Calling all Paducah, KY Nurses!

About clinicals, day one or on day two, you will sign up for either Tuesday or Thursday, so be deciding with your schedule what works best. If you live closer to Mayfield then you can elect to do all clinicals there on either Tues or Thurs also. Then the instructors will divide everybody into groups for each of those days and will post them on the board in the classroom. Paducah groups will either go to Parkview or Lourdes or Lourdes. Two different floors you will work on. You will rotate through all three. Parkview clinicals start at 0700hrs and normally Lourdes is 0800hrs or 0900hrs.
Info about picking your clinical day. You have to do work the day before you go to clinical. You must go to your designated spot and get client info in order to do paperwork so you will be prepared the next day for clinicals. Parkview was easy to get info but alot of at home looking up drugs info and filling paperwork out. Took average 3-5 hours. Lourdes, I did client info once and I was at the hospital 1.5hours and spent another 3 at home filling all of it out.
This will all make more sense when you are actually doing clinicals but wanted to give you a heads up on time requirements involved. I had class on wed all day until 4pm then had to run and get all info for my clinical on Thurs. I didn't get home until at least 5 - 530 and still had several hours worth of work ahead of me. Did I also say we had exams on Friday. After working your butt off at clinical, you then had to study for exam. The plus side is I had Tuesday to study for AP II lec and lab. Got an A in that thanks to having Tuesday off.
Depends on how you want to do things, but hope this helps.

DRA and Mimib,
Hlinka is a good teacher. Just listen to her and study her handouts. I don't think I even used my book!! I heard good and bad things about Ballard. You be the judge on that one.

Garr on Wed nights, good luck. I know four people that barely passed last semester due to his teaching and info didn't match tests. There was quite alot of problems. Maybe they will be straightened out.

I know you both said you had kids, have you checked into childcare assistance? What about WIA? There are different programs under WIA which you may qualify for. I didn't my first semster but now have and it pays for everything and any pell grant money you pocket. That will be paying for my childcare. It also pays for books and uniforms. It is worth checking out and all they can say is no and you are out maybe one hour of your time. I know you have to apply after being accepted into the program. Need more info just let me know.

SHW129, Super Thanks! for all the great info. I am planning to apply for the child care assistance grant. Like you said, all they can say is no. We do exceed the income guidline, however, our situation is somewhat unique in that we provide over 50% of the annual income for a child (my wonderful stepson) who does not live with us primarily and isn't counted in number of household members. If they will consider that it will place us in a little higher income bracket....but we would still be over somewhat. In any case, all I can do is ask. I will only have one child not in school this year so that will help somewhat I suppose.

As for WIA, someone once told me about this when I was in school for Nail Tech several years ago. Nail Tech was not an approved area of study, but I'm assuming nursing is? Would you mind giving me contact info for WIA either here or in a pm?

About Garr....I KNOW! Every single person says the exact same thing, lol. I guess I'm just gonna have to count on my uncanny ability to deal with difficult instructors to eek out an A in this course. Believe me, if there was ANY other way, I would not have chosen him. But there wasn't. It was only at the last minute (after all of the classes were filled) that I discovered I would be able to do the Nursing program (kinda a long story). There was only 1 seat left for the Math class I needed, and only one A&P night class still open (and it was Garr). I jumped in my car, raced to Paducah from Marshal County, arrived at the advising center just 30 min before closing, waited to see an advisor without an appt., and was able to secure that last seat in the online Math and a seat in A&P so I would be able to fullfil my pre-req requirments before Spring. It was a close one. Its hard for people to believe, but those two classes were either gonna make or break Spring Nursing for me. Without em, I would have to wait 7 more mths for Fall Nursing 2010.

I thought we only had class for like half a day on certain days? Can you give a brief run down of what your hours were Mon, Wedns, and Fri? And are clinicals all day? And we have either Tues or Thurs off depending which clinical day we choose? Your Friday exams, were those A&P exams or Nursing Exams?

Thanks a million. I'm nervous about the Lourdes clinicals (never worked at a hospital) but I've worked at nursing homes for 6 years so I think I'll be able to adjust to Parkview.

I've always heard that Hilinka is hard but if you study you'll pass. I guess I'll see this fall!

I've never heard of WIA. What exactly is it?? As far as childcare my mom doesn't work and watches my kids while I'm at school, so I've never had to apply for the childcare assistance.

Anyways, thanks for your reply. I'm always digging for info about the program!
SHW129- You have any tips about how to make it through the program? Thanks!

Also, were any of those 1st 3 clinical sites total hell? I keep getting scared by all the posts about horrible instructors, mean nurses, and crappy clinical placements. How was your 1st semester of clinicals?

WIA (workforce investment act), once you have that accepted into program letter, call them and set up an appointment and they will tell you what you need to bring. All of these women I have talked to are wonderful. Nursing is on the list!! Depends on which is closer for you there is Paducah Career center, 416 South 6th St, 270-575-7000 or the Mayfield location, 1002 Medical Drive, 270-247-7171.

Hope this helps. It really does make nursing possible. If you call they will give you the income for family of XXX amount in household over the phone.

Monday was 930-1230.
Tuesday clinical or off or AP II lab.
Wed was 930-130
Thurs clinical or off or AP II lab
Friday was 930-1230

Friday was nursing only!! EXAM day!! Your AP II will have to be M/W due to clinicals on T or TH. Really look at when you want to schedule lab. This is the class that made some people have to choose a certain clinical day. (This is why I did mine on Wed so I could have one day off to study).

I had AP II lab on Wednesday and it didn't let out till 4pm so I was running with clinicals on Thursday!!

I enjoyed all of my clinicals. All three instructors are awesome. The time will fly by with them. It can be fun!!!! I loved the nursing home. Some people did not and that is okay. Some liked the hospital and others didn't. I thought I would love the hospital and really didn't care for it. Some parts of the hospital I did. This is a way to see exactly where you may want to work after ya graduate. Figure out your calling so to speak. (peds, trauma, etc)
I dreaded the hospital too!! It wasn't bad at all. The day flies by and it feels good to be putting what you learn into use. Go in with an open mind.

You not only have nursing home and the two different floors at Lourdes, you will also do rotations to different speciality areas. You won't go to all of them, just three. There is pastoral care with the chaplain, dietician, pain management, surgery, same-day surgery, wound care, out patient services and I think maybe one more I am forgetting. No, you don't get to pick!! They will assign them to you.

With the rotations thrown in there, you will actually do two clinicals at parkview and then one rotation, then two clincials with one instructor at Lourdes on TCU floor and then one rotation, then two more clinicals on the other floor (can't remember) with the other instructor and then last rotation. It might be less with holidays thrown in there. We had shorter time due to ice storm.
I know some of the rotations like surgery you had to be there by 7am and then others like pain management and outpatient services was at 9am. Most of the time on clinical days you were done no later than 2pm. Just in case, plan till 4pm. Because, if you do get out early, study until 4pm.

I tell you all this so you can let sitters know you might be dropping little ones off early. I thought all my classes started at 930 for nursing and didn't expect some clinicals to start at 7am. Had to quickly arrange my daycare schedule.

Hope this helps and that I didn't confuse you too much.

Also with the schedule, the first two weeks of the semester you will be in classroom five days a week. No clinicals and no days off. Tuesdays and Thursdays it was 8-12. It is boring. It gets to be long. Pay attention. The first test is that second Friday. It is a doozy!! After the first exam, you will know how to study and will see exactly what the questions are like. Good luck!!

I hope I have answered all of the questions but if not just ask. I wished there was somebody that I could have talked to before starting nursing 101. Good luck and you shall be getting your letters soon!!