Beginning Charity in January - advice wanted

U.S.A. Louisiana

Published

For all of you veterans out there who read this thread: I will begin Charity in 2010. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what I can do, between now and then, to help me get a jump on it.

I've got a 1 1/2 yr old boy & another baby due in march. My wife actually stays home & watches some of her nieces & a nephew, but I cover the bills with my lawncare business. Im going to be as flexible as I can for as long as I can.

Pochadad,

Wow, you do have your hands full. Fortunately, your job is flexible. The hardest part about the first semester in nursing is the volume of material and taking the NCLEX style tests. The material is comes mainly from the notes provided by the teachers, but you do have to take some extra notes during class. In pharm, I would retype or rewrite the notes in a condensed form and leave out all the examples of specific drugs unless it was emphasized by the teacher. That reduced the notes by 1/3. In Basics, after I studdied the notes, I would do the corresponding section in Fundementals of Success to get an idea of what the test questions would be and that really helped. Also the rationales for the answer are the most important part because you will understand the logic behind the right answer. The questions revolve around answering from the perspective of an RN and many are about what type of intervention the RN should do first. Often, there will be several correct answers, but you have to select the one with the highest priority or what is the best answer. Also think of "safety" when you answer. The test taking is the hardest part for some students so its crucial to develop your test taking skills.

I will check to see if you have your email listed, if so I will email you some notes that I retyped.

Su

Specializes in Eventually ER or flight nurse!.

Pochadad, trust me it is completely doable!! I just finished my first semester at Charity on Thursday and it is by no means easy, but also by no means impossible. I don't have the support of a spouse because, like I said, he is a soldier and has been gone 3 out of the past 5 years. My parents help a lot and that is the ONLY thing that got me through. But I can tell you that we started out with 285 and the last I heard before the final we were already down by over half. The first semester is a serious weed out program (no pun intended lol) and I know you can do it!! Any time I was too exhausted to study I would just focus on a long term goal...like graduating so that my husband doesn't have to sign the military again in 2012 when I should be graduating, or buying our own home.....and any time I swore I couldn't study another page that would motivate me and give me this fire inside that drove me to learn more. If I could pass along one method of my success it would be to learn the basic values and DRILL NCLEX STYLE QUESTIONS LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT!! I literally studied 4-6 hours 6 days a week for the first test and made a 78!!! I was crushed!! School always came so easy to me and here I was busting my butt and doing without quality time with my kids and the best I could get was the lowest C?! I changed my plan very quickly. I got "Fundamentals for Success" and any other NCLEX style book that gave a rationale as to why answers were wrong and drilled them like there was no tomorrow and I made 90 on Test 2!!!! If I hadn't done that I would have been like every other student who flunked out bc I found the thing that worked!! My clinical group started with 8 and only 4 of us made it through. Make sure to hang on and get ready for a wild ride and I know that when I am finished my NAC 1 semester I will be reading about you preparing for yours!! Good luck my friend and if you ever need ANY advice just let me know! I have a couple of people I have gotten to know in the class above me and they are a huge help!! It is a lot better than someone who has graduated or been a nurse for a while bc Charity and the instructors are always changing!!

Wow su thanks a bunch. If my email isn't posted I'll post it today. D.n.t.s., that's for the great advice. The more I get on allnurse the more support I feel, esp in the la school section. I'm sure I'll be hitting you up for advise this semester and throughout the program. Also, thanks to your husband for his service and to you for the strength and support you provide him.

@davidnikkitylerskye

Hi, I got accepted for fall 2011. I looked up the "Fundamentals for Success" on amazon, can you check the ISB# on the back of the book to see if this is the correct one? I think this this would help me alot, Thank you!

Fundamentals Success: A Course Review Applying Critical Thinking to Test Taking, Second edition (Davis's Success): Two Books in One With Bonus CD-ROM by Patricia M. Nugent Paperback $22.17

Product Details

  • Paperback: 402 pages
  • Publisher: F A Davis Co; 2 edition (March 18, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0803619219
  • ISBN-13: 978-0803619210

For the current/ future CSN students I will try to help you as much as possible. I am entering Level 4 this spring at CSN. True the staff and ..... changes at CSN, so grab any help you can while it is out there....The best advice I can give is DO NOT LOOSE YOUR DETERMINATION TO SUCCEED!!!!!! After tests, lectures, caremaps, etc you will feel like "what the heck was that?", you may hear a lil voice inside saying this is way too hard....BE STRONG & DON'T GIVE UP.

Good Luck....I AM OUT OF THERE MAY 2011 with 103 octane in my tank...lol

Errnintraining,

Congratulations!!! Great Job for Getting in!

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