Fundamental in nursing

Sparrow91 · Jan 11, 2013

Fundamentals is a pretty easy course. Like its title it is the very basics in understanding in nursing, you spend a lot of your time learning the essentials like ADPIE (nursing process), nursing theorists, Maslows hierarchy of needs, caring plans, ect. I would not worry to much about it, I have not met anyone (at least in my fundamentals class) that has failed. Congrats on your acceptance, you will do fine!

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 11, 2013

Just don't think it will all be that easy :) And remember that unlike in many other classes, everything you learn in nursing school is carried over into the next semesters, so don't plan on learning it for the final and then forgetting it. Especially when they call it "Fundamentals."

Good luck in school! Welcome to AllNurses!

springchick1, ADN, RN · Jan 13, 2013

I'm taking fundamentals this semester. We picked up 4 people who failed it last semester. We were told it was going to be harder than Pharm and Health Assessment which we took last semester. I don't know where you are in school but I know that all of your test are in NCLEX style. Getting used to taking those types of test was a challenge for me. There will be two correct answers and you have to pick the MOST correct. And don't get me started on the Select All that Apply questions. I hate those things:) I would recommend getting a good study guide and use the practice test. Good luck!

littlebear23 · Jan 13, 2013

Fundamentals of Nursing shouldn't be easy for a first-time nursing student. The thing with Fundamentals is that you're being given all these knew concepts and then you will be tested on the concepts in a way that you have to apply what you know to the question/answer. Fundamentals was the hardest class for me because it really gets you to start thinking like a nurse. Most instructors don't reeeeeeally expect you to "get" the material until Med/Surg. When you look back to your Fundamentals class, that's when you'll start to realize that it wasn't as hard as thought. My best advice to you, is to read your book, read the power points that your instructor gives, and highlight the areas where he/she might say "hint hint" "you might want to know this for you exam..." etc. Invest in a Fundamentals study guide as well. Kaplan has some great study guides that I highly recommend. Good luck to you!

~passionateSN~ · Jan 13, 2013

I'm starting third level women's health and maternity and med surg 2 and I still feel that fundamentals was my hardest class. I struggled and ended with a B. Its a whole new world and everything was so new and I just personally feel it was not easy.

x_factor · Jan 13, 2013

If someone found Fundamentals to be an "easy course", I question that particular program as a whole. I found Fundamentals challenging, as did many classmates I was with, and not everyone passed the class. It's going to be your first taste of critical thinking and NCLEX style questions, and as stated above, it's going to begin building the fundamental foundation that will be built upon in future courses in your program. Don't stress over the class, but take it seriously, work hard, pay attention and take good notes, and you'll likely do just fine. Good luck!

jhopper · Jan 13, 2013

In my school Fundamentals focused on basic nursing skills and functional health patterns. Beside learning new things expect to learn how to do old things differently. You'll learn to take tests differntly, to study differently, to study in groups, and how to think like a nurse.

In regard to nursing skills we learned how to make a bed, how to ambulate a patient, how to move a patient safely, infection control, and at the end of the semester we got to learn how to run pumps. :up:

As far as functional health patterns go you may be taught Gordon's Functional Health Patterns. Functional health patterns break organ systems into functional, or normal, patterns much the same way you broke them down in A&P. So for example when you cover elimination, sleeping, respiration, or exercise you will learn how much urine is normally passed in a day, how much sleep a baby needs, normal respiratory rates, and the importance of exercise after surgery. Nurse educators feel it's better to teach how to diagnose based on functional health patterns rather than learning a million disease processes.

Studying will also be very different from your sciences. Many of your sciences may have required learning at the retention level. In other words you memorize the material, you pass the test. In nursing school memorization is only the first level. This is blooms taxonomy, bascially it shows the different levels of learning. Your science classes may have taken learning to the first or second level. Fundamentals will take it to the application level and higher.

One thing you will notice that's different from your science classes will be the test format. Nursing school instructors base their test questions on the NCLEX test. You may find these frustrating at first because all the answers seem correct. You will have to put your critical thinking cap on. I remember this test question on our second test: "your patient has bright red stool. What would you suspect? a) upper gi bleed b) lower gi bleed c) patient has hemmorhoids d) patient has a stomach ulcer."

Doh! All the answers could be correct here. I knew ulcers bleed, but is it passed in the stool? I remembered from A&P that most stuff is digested in the upper gi, so it may be hard to see blood from an ulcer in the stool. Hemmorhoids seemed right. Upper gi bleed sounded right, but so did lower gi... I later learned that lower gi bleeds appear bright red as the blood is fresh. Upper gi bleeds tend to clot and turn brown. The hemmorhoids will deposit blood on the stool but not in the stool.

I wish you all the best.

Sparrow91 · Jan 13, 2013

Well like I said mine was a fairly simple course, but just because I had one class that was not that hard does not mean that my program as a whole should be questioned. We have some of the highest NCLEX pass rates in the nation since 2005, and we are the most respected in the state. My aunt who teaches in Virginia has even heard good things about our program.

BJR87 · Jan 14, 2013

def not a simple course by any means, but it probably depends on who your teacher is. My teacher didn't teach much and pretty much expected us to teach ourselves and as a result half the class failed out. Be careful.

pookyp, LPN · Jan 20, 2013

Just started fundamentals. Didn't have my first test yet. But from what I can see it'll be nclex style questions just from the responses.

Jinx322 · Jan 20, 2013

Fundamentals is an amazing course. It's the building block to all of your other nursing courses until graduation and beyond. Just be prepared as it's not like any other college course you've taken. Your tests will be formatted into NCLEX style to help you be prepared for you board exam after graduation. Nursing school is like no other but so rewarding, Good Luck and welcome!