Charity spring 2012 student

U.S.A. Louisiana

Published

Hi everyone! I was hoping to get some advice through this thread. I will be starting school in Jan of 2012. I was hoping to see which hospital everyone thought was good. I also wanted to know which books is a must have when purchasing .I will be taking basic nursing and pharmacology. .Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Congrats on getting accepted. I am currently in BASICS and pharm. With Pharm do not buy the book we are about to take test 3 and I haven't even opened it and earned As on both tests so far. the professor teaches straight from her notes. In BASICS buy anything they recommend and then some because you will use all of it in one way or another. As far as hospitals, university will give you more to do then most other hospitals but I would choose based on where you live for your first semester because the skills are all the same. bed baths, changing beds, medication administration ..etc. feel free to ask any questions and good luck! Stay ahead of the game if at all possible is my biggest advice when you get reading assignment during orientation start them then

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

Moved to LA Nursing Programs Discussion forum.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Congrats on getting accepted. I am currently in BASICS and pharm. With Pharm do not buy the book we are about to take test 3 and I haven't even opened it and earned As on both tests so far. the professor teaches straight from her notes. In BASICS buy anything they recommend and then some because you will use all of it in one way or another. As far as hospitals, university will give you more to do then most other hospitals but I would choose based on where you live for your first semester because the skills are all the same. bed baths, changing beds, medication administration ..etc. feel free to ask any questions and good luck! Stay ahead of the game if at all possible is my biggest advice when you get reading assignment during orientation start them then

Thank you so much for the helpful advice. I really appreciate it. :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, ED.

I am in basics right now and pharm. Dont buy the pharm book its a waste of money her exams come straight from her notes its impossible not to make an A in her class only if you didnt study. For basics its hard to pass the exam even if you study. My suggestion to pass this exams is to study everyday, do all terminology that they want you to know because theres 4 fill in the blanks with no word bank and you must know how to spell it in order to get the questions right. As far as the videos they recommend watching dont bother they are 30 years old. On the first exam I got a questions wrong becuase on one video the patient was angry and wanted the nurse to leave the room but she stay in the room so , that was one question on the exam guess what I got it wrong if the patient tells you to leave you leave that room. From than on never watch anymore videos. Start thinking like a nurse, think always safety first. Think ABC airway, breathing and circulation. Patent airway. The exams are always or most of the time priority or safety. SO when you read your notes think whats the most important. Dont waste your time doing the objectives do listen to tegrety and if they dont record on tegrety bring your recorder because they always say one little word that you didnt catch and guess what, its on the exams even if its not on your notes right everthing they say. The instructor that lectures culture and dying and some others subjects if in her exams one choice is to pray with the patient thats the right answer lol. the best instructor is the one at Osh ner Kenner and her last name starts with an H. You will learn with her and she is number 1 at charity. I can go on and on lol. Anyways 2 more weeks for me thank god so many of my friends had to drop its so sad probably 1/3 of the class its still there. If you need more advice send a private message.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med-Surg.

I wouldn't say all the videos aren't worth watching. A lot of stuff is helpful for clinicals whether they're on the tests or not. I learned things from the Bed Bath and the Med Administration (Parenteral) ones among others.

As far as Pharm, I've heard the current instructor is retiring (which would suck for the new students). So, best to wait till orientation and get a lay of the land so to speak before deciding whether to buy the Pharm book or not.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Thank you for the helpful tips. I'm glad someone replying. I'm pretty excited and nervous. Our orientation is on DEC 20 and i already schedule my classes. I ended up with university for my clinical.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, ED.

Youll learn a lot at university both instructors there are really nice and sweet. I know this semester they had patients with all kinds of trauma that you wouldnt see in any other hospital. Nursing school is fun specially going to the hospital and giving your first injections ;-)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

can u tell me if parking is diffcult at charity?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU, ED.

Parking runs around 3 to 5 dollars everytime you go there. The first week of school your there almost everyday until 9 week that you start going to the hospital but if university was the hospital that you picked well you have to do the math. The first 2 weeks of school it was hard finding a parking lot because the other level students were there almost everyday ad well the first week so you have to leave home early specially

Morning traffic classes are at 9 and they can last 3 to 4 hours but the first week you are there more than 4 hrs. I guess you can say thats the bad part about charity.

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

I'm a 3rd level and parking is ridiculous!! I know when I was in Basics the free Tulane lot was open but they have since closed it. LSU bought out the lot next to St Joseph's Church so that's not available anymore either!! I park in the garage on Freret. It's 5 dollars a day and has security cameras. It's about a 4 block walk to school but as long as it's not raining it's good exercise. Just make sure not to be late!! I only have class 2 days a week and then I'm at the hospital 2 nights a week and we start clinicals in week 2 so I'm not sure if parking will be a problem for y'all. Probably not bc NAC 1, 3rd level and NAC 2 all start clinicals in week 2. Good luck!!

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

..and btw don't buy into the fact that University is best. It all depends on your INSTRUCTOR! My Basics instructor was amazing. I was at Slidell and got more experience doing things than my friends who were at University. But I had an awesome instructor who made sure to grab us every time a possible learning experience popped up. So in Basics I had already d/c'd a Foley, emptied a Jackson Pratt wound vac, given IM and SQ injections (a LOT), d/c'd an IV, sat in on a PICC insertion and assisted, switched out a Foley bag, helped program pumps, helped mix meds/insulins...I could go on and on. I was in NAC 1 with someone who had done her clinicals at University in Basics and STILL had never d/c'd a Foley or given an IM injection!! So you really need to look at what people have to say about the instructor and not the clinical site. For NAC 1 I was at an LTAC center and saw 10 X more than I ever thought I would. But, once again, my instructor was amazing!!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment