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xara
4 Posts
Hi
All of the teachers allowed recording.
------------- is the Pharm teacher. There is an online homework/quiz every week which adds up to around 10 pts of the overall grade, can mean the difference between an A and a B. So be sure to do it before the deadline. Very approachable. Be sure to review the Evolve questions and the online weekly quizzes before his big exams - they will help you ALOT. Take good notes and you will not have to crack the book.
------------------------ does the first semester skills course. She can get exasperated by students who don't prepare for the class, but she is fair. No one failed out in my cohort. So just try to do some of the reading before class. She is more than willing to demonstrate a skill more than once if you are unsure of it. And will answer any questions you have.
If you do make an error during a skills check off, so long as you can "get out it" then you will pass the check off. For example let's say you dirty your sterile gloves. If you had the presence of mind to have grabbed an extra set when you were getting your supplies ready, you can just take off that dirty pair, wash your hands, and reglove and continue through the checkoff. You will be okay. So don't get flustered.. take your time and stay calm. If you go to Laguna Honda you will have -------------------- for your instructor. The preclinical meeting when you go over Pathos is extensive, so be prepared for that. More on Pathos further down.
----------------- covers a lot of what you will be tested on in lecture but she also uses the book quite a bit, she'll tell you what you need to review on your own.
You could probably eke out a B or high C on her tests from lecture without reading. But you don't want to be stressed, or worse fail, so be sure to do the reading for her class. Know your nursing theory / the new guidelines for 2020 etc., for her tests.
---------------- is very knowledgeable. Her tests are directly from her lectures, take good notes and you will do fine on her tests. I had her for clinicals, lots of hands on experience, She will be sure that you place IVs on each other. But she can be tough, I think two students ended up crying during her clinicals, so prepare properly by doing good pathos, and keep your composure.
----------------------- also does lecture and clinicals. She has her lectures online which you are to listen to prior to class. Then she repeats the exact same lecture in class so you hear it twice. She talks in a monotone, so drink some coffee! She can also be a bit tough in clinicals but she too gives you lots of hands on training.
--------------------- is great, knowledgeable, funny. Didn't have her for clinical but those who did raved about her. Very supportive. Can't say anything about her testing as she started teaching in class after we went through 1st semester.
There are a lot of different clinical instructors who don't teach any classes, so won't go over them individually. You will see second semester students in the halls and no doubt they will clue you in.
--------------------------
All the semesters have their challenges, the first semester is the toughest because everythng is so new, but it does get easier once you get the hang of the clinicals.
There's a lot of vocabulary and abbreviations to learn, in addition to all the rest. Just keep remembering that nearly everyone gets through. Some people drop because they get overwhelmed, do not do the work and fall behind, or do not have the support they need. It's hard if you are a single parent for example.
In our cohort a couple of students did get dropped because they failed the math test.
But the math test is not so horrible, you get two tries and can miss 2 out of 20, so don't get panicked.
Just do the practice test they give out a few times. Know how to switch from F to C (in temperature) and back. TAKE your time and READ THE QUESTION SLOWLY.
And right before your finish re-read the question and make sure that if they are asking for how many mL or mgs, or ml/hr or gtt/min that you are answering exactly that question!
Finally be sure to label your answers.
Don't write 7, write 7 mgs.
Don't write 150, write 150 ml/hr.
---------------------------
About the Pathos. Most found the hardest thing in this semester to be the Pathos. Pathos are the reports that you have to write the night before the clinical. You will start your clinical rotations about month after the semester begins.
You will be given a form at school to help you know what info to gather as well as an example of a patho.
Pathos are hard simply because of the time crunch.
You go the clinical site the day before and pull lots of information from your assigned patient's health record. You CAN NOT take a picture with your phone, You CAN NOT print out the info. You have to write it all down by hand.
At first it will take you an hour and a half to get all the info you need, maybe 2.
Eventually you get quicker as you learn the computer system. You will whittle it down to a half hour or so.
But let's say there are 6 of you students at the clinical site wanting to access the info, but there may only be 2 or 3 computers available.
So whoever got there first will be on it. And in the middle of it a nurse may come up and say she needs it. So you may have to wait another hour just to start getting your information.
Then, after you get all your info, you will have to write 3 separate pathos before you go to the clinical in the morning. Each patho is about a specific illness that your patient has, you have to define the illness, what you are watching out for, concerns, complications etc..
You also have to write up all the medications. Usually between 10 to 30 medications.
What class of drug, known common and/or severe side effects, what you have to know before administering them, if IV push how long to push it, is it compatible with the IV fluid they have running, do you need to count their respirations, do you need to take their blood pressure? Do you need to know their potassium level? You have to write down what you need to educate the patient about that medication (for example perhaps they have to rise slowly to avoid getting dizzy, or sit up for one hour after taking it, or call the doctor if something occurs, etc.)
It's all in your drug book but its so time consuming.(hint: Keep a master list of medications so you can copy and paste throughout the program and save time.)
It took most of us 5-8 hours to do them properly. And if you don't do them properly you may be sent home, or not allowed to pass the medications.
It might be 10 PM or 3 AM before you are done depending on the client and their list of medications. And then you get up at 4 to make it to clinicals by 6:15.
Just keep telling yourself, "Others have done it and I can too."
------------------
Tutoring. There are some open skills labs to practice and you can request --------------------- to let you use the back lab room. -------------------------- often goes over specific skills. She puts up a sign up sheet and also will do group tutoring.
That's it for now. Good luck, and have fun, It goes by pretty quick.