Sparing you all my long story so not to bore people and going directly to the point~I have 6 1/2 months of "down town" before my Nursing program starts @ my Community College, so im looking for some advice (or direction with resources) what can i do to fill my head (prep) with the knowledge i will need to comprehand to be sucessful in any nursing program? Maybe mentioning something you found to be difficult in the program and ways you tackled studying or resources you find you have success with? I apprechiate any thoughts/advice offered, i tend to be a B student and want to excell at this opportunity. Lab values/ranges are they standard or differ from place to place? Should i start going over Drugs?
I would say the best thing you can do right now, is learn nursing math using dimensional analysis. If you can get dimensional analysis locked in.. you will be able to solve any nursing math question. Teachers expect you to learn the plugin formulas.. so they will throw questions at you that operate "backwards".. or somehow the formula won't quite fit.. At my school they always put the math questions at the end of every test.. usually 5 to 10 questions.. you only have maybe 5 to 10 minutes to answer the math questions.. so if you are kind of befuddled by a crazy heparin drip problem.. if you know dimensional analysis.. the problems almost solve themselves.
Specializes in maternal child, public/community health.
The best thing you could do before starting nursing school is to have a very good grasp on A&P. Even if you have not done it as a pre-req, you can get some great books at Borders or Barnes and Noble. Just look in the nursing section. I don't have any with me right now but I think the ones I have used are from The Illustrated Guide to .... (A&P, fluid & electrolyte balance, etc) Having a solid understanding of that will help you with most things in nursing school -pathophys, medications, writing care plans......
Another thing would be learning medical terminology if you don't already know it. Again, just look at a bookstore - you don't need to take a class. It would be easy to study while waiting to pick up kids at ball practice, etc. Easy to do in small chunks.
A big thing is to figure out how to make your household run as well as possible while you are in school.
*Figure out a backup plan for when a kid is sick on clinical/test day and you HAVE to be there.
*Come up with simple written menu plans. Ideally, you do something like come up with a 4 week rotation of dinners complete with a shopping list.
*Organize things with your kids before you start school so you are not trying to get them adjusted to a new routine while you are stressed.
* Teach your children how to do chores. It is good training for life, not just cause you are in school
* If you are married, discuss how your spouse can support you, division of responsibilities, what your family priorities are and what things your family is willing to let go of while you are in school. Discuss how you will keep your relationship as a couple and a family strong.
* Come up with a list of things to do with the kids when they just need some time with you and you have a test, paper, care plan, etc due tomorrow. Having a written list of things you can do in 30 minutes will help - have a water fight, build a tent, play a game, go for a walk, whatever works with the age of your kids. (Kids often do better after even a short "special" time.
Congrats on being accepted. Nursing school is hard but so worth it.
* I am very serious when I say I bought extra undies and socks before I started in case I got behind in laundry (which I did at times).
I highly recommend that book, it's pretty reasonable $15/16 I think...It will teach you to think like a nursing test. They are not like *recall* tests that you may be used to. It is a lot of info they are going to be force feeding you, but its not gonna be vomit it back type tests anymore.
If you are a visual learner, you can take all of the information you've researched from all of the great suggestions other people have given you so far, and make little charts/posters for your study area. I have the wall above my desk plastered with charts I've made for lab values, mnemonics, abbreviations, etc and I find it really helpful. You're not committing them to memory yet, but by repeatedly seeing the information some of it will start to stick. And then once you start school, the information is available right in front of you, instead of having to search in a book. I find it super helpful.
I highly recommend that book, it's pretty reasonable $15/16 I think...It will teach you to think like a nursing test. They are not like *recall* tests that you may be used to. It is a lot of info they are going to be force feeding you, but its not gonna be vomit it back type tests anymore.
I wish I had read the book before starting!
Oh I totally agree!!! One of the biggest problems students I go to school with have is understanding how to answer nursing style test questions! The test questions you will get are going to be NOTHING like what you have ever had before! SUCH A GOOD BOOK for new students!!!
Music in My Heart
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Also, make sure your anatomy and physiology knowledge is sound.