What to expect for your Fundamentals & your first clinicals!

[NICURN2013]

Hey everyone-

I'm about to start my nursing classes FINALLY! :) NO MORE pre-reqs for me! However, some people at my school are making me really nervous about what to expect for the next two terms. In a week I start Nursing Fundamentals & Pharmacology. What can I expect from these classes? Is it as horrible as I'm hearing?? Then, my next term is Med/Surg Class & Clinical along with some leadership class. What can I expect to do in my first clinical? What exactly do you do in Med/Surg? What units?

I'm just getting really excited and I guess I want some information from people other than those at my school... Sometimes they just want an easy ride, while I want a good education, good professors and I don't necessarily want it to be easy...

Any info would be greatly appreciated!!! :) Thanks all!

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

Interesting that leadership is so early. That comes at the end of our curriculum. We've got:

Fundamentals, Geriatrics, Pharmacology, and Health Assessment now

Pathophysiology, Mental Health, Acute Care, and Research Methods next sem.

Ob/Peds, Public/Community Health, Issues & Trends in Healthcare Fall '11.

Complex Care, Leadership & Management, Informatics, and Synthesis Spr. '12.

The idea, or so we're told, is that in the leadership and management class that we'll go out and run a department in conjuntion with the dept. mgr. for our clinicals.

[NICURN2013]

How many times do you guys go to a clinical location while in a class? So for Med/Surg? Peds? Psych?

[kbm318]

For my Fundamental class I had clinical one day a week, and I spent 4 hours at the hospital and 4 hours in the lab at school learning everything. This semester I'm in Med/Surg and we are at the hospital 20 hrs a week. I'm not sure how my school does Peds and Psych.

Good Luck with Fundamentals and Pharm!

[malaysmith]

I'd like to say, don't ever burn any bridges...be on your toes at clinic and in class because you never know who you'll be working with/for in the future. Understand that school currently is your job and give it your full attention.

Everybody has their strengths, use those people to help you in your weak areas. Volunteer often, keep an upbeat attitude.

As one of those older students...we all aren't trying to "fit in" or impress anyone...take time to get to know your older fellow students, they have life experiences to share that can help you in clinic (I also got to know a group of wonderful younger people who gave me new views to old situations...it's a give and take).

Everybody seems to hate math...that was my favorite part! It's just ratios. Find somebody who might be able let you see numbers in a different light and it might come easier.

Good Luck!

From a New Graduate RN

[Cuezee2]

By the time you get to maternity and pediatrics, you'll look back and laugh that you were afraid of nursing fundamentals and med/surg! With that said, I remember my first semester...it is daunting now knowing what to expect. I think the best advice is to take it one day at a time. Don't look too far into the future with nursing school, because you'll only scare yourself. Focus on what you are doing at the moment, not what will be happening next semester. And don't always trust what others say about a class or teacher, you may find that you really like something that most everyone hated (as I did with geriatrics). Use (or get) a calendar and write down every test, paper, quiz you'll have for the entire semester as soon as you can. I don't know about your school, but at mine, our syllabus tells us when everything is due. That way you will know how to plan/organize your time. Also, very important, make sure that you take care of yourself! Don't forget to eat and sleep! Try giving yourself mini school vacations. For example, choose a day not to do any school work or go out and have fun on a weekend night. Nursing school is intense, and I know for myself and other class mates I have spoken with, I often feel guilty if I do something fun or recreational; I feel like I should be studying. When I first started the nursing program I tried to spend every free moment I had studying, and after a year of this, I found myself resenting the program. So now, if I study really long and hard for a big test or I finish writing a big paper or something, I try to take the rest of the day off or reward myself somehow (shopping is always nice!). Med/surg is a really important class....pretty much everything you will due is based from there. Nursing fundamentals will teach you about the nursing process (among a lot of other things obviously), and you will write a lot of your care plans based on that. Just remember ADPIE!. I know it doesn't seem like it now, but it will go by fast. Before you know it, you're a senior and looking at graduation. Good luck to you and congratulations!

[rdlond2]

Wow! If I am accepted for Spring 2011, I will be the "older", "single mother" I sure hope I will be accepted for who I am! Nursing will be a second career for me only because it has taken me over 6 years to be able to complete pre-req's while working full-time and putting my son through college. I will be there to learn and finally be able to realize my passion.

