it's been 2 years and a few months since i graduated from bc and i can tell you that it was not an easy road. i definitely do not recommend having a baby in the middle of the program!
i wish calculators were allowed in the math exams-- even though it has been quite sometime since i graduated from school-- i still to this day cannot do a ratio proportion math problem in a calculator when i am at work!! i don't know why, i don't get it--- cuz i never did it that way in school........i see my other co-workers using the calculator so fast with ease just like how i type --- they went to schools where calculators were allowed............ the explanation that we always got was "what if there is no calculators around"......... but in the nclex-rn exam they are allowed.
a good advice i would give to all the people starting the program is to practice practice practice that math every day before the exam, and at least 2 weeks before the math exams. at the nursing lab, they usually have tons of practice sheets that you can do-- even if you already did those set of questions, do it again and again.
be on time to class---- it could mean a whole lot if you are there on time all the time, and if something happens in the road one day that its out of your control, the teacher will usually be understanding to you..... i used to leave my house at 7am and got there at 8am every day, i used to sit infront.
practice question taking with nclex-rn exam books! that is so helpful because usually the questions are so detailed, so when you get to the test you feel (kinda) that the test is easier.
don't get into any drama or get too personal with the other students. you never know if you have a backstabber in the room, or a person who will cheat with your paper and said that you were the one who's cheating.... didn't happen to me, but i saw that happening to my classmates.
study your hardest, and make your own notes-- and even type them if you have to. i used to type my notes and call them "highlights"... i would read and read and read, and write on my slides, then i would go back and type whatever point i thought was important for the topics, and i would read that over and over again.
hospitals-- well at least mine-- loves nursing students, so they get hired easily as nursing assistants. before i knew anything about nursing, i became a medical assistant, and started working at the hospital where i am now.
the new nurses that worked as nursing assistants found positions at the hospital right away-- as well as some classmates that worked as nursing assistants at other hospitals.
so when i passed boards, i found a job available right away-- it was a night shift position, but it's ok because i make more $$
i did not use day care in broward because, i had my mom-- and who else will give take care of my child with more love, care and tenderness than my own mother?? so she's 3 now, and my mom still takes care of her.
nurses are needed everywhere== and if you have good interviewing skills and seem eager to get a job, you will find it!
i can apply as a nursing assistant once i finish the first semester, even though i am not certified
greata cuz when iaske the advisor at central he said that was not true...So i guess that gives me hope to at least work part time
Thanks
what's not true??
that you won't get hired as a nursing assistant after the first semester??
When I was in school, there was a handfull of people who worked as assistants at memorial regional, either per-diem or part time.
some were only sitters-- which meant that they sat in the room with the patient all day watching them, making sure they didn't come out of bed, or did their baths and fed them, while they had their books at hand.
You don't need a certificate stating that you can do basic nursing skills-- after your first semester of nursing school.
One of my friends was hired, and he didn't even finish his first semester of nursing school, they asked him to come back after receiving his grades of first semester!
It could be competetive, but everything is worth a try.
i was saying, what the lady in the office said was not true after hearing what you said. And what you said make since and i believe you.. So that is why i said, Now i can have hope in getting a job at the hospital as a NA while in nursing school.. :loveya:
MaxAttack, BSN, RN
563 Posts
Thank you so much, I'll definitely have to start looking into NA