Austin Community College Fall 2011 Hopefuls

whew! thanks that makes me feel a little better about the doasge calcs. Are the 20 multiple choice questions just a little bit of everything from nursing skills? also do we take the HESI in level 1?

Since your in the program already maybe you can answer a few more questions for me? :) do most students buy the littman stethoscopes? and what kind of shoes would you reccomend? thanks so much!

At CEC level one we had 10 questions I believe that were PO medications. It was very easy but make sure you know all your conversions. We don't do drips till level 2. For check offs we checked of on vs through manual BP and radial pulse. We didn't go through the respiration and temp thing. The first week you have labs for PO meds using the MARS and your entire assessment. You will be checked off on the entire assessment and the BP/Pulse when I was there. They may have changed. We did not do any hand washing or changing beds or ROM. However, do not forget your safety steps you will use this in every check off. People are very stressed with the check off. Make sure to do the assessment modules, they're long but helped alot. For stethoscopes Littman is good. For shoes I wear Landau comfort which is really comfortable and the back of the shoes comes up half way so I can kick my shoes off when I want to but also walk in them without being flip flops. I got mine for 30-40dollars at RR outlet mall's Uniform destination. I also bought the Briar shoes and did not like it at all. I wear my landau everywhere. I would go to a store like uniform destination where they have shoes from different brands and try them on for yourself because people told me Briar was good but I hated them and loved my landau. Don't buy the lab jacket, no one wears it. Also make sure you get the stated ACC uniforms and not another brand where its sky blue and looks like it because instructors and hospitals are very strict on the dress code. Also NEVER forget your badge. No, we do not take the HESI in level 1. You will in level 2. No one really studied for it because we were studying for finals and it did not make since to study for something that's not for a grade over the final which is. I did good and I know other people did do. First week is crazy, but it will get better. Remember to have fun and that Everyone who has gotten through level 1 has done what your about to do. I love my CEC professors. Plus we get unlimited printing in the library, a coffee shop outside, a cafteria, an outside patio area, large lab areas and really sweet stimulation technology. They have versant nurses there too so they have a lot of neat equipment You will also see a lot of med students, nurses and people in health care for any one at CEC.

Hi everyone! I have been accepted for the Fall 2011 At CEC I would love to meet anyone who will be there as well and perhaps begin a study group. Good luck to everyone who made it in and to all of the hopefuls.

Im in for the CEC study group!

Anyone have advice on where to purchase Level 1 books??

I get all my textbooks from Amazon. You usually can find great deals!

I just bought all the books yesterday. They came out to about $300 not including the evolve online thing. I'm gonna wait to buy that till school starts.

I get all my textbooks from Amazon. You usually can find great deals!

just wondering if you bought the recommended books and if so are they were worth it? also some people have mentioned buying the clinical companion and study guide for the med-surg book and also a saunders nclex book im not sure which one but maybe you can give me some pointers about these. thanks so much :)

Landau is definitely the correct color. The Cherokee color is a little off compared to the Landau ones from what I've seen with them side by side. I have been told that the Cherokee is fine by some people, but I would not personally want to be the one wearing the off colored scrubs. When they sold used scrubs to my Nursing Skills class it seemed like most of them were Landau. Total Uniforms gives you a discount for being an ACC nursing student, so their prices are actually cheaper than what Landau was at the Uniform at the outlet mall in Round Rock. Hope this helps!

Cherokee is fine. I have Cherokee and the color is not off. The teal color is just more bright compared to landau which fades easily. I have 2 Cherokees and 1 landau and I wear my Cherokee all the time. Pick whatever works best for you

just wondering if you bought the recommended books and if so are they were worth it? also some people have mentioned buying the clinical companion and study guide for the med-surg book and also a saunders nclex book im not sure which one but maybe you can give me some pointers about these. thanks so much :)

First 8 weeks of level 1 we strictly used the nursing skills book which for us was the Harkreader one. Second eight weeks we used the "Bible" which is the super large Med Surg book. Honestly, even though I had people in higher levels of the program tell me that was all I was gonna need, I am a huge nerd and bought some of the recommended books anyways. I haven't used them at all. The Mosby's Dictionary is still in it's wrapping and the same with the diagnostic tests book. I didn't refer to them at all in level 1. I have an iPhone 4 and I found a great app called Pocket Lab Values and it helped me TONS in clinicals and clinical homework. It not only gives you the normal reference lab values but also tells you which patients have low or high values. Helped me TONS! Medscape is also a great app to have because I used it in clinical everyday. Nice quick reference to see drug interactions, side effects, and dosing.

Definitely need to buy the Nursing Care Plan book because you will use that constantly and a current drug book to take to clinical. The Evolve case studies still baffles me. I waited because I heard from a friend that they didn't need it until second 8 weeks of level 1. Once the second 8 weeks got here, the instructors asked if we had it and showed us how to register online for it but we NEVER used it. I still don't know what it will be used for.

I bought the newest edition of the Saunders NCLEX Review and that is something I did use in the second 8 weeks to help review for the tests but not a necessity.

Hope this helps you guys!

First 8 weeks of level 1 we strictly used the nursing skills book which for us was the Harkreader one. Second eight weeks we used the "Bible" which is the super large Med Surg book. Honestly, even though I had people in higher levels of the program tell me that was all I was gonna need, I am a huge nerd and bought some of the recommended books anyways. I haven't used them at all. The Mosby's Dictionary is still in it's wrapping and the same with the diagnostic tests book. I didn't refer to them at all in level 1. I have an iPhone 4 and I found a great app called Pocket Lab Values and it helped me TONS in clinicals and clinical homework. It not only gives you the normal reference lab values but also tells you which patients have low or high values. Helped me TONS! Medscape is also a great app to have because I used it in clinical everyday. Nice quick reference to see drug interactions, side effects, and dosing.

Definitely need to buy the Nursing Care Plan book because you will use that constantly and a current drug book to take to clinical. The Evolve case studies still baffles me. I waited because I heard from a friend that they didn't need it until second 8 weeks of level 1. Once the second 8 weeks got here, the instructors asked if we had it and showed us how to register online for it but we NEVER used it. I still don't know what it will be used for.

I bought the newest edition of the Saunders NCLEX Review and that is something I did use in the second 8 weeks to help review for the tests but not a necessity.

Hope this helps you guys!

Thanks for all the info! it really helps, also i was reading the handboook yesterday and it was saying that even though acc does not do a drug test that the clinical sites may which i expected, im just wondering if you did how much does that costs also, ive never taken one so i have no idea how much they are and im trying to figure out how much everything is going to cost so i can be prepared! thanks so much!