Brookdale Community College

I am currently entering Nursing 162 at Brookdale, and having just finished nursing 161 I can definitely say it isn't as bad/scary as people make it out to be. It is more work that 160 though. There is a lot of different components to the course so I'll try and break it down as best I can. (Just for reference, I did get an A in the course)

Lecture: very similar to 160, except more content. My best estimate to the amount of content in lecture is 160 + an A&P course. I'll be honest, I did not read all of the chapters that were assigned. A lot of people in my class did, but personally, I find that to be a lot of added work that isn't needed. I skimmed all the chapters, using the powerpoints and the syllabus as a guide, and then I only read when I felt I needed further clarification or if I wasn't doing well on a particular topic when completing the PrepU questions. Speaking of PrepU: USE IT! I'm assuming they introduced you to it in 160, but I can not stress how good of a study tool this is. It gives you the questions in the same format that the tests will be in, and it really helps with understanding content as it gives you rationales as to why your answer was correct/incorrect. Using it a lot will make all the difference in your grade.

Clinical: This was my first experience in the healthcare setting, so I was a little nervous. The first day you are kind of just thrown in, you do AM care and part of your head-to-toe assessment. The way it worked was each week we would do one part of the assessment, and build upon it each week, so a few weeks in you are doing a full head-to-toe assessment. There are small assignments in clinical that you need to do on your own time, but they don't take more than an hour or two and there are only 2 or 3 of them throughout the whole semester. Also, make sure you iron your labcoat and don't wear dark colored nail polish, my instructor was a stickler with that, and rightfully so- you are representing Brookdale so always look neat and professional.

Lab: There are a lot more skills that need to be tested out on than in 160, I'd say one about every week and a half - two weeks. Just study, and know what assessments to do before/after and you'll be fine. When you first see the list you'll be a little overwhelmed but as long as you go to the lab and practice you'll be fine. Make sure to go on TutorTrack and check availabilities often, because if you do not get a spot by the deadline, you cannot go to clinical. (I had a friend who spent the whole day at clinical, thinking she was ok, and then our instructor was called by someone in the lab and was notified that she had not completed the skill by deadline, and she had to re-do the clinical day.) There were issues with being scheduled on time in our semester, and if it happens with yours just make sure to speak up and tell the faculty that way they can extend the deadline if possible.

That's about all I can think of, just don't stress out and remember the reasons why you wanted to start the program in the first place. It can be easy to become unmotivated so just try and remember how excited you were when you first got accepted :) Also, if you ever have any questions you can always talk to other nursing students from other semesters and generally they are happy to answer your questions. SNA has a tutoring program available, and students wanting to join the honor society NEED to get a certain about of hours of tutoring to be apart of it, so you are getting help while also helping the other student, don't feel weird doing it!

Good luck! If you have any other questions feel free to ask!

Oh, okay- I did not realize that. I completely understand your concerns, you are going to be VERY busy. Brookdale has a lot of students in the same situation as you (working full time with children), and I've seen people who are very successful despite the time constraints that come with that. Actually, one of the professors that I had for 161 was in a similar situation you are in nursing school, working full time with children, and she said that she would get up at 4am every morning, study before work and the kids got up , and that was her study time. She graduated, became a great nurse, and eventually got her Master's degree. Not only are a lot of students in your position, but some faculty has been there too. You will have a great support system at Brookdale, and if you are ever stressed out the faculty is awesome and always available to try and help you however they can. Unfortunately, not being in that situation myself I can't provide much advise on balancing that.

In our syllabus, all of the books were required- the Taylor fundamentals, the Brunner med-surg, Videbek, and the skyscape app. The nutrition book you could get away with not having for 161 too, I only opened it once all semester and there wasn't any info in it that wasn't in Taylor or the powerpoints. Taylor and Brunner I don't think you could get away with going without, and you will need the online access with them because that is where you get the PrepU I mentioned above that gives you practice questions. When you go to orientation, they are going to tell you that skyscape is required (you use it to research drugs and interventions in clinical). Download epocrates (there is a free version) instead, and buy a hard copy of the nurses pocket guide (I think it's like $20), and you'll be fine without skyscape (although the faculty WILL tell you otherwise, I bought it because of that and it was such a waste).

Hi SPfutureRn. I am currently a student at brookdale and i am about to start nursing 162 in the spring. Your post about nursing 161 was extremely helpful and it helped me know what to expect. Can you tell me a little more about 162? Was it harder/ the same difficulty than nursing 161? How was the HESI? I know that it counts for 40% of your grade.. Can you share some tips/ pointers for that class. Thanks!