George Brown College RPN Sept. 2013

Kittythestudentnurse · Aug 7, 2013

Congrats on going to GBC! I am going into my 2nd semester this fall. Here is my advice:

-attend orientation...you will be inundated with vital information to get you through the semester. I can't stress enough how important the advice of the faculty is!

-you will likely be given a book list at orientation, so pick up your books as soon as possible...many fellow students saved money by buying on amazon

-review a&p...you will need to know all of the body systems by the end of the semester, so getting a head start will help.

-go to every class

-ask for help if you need it

-do NOT fall behind...I don't know anyone who was able to catch up, I don't believe it's possible.

-believe in yourself...you need to be your #1 cheerleader to get through the tough times!

-make friends who will struggle with you through the tough times...and celebrate with you when you make it through the hurdles :)

-most of all, enjoy and make the best of the next 2 years!!!

Good luck!

AshuM. · Aug 8, 2013

Congrats on going to GBC! I am going into my 2nd semester this fall. Here is my advice:
-attend orientation...you will be inundated with vital information to get you through the semester. I can't stress enough how important the advice of the faculty is!
-you will likely be given a book list at orientation, so pick up your books as soon as possible...many fellow students saved money by buying on amazon
-review a&p...you will need to know all of the body systems by the end of the semester, so getting a head start will help.
-go to every class
-ask for help if you need it
-do NOT fall behind...I don't know anyone who was able to catch up, I don't believe it's possible.
-believe in yourself...you need to be your #1 cheerleader to get through the tough times!
-make friends who will struggle with you through the tough times...and celebrate with you when you make it through the hurdles :)
-most of all, enjoy and make the best of the next 2 years!!!
Good luck!

Thanks a lot for the advice. Congratulations too for going in to your 2nd semester.

I am definitely going to attend the orientation this month, I already attended the orientation for pre-placement and almost done completing my health forms, though they didn't give us any book list. I went on GBC web for course outlines for 1st sem so some of the books I already have. Only thing i'm worried in 1st semester is the math1135 course the pass mark is 80% Thats pretty a lot and according to the course outline you're not allowed to use calculator. How hard is the math? i'm kinda worried about that.

I also heard that 1st semester student after orientation and passing the skills test will go for clinical placement. If you dont mind me asking, how was your 1st clinical experience?

I'm hoping to get exempted from some of the courses so my 1st semester course load will be a little less and I believe I can handle the 1st sem.

Thanks again for the advice.

Jules1982 · Aug 12, 2013

I am going into my second year of the RPN program at George Brown this Fall, my advice:

1. Know how to do APA writing format very well, you will have a lot of essays and assignments that require this format and they are strict.

2. Do your readings and I mean ALL of the readings. If this means if skipping the social night out or friends birthday then do it. When you fall behind, it is almost impossible to catch up and many test questions come from the readings.

3. Attend class always! The ones who skipped a lot of class definitely had it show up in their marks and the teachers do notice. Some also take attendance. Also you learn some really interesting things from teacher's stories of their nursing experiences.

4. Make appointments to review your tests! A lot of questions are repeated in future tests and may you have marks that should have been given. Teachers make mistakes too!

5. Make time for you. I made sure I gave myself time to workout 4+ days a week for 45 minutes. I didn't have much of a social life aside from this, other than 1 day of working, but that little bit kept me sane!

This program is pretty demanding and most of us felt we did not have enough hours in the day to get everything all done. Its typically 6-8 hours a day in class and 3-4 hours a night of home work (assignments and studying). I'm one of those people that spent every waking hour studying, I felt like I spent 7 months in my room studying. Well worth it in the end. : )

Good luck! Look forward to seeing you on campus.

Kittythestudentnurse · Aug 20, 2013

they should be giving you a book list at orientation.

to answer your questions about math1135...it was easy for me, but i'm good at math. it's basic adding, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions applied to dosage calculations. you will need to know conversions (L to mL, g to Kg, etc)...most importantly, when you have a quiz or test, read the question carefully, the wording can be tricky sometimes! There was a tutorial arranged last year for those who had trouble with math, and the teacher will make herself available if you need help.

regarding placement, there is a skills test that you must pass to be able to attend clinical.

good luck :)