Advice please..

mickey1234 · Jan 3, 2007

Hello, dont be worried, i felt the same way coming out of school, i felt like it was i waste of time etc, but once you start working a nurse all the information will come back to you, and i fill you learn more once you start working, trust me i felt the same way.

and always remember, always ask queation if you dont know

WDWpixieRN, RN · Jan 3, 2007

I'm a little worried too. We start back on the 16th, and I have done very little looking at much of anything. It's kind of like some of that info is in the back of my brain, but not much.

I plan to do some reviewing of clinical skills the weekend before we start back to refresh myself.

Best wishes!!

km5v6r, EdD, RN · Jan 3, 2007

In nursing you never stop learning. It is impossible to learn/remember all of it at once. Once you are out practicing you will learn more completely that which is relevant to the area you are working in. I have not worked with Ortho since school. I can give good basic care to a pt but to remember all the ins/outs of ortho procedures and care; I don't even try. If it should come up that I were to float to an ortho unit or have to deal with ortho problems in my unit I know where the experts are.

At this point continue to study, learn as much as possible, it is buried somewhere in there and will pop out at surprising times and leave the future to the future. Recognizing you don't know everything but do know where to find information is a major step forward.

School is intimidating and tough. It is supposed to be. If you can survive school you can survive practice. Neither nursing nor nursing school is for whimps.

Roseyposey · Jan 3, 2007

I am starting my 4/4 semester and can tell you, in my program anyway, you cover things over and over from different angles. We may not cover exactly the same conditions, but many interventions are the same, and things just kind of "come together." You absolutely cannot retain every little thing you learn.

hikernurse · Jan 3, 2007

Once you apply the information you've learned, it will start to stick in your head. Besides, they go through the information again and again throughout your classes. You'll do fine :)

moongirl · Jan 4, 2007

its funny, I felt the same way before I took the HESI at the end of my third semester. I felt that I couldnt remember jack about the diseases/meds/interventions etc that I studied back in the first semester. BUT- when I sat down at the test, it all came back. The information really is stored in your brain, it just sometimes takes a jolt to bring it forward, then you say " oh YEAH, I remember THAT"

the things I have to constantly remind myself of is lab values- simply because the hospitals I have had clinicals in have normal values printed on them as well as the resluts, with an indcator if the value is off. So I needed to refresh myself on the ranges for alot of the electrolytes, dilantin and dig levels.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jan 4, 2007

One of the reasons that most state boards of nursing require clinical time along with the book learning is for this very reason. It's one thing to memorize and learn this information. It's quite another to apply it to clinical situations. I promise that after you've had a couple of patients who come in with all the full blown symptoms of hypoglycemia you won't forget them, especially after you've touched the sweaty skin of someone who is hypoglycemic or attempted to carry on a conversation with someone who has a blood sugar of 40. You'll remember those experiences more so than the words "diaphoretic" or "confused" on the page of a book. Those raging hormones surging through you at the time you experience these things in clinical situations are the glue that cement the information into those gray cells, but good! Don't throw your textbooks away after you graduate. You'll still want to refer to them again and again after you are on the job. We all had to.

This poem I'm posting below is to help you remember one of the symptoms of hyperglycemia--polyuria, or frequent urination. Make sure you read it to the very end for the punch line. Have a laugh and good luck in your second semester!

PETE, THE PIDDLING PUP

A farmer's dog once came to town,

His Christian name was Pete,

His pedigree was two yards long,

His looks were hard to beat.

And as he trotted through the town,

'Twas beautiful to see,

His work on every corner -

His work on every tree.

For he watered every gateway,

And he never missed a post,

For piddling was his masterpiece,

And pissing was his boast.

The city dogs stood looking on

With deep and jealous rage,

To see a simple country dog

The piddler of the age.

They sniffed him over one by one,

They sniffed him two by two,

And noble Pete in high disdain

Stood still 'til they were through.

Then Pete to show the city dogs he didn't give a damn,

Walked into the grocer shop and piddled on the ham-

Piddled on the onions,

Piddled on the floor,

And when the grocer kicked him out,

He piddled on the floor.

So all the dogs from far and wide,

Decided what they'd do,

They'd have a piddling carnival

And see the stranger through.

They'd show him all the piddling posts

They knew around the town,

Then started off with many winks,

To wear the stranger down.

For they called the champion piddlers

Who were always on the go,

Who sometimes have a piddling comp

Or hold a piddling show.

They sprang these on him suddenly

When halfway through the town,

But Pete just piddled on and on

And wore their champions down.

For Pete was with their every trick

With vigor and with vim,

A thousand piddles more or less

Were all the same to him.

And on and on went noble Pete

To water every sandhill

Till all the city champions

Were piddled to a standstill.

Then Pete, an exhibition gave

Of all the ways to piddle,

Like double drips and fancy flips

And now and then a dribble.

And all this while the country dog

Did never wink or grin,

But piddled blithely out of town

As he had piddled in.

The city dogs said,"So long, Pete,

Your piddling did defeat us."

But no one ever put them wise -

Poor Pete had diabetes. :thankya: