Your School Curriculum

[jfpruitt]

Hi All!! First off, let me say how I love the site. Anyways, I started class last week and it is very overwhelming. I have a BS in Biology and decided that after 3 years in the real world, that it was time to get my butt in nursing school. Hehe. I am very surprised at how tuff it really is. For some reason, I thought that with my background and BS degree that this nursing thing would be a breeze. Boy was i wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have already done 7 chapters and have our first real test next week. Not to mention the 5 quizzes we've already had. But there is a problem I'm having and wanted to ask all of you. Where does your curriculum and clinicals begin???? We have started with bedmaking and bedbaths. Not only do we have to learn and read about these skills, we also have to perform and get graded on them before we can even start clinicals next month. Our clinicals don't start to mid Sept. From what I understand, most new students are reading about these, but are not required to perform them and get graded. SO, what is your school starting with?? And what is your curriculum like?? Thanks for reading, look forward to chatting with you throughout the academic year.

[NYCRN2]

I just took an passed NCLEX this past month and there was indeed a calculator program that could be clicked on for use for any of the drug calculation questions, which was great since I had two of them.

My nursing program didn't allow the use of calculators which really added to your stress level unnecessarily during our dosage tests. I always thought it was so ridiculous that you couldn't use a calculator, but whatever, I got through it, I survived nursing school, and now I'm finally an RN!

On a final note keep practicing your dosage math and reviewing your meds because you'll need it when you go for your first job. I just took the nursing pharmacology exam for my first job and talk about tough! It was more stressful than NCLEX! Lots of very difficult math questions with critical care meds and lots of mcg/kg/minute questions. Thank god I was allowed to use a calculator!

Anyway, I passed it and now I'm finally starting work here in NYC at a very prestigeous teaching hospital next week and I can't wait!

[craff1]

Hey, you should no longer be a junior member, right?

[KRVRN, BSN, RN]

I think you have to post 20 or so times before you're not a junior member anymore...

[delirium]

I'd just like to say that my nursing curriculum sounds similar. We had to teach ourselves dosage calc from a book and take the test. 90% or above, you can remain in the program. Below that, you have one more chance, and then you have to wait and apply next year.

We haven't started class just yet... we start on Tuesday. Had a two day orientation... we have to read 10 chapters before the first day of class. Sheesh.

We also have to check off skills in lab before we can perform them in clinical. We have a pretest for each lab, and have to pass it with a 70% to participate in lab for that day. Then you do the skill for the instructor and she checks you off. If you want any practice time (and I'm sure everyone does), you have to do it on your own time, not during your assigned lab period.

We start clinicals in two weeks.

We have 4 hours of lecture a week, 1 hr 40 min of assigned lab time, and 14 hours of clinical.

[BrandyBSN]

yes, the member status goes by the number of posts that you have

BrandyBSN

[yellow rose]

About drug calc...

we had to take an entire class on dosage calculations. We did this our freshman yr (while we were still pre-nsg. majors) A passing grade of C- in the class was requried for entrance to the nsg. program. After we got thru that, we have to take a dosage calc. test every semester and pass with a 90% or better before we can begin clinical. Calculators are permitted after the soph. year. That is a very good thing.:)

About clinical- we did six weeks of lab b/f clinical where we had to demonstrate every skill, and were graded on it. Then, the first time we performed that skill in the hospital, we had to have our instructor with us, to be "passed" on it. I must say though, although they are tough, my instructors were awesome, always willing to give extra help on what to them must have seemed incredibly mundane.:)

[CarolineRn]

I had to take a dosage calc test on Friday. You had to get every question right. Miss one and you fail! I got 100%! Most people did too, and the ones who didn't in my clinical group missed only one by a decimal point. They get two more chances to pass.

[Kiwi Ali]

Hi, I'm doing a 3 year Bachelor Of Health Science (Nursing) degree in New Zealand. I'm in my first year.

for our first semester, it was all theory - Human Development, Interpersonal communication, History of Nursing, Microbiology, A & P, and Vital signs for our Professional Practice module.

2nd Semester is Care of the Elderly, 150 hours of clinical, Social Science (community assessment here), Knowledge in Nursing (ethics, advocacy, valuing etc), Pharmacology and the rest of A & P. We have to do 2 care plans in our clinical and a student learning log (like a diary but more reflective thinking)

Next year I think is med/surg and psych.

We had lots of MCQ's in semester one and some short answer exams, and review questions of the A&P, plus written essays and a video communication assignment. This semester we have 2 group projects and 2 verbal/visual presentations, plus a 2500 word essay.

Lots of fun!!!!

Ali