Gulf Coast State College Spring 2014 Class

fsuao2006 · Nov 8, 2013

you'll be entering 3rd sem which is OB,Peds,psych. OB is by far the hardest with all the hormones and development stages. If you feel motivated, about a month before you start classes you can go over some basic things in the ob and peds books except psych. Mrs. Hannah is notoriously easy and you won't need to study much for her class. go over the stages of development in a newborn,during pregnancy, common childhood diseases and milestones.

bjbbeauchamp · Nov 9, 2013

Thanks so much for all of the little tips for each semester. I know we will get through this if we study and work hard, but just thinking about it all and the 2 years scares the heck out of me!! But seeing the tid bits of info you have given us helps me a lot!!

Euphonicus · Nov 10, 2013

My Cardiology II came in the mail today, it's in great shape considering it's around 15-20 years old. I wonder what that is in "stethoscope years"? I was expecting to have to replace some of the rubber parts but everything seems good, and it works great.

Kristian11x · Nov 10, 2013

OK, I got my CPR certification today, so now the waiting game from the office to get my final letter! I was also lucky enough to meet another nursing student that is active on this thread, shout out to you girl :)

Kristian11x · Nov 10, 2013

I am in 4th semester and about to graduate! yay! some tips... Make sure you do all the math worksheets and get the calculating with confidence book. I used that every semester. first 8 weeks they allow you to get an 80% on your first try. any semester after that its 90%. We lost 2 people first 8 weeks from the math. Get the yellow Saunders book and the HESI examination book and refer to that when studying. When prepping for tests DO QUESTIONS! the nclex prep books have web codes or questions in the book related to the content your going over. Practice that BP! we lost another student due to failing that check off. Teachers don't mess around when it comes to the check offs. Davis drug guide is essential for clinicals and doing your paperwork. every thing you need is in that book. if you have tattoos make sure they're covered. no crazy make up or hair color. a teacher made a comment to a fellow student that she didn't look professional for her heavy makeup. WHITE SHOES with nothing else on them. they will make you dress in clinical attire first semester and you line up like the military while the teacher looks you up and down. I live in Santa Rosa beach and drove the 45 min for the whole program but found 3 other girls who also lived in destin so we saved literally thousands by carpooling. if you can don't take any other classes while your taking the nursing courses. The amount of reading and studying will take up all your time. Make sure your spouse/kids/significant other knows what your getting into. We had several divorces and breakups during our 2 yrs and several missed plays,sports games, time with family etc due to the amount of time the program requires. Don't have kids while your in the program! we lost another girl due to complications of her pregnancy. a few girls had babies and found it very difficult to take care of their child while in the program due to the amount of stress a new baby and school has. know your A&P like the back of your hand and you should be ok. You will buy a lab kit and use it 3 times and not even use everything in it... annoying and a waste of $$! if you have a friend you can share lab kits to save $$. don't buy 100 supplemental books. THe saunders and HESI comprehensive review should be enough. another tip is to rent your books on chegg.com or book renter.com I paid about $20-$30 for each book. You don't need a rolly bag. I got one and everyone has one but the only thing you need is your LAG, some paper and your book in class. I used it for a couple weeks and me along with everyone else realized we didn't need all the stuff and just got a regular back pack. There are a lot of ups and downs but you will get through it! let me know if you have anymore questions!Good luck!

Thank you so much for the pertinent information, I wish you the best on the NCLEX and your first job!

Euphonicus · Nov 10, 2013

OK, I got my CPR certification today, so now the waiting game from the office to get my final letter! I was also lucky enough to meet another nursing student that is active on this thread, shout out to you girl :)

I am going to get mine next month, my last day at work is 11/25 and there's no sense in burning leave hours before then. Apparently the cert. I have is kinda bottom of the barrel as far as pros go (thanks state of FL!) but it's all good as far as I'm concerned, having to get another one is really no big deal.

I met a couple of people when I got fingerprinted but because I was in a hurry to get to work once I finished and the woman processing us was very efficient, I didn't have much opportunity to get to know anyone. I did see one other guy though, so were looking at AT LEAST 4% male representation!

bjbbeauchamp · Nov 10, 2013

I was in and out at the fingerprinting session. I wanted to go early in the morning and was all ready to, but then locked myself out of my house...again for like the 100th time and I even bought extra keys, but never got around to putting them in good hiding places so they were still sitting on my key ring in the house along with my phone;( So needless to say I spent 2 hours trying to break into my house and then finally did and then it was too late to make it over there for the morning session. When I went there was only one other girl, but she was finishing up when I went in so I didn't get a chance to meet her.

I am going to do the CPR renewal soon. I usually stay on top of it, but let it slide in July b/c we were traveling out west. Sure wish I hadn't of now!

bjbbeauchamp · Nov 11, 2013

Any of you guys take pharmacology over the summer at GC? I know some are taking it now, but I wanted to see what the schedule was like via web over the summer so that I can possibly plan a summer trip;)

Euphonicus · Nov 11, 2013

I am taking it now, but what I can say is that is there are only 2 proctored exams, midterm and final. All other assignments and quizzes can be done anywhere. My wife and I like to travel as well; we took a short trip for our birthdayversary this term and no issues. If you are taking it alone especially it shouldn't be a hindrance.

bjbbeauchamp · Nov 12, 2013

That's good to know. We took a month long trip out west in our travel trailer and want to do the same next summer but not for a month, maybe only two weeks this time (or one depending on school). And we are thinking about the east coast, but I didn't want to make any plans until I knew about the class a little. And I didn't want to ask Mr. K about it, b/c I didn't want him to think I wasn't going to take nursing seriously b/c I was already planning a summer trip.LOL! But sometimes you have to plan way in advance in order to get good spots along the way;) Luckily last time, even though we planned almost right before our trip, I was able to get us spots in every town we stopped in and everything panned out perfectly!

mosley12 · Nov 12, 2013

OK, I got my CPR certification today, so now the waiting game from the office to get my final letter! I was also lucky enough to meet another nursing student that is active on this thread, shout out to you girl :)

=)

With Pharmacology, you only have to go to school twice, like said. The only concern I would have about taking pharmacology during the summer is its so much information, that it will probably be harder to take during the summer's shortened time frame.

Euphonicus · Nov 12, 2013

Spring class schedules are up on Lighthouse! Looks like our schedule will be Monday/Wednesday 8-3 with an hour break, Tuesday 8-12 for the first half, and the same for Monday during the second half, with Tuesday/Wednesday being clinical days and Thursday being 8-2 with the hour break.

Having an extra off day for the first two months should help a lot.