First Semester Questions

[AnaRho]

Good day fellow Nurses and Nursing Students,

We had orientation yesterday and I have a few "what do you think" questions;

1. Class officers. Pros Cons and experiences? I think I want to do this.

2. Scrubs. I looked yesterday at buying some. Apart from the price what features do you love and dont love? I am looking at the Cherokee iflex and infinity. I don't want to buy a cut that looks pretentious (is that a thing? or am i being neurotic?), like the jogger pants. I like them fine but noticed the instructors wr the traditional legs... so I think i'd take their lead. I am not a high maintenance female by any means and want to keep it that way. I don't want to come off snooty or better because i spent a bit more... i am considering the scrubs an investment in the next 2.5 years.

3. Studying techniques. It was emphasized that if we didn't know our learning style to find out and apply it. I am a kinsethetic learner. Any suggestions?

4. Any other suggestions?

[Tacocat, ASN, RN]

If you're in a nursing program there's probably specific scrubs you'll need to wear, so save your money until you know the uniform requirements.

Edit: Your scrubs will probably not last 2.5 years. You'll be wearing them for labs and clinical and will probably be replacing them after a couple semesters. They'll get worn and faded from constant washing in hot water. Find something reasonably priced and comfortable, and save the fashionable scrubs for your first job.

If you want to invest money in something that will last, spend the $100 and get yourself a good-quality stethoscope. That matters far more than your clothes.

[Shan, RN]

I got Healing Hands scrubs and I love them. They're super comfortable and not at all expensive. I definitely agree with WhaleTails--invest in a quality stethoscope.

As for studying, start practicing NCLEX questions now, even though you'll get them all wrong at this stage. This will get you used to what the tests in nursing school will be like.

[Ayanna93, BSN]

Scrubs are usually determined by the school. At my school they tell you the brand you can wear and where to get you srub tops and Jackets because it has to have the schools logo. I am in a 3 year program and brought 2 bottoms 2 tops and a jacket and I still have it to this day and I'm due to graduated in May so the quality seems pretty good.

I agree, get a good stethoscope and good pair of shoes for clinical.

As far as study techniques, you have to find which type of learner are you. I thought I knew when I first started my program but I quickly made adjustments because it was not working for me. Even thought you say you are kinesthetic learner, not everything can be physically demonstrated for example lab values, med side effects and amongst other things. Be ware that your learning style might change once you actually start learning the material. So as of today I am a visual learner, my school gives out test maps. So I basically create my own test map and add information from the power points and textbook and I just study that for test. I cant kinds visualize where the paper when taking the test. But I know some who live by the textbook, we have people in my class that still use flash cards, some will only read the power points and do practice questions. Some people also record the professor and study by listening to the recordings over and over. There are so many study techniques, personally I find reading the test book and using power points as your guide works great. I only do practice questions when studying for the HESI which we take every semester. You will soon find which technique works best for you.

Best of Luck on your future endeavors

[carti, BSN, RN]

I was a class officer officer and it was fun at times. It was a great resume builder and we got to closely interact with professors at a interpersonal level. But towards the end of my program, I couldn’t wait to leave. Keep in mind, most people who want to become officers are “type A “ people who have the “ my way or the highway” attitude. I’m a very chill person however and I was pretty nonchalant the whole time. Meanwhile our officers would argue and throw shade and debate each other just to see what color our graduation stashes would be .....( seriously??? Who gives a crap what color it is?? No one ))) just know it’s a lot of politics as for scrubs, your school will set that up for you guys.

Studyinf wise, get an nclex Saunders book to practice . You are going to score better on tests studying for 4 hours and doing practice questions on saunders than studying for 10 hours and not doing practice . I learned the hard way my first semester but I was able to fix it in time .

[AnaRho]

Thank you for all the suggestions. I have the Saunders ebook for NCLEX prep. I’ll probably buy the physical book. Seems like it’d be easier to navigate. I do like practice tests to help me study. I relied heavily on recorded lectures during the commute and study guides. We will not be provided study guides and I am not good a picking up on what will show up on exams.