Charity School of Nursing- Starting Fall 2010!!

Published

Hi everyone!! My name is Nikki and I am getting so nervous and excited about starting in August!! :yeah: Does anyone have any suggestions for a new nursing student such as instructors to look for/look out for? Suggestions on how to divy up class days? My husband is coming back form being deployed so we will be living at Fort Polk and I will be driving from Fort Polk to New Orleans every day I have classes so any and all hints/suggestions are appreciated and since I know the admins stalk these blogs please PM me your responses!! Thank you!! I can't wait to meet everyone and start this long but rewarding journey together!! :nurse:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

If you PM me I'll give you some suggestions as far as instructors go, I can't post names on here. The first week is kind of boring because you have to listen to someone from the library and the computer lab guy and all of these people about stuff that you should know, you should know how to write an email and look up something at the library by now I would think.

They have been talking about changing of the curiculum, so I don't know really what they are changing, so what you are doing may not be what I'm doing now. But if they layout of the schedule as far as tests goes, it feels like you have forever to study for the first test, but once the second test comes along you are also starting taking test for pharm and you will have a test every Monday so for a four or five weekends in a row you will probably be studying.

It flys by. Stay organized, don't give up in the face of adversity, you can do it.

Get the Fundamental Success book they recommend it really helps!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I wish I could PM you!! There are a few people who have messaged me but it says I am not allowed to PM anyone because I have not posted 15 times favorably or something like that. I would give you my email address but they took that off the last time I put it down too. I think I have become the black sheep of this blog lol. I go to get advised tomorrow morning.

Thank you so much for responding and I am going to go hurry up and try to find 15 posts to comment on so I can get these messages going!! Thanks again you're a doll!! :yeah:

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Just finished basics this spring. I wanted to discount the naysayers and negative folks on here who droned on about how hard Charity is and blah blah blah. I can't lie, it was rough.Though not official we have lost over half of our class. I passed by the skin of my teeth. But be discouraged not. It is very possible to make it. I know a couple of folks that did pretty good. Just a couple. Just expect a challenged. They did change the curriculum due to some cheating a couple of classes back. We experienced the downside of that. Stay positive and believe that you can do this. But understand that you will study for knowledge but MUST learn how to read and answer NCLEX style questions. Study those books now. The concepts and information are easy to grasp but you must learn how to answer test questions. I can't give names but recommend Ochsner Kenner or University hospital. The instructors are wonderful. But there are other good ones as well. Good luck this fall.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I just finished my first semester and it was pretty ruff at the end and I know a few people that did not make it. Just keep up with the work. They are changing the format of everything now so I do not know who I would recommend because you will be getting lectured by the teacher that you will be in clinical with. It is not going to be the same as what we experienced.

There were a few people who did well and most I know did average. I was surprised as how general the material on the final was. I personally thought the final was easier than all of the tests, but maybe that is because you have applied all of the information already. Evolve helps and Fundamentals Success book helps A LOT!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Hello

I am also starting in august and I am extremely nervous!!! Where are you doing your clinicals? I am trying to find a way toget in touch with people in my classes, clinicals, etc to start a study group and possible carpool. If you can message me with some info if you're interested that would be awesome! Good luck to you! :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Redbeans you tell the good aspect of our semester, but failed to tell the reality of it.....only 53 out of the 220 finished. It was rough to say the least. But obviously possible to make it. I think they realized how much weight was put on us due to the curriculum change and realized they needed to try something. I wish everyone well in August. My advice is work on procrastination and study NCLEX style questions. The nursing material will be easy, you have to learn testing on it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Eventually ER or flight nurse!.

Hey girl!! My clinicals are in Slidell because I live on the Northshore. I wold message you but the moderators will not let me yet. Still have to post favorably 15 times and I am at about 5 posts lol

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Nikki are you seriously going to drive 4 hrs coming & another 4 hrs going back each day? I'm NOT trying to discourage you but dang! Do you realize that the 1st week of school is jammed packed and you go everyday. You must hit the ground running. And what are you going to do when clinicals start? Some clinicals begin as early as 6:45am :zzzzz . And then you have to do patient assignment pick up the day before, then go home & look up all those meds, & then be there the next morning :eek: . I'm just curious as to why didn't you go to a closer school. Nursing school is hard enough I couldn't imagine adding an 8 hour drive everyday :bugeyes: . Seriously I wish you well & hope you make it through :heartbeat

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Eventually ER or flight nurse!.

Hey girl. Luckily, my parents live near New Orleans and have extra rooms for myself and our two children. They will go to school near New Orleans and I will be close to school. We will get to see my husband on the weekend by meeting in Baton Roug or Lafayette. It won't be hard for us because it isn't a deployment!! He has been deployed 3 out of the past 5 years so we are a very strong couple who would wait forever for each other!! I'm very thankful to my parents for their support. I couldn't do it without them! And thank you for your kind words!! I am going to need all of the one ups that I can get because all I keep hearing is horror stories so far! Hopefully this time in December I will be posting to the next upcoming semester of nervous future Basics students and can give them the encouragement that y'all are giving me!! Seriously, than you very much!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I just finished Basics in the Spring. I'm a single mom and have a 22 month old son. I ended up with an "A" in Pharm and a "B" in Basics. I did not find the tests to be that hard, but I did study and I did go through the NCLEX questions from "Fundamentals of Success" after I went through my notes on a given topic. The practice test questions will really help prepare you for the tests. You always want to keep in mind "safety first, and the A,B,C's when it comes to priority questions. A is for "airway", B is for "breathing", and C is for "circulation".

Also, I did not have a job; therefore, I did most of my studying during the week-day while my child was in daycare. Then once I picked him up, I could enjoy him and give him the attention that he needed. On the week-ends, I would usually get one day to study provided that my parents or ex could babysit. One thing that really helped me was moving in with my parents and not working. Nursing school requires a lot of time and energy and I could not imagine trying to juggle a job along with it while having a baby who would wake me up 2 or 3 times a night. Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night if you can. It would have been a lot less stressful if I hadn't always been so sleep deprived.

As far as keeping up, make sure you study every day. You never know when your child is gonna get sick. My son got sick a lot from daycare so it was crucial for me to utilize my time wisely. When you are in class, take notes and write down the specific examples that your teachers give you. We were able to print the notes ahead of time, but I always jotted my class notes in the margins. If something is unclear, refer back to your text and and listen to the lecture on Tegrity. Also, if several teachers are writing questions for the same topic, you may benefit from listening to the Tegrity from the other teachers (if you have the time). Also. pay attention to the exam blueprint which will tell you how many questions will come from each section and manage your time accordingly. It's recommended that you use the last 3 or 4 days before the test for review. That means, you should get though all your notes by the Thursday before the test. Then you'll have Fri, Sat, and Sun, to review.

Good luck and I wish you the best. Keep your head up high and just know that you can do it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

su9032, thanks for posting this info. Am I correct in understanding that Tegrity will have recordings of all lectures for us to review?

If you have any other bits of information that you'd care to share, I (and I'm sure several others) would appreciate you sharing!

Orientation in 2 days! :rckn:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion