[LpAngel81]

Hi all,

I'm starting LPN School at Monmouth County Vocational School on September 2. Is anynone else starting that program too, or has anybody else completed the program.

For those that completed the program especially recently approximately what was the total costs of the books. I have to pay out of pocket for my books (trying to get scholarships if i can for that) and would like to have an idea of how much it's going to be.

Also the uniforms (So expensive) do we have to wear those everyday or just for clinicals and are white sneakers ok or do we have to get nursing shoes.

I have class 7/8-9/08 excited about that worried about first assignment though.

If there is anybody starting class with me maybe we can get a study group together.

[LpAngel81]

Correction to my start date i'm starting class on Sept 4th lol oops see i'm so excited about starting i'm willing to show up 2 days early!!!!!

[notthereyet]

Congratulations to you for getting in. I started their program January 28, 2008. I would suggest you get your books from either half.com or amazon in the used book section. At first I bought new books but then I wised up and saved myself alot of money by purchasing used books. As long as they are the edition the school is suggesting, I see nothing wrong with buying used. Only purchase the phase one required books to start. I would wait to purchase the rest as you get closer to phase two.

Most of my classmates, myself included, only purchased 2 sets of uniforms (shirt & pants) plus 1 jacket. We were instructed to wear the uniforms everyday once everyone had received theirs. This is right about the time you start the one day per week clinicals, which for us was about a month and a half into the program. You can wear white sneakers or nursing shoes.

The instructors you will have are tough. This program is by no means easy. You must work very hard to stay in it. The last September class started with 50 students and by the time they reached phase one they were down 50%. Our class started with 32 and we are now at 17.

You can get a leg up by studying equivalencies and conversions. Metric system to apothecary system to household measurements and weights.
eg. milliliter, minim, ounces, pint, quart, liter, drop, teaspoon, tablespoon, cup, milligrams, micrograms, grams, pounds and kilograms, Check out http://www.hosa.org/natorg/sectb/cat-i/mm.pdf and scroll down to the conversion chart. You can also find much more on this subject by googling it. You can also start looking over medical terminology. In phase one you will be learning all at once, anatomy & physiology I & II, equivalencies/conversions(household measurements/metric), nursing fundamentals, nutrition, PPR, math, legal, medical terminology, abbreviations, and micorbiology. If you are not proficient in the following areas of math I would brush up on them. Adding/subtracting/mulitplying and dividing decimals and fractions, knowing which is larger 0.8 or 7/8, change a decimal to a fraction and reduce to lowest term, change fraction to decimal and roman numerals.

Many of us use index cards for medical term, equivalencies, etc. It helps with memorization. A rolling back pack is also very helpful. You can find an inexpensive one at Walmart. Attendance and tardiness are huge, so try to be on time and avoid missing class if at all possible. You miss alot by being out even just one day.

Sorry for being so lengthy. I wish someone had told me all of this prior to my starting class, it would have been extremely helpful. If you want any other info don't hesitate to ask. Perhaps I will run into you in Neptune come September.

Best of luck to you,
Connie

[LpAngel81]

Thanks so much for the advice. I do have some med terminology and A&P from when I was in school for certified medical assistant(i'm sure the A&P was no where near what i will go through for nursing though) I already have myself prepared to have no social life for the nexy 11 months or so, outside of taking care of my daughter. My last day of work in 7/25/08 and I am going to spend some of the time that I have off doing things with my little girl before I get into my study zombie mode. I will definitely be asking for all of the help and advice I can get from all sources including some of co-workers that are nurses. Thanks and good luck with the rest of your program.

[LPNEd]

Hi
I am also starting class with you in Sept.

The books were not that bad compared to other schools. I found mine online. They did cost some $$ but not as bad as where they want us to get them from. I think I spent close to $400 for all of them and they were new.
You can wear nursing shoes or the all leather sneakers. I'm going for the sneakers when we start our clinical work. I'll just hide my Nike's now.

Spend time with your daughter now. I went through Brookdale with med term, A&P I,II and micro. Plan not to have a life if this program is like those classes. I am working on my homework now, so in Aug. I can take it easy after I get a feel on how they run things and the tests within the program.
As long as you stick with it and put your social life on hold for a while you will do fine. Try and explain to your daughter that going to school will make things better for her and you in the long run. My son is two, I just give him a marker and he is gone, my 8 year old understands but you still have to give them time
If you are confused maybe we could get a study group going. I'll try and help but, each of us are different with our learning styles and we have to use what works for us.

See you in Sept.
Ed

[LpAngel81]

Hi,
I did find the books cheaper I'm getting the first set of books for about $200 on textbooks.com and the rest are between half.com and amazon.com. Thanks for the advice, I'm basically going to get 2 sets of the scrubs and alternate the wearing schedule. I'll get some white sneakers from payless and call it a day. I'm so excited. See you in Sept.