Before I begin school....

KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN · Dec 23, 2015

I hope to begin BSN-DNP fall 2016. It will be a brick and mortar, 4-year program that is for the most part year-round. (Full time with the expectation that many students will be working while attending school.)
I have a few questions for those of you who either already been in practice or are currently in school.
1. Is there anything I can do over these next 8 months that can help prepare me better for school?
2. Do you feel pathophys and pharm were adequate for you? I'm so nervous I won't feel adequately prepared in those areas. (Although I do realize my learning is my responsibility.)
3. Did you feel rushed to learn important concepts? (This was my one big complaint about my undergraduate degree.)
4. What do you wish you knew up front?
5. Anything else you feel should be added to this list?
Thank you all for your insights, and forgive me because I'm sure these questions have been asked plenty of times.

1. Sleep, rest, take a vacation. Fix any medical problems you can, because you won't have time later. I'm d*** serious.

Also, speak with your HR when and how you can switch to part-time if you need it. And you will need it, trust me.

2. and 3. For 90% of my class, what we all learned in undergrad was not adequate. I had and so far have no problems, but many others literally study 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, and still feel rushed and not prepared.

You can buy some previous editions of "common" textbooks on Amazon and read them. I found it excellent prep to dust off my basics. Start from "Pathophysiology of the Disease" Lange, it is basic medschool book and will give you excellent concept base. (yep, NPs programs have NPs books written by NPs but you gotta know the same. Lange is difficult, but you get to accustom your brains for that level).

4. and 5. Make friends among your place NPs and even PAs and MDs. Many of them love to teach and you can even shadow a bit. Connections never hurt. Reconcile yourself with idea of very short vacation, no Christmas shopping and things left not dusted for the next couple of years ir so. It will get better later in, or so I was told. Get familiar and VERY, VERY friendly with folks in your place IRB committee.

Congranulation with decision, good luck with appying!

PG2018 · Dec 23, 2015

Enjoy the next several months because those afterward (during the academic training) won't be too enjoyable. For now, enjoy yourself. Exercise. Go out. Rest. Make sure the home is well maintained. Look for systems and habits you can put in place to automate your lifestyle and become more efficient. The 4 Hour Work Week is good although I don't buy everything Farris describes. Most NPs will tell you the physio, patho, and pharm training were inadequate. It certainly won't harm you to read about this now. However, don't let it burn you out. For some reason, NP focuses on PATHOphysiology without ever giving a sound basis of basic physiology. I assure you, the scut we took in undergrad was not adequate for this. For example, we're all aware of cough with ACE-I. Why does that happen? That's a blend of physio, patho, and pharm. NP school will not deliver there. It will not.

I recommend YouTube. Take the time to watch some of that stuff. There's all kinds of neat things about film interpretation, physiology, etc. Underground Medicine and Med School Made Easy are short, high yield vids.

Network if you can. I like to shoot the **** as much as the next guy, but I'm a total failure at networking. When I do meet other professionals they always want to talk about my pre-healthcare life so there's never really anything high yield in my meetings with them.

As I said, get in shape, habituate yourself to a healthy lifestyle since many grad students become obese, pimply slugs. Make your lifestyle more efficient. Go through your home, and get rid of buy selling, donating, etc. anything you don't want or need. Get that crap out of there. It'll pile up on you, and you'll devote your time to work and school thus neglecting the home.

When we were both working full-time, and I had returned to school we hired a housekeeper to come by every couple of weeks to tidy up, dust, mop, clean the bathroom stuff, and wash any dishes unsuitable for the dishwasher. Decide if you're keeping your vehicle and get it maintained regularly if you don't already.

When I started for a BSN (having already obtained other degrees) and was working full-time outside of heatlhcare, I hated life. There was too much going on particularly with undergrad nursing being focused more on busy work than learning. Grad school wasn't so bad, but I continued a moonlighting position in my previous employment and started working as a RN. I was in school full-time. Five years later, I found I can't sit and enjoy life. I can't sit and watch tv. I can't spend money on hobby pursuits. For example, I used to shoot a lot. I can't do that now. In fact, I can't get comfortable doing anything but working, reading (which I do a lot of), and jogging. I seriously feel uncomfortable without any significant downtime. My wife hates it because I don't like being at home, lol. I've outsourced everything; yard work, auto care, home cleaning, meal preparation. I literally get home, eat, chat with my wife, do what chores can't be outsourced, walk the dog, and go to bed to repeat. Something reprogrammed and the still life is very unpleasant now which stinks. I'm at work now and have had three cancellations in a row so I've been visiting various forums I frequent and am for some reason multitasking between this, Journal Watch Psychiatry, a Frank Sinatra Christmas album, my email, and my phone.

sailornurse · Dec 23, 2015

Hey Ixchel, what NP specialty will you be pursuing? I agree with getting organized, it will help decrease stress when you do start school. Make a spot for stocking up on supplies (TP/paper towels, cleaning supplies/ etc). I used to but a "semesters' worth of anything non perishable so that I did not waste precious time running to stores for stuff like this. Bought printer paper by the case! Have you got your study area set up? You need a place where you can leave your books ready/out that no one will disturb. I also agree that reviewing A&P, basic physiology would be a great use of your time. Get a good basic health assessment book though since you are ICU you are probably ok here. If you want to get a jump on advance pharm, that would not hurt either. Maybe differential diagnosis/diagnostic reasoning? I like Bakermans for labs.

Dranger · Dec 24, 2015

What I did was troll SDN and harass my med student friends for tips and hints. You what find much resource or material discussion on here like you will on SDN, especially since there is a lot of STEP 1/2 discussion.

I picked up and borrowed, Bates, Costanzo, Lange, Goljan, Guyton, Robbins and other basic science textbooks that med schools use to help me prep.

I am going to bet with 99% certainty for patho you will be using the green/yellow beast that is Huether and McCance. While it is an OKAY book, its not as in depth as the med school texts and is WAYYYYYY to wordy when explaining topics.

As Psychguy said, NP schools love to blend classes for some reason. Pathology, Anatomy, Physiology and the other basic science courses are very distinct. To understand each one well, you need to break them up.

WV-RN · Dec 24, 2015

Clean your house very very good because you will not have time to clean once you start the clinical portion of your program. Also start saving money now because it is almost impossible (for me anyway) to continue working very many hours when doing clinicals. ( especially if you are older or have family responsibilities). Please don't slam me for insinuating older students can't do it. I am speaking about myself being in my early 40's. Comparing my energy level from when I was in my 20's when I went through my RN program I can definitely tell a difference. It's a lot of work but worth it in the end. I am glad to finally be done!!

PG2018 · Dec 24, 2015

What I did was troll SDN and harass my med student friends for tips and hints. You what find much resource or material discussion on here like you will on SDN, especially since there is a lot of STEP 1/2 discussion.
I picked up and borrowed, Bates, Costanzo, Lange, Goljan, Guyton, Robbins and other basic science textbooks that med schools use to help me prep.
I am going to bet with 99% certainty for patho you will be using the green/yellow beast that is Huether and McCance. While it is an OKAY book, its not as in depth as the med school texts and is WAYYYYYY to wordy when explaining topics.
As Psychguy said, NP schools love to blend classes for some reason. Pathology, Anatomy, Physiology and the other basic science courses are very distinct. To understand each one well, you need to break them up.

We used that pathophysiology book and yes it is uber wordy. I think it's an OK text, but yes it leaves on scratching the head. I guarantee if you peruse a biochem book and read a devoted physio text that you'll be a remarkably better prepared student and clinician.