such as "from HIV infection to AIDS" or "Ouch, I cut myself - from cut to healed" and write down all the steps.
He also has a few m/c questions, not many though.
The formatting of his notes suck, so it's hard to tell if you are still on the same topic or a new subtopic, etc. Bridges in 2291 does his notes way more logically.
Sunga is also teaching next term, but I never had him. Apparently his lectures go off topic on a regular basis.
The school offers FREE tutoring for nursing students in Patho. It should be announced on Blackboard.
I can't remember term 3 SPA's anymore. I don't recall them being too hard. One involves med math I think. They might have reordered the SPA's since I did them.
Take care,
Erik

Wow, i wouldn't be lying if i say i'm a bit worried, even more now. Yeah, it's ***** that's gonna be teaching us next term. I had @@@@@@@ for both Bio 1190 & 1191 & i understand his style of teaching, plus i like that he gives you all the notes and his exams are from the notes. I'm actually looking forward to patho in term 4 but dreading it in term 3. Crap...guess i'm gonna suffer a bit in *****'s class...

They didn't do med math as a SPA but it was def. an exam worth 10% of overall mark for 1141 in term 2. I would imagine giving injections could be a SPA & maybe catheter care in term 3?

I believe clinicals in term 3 is acute care, which is subclassed into palliative & oncology? Was that the same for you last term? I'm wondering if i should try for Lionsgate even though i live in Vancouver, heard they don't like it when you keep choosing the same clinical placement so i'm trying to get the far ones out of the way.

Sorry for all the questions, i rarely bump into students from later terms...

Thanks for the hollaback Eric

chihuahuaman · Apr 1, 2010

They didn't do med math as a SPA but it was def. an exam worth 10% of overall mark for 1141 in term 2. I would imagine giving injections could be a SPA & maybe catheter care in term 3?

By med math I meant the giving injections SPA. Your scenarios will include doing calculations and they will expect to see your work on paper.

Erik

JenforRN · Apr 17, 2010

Hi Eric, I'll be starting Langara nursing soon =) Were there any books on the required list that you didn't find helpful? How about books that weren't on the list that you did find helpful? Thank you!

chihuahuaman · Apr 17, 2010

GenforRN,

Pretty much all your books will be used at one time or another. I think the pediatric/maternity books are only used in term 6. I'm currently in a quandary because next term is Ped/Mat and I have no intention of ever working in that field, but the textbooks cost $425! Too much for one term so I'm going to see if I can rent from a friend who is two terms ahead of me.

They try to spread out the cost of your text books so you end up buying them in terms you don't need them, but will later, such as Med/Surg and Clinical Drug Therapy, which I bought in term 2 but didn't use til term 4. They are my most important books now. They tend to get used more as I move through the program.

The "APA Documentation" laminated guide is completely useless and I've never used it. There is a .doc guide that is very useful (ver. 5 though) that was available in term one via blackboard, maybe they've updated it to ver. 6 for you by now? If not, I've attached the original. There is also your APA book which is the most important.

Some classes require that you buy an Iclicker, but there should be some for sale by students on blackboard for $20 (such as mine!) which is cheaper than buying from the bookstore for $40. So far the instructors who want to use the iClicker lose interest after a few classes but maybe by the time you start they will have figured out how to integrate them into the course without being lame. And yes, used ones can be re-registered to a new owner (I checked with the company).

Erik

5th_ed_APA_template.doc

JenforRN · Apr 18, 2010

Thanks so much for the APA template! I'm glad to hear that all the book will be used some time or other.

There are books being recommended for nursing students in the Students Forum, have you heard of the ________ Made Incredibly Easy series (e.g. Med-Surg)? I've heard that some NCLEX prep guides are good for supplementing nursing school material too. Also there's these pocket guides for different subjects (by Davis I think) and Rnotes which is supposed to be really helpful in clinicals. Have you seen anyone using them? Oh! One more question: do some people in your classes have PDAs with drug dictionaries on them? In the Langara book list I saw Davis' Drug Guide and Taber's, they are available on PDA. Last question, do care plans take many hours to do (at least at first)? Thank you for your help!

chihuahuaman · Apr 18, 2010

Thanks so much for the APA template! I'm glad to hear that all the book will be used some time or other.
There are books being recommended for nursing students in the Students Forum, have you heard of the ________ Made Incredibly Easy series (e.g. Med-Surg)? I've heard that some NCLEX prep guides are good for supplementing nursing school material too. Also there's these pocket guides for different subjects (by Davis I think) and Rnotes which is supposed to be really helpful in clinicals. Have you seen anyone using them? Oh! One more question: do some people in your classes have PDAs with drug dictionaries on them? In the Langara book list I saw Davis' Drug Guide and Taber's, they are available on PDA. Last question, do care plans take many hours to do (at least at first)? Thank you for your help!

I recently bought a "_____ Made Incredibly Easy" book (charting) based on a recommendation on AN, but it's focus was not what I was looking for so the book is useless to me. Buyer beware.

If you plan on staying in Canada, I think it would make more sense to buy a CRNE prep guide unless you are going to go straight to the USA, then a NCLEX prep book might be useful.

I have RNotes. It's good but I don't really look at it too much.

I have Davis's drug guide and Pagana lab tests on my PDA which are handy in clinical, but I also have Davis's Med deck that came with a CD so I have it on my computer as well, which has been the MOST helpful thing for clinical, since I have to do med research before every clinical and I can cut and paste from the drug prog to a word doc.

I bought Pagana Lab Test book because doing research at home necessitated it. The PDA version is ok for on-the-go but when I'm writing a paper that requires me to discuss my client's lab results in relation to their diagnosis and history and other health issues, the book version is really necessary.

We don't do "care plans" per se such as people talk about on AN. It's a lot more complicated than that. Care plans tend to be a small part of a bigger paper about a client, which you will do at least 2 of every semester. This term my first paper was 20 pages and the second was 19. I've heard of some people doing 40 page papers, which is a bit extreme. DMNPF. Everyone eventually comes to hate that acronym! lol! And yes, the papers do take time, but a lot of it is data that you have collected about your client during clinical, such as their meds and VS and equipment used in conjunction with the patient. That's the easy part. The harder part is the analysis sections.

It sounds like you want to buy all sorts of stuff so you can be as prepared as possible for nursing school, which I understand; I felt the same way before I started. But none of that stuff is necessary. The start of the nursing program will get here eventually. Everything you need, you will get when you need it. You're not going to fail out if you don't have this prep guide or that PDA thingy. In fact, you will do just fine with just the required texts. First term is really easy, actually. There isn't even clinical til term 2. So you have lots of time to figure out if you need any of the extra stuff.

Erik

(DMNPF = Decision Making for Nursing Practice Framework)

JenforRN · Apr 18, 2010

Hahaha I admit to being obsessed with prepping for NS, Eric! I think it's anxiety stemming from having no summer courses this year since I usually take a couple. Having 4 months of nothing is strange LOL. Thank you for your thoughts on the book I mentioned, they were highly recommended in the Students forum but, yeah, the majority of students there aren't Canadian. I'm glad I asked before spending hundreds of dollars. =)

I was sure we had to do care plans before every clinical, although the acronym you speak of sounds pretty bad as well. I've heard that pharmacology and pathophysiology are among the hardest courses but I'm leery of certain guides having American names for drugs, or even different lab values (I'm guessing here, maybe every country has the same lab values). I've bookmarked the Davis Med Deck and lab book for future reference Do you think the PDA version of the Davis Drug Guide could replace the book version?