Already got hw!!!

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Hey guys I start the program in about a week and a half and we got an email with over 100 pages of reading assignments already for the first week of class, just shows how intense this program really is!! ?

We actually were assigned a ton of reading/hw at our orientation. It was a 5 page paper, a poster, a 30 page outline, a lab study guide to fill out, 200+ pages of reading, over an hour of videos and over 100 dosage calc problems. All without ever having had a lecture and it is all due the first day! I start Monday and I am getting through it all.

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We started Monday and have already had 2 pop quizzes, an online quiz, and have graded homework that was due about an hour ago... This first week has felt like a month already :)

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Specializes in ICU/ Surgery/ Nursing Education.

Ahhhhh those were the days. I have to tell you that I am so glad to be on the other side.

Little hint, stay above the water, remember to breathe, and take on one assignment at a time. Don't get overwhelmed about the mountain ahead of you, just tackle it one step at a time. This can be done, trust me.

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We actually were assigned a ton of reading/hw at our orientation. It was a 5 page paper, a poster, a 30 page outline, a lab study guide to fill out, 200+ pages of reading, over an hour of videos and over 100 dosage calc problems. All without ever having had a lecture and it is all due the first day! I start Monday and I am getting through it all.

Wow! I'm gonna just be grateful for my 15+ chapters to read after seeing this. Good luck to you!!

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We not only have reading to do but we also have lab assignments, papers and preclinical assignments. All due on day 1 and usually assigned with less than 1 week notice. Welcome to nursing school :) fun fun!

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I've already been expecting all this but now I'm nervous! We had one orientation the week before last. We officially start next week but it is 3 days of more orientation, now I'm expecting more!

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

Welcome to the insanity of Nursing School! It's a LOT of stuff to read, do, watch, and write. The pace will speed up and slow down over the course of your program, but it won't let up. Whether it's a BSN or ADN program, it really doesn't matter. You're going to have a LOT to deal with. You don't want to fall behind, so if you can, do what you can to get ahead of the reading assignments due for the upcoming lecture days and once you're ahead, stay about a week ahead. As you get used to the pace, you'll feel like things are starting to let up and that's good! Just keep ahead a little bit and you'll be better off. The real fun will begin when you start having to do care plans. :devil:

Seriously, I honestly really dislike doing those care plans. My first one took about 6 hours to complete. :eek: My second one only took about 4.5 hours... By the end of the 1st semester, they only took about 2.5 hours to complete. Then 2nd Semester hit and we had to do 2. Eventually I got to the point where I could do those in about 3 hours total. Along came third and I had to do 3 and eventually I was punching them out in less than 2 hours for all 3 and inevitably I'd have to do two more. Needless to say that I got good at doing them. I still hate them with a passion that cannot be adequately described with words.

I also love them for what they're for and what they teach. Ultimately they become your "recipe" for taking care of your patients.

Oh, and did I forget to mention that's on top of all the reading and studying? Yep!!! That doesn't let up. One of my first emails from my professors were assignments for the upcoming first week, what paperwork we needed to complete, what fees we had to pay, and so much more! Then for the next 5 weeks, we spent huge portions of each day in lecture and doing skills labs galore just to bring us up to the point where we were safe to let loose on our first patients.

All that work and reading will get you to that point where you're starting to provide care for your first patients. Trust me on this when I say that eventually you'll get to the point where you look back at your 1st semester and long for those days when all you had was ONE med-surg patient to care for.

Along with doing all the assignments, reading all those pages, doing NCLEX questions that match up with the subject matter, and all the other busywork that goes along with going to Nursing School, I have one bit of advice. This is a process. Allow yourself to go through it and it's OK if some things don't make a whole lot of sense right now. This is like a jig-saw puzzle and you're starting with a blank slate and every time you get to a new subject, you will have more pieces of that puzzle laid out for you to put together. At first they won't often fit, but at some point, things will just gel and you'll see the picture that the jig-saw puzzle is creating for you, even if it's not complete. It will just make sense. You may not have a sudden "light bulb" or "Eureka!" moment but perhaps the light of understanding noticeably glows brighter and you just realized that it is. Perhaps that moment will happen when you're mentoring a younger student and you're able to answer a question that you didn't realize you knew the answer to until right then.

This is what you'll have to look forward to... but first you must start doing the reading and manage your time so that you're not overwhelmed. Just 100 pages to read in a week? 20 pages a night does the trick easily and might only take you 30 minutes to go through and another few minutes to review so you can absorb what you just read.

Welcome to the ride and it's going to be one that you'll never forget!

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Only 100 pages? Pfffft, that is nothing (tongue firmly planted in cheek) :sneaky:.

Back in my day (hahaha), we had 150 pages of reading for six different classes and subjects, plus two case studies, NCLEX questions, labs, group presentations, homework, and clinical rotation. And sewed our own uniforms. We were lucky to have time to shower before class. (Before everyone jumps in and claims me to be mean, I am being silly, not serious).

I just want to echo an above poster: Stay focused, don't fall behind.

Make the social sacrifices you need to make to ensure your studies are complete and timely. Don't be late. Always be respectful. Take personal responsibility for all you do and say. Listen, observe, see, LEARN.

There will be days you hate being a student, and days you will ask yourself 'what the heck was I thinking?'. There will be days you hate the world. All those days are temporary. The next great day is just around the corner. :yes:

Before you know it, you will have sat for your boards. And if you do all the things suggested above, you will pass your boards. And most importantly, you will be a well-rounded, educated, capable nurse.

Best of luck to all of you as you begin this exciting journey. I wish you the utmost success!

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Specializes in hospice.

And you walked to school in the snow, uphill both ways, right? ;)

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Barefoot.

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Yeah, until we figured out how to carve nursing clogs out of tree limbs.

We stayed warm by waiting for lightening to strike a tree to start a fire. :rolleyes:

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I attend the University of the Virgin Islands (yes- it's FULLY accredited- yes, in America:yes:)

Anywho,

we got an email for around 100 pages from our Fundamentals Professor about a week ago.

Then, during orientation our Health Assessment Professor casually (and quietly) mentions that we need to read an additional 4 chapters from that text, and "don't show up to my lab not knowing the skills"

Then our former Freshman Professor for Into to Nursing (weird paradigm down here) lets us know that we have a math milestone test during week 1.

School Starts Monday and I am up to my eyeballs in stuff I have never seen before - pretty much teaching it to myself.

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