Just about to start my study - would love advice from all you experienced old hands!

[kelcook]

Hi everyone!

Thanks for this wonderful site... I am just about to start my first year of uni to become a RN.

I finished High School 15 years ago and just sat a STAT test to gain entry. I actually got a high enough score and was also offered a place in my course straight away!

I have 3 kids and we live in a very remote part of the Northern Territory in Australia. That means I will be doing all my study externally!

I'm pretty excited about starting but now have the dreaded wait for my materials to arrive in the mail (and that is only once a week!)

I have read alot of posts on here over the past few weeks and thought it was about time to introduce myself! So, hi everyone - new and old - and I hope to gain alot through this forum... I know I will, I already have... thanks! :)

Kelly

[Grace Oz]

i started working as an RN in mid-december after finishing uni, and work has reinforced that i definitely made the right choice studying nursing. yep, times will get tough when you're in the middle of assignments and exams or away on clinical rotations, but it is TOTALLY worth it in the end. how lucky are we? we get to do a really cool job, get paid reasonably well for it, and work a roster wherein we don't have to be stuck in an office 9-5, 5 days a week!

once you get stuck into the study you won't look back, even if you feel daunted by what you don't know, don't worry, it all comes together in the end (sounds so cliched i know but it's so true).

Congratulations Evie! It was uplifting to read this post. I'm SO glad you are enjoying your nursing and feel good about the decision to become a nurse. It's lovely to read these positive remarks. Keep up with the positive attitude, I'm sure you will do well. Naturally, there will be those days, but overall, I'm sure you'll stand by your present mindset. Good luck for the future!

Cheers...

Grace

[Evie]

thanks grace!

i am having so much fun working and actually getting paid for it! as a student nurse i was a bit worried but, you know, getting your registration is like getting your drivers' licence!! once you're on your own you just FLY.

i'm learning heaps every day and i love the interaction with the other nurses, doctors and allied health staff. even though the ward on which i'm working is quite heavy (it's general medical), i have a blast because i'm doing exactly what i want to be doing.

it makes me WANT to learn to understand my patients' conditions, and i know that by doing this year (grad program) i'm learning how to be a good nurse rather than being tunnel-visioned and only wanting to do all the exciting, high-tech stuff that some nursing grads go after straight away. there are some mornings when i am up to my elbows in poo by 7:30, and i think "what am i doinG?" but then even that has it's little rewards when i can clean up someone who has been incontinent so that they are more comfortable and their healing can continue (or they can die with dignity, whichever).

i think out of everything, though, it has been meeting new people. that is so much fun. i'm so glad i'm a nurse - not bitter and twisted yet!!!!!

[pmchap]

Congrats on opting to do nursing - you will find that the years will disappear quite quickly - especially with 3 kids. One essay done - another one due and bang the whole semester will be finished in a blink. Be prepared for some frustrating and confusing times - but rember that for every tough time during your study there will also be wonderful experiences that confirm to you why you have chosen nursing. Please do not loose sight of why you want to be a nurse - if you loose that then the spark and enjoyment in your work is gone and your patients can tell when you are feeling down.

Cheers and Goodluck

Peter

[esie]

Hi Kelly,

congrats on starting your degree, and I hope you get a lot out of it! I am also studying my RN degree part-time, I have done 3 years, currently in my 4th, with 2 to go.

I live in Brisbane, and did my first three years externally through James Cook Uni (JCU) Townsville, and this year I have transferred to study P/T internally at Griffith Uni (GU).

I found the external study great in that it suited our lifestyle and budget! However, I also found difficulty in staying focused, and I felt quite alone a lot of the time. Having attended internal university previously during the mid-90's, I was used to having interaction with other students, my lecturers, tutors, and various support staff. The main thing I missed was being able to sit down with other students with a coffee, and thrash out the hidden meanings in an assignment , having a joint panic about an upcoming exam :uhoh21: or celebrating that we got through a particuarly tough semester! :beercuphe Having said this though, the lecturers and tutors at JCU during our residential week were wonderful, they couldn't do enough for us; and at other times, were readily available for telephone or email support.

Best of luck Kelly, and if you want some advice or support, post! Been there, done that :chuckle

Cheers

esie

[Christine630]

I am in a similar situation..I have just completed my first semester of study with UNISA at Whyalla, SA... (I live in Port Augusta )...I have been in aged care predominately for my 34 years of nursing as an EN....I am attending classes twice per week at Uni and one subject externally this year...have just received results of first assignment (just on 5 weeks to find out if i am on the right tract :chuckle )...I am having difficulty with the report writting and ESPECIALLY the referencing expected in the course :uhoh21: ...as you can imagine, at my age (54 yo) I have lots of information and am expected to find references to anything I state in my assignments...is difficult to remember how, when, where I have gained life skills and now have to prove it ...my main concern is time management...I work 2 jobs, 7 days a week and trying to acommodate study full time is testing my organisational skills :chuckle ...I have to use my annual leave for Uni days, so by the end of the year I will not have any leave left for recuperation :rotfl: ...BUT,,i am assured it is all worth it...as an EN I am excluded from placement this year (this first placement is in an aged care facility)...I work in one of the aged care facilities in Port Augusta ...good luck and best wishes Kelly....hope to hear how you are progressing as the year evolves....kind regards..Christine

[empressiveblue]

HI IM AN EXTERNAL STUDENT FROM NTH QLD ,having started in january and going through JCU townsville i have done pretty well in the 5 modules i have done but am stuck on an assignment called learning to listen(intreractive processes,) anyone had to do this one yet or know where some good readings are. ive always wanted to do nursing and atm i am rattled , I wont let not knowing how to reference and do written assignments beat me, but yeah doing external is doing it tough in some ways..cheers