ANY Pre-Nursing Student Advise?

[OhAgony]

I'm a new member to the allnurses forum, however, I have been a lurker here for years and have always found the advise helpful and encouraging. I will be starting my first year of college (community) next fall. I would like to get a bachelors in nursing, however, I'm admittedly ignorant to everything from the terminology to the steps necessary to do well in nursing school and it all has me a bit overwhelmed.

Since I wont be starting college till next fall, ANY advise on material that I should be reading/studying this summer to prepare, volunteering, etc would be MUCH appreciated. Just any advise on what I can be doing this summer in my free time to make my college/nursing student experience smoother would be helpful. For example, I've heard that A&P is difficult....would it be wise to do some studying this summer?...and if so, what would be the best resource/book etc? Just any helpful advise that you know of based on your own experiences. Thanks! :)

[sandanrnstudent]

Your eagerness and enthusiasm are admirable! I hope they stay with you along the journey.

My advice is

(unsure of your age, you may be in high school still.) If you are, work extra hard to become a better writer. Poor grammar and spelling looks poor when its in patients charts and what not.

Complete a CNA course (This will get you into doing direct patient care and it's usually a pre-req. to apply to most comm.college nursing programs now. Also, it'll help you get a feel for being in Long Term Care Facilties and/or nursing homes. Also it will save you a LOT of money if you find out this early on that you do NOT like the field.) *You have to be a 18 and a high school graduate/GED to take a CNA course and become certified

Once you DO Get into the community college:

Keep your college GPA as high as possible (It will help you get into the nursing program).

Study for A's in all your pre-reqs especially English (you'll be writing/typing a lot as a nurse and need to know how to communicate effectively) as well as the Science courses (A & P 1 and 2, microbiology). The knowledge in these science classes are the foundation of nursing school. Everything builds off of the knowledge you learned in the above mentioned classes.

Sign up to take the nursing entrance exam (here in NC its the TEAS Test) one year prior to wanting to enroll in the program. (It will give you a feel for what you need to brush up on and also get you less nervous about taking it. There are books that help you prepare to take it but I didn't read/buy any of them personally.)

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hope this helps a bit.

sandanrnstudent

[knittygrittyRN, MSN, RN]

I agree with the above poster, but once you start your nursing courses prepare to eat, breathe and sleep nursing. I feel gifted that I have a support system so I don't have to work during the school year. If you can do that it will help you because it'll provide more time for studying.

As for resources, my school uses the Hesi as our finals and our exit exam I'm unsure if your school does the same. I bought the Hesi review book, and the Saunders Nclex review book and they're useful in preparing you for exams, the types of questions you'll encounter etc. I also bought Med Surg Notes (Amazon.com: Med Surg Notes: Nurse's Clinical Pocket Guide (Nurse's Clinical Pocket Guides) (9780803626850): Tracey Hopkins: Books)

it's a whole series of little pocket guides that are water resistant so if you're neurotic like me and study in the bathtub you don't have to worry about destroying your books. I suggest you look at them first to see if you really need any of them since you're only do pre-nursing courses.