First day of nursing school

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I am writing this for those of us that fret about the unknown.

Today was my first day of LVN nursing school. Our school has a rule that anyone even one second late does not get into the classroom, so a lot of us were very early. I was 40 minutes early and there were five other students ahead of me. A couple of students came in a little late, but I think they were docked.

The classroom was open so we came in and picked our seats. The woman next to me told me she hardly slept at all the night before, and that remark was reiterated by everyone close by. She said she had a dream that she was in a hospital with a disease that no one knew about. She attributed it to a fear of failure to become a nurse.

At the proper time we were introduced to our five teachers and their subjects. Then the head teacher passed out paperwork for us to fill out, (I have never filled out so much paperwork as for LVN school). Then the student handbook was passed out and the whole class (60 of us) took turns reading about the rules, regulations and school Mission Statement. It was made clear to us that the school set high standards and expected nothing but the best from its students.

We were then informed that we would be giving each other bed baths, NG tubes, and foley catheters, in addition to shots. I know I will not be involved in having a foley or a NG tube, but the rest I can live with. If students don't want to commit to a certain proceedure, its not mandatory, however, the students that volunteer for those activities will be the first to do them in clinicals.

The syllabus was not available so we were given our first assignments by our respective teachers. This program is seven hours a day, five days a week. We were told that for every hour of class time we were to have three hours of homework. That equals a 28 hour day not counting everything else besides school. They say we will have time to catch up on weekends. I guess that means I won't be posting as often as I have been lately, lol.

Uniforms were passed out, but we won't be using them for the first eight weeks. Thats when we start our clinical rotations. We were told that we would be working some evenings and some weekends. Oh well, I don't have a life anyway:o

I hope this helps some of you who are wondering what the first day is like. It must vary from school to school. Tonight I will try to catch up on the sleep I didn't get last night because I was sooo nervous about the first day of school. Well, at least I will try to catch up after I do some homework.

Good luck to you all.

kasia2

199 Posts

Hi your program looks intense, five days a week wow, mine (for the first semester will be only 3 days but I dont make assumptions it will be easy) Thanks for sharing your first day, now I know what to expect on my first day, good luck with your first semester.

starbabyfive

242 Posts

thanks 'hopeful' for the heads up on an idea what to expect. i start in 22 days. getting anxious by the minute.:uhoh3:

Daytonite, BSN, RN

1 Article; 14,603 Posts

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.

wonderful description of your first day. i'm book marking this thread to post it when other students ask, "what is the first day like?" you did a wonderful job of explaining it!

good luck as you make your way through the program.

by the way, in my nursing program 34 years ago we also had to give each other bed baths and our first im injection. looking back, i really do think a good deal of it was to get the anxiety out of our systems as well as for the instructors to give us criticism in a safe environment. my thumb never shook so bad as it did the day i gave that first shot. and, i couldn't stop it! now, pfft, it's like throwing a dart--no big deal and my thumb has never shaken like that again (and i went on to do a lot of iv starting).

lvnhopeful

220 Posts

Thank you both for the comments. School started so long after I qualified that all I could think of was nursing school. My friends and relatives had to hear all about it, I think they're quite happy now that my attention is consumed elsewhere, :lol2:

Today was more of a dose of reality. We got down to lectures all day. My hiney felt like it conformed to the chair. Our instructor said that would give us an idea of how patients feel laying in bed in the same position all day. Remember that when you are supposed to be turning them every two hours.

After being lectured on vital signs we get to pull out our shiny new stethescopes and play with them tomorrow. Hope its as easy as nurses make it look when you go in for an exam.

Floridagrl

2 Posts

Congratulations on your 1st day! I know exactly what you are going thru. I have 11 days left of my 1st semester in NS. Today was the last of 3 clinical days. I cant believe what I've learned in 10 weeks...from foley catheters, NGT, wound care, IM injections, vitals and physical assessment and the infamous CARE PLAN!! :uhoh3: Oh, and of course all the lectures! Bedtime at midnight, up at 5:30 a.m., to start all over again!

My girls (all 4 of them) and grand children live within 10 miles and I have only seen them 2x since school started....mothers day and the 4th of july! Thank goodness for all the support tho...it will all pay off in just 5 semesters.

After a 3 week break, the 2nd semester will start with 12 hr clinicals in med-surg...I am so looking forward to that.

When you feel overwhelmed, just come back here...there's lots of support here too!

Good Luck....

JarOfPennies

107 Posts

Is it true that nursing students have to insert catheters on each other? My medical terminology instructor told me that we would, but I thought she was pulling my leg... 3.gif

kalmeira

82 Posts

Specializes in Telemetry.

We used dummies for catheter insertion. I can't imagine doing it on each other! Talk about a close class!

Princess74

817 Posts

We did not practice foleys or NG tubes on each other, that would have sucked! We did practice blood draws and shots on each other though.

al7139, ASN, RN

618 Posts

Specializes in Emergency.

Yup...

Sounds like Nursing School. Congratulations on your choice of careers! It's true that your time is not your own while in school, but you must find time for yourself in order to stay sane.

Good Luck!

Amy

Daytonite, BSN, RN

1 Article; 14,603 Posts

Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
Your program looks intense, five days a week wow, mine (for the first semester will be only 3 days but I dont make assumptions it will be easy)
Five full days a week is typical for LPN/LVN programs. It is partly because of the clinical hours that each state board require that the students must complete as well as all the hours of lecture/class time that are required. In most cases these courses of study are designed to get the student trained to work directly with patients and out into the working world ASAP. Thus, the name "practical" or "vocational". This designation of nursing came about years ago because of the shortage of RNs (does that RN shortage ever go away?).

Wren

201 Posts

Specializes in Oncology, Hospice, Research.

I second the comments of Daytonite...great post! :)

In my nursing school class we also "practiced" on each other although not foleys and NG tubes! Many years later working as a nursing supervisor I've even had nurses start an IV on me for training. I quit doing that though after enough painful jabs :smackingf! There is a long history of nursing and medical students using each other for guinea pigs to learn techniques so you are in good company. :)

Good luck with your training! :nurse:

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