[malaysmith]

You will bring with you the wisdom of your years! The fact that you have worked so hard to get to where you are will be a great asset in nursing school. Be yourself, don't get caught up in the confrontations that sometimes occur when you put a lot of young (and sometimes older) people together to work and you'll be fine. I was so pleased by how the group of all ages seemed to work together as a team...we all have something to bring to the table no matter our age.

[Major1]

Cuezee2

I just read your post. Could you please tell me what ADPIE is? I haven't started nursing school yet, but I am now curious as to what this means.

Thanks

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

Cuezee2

I just read your post. Could you please tell me what ADPIE is? I haven't started nursing school yet, but I am now curious as to what this means.

Thanks

Assessment

Diagnosis

Planning

Intervention or Implementation (differs by book)

Evaluation

It's the "nursing process." It seems like a common sense approach, but nursing school teaches one to use "critical thinking" through the nursing process via ADPIE to "care for" your patients.

My Foundations textbook had a chapter for each part of ADPIE followed by a summative chapter, lol. It's rather simple. Figure it out. Label it. Decide what to do. Do it. See how the patient responded after doing it.

I've always wondered who doesn't think critically when problem solving.

[cnnconstance]

Fundamentals and Pharm are no match for Health Alterations and Promotion,you can do it.If you are

using any books that have Evolve for the web, use it, and use the DVD's that are attached to the book, they are really helpful. I am in my second semester and only have 6 weeks left. Our clinicals were in long term care for the 1st semester, we had 4 weeks in OB, and 12 in ortho neuro. Clinicals are exhausting, we are up late on monday

doing prep till 1am then back at noon up again until 10 or 11 and back at the hospital at 6am. Our instructor is amazing and a really good support, not all instructors are like her. I wish you the best of luck!!

[EBibeault]

Your fundamentals class will introduce you to the world of the world of annoying and obnoxious students, nurses that think the sun don't rise 'till they wake up in the morning, and classmates that make you wonder "How did they get into this program?"

Here's the down low:

You will have AT LEAST 2 students in your class that have someone in their family that has experienced whatever pathology you're studying. So if you're studying carcinoma of the pubic hairs, guaranteed someon'e uncle's stepbrother from Utah has experienced it.

You will have AT LEAST 2 students in your class that will challenge the teacher on exam question(s). The question can be taken VERBATIM from your text and still, they'll whine about how it was "grammatically incorrect" or "the answer choices were misleading."

You will have SEVERAL students that think coming into class with Dora the Explorer lunchboxes and Spongebob pajama bottoms co-ordinated with Uggs are the gosh-darndest cutest thing. Just let them be. It'll take them a few semesters to realize why no one like them.

Everyone and their brother in your class will have a 4.0 (which is a lie).

Some students in your class will claim to "have turned down medical school because they feel they can do more as a nurse." (Truth: they either flunked out or got rejected from medical school).

The older students are either: single moms with a gaggle of kids, a second career individual, or someone who's in it just for the money. Once again, don't believe everything they say. They don't know how to "fit in" so they'll brag ad infinitum to make themselves look good.

Then, finally, the post high school kids that are not mentally ready for nursing school. They text during class an clinicals, complain about everything, spread untrue gossip about others, and they should just be home watching "Glee" because they have no use as nurses.

The End.

You failed to include where it is that YOU fit in...Or do you think you have a separate category all for your perfect self??You really need to prepare for meeting your patients because with the way you label your classmates, you are not going to make a very compassionate nurse. Our job as nurses are NOT to judge others. Tell me, have you even spoken to any of your classmates that you have so easily labeled? If you have trouble with the way the other classmates are wait until you come head to head with a doctor!

[EBibeault]

Haha Tyler77, you're totally right and I'm sure it's going to just get worse.. lol ImThatGuy, I understand what you mean.. I love patho and I'm really excited for clinicals. I guess I'll just have to get through fundamentals.. I am excited though. :)

What kind of things did everyone do in their first clinical rotation? Any funny/encouraging stories? :) I don't actual go to clinicals during fundamentals, but I have my first ones in Feb, so pretty soon! :)

Thanks for the feedback!

Post to wrong link..