Gloucester County College Nursing Fall 2011 Hopefuls?

dannipoint · Apr 16, 2011

Wow! That makes me feel really luck and deserving if there were 1200 applicants! I'm truly blessed!

Oh and FYI I just got my Littman Classic II SE stethoscope in the mail today (raspberry).... and I love it! It is so great and I can hear everything just fine with it. I'd recommend it.

Skeletor · Apr 16, 2011

Yea, i cldnt believe it . . .but a few yrs ago it was 900 . . so it figures . . .gain in popularity! U shld feel very proud! Class of 2013 will be the "Cream of the Crop"

Indeed it was 900 . . . and even less were picked . . .

Skeletor · Apr 16, 2011

To all accepted 2011 nursing students:

It would be of great personal and professional benefit to "shadow" a nurse for his/her entire shift; preferably during the daytime; in an acute-care setting such as a hospital's medical-surgical unit; to gain an accurate perspective of the unit's flow and operations.

During a "typical" 0700-1930 (or beyond) shift, you most likely would have the opportunity to observe and realize morning and evening nurse reports, medication administration, head-to-toe patient assessments, execution of a patient's activities of daily living, patient admissions and/or discharges, patient preparations for procedures/treatments, paper and/or electronic patient information charting, possible deployment of a rapid response team, patient deescalation situation(s), and patient consultations with multidisciplinary team members.

This detailed insight into the nurse's TRUE role in healthcare, not what you learn during nursing school, will serve as a helpful reality check as to every prospective nursing student's perception of a nurse's responsibilities.

Ask any practicing nurse of today, the overwhelming response you will hear is that nursing school did not "honestly" prepare him/her to assume the role of a professional licensed nurse.

Inquire into neighborhood hospitals' requirements (acknowledgement of HIPAA etc.) to "shadow" a nurse for an entire (day) shift.

:twocents: :stdnrsrck:

Sammy13 · Apr 16, 2011

Thanks everyone! My appointment with the advisor is on the 26th at 10:30. What books did anyone buy to begin their studies? I would like to get a head start. I am so glad that I found this thread so I can get to know some future classmates.

Sammy13 · Apr 16, 2011

Also CONGRATS to all of you!!:nmbrn:

dannipoint · Apr 17, 2011

Thanks everyone! My appointment with the advisor is on the 26th at 10:30. What books did anyone buy to begin their studies? I would like to get a head start. I am so glad that I found this thread so I can get to know some future classmates.

Hi sammy13!

your appt is 15 mins before mine :)

I have started to buy some books to study. I bought fundamentals success, taber's med dic, and mosby's memory note cards on pathophysiology. I also have been studying AP.

dannipoint · Apr 17, 2011

sammy13, do you know what days you want to have classes?

dannipoint · Apr 17, 2011

OMG! My bf just sent me awesome info regarding assessments. If anyone wants me to email it to them let me know :)

dannipoint · Apr 17, 2011

To all accepted 2011 nursing students:
It would be of great personal and professional benefit to "shadow" a nurse for his/her entire shift; preferably during the daytime; in an acute-care setting such as a hospital's medical-surgical unit; to gain an accurate perspective of the unit's flow and operations.
During a "typical" 0700-1930 (or beyond) shift, you most likely would have the opportunity to observe and realize morning and evening nurse reports, medication administration, head-to-toe patient assessments, execution of a patient's activities of daily living, patient admissions and/or discharges, patient preparations for procedures/treatments, paper and/or electronic patient information charting, possible deployment of a rapid response team, patient deescalation situation(s), and patient consultations with multidisciplinary team members.
This detailed insight into the nurse's TRUE role in healthcare, not what you learn during nursing school, will serve as a helpful reality check as to every prospective nursing student's perception of a nurse's responsibilities.
Ask any practicing nurse of today, the overwhelming response you will hear is that nursing school did not "honestly" prepare him/her to assume the role of a professional licensed nurse.
Inquire into neighborhood hospitals' requirements (acknowledgement of HIPAA etc.) to "shadow" a nurse for an entire (day) shift.
:stdnrsrck:

Thanks Skeletor! I will definitely look into this, it sounds like a great opportunity to witness what a nurse's job is really like.

SJerseygrle · Apr 17, 2011

Momotofore... what do you want us to bring?

To whomever was talking about transcript evaluations - they won't be added to your record until you register for classes, or at least that's what it says on my form I got in the mail. All my classes were accepted, so yeah!

I guess I'm lucky because most of the stuff Skeletor listed I've already seen at my job, but I was thinking of asking my favorite nurse to let me shadow her for a few hours, so that should take care of the rest of the list - I work on the med/surg floor so I get to see a lot, including the things no one wants to see. My favorite was a patient who came into another patient's room during a Code Blue to demand her medication and when the nurse (while performing CPR) asked her to go back to her room she screamed the nurse was racially biased because she was helping the (differently shaded) woman on the bed instead of her. Drug seekers are hilarious!

Want to hear something crazy? I have put in NG tubes, taken pulse ox and heart monitor readings, given injections to myself and others, maintained a rigorous and demanding medication schedule, performed CPR several times for people in actual need, and yet I have never taken a blood pressure manually and the few times I tried I didn't hear anything. I am so nervous I'm afraid to ask my nurse friends to help me.

Anyone else nervous about a skill?

Sammy13 · Apr 17, 2011

Hi sammy13!
your appt is 15 mins before mine :)
I have started to buy some books to study. I bought fundamentals success, taber's med dic, and mosby's memory note cards on pathophysiology. I also have been studying AP.

dannipoint I also have a fundamentals book and the med dic. I am concerned with dosage calculations. I am still debating days for my schedule. I will go through my A/P notes, after micro is done. Thanks for the info.

momtofore · Apr 17, 2011

So we have

dannipoint

momtofore

nurd163

ctine05

SJerseygrle

Glad

LaVidaDolce

daaz

NanaVana

Meree19

Sammy13

plus our honorary member, Skeletor! :up:

We're the Dirty Dozen! LOL. If the class size estimate is correct, we only have another 100 to meet! It boggles my mind that there could be that many!

When you all come over my house to meet each other, would you prefer a weekday or weekend evening? I'm thinking the week after school ends for this semester. Does that sound good to everyone? By then I'll be available any evening. We could even do it one afternoon if that's what everyone would rather.