El Centro/North Lake - Fall 08

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Starting a new thread for the next class at EC/NL...:yeah:

Congrats to all..... :bugeyes::lol2:

Any of the older students/alumni out there that can give us words of wisdom/advise we would love to hear it....

We've pulled the book lists for both EC & NL Spring 08 - what books do we REALLY need off of the required lists and which can we do without? Also, what support books do we REALLY need?

Thanks to all....:D

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Hey,

I am joining in this thread. I am very excited that I got accepted.

I also am very interested in what books are essential.

Thanks

Billie

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

If I could do it over I would not have bought the box! Big waste of money and trust me - you won't have time to read the books anyway. I just studied the lecture notes, Powerpoints, NCLEX books and related online resources (MedsPub, PrenHall, Evolve). I also bought the Fundamentals Success book and it helped a lot.

Good luck!

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Is there that much difference from one edition older books? I saw them at Half Price for $10 each.

In my HPRS class I did not even read the big Nursing Book that was like $80. The Medical Term. book I read, used and marked in.

Billie

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Hey everyone, now that finals is over I can finally post this. Sorry, I've been busy. Congrats to everyone that got in!!!! I just finished my 1st semester @ NLC.

I bought some cute flare leg black scrub pants and absolutely love them. The pants from the school vendor have tapered legs which does nothing for your figure (especially when you have wide hips like me, hee hee). I guess I should be thankful that my CI didn't notice my pants. She did however notice that some people weren't wearing black socks. She was a big stickler about that. She was also a big stickler about scrubs being ironed and starched. For my lab coat, I usually took it to the cleaners. It was not worth my time to tackle the coat on my own. Our CI also made us wear a black shirt under our scrub tops so I bought 3 (short sleeved, 3/4 sleeved, and long sleeved - try old navy or target). Also, Clorox2 has become my new best friend. I haven't noticed any fading at all.

As for my schedule (I'm @ NLC), we had lecture on wednesdays from 8-1:30 with an hour for lunch from 11-12. My clinical was on Tuesday from 7a-7p. We were on the floor from 7:30-5 (minus lunch and a morning break), the rest of the time was spent in pre/post confrence.

Me personally, I bought the book box because it came with the dvd. I priced everything individually and the book box was a lot cheaper. Having all of my textbooks on my computer was really convenient since I take my 'puter everywhere I go. Another thing that some people did was to take their 2 major textboks to Kinko's and had it unbound. Then they punched holes in the pages and carried only the chapters that we were covering in lecture with them in a 3 ring binder. Personal preference I guess.

Fundamentals for success just published a new edition last month. a lot of people used it w/ rave reviews. I didn't get it until last week. Wish I would have gotten it earlier. It gives you a lot of ideas on how test questions can be presented on specific topics.

I bought a barnes and noble discount card and it has more than paid for itself. You get 10% off everything and they are always e-mailing you additional coupons. One in particular was for 40% which I used for my NCLEX book (saved $20).

I was trying to cover all the questions that were asked but I'm sure I missed something. Let me know if you have any others and i'll try to help. If anyone already has the books, I can message you the reading assignments for the first test so you can get started.

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Chickpea, thanks for all the information! What a blessing!

I'll be at NL. Do we get to pick anything or is everything (classes, clinicals) just assigned to us? If we get to pick, please give me a heads up. Where did you do your clinicals?

I would love to have the reading assignments. Thanks a ton...

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Chickpea,

Thanks a bunch. I would also love the reading. My email is [email protected]

Do you think older editions of the books make a huge difference. I personally like to have hard copies of the books.

Thanks

Billie

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Specializes in none.

As for my schedule (I'm @ NLC), we had lecture on wednesdays from 8-1:30 with an hour for lunch from 11-12. My clinical was on Tuesday from 7a-7p. We were on the floor from 7:30-5 (minus lunch and a morning break), the rest of the time was spent in pre/post confrence.

So you were only scheduled class & clinical on Tuesday/Wednesdays? Does that mean I could theoritically work M, R, F? What did you do the other days of the week?

Thanks!

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Specializes in Emergency Department.

PHEW...2 semesters down...2 more to go!!!!

Now time to chill for the summer!

:onbch:

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No problem for the info. I've been meaning to post answers to your questions for a while but hadn't found the time.

There aren't any alternative options for lecture, there's only one.

Clinicals are picked in a lottery type setting during orientation. Everyone gets a sheet with all the clinical possibilities listed. You figure out your preferences out of the possibilities. Then everyone gets to pick a poker chip that has a number on it. As your number is called, you get to go up to the sign in sheets and sign up for clinical. This basically means that it sucks to get called last because your #1 choice for clinical is probably already full. That's how you end up with your clinical site. For our class there were 5 options: 2 @ Presby, 2 @ the VA, and 1 @ RHD. I was at the VA. The clinical locations change every semester so you might have 5 completely different locations to choose from.

The thing that they don't tell you (or maybe they did and I wasn't paying attention) is that for the first few (i can't remember how many exactly) weeks of the semester you have skills lab on campus instead of going to the hospital. They're supposed to be changing the way they do it for next semester so i'm sure you'll get better details in orientation. You also have to take in to account that the day before your clinical day you have to go up to the hospital and get your patient info. So I'm not sure how you would balance that out with work. I didn't start working until the beginning of April. You have to be very flexible in the beginning of the semester.

Hmmm, what did I do with the rest of my time..... In the beginning, I had skills lab on Monday/Tuesday and lecture on Wednesday. After class, I'd go home and study. Thursdays I usually caught up on my sleep and spent time with my boyfriend. Friday and Saturday I would study and run errands. Sunday was to review and prepare for the upcoming week and go to bed early. I know it seems like a lot of free time but it's not as much as it looks. Once I got into the hang of things, it allowed me to add bits and pieces of a social life in.

I think one of the key things is to figure out how you study best and stick with it.

As far as the older editions of the books, I'm not sure. I doubt that it matters for the kind of subject matter that you learn in 1st semester. Although I don't remember anyone bringing a different edition to class. Even though I did most of my reading on my computer, I also like having a hard copy. I also didn't want used books because I plan on keeping them for a while and I don't like other people's notes/highlighting because I find it distracting. I kid you not, they had a copy of a fundamentals textbook @ the nurses station @ the hospital. I'm sure that I'll refer to them in the future.

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Thanks, chickpea! When you get a chance, please forward the reading assignments. Good luck....

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Maura, did you send me your e-mail addy in a message? the allnurses messaging system doesn't have an 'attach' option.

Billie - i e-mailed it to you. let me know if you can't open it.

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