College of Marin 2015

Nursing Students School Programs

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Hey everyone,

just wanted to see if anyone else has applied for college of Marin's nursing program? We should be hearing back soon from what I've heard.

IIII have two children 5 and 16 months. When I started I was a straight A student in my prereqs and I did all 35 units of prereqs in a year. I thought no sweat i am going to rock nursing school. But nursing exams are different. Its all about thinking critically and applying your knowledge to a specific situation. All exams are multiple choice but a question is not just asking for the correct answer, but asking for the most correct answer as all of the answers are correct. Your job is to choose the answer that is most correct. What I'm saying is the most difficult part I've found about school so far is the tests are completely different than anything you are used to. The best way to prepare is by practicing questions. I love the success nursing book series. You can find them on amazon. I found that my prereqs were more difficult BUT nursing classes are even more challenging because the classes are incredibly condensed so you learn everything in 8 weeks. Its the fast pace that can be daunting. Make sure you keep up with you reading and lectures because if you fall behind you will have no time to catch up. Clinical's were the least difficult for me. Just don't be intimidated by the nurses you are working with if they are giving you the cold shoulder, show them you have something to offer and be as helpful as you can. Be self motivated in everything you do and that will shine through to your instructors. I am no longer a straight A student, I'm happy with B's the majority of the time. But I know the material well enough I can confidently put it to practice when I'm in the hospital and that's what seems to impress my instructors the most. The best preparation you can give yourselves right now is some time to relax because when school starts you will be incredibly busy. Between school and my kids I had no time off but hey its only 2 years. It seems like a long time but really its not. One more thing get your CNA or EMT license if you can and sometime during the school year get a job at a hospital you'd like to precept and work at. I already had my CNA when I started and am now looking for work so I can hopefully line myself up for work once I have my RN. Good luck and see you all at school in the Fall!

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I wish I had enjoyed my time off that summer before school started instead of trying to prepare! Do a light review of anatomy and physio and you will be fine.

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Wow thank you so much for the good advise!! No need to take a medical terminology class then huh? Will it help somehow?

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Wow thank you so much for the good advise!! No need to take a medical terminology class then huh? Will it help somehow?

No I think that's overkill. You will learn it as you learn the material. The one thing you can study ahead is pharmacology. I feel like out of all our books our pharm book best simplifies the pathophysiology of different conditions of the body.

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Fortunately I'm a CNA at a hospital in SF and plan on working while in school so I hope that might get me an in after the program! :)

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Fortunately I'm a CNA at a hospital in SF and plan on working while in school so I hope that might get me an in after the program! :)

Which hospital do you work at? It will especially lend you well if its a hospital under contract with COM.

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Which hospital do you work at? It will especially lend you well if its a hospital under contract with COM.

I work at the SF VA. No idea if they partner with COM (wouldn't be surprised if not - lot of hoops to go through with the VA).

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What is the first semester schedule like?

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I have no idea what your schedule is going to be like but you can see as the Fall class schedule is out. My first semester consisted of Nursing Fundamentals lecture, Pharmacology, Clinical rotations, Skills lab and Open skills. It doesn't look like a lot but it gets hectic when you have clinicals. There's a lot of reading and acclimating to the new test taking methodology.

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