Advice from current students or RN school grads

hodgieRN · Feb 22, 2013

You could look up information on fundamentals of nursing. I would say to purchase the book and start looking it over, but the edition might change when you start.

Devon Rex, ADN, BSN · Feb 23, 2013

Hello!

Your first classes will consist of "Fundamentals of Nursing" and "Health Assessment". If you are able to purchase your textbooks ahead of time, do so and start reading. If you are not able to buy them, but wish to read up on these subjects... I suggest the Mary Ann Hogan's "Reviews and Rationales" series. You can find them on Amazon.com and probably at your local bookstores. The series come by subject or you could buy the catch-all "NCLEX-RN Reviews and Rationales". At this point however, I suggest to only buy the Fundamentals and/or Physical Assessment. Once you pass these classes, move on to the other ones.

You could also purchase them in audio file from vangonotes(.com)

Cheers !! :bookworm:

CrimsonAlchemist · Feb 23, 2013

Physical assessment, definitely, but in all honestly, as long as you study during school, a good program will teach you what you need to know. If you really want a jump start, though, I would find possible problem areas and brush up on those. Math was hard for me so I should have focused more on that. And fluid and electrolyte balance is really important because that effects everything and everything effects it.

MSKY · Feb 23, 2013

I was also eager to get a head start when I started my nursing program last fall. So I started reading the fundamentals of nursing required textbook. I read the first 15 chapters of the textbook. Once school started I realized that the majority of the chapters I had read, like 13 of them, weren't even covered in the program.

My best advice would be to contact a student who is already in the program and see if they would let you look at their syllabus. Once the program starts we were assigned about 3-5 chapters per week to review and read. Needless to say, hardly anyone has time to read 150+ pages every single week while in the program. But if you know what the assigned reading is then that would give you a huge head start.

schershmelshnac · Feb 23, 2013

Meds!!! Look up online top 100 or 200 most commonly prescribed meds. Familiarize yourself with common side effects, adverse reactions, nursing interventions and interactions for common classes of drugs. If you just know the basics for the classes that will help make the individual drugs easier to remember.

schershmelshnac · Feb 23, 2013

Also lab values: normal ranges for electrolytes, abg's, CBC, and liver and kidney measurements from cmp (creatinine, bilirubin etc)

Bouncyball · Feb 23, 2013

I would start with lab values. Try to learn what they mean, and what could make them high or low. Don't bother memorizing specific ranges because the normal is different everywhere. You should also start practicing physical assessment.

Devon Rex, ADN, BSN · Feb 24, 2013

I was also eager to get a head start when I started my nursing program last fall. So I started reading the fundamentals of nursing required textbook. I read the first 15 chapters of the textbook. Once school started I realized that the majority of the chapters I had read, like 13 of them, weren't even covered in the program.
My best advice would be to contact a student who is already in the program and see if they would let you look at their syllabus. Once the program starts we were assigned about 3-5 chapters per week to review and read. Needless to say, hardly anyone has time to read 150+ pages every single week while in the program. But if you know what the assigned reading is then that would give you a huge head start.

You had 3-5 chapters a week ?! Consider yourself lucky! :yes:

I had 10-12 chapters every week!!! :banghead:

schershmelshnac · Feb 24, 2013

The normal lab values are different everywhere in the real world but they are standardized for nclex and it is important to memorize those eventually

makingstrides · Feb 24, 2013

I was also eager to get a head start when I started my nursing program last fall. So I started reading the fundamentals of nursing required textbook. I read the first 15 chapters of the textbook. Once school started I realized that the majority of the chapters I had read, like 13 of them, weren't even covered in the program.
My best advice would be to contact a student who is already in the program and see if they would let you look at their syllabus. Once the program starts we were assigned about 3-5 chapters per week to review and read. Needless to say, hardly anyone has time to read 150+ pages every single week while in the program. But if you know what the assigned reading is then that would give you a huge head start.

Exactly!

Nursing2102 · Feb 24, 2013

One thing is critical thinking style exams/NCLEX style testing. I am not used to testing this way! I am used to just finding out the correct answer and that is it! This method of testing is pretty hard for me to get used to and I am always finding myself erasing and changing my answers back and forth because while the answers all seem to be right, they are looking for the BEST one. Also like others have noticed, try ordering the textbooks in advance by e-mailing your professor ahead of time to see what book(s) you need and go through the book to get an idea so you aren't going into the class without any idea.