My Year of Lpn School

hello ladies, i was just reading this thread and you all have given me inspiration as well as fear.
i haven't take the entrance exam yet (april) but i thought i would get as much information as i could online. i live in new jersey and the program i am applying for is evening (20 month). it will be tough cause its weeknights from 5:30-10 and i still work full time during the day. **that is if i get in** sometimes i wonder how i will ever pull it off. look forward to talking to all of you in the near future!!! xoxoxo

LOL- We are not all ladies (or female) here. I'm in NJ too - where will you be applying hair?

thanks ladyquinn! almost sounded like what i say to my daughter (she's in college) when she's having a tough time with a class. lol luv it.....i just need a bit of smacking around sometimes. or maybe its cause im so used to my daily rituals that im scared (and nervous) of change....

and to ddad - whoops sorry that wasn't intentional!

Hey ladies who are in the program, just wondering if you guys have been to college b4? I'm freakin out a lil bit by the things that are being said here. I have my BA so I know school is stressful, especially since I was a single mom at the time. I know it's fast and everything, but is it like regular college, or even more crazy?? Please help so I know I will be able to handle this. Also, is everyone in cc or any vocational schools? (im in CA)

I finished 2 weeks ago! Yey!
But have yet to take the exit exam, so not a graduate yet. boo....

Boy, it sure has been an INTENSE 12 months of my life! Our program was divided into 4 terms, with 1 week long break in between. And believe me, that 1 week seemed a looooooong time.

May I add that this opportunity taught me a lot about my character and willingness to commit to such a career and the people. I've matured more during the last year than the rest combined. I've seen and dealt with all sorts of things, but none I regret because they were all extremely wonderful experiences. I've become more understanding and caring as the world needs more loving.

But boy, it sure was rough and tough. Waking up at the break of dawn to go to the hospital. Freaking out to Code Blue and running to my patients' rooms, praying they were ok. Getting yelled at by family members for not being able to answer their questions. Or getting yelled at by the instructor for getting the charts mixed up. But the worst? Getting yelled at by the patient him/herself for not letting him/her go home. Thank goodness I never had to deal with the doctors! Phew. And the horror of taking a test on a weekly basis!

My best friend was caffeine, and sleep, my best lover ever.

Read, review, read, review. It's the best thing I can recommend. I regret not reading beforehand and never knowing what the intructors were talking about (a lesson I never find myself learning time and time again). Therefore my notes were all coded and cryptical, to only find out later at home exactly what they were talking about, but by then, it was way too late to ask questions because in the next class?! we were already starting a new body system. I think we were doing a body system every week or week and a half. And during clinicals, pay a lot of attention, even to the smallest details. If you are unsure, don't be afraid to ask questions. Some nurses are intimidating and get easily annoyed if you follow them around, but still ask! If you don't ask or volunteer, you've got tons to lose because at the end of the day, how often do you get to put an NG tube in...or insert foley cath...or observe a parecentesis...or see a child birth...??

Good luck y'all. And savor each moment and opportunity, because the program will be over before you know it!

sincerest apologies to NursingLadyQuinn...
didn't mean to write so much!
I got so carried away...

Thank you all for sharing your experiences.

LadyQuinn, I have been out of school for about a century now and need a lot of refreshing! I have several work books and have been brushing up on my math and sciences, also I have a few NET books. Question .... do all NET tests have the same format? Chemistry and or Physics, etc. or are the subject different for each?
I took and passed a test for a LPN program that I will not be attending, they stressed that it was not the NET. That test was just Reading Comp, Critical Thinking and Math.