Hi Everyone,
I am just a couple of days away from finishing my 3rd quarter. Here's my take on the program... (in no particular order)...
- Like someone else said... get used to not knowing your schedule until the last minute. Overall, the staff is pretty accommodating, so don't get too stressed!
Things seem to have their way of working out.
- I have not worked during school. I don't have children and I volunteer a little. I find that working (for me) would be too much. But, some of my peers work and seem to be doing fine.
- At orientation you will receive a great deal of info. You will get your crazy schedule (which will likely get changed again). You'll get info on what you need for clinicals (dk blue scrubs, white shirt/shoes, badges, etc.). You'll probably feel overwhelmed by the info, but try not to get too worked up.
- During 1st quarter you will have various 4 hr (or so) clinical assignments to complete that are all over the place (primarily in Tacoma), but unfortunately, the sign-up lists for some things aren't posted until a week or two (I think) into the quarter. So, what you need during 1st quarter is a
good schedule book, patience, enthusiasm, and all of your organizational skills. The clinical experiences are relatively straightforward where you can help a little, but mostly seemed to be a chance to get your feet wet in a variety of outpatient environments. Some places that I went to included a school for hearing/vision screenings, a daycare, a homeless fair at the T-Dome, and an outpatient free clinic. There were more sites. In lab you work w/your peers to practice a full physical assessment. Overall, the quarter focuses on communication, basic clinical assessment skills, taking vitals, etc. The instructors were very friendly and helpful. Classes: theory, clinical/lab, and gerontology
- 2nd quarter expands on and nearly completes the RN clinical skills except for IV skills, phlebotomy, and endotracheal suctioning. Unless you have experience in the field, you might feel intimidated at this point because you're jumping into really caring for patients. It just takes a little while to get used to being in that role - at least it did for me! Our clinicals were at a long term care facility and the hospital, 1-2 x per week. Note: when you're working w/patients in the hospital you need to go to the hospital the day/night prior to clinical to "pick" your patient and collect data. Then you go home and complete TCC specific forms to prepare you for clinical day. This is a bit time consuming, but as with everything else you'll get faster each time. Classes: theory, clinical/lab, and pharmacology
- 3rd quarter... Classes this quarter include theory, lab/clinical, and finishes pharmacology. The lab course (as above) finishes up the RN skills for the program. Clinical has been 8 hrs x1 per week w/prep the day before. Everything (for me) started to fall into place this quarter. I feel like I am able to plan for and really go in and care for my patient(s) at this point with much less stress than the previous quarters.
Feel free to post specific questions. I haven't been on this site for a while, but now that school is nearly out for the summer I'll be on a little more often!
Good luck to all!!!!!
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