Hillsborough Community College Spring 2013

I love reading all of your posts, I still remember how anxious I was (well, really, I still am, just anxious to get it done already instead of waiting for it to start already :-p)

Don't panic if you don't see anything under your "My Documents" for some it didn't show up until July. Enjoy your summer, I know how hard the wait is, but seriously, these next months will be the last breather you have for a while.

The nights/weekends fills up fast. If your on the lower end of the GPA pool, you even might get stuck with a different campus. I know..scary, but it is known to happen. All is not lost however, they DO let you switch, if you find someone to switch with, and there were even a couple of people that I *believe* were moved due to extenuating circumstances. Just in case someone didn't know, the day program has both a morning, and an afternoon option. Here is the schedule: Nights/Weekends- Clinical on Saturday from 6:30am to 4:30pm, Lecture on two weekdays from 6pm to 9pm. Mornings-Clinical on 1 weekday, 6:30am to 4:30 pm, lecture from 9am to 12. Afternoons-Clinical on 1 weekday, 6:30am to 4:30pm, Lecture on two weekdays from 1pm to 4pm.

Now for sistermargo's questions:

Wait until Orientation to buy those books. I suggest using the time between getting your letter and orientation (you'll get your letter around the second week of Sept, and orientation will be around the second week of Nov) to buy those things you will need for the program OTHER than books. (Scrubs, shoes, stethoscope..etc, I'll post a list in a bit). This way, after orientation, you won't have as much to focus on. Enjoy these next months, get your affairs in order, and basically make sure there is as little as possible available to stress you out once nursing starts.

Once you are ready to buy the books you have two different ways to go about it. Both of the books I suggest buying are available in the book package that HCC offers. You will need to get the package (about $500). You can do this once books are available in early Dec, BUT if you are like me, and can't buy books until bookcharging, I suggest buying older versions. The calculations book and the potter/perry book are available online for cheap, if you buy the old versions. I got both of them for about $25 including s/h. (granted, they were a few years old..but the info doesn't change THAT drastically between the new and old versions) You will still need to buy the package once bookcharging starts, as there are several books and guides and access codes and whatnot in it that you will need, and it really is cheaper to buy the package, but at least this way you can get a head start.

You'll need to study the first 8 or so chapters of the calc book, everything but Apothcary (except drams and grains), Body Surface Area, and Enteral. Don't pay any attention to administering IV meds either, you won't be doing those until NP 2. Focus on conversions, the math is simple, but the conversions you need to memorize (ex..how many ml's in a tsp? how many tsps in a tblsp? how many pounds in a kg?, etc)

In the potter/perry book, you need to study Vital Signs, Health Assessment, Infection Control, Hygiene, Wound Care. These are the topics for your first three weeks of clinical, and you will be checked off on them in the nursing lab prior to attending the hospital. Health Assessment is a gigantic chapter, so with this too I will post a little guide in a bit. Some of the chapter you will never use, and not be expected to do either. Learn what is normal, so that you can assess for what is ABnormal.

Clinicals is one day a week, for 10 hours.

No one dropped from my class, but I have no idea about any of the other classes.

As for the test questions....They try. It's all in how you take tests, and how you think about the questions, and how well you know the material. It helped me to underline the key facts in each question, then to cross out the answers which made NO sense or very little sense. Try to narrow it down to two answers, if you can. Once there you just have to put yourself into the situation, and think about what you would do. Most of nursing is common sense. It is hard to describe though, until you actually take a test.

As for the hospitals...here is what I know, and what I've been told. There are 5 hospitals (that I know of) that are used for clinicals. They are as follows:

1.) Town and Country---I had this hospital, and it pretty much sucked. It is a very small hospital, and well, some of the staff is great...the rest, not so much. You'll be on the med-surg floor, and will find that there are very few computers available for you to use (which you will need to do, as most of your Pt's med info, etc will be obtained from it), very few dinamaps to use (the portable BP machine), and basically no freaking O2 sats to use.

2.) Florida Hospital Carrollwood---I've heard better than Town and Country, still a little small though, and still making the transition to all electronic.

3.) Florida Hospital Tampa (fletcher and BB Downs--- I've heard it is a good teaching hospital since it is so close to USF, but haven't spoken to anyone who has personally had clinicals there)

4.) St.Joes---heard this is the best. Great staff, variety of Pt's, big, but not overwhelmingly big.

5.) TGH---again, great teaching hospital, but parking sucks, and is confusing to maneuver around. You'll see a huge variety here though.

Your class will most likely have three groups for clinicals (at least, it is this way for morning and afternoons, I'm pretty sure Nights is this way too, but not 100% positive) You won't necessarily get to really choose your hosp from the entire list. You'll most likely get two options, and get to choose from there. For instance, my class was told before NP1 by our professor that we could choose to have clinicals on Tues or Wed, but did not mention which hospital was which. It ended up that the Tues group had clinicals at Town and Country. There were two Wed groups, one at Town and Country, and one at Florida Hospital Carrollwood. Every professor does things a bit differently, in how they decide who is where. For NP2, I had hoped to be in St.Joe or TGH, but just found out that once again, we'll be at Town and Country, and this time, Florida Hospital Tampa. Suffice it to say, I am going to inform I don't give a darn which day he puts me on, as long as I'm at Florida Hospial Tampa, and not Town and Country.

The hospital options are entirely different for the Plant City and Southshore campuses...I have no clue which hospitals they use.

And..here is what you do in clinical. The first thing you'll do is get there about 6:30..don't be late, each minute you are late counts towards an absence. If you are late a combined total of 45 minutes throughout the semester, it is counted as an absence, and those are hard to make up.

Your professor (not necessarily your lecture professor..I had Mrs. Coleman for lecture, and Mrs. Bruser for clinical) will give you your Pt assignment. Then you'll head up to your floor. There you will find the Pt's nurse, and hopefully hear the report they are given from the night nurse. You'll, in a perfect world, be able to introduce yourself, and let your nurse know who you have, and what you can/will do for them that day. Your day will include giving them meds (only if you have your prof with you, otherwise you won't) bathing them, depending on if they are Total care, Assist, or Self, changing their linens if you are able, helping them use the bathroom, changing diapers or emptying cath's if those are present, doing a dressing change on a wound, again, if it is present, and you are allowed to (depends on the type of dressing, and the doc's instructions) feeding if they are total/assist, vital signs at least twice, Accuchecks and insulin injections if ordered. Going with them, as allowed, to any procedures/tests they have scheduled, and doing a Head to Toe assessment on them. When you are not doing anything for your Pt, you can answer call lights, and look up information on your Pt for your care plan. This sounds like a lot, but really, at times you will be pulling your hair out, and other times you will be bored. It all depends on your Pt for the day. Your professor *should* (mind did, but I don't know about all the others) vary your Pts. For instance if you are halfway through the semester, but haven't done a dressing change yet, she/he will probably try to give you a Pt that needs a dressing change. If all you have had are Pt's that are able to communicate with you, he/she will probably try to assign you a Pt that can't communicate with you for one reason or another. Your professor, when doing Pt assignments, will take into consideration what you have/haven't learned, and will most likely not give you anything you can't handle. If you do find you have a Pt that has something you can't handle, you are more than welcome to express your fears to your professor, they might give you a new Pt, or might help you with that Pt, to help YOU overcome your fears. In a perfect world, your clinical instructor is your friend/guide/mother/whatever...they are there to assist you when you need assisting, and prod you when you need prodding. They will not coddle you, but they understand that some of this stuff can be scary and intimidating.

So then, around 3pm each day, you will head to a pre-determined area, such as a conference room, and have "post-conference", here each person will talk about their day, what they learned, what was intriguing, etc. Sometimes you'll be given something specific to talk about. For instance, if your Pt had a special procedure done, your instructor might want you to explain to the rest of the group the procedure, what it was for, yadda yadda yadda.

Clinical day in a nutshell. The first *at the hospital* clinical day, you are normally paired up with another student, and, in my case, we weren't given a specific Pt that day, we were told to be basically, techs for the day..in order to get familiar with the hospital, and to practice all the skills you learned in the first three weeks of school, such as bathing, linens, vitals, etc. That first day, answer as many call lights as you can. The more you deal with, the more confident you'll become. I have a weak stomach, so I PURPOSEFULLY, exposed myself to as much nasty stuffy as I could that first day.

After that you will have 1 specific Pt everyday, either assigned as I described above, or in some cases, you'll be assigned to a nurse, and then allowed to pick your Pt from her list of Pt's (all depends on your instructor, although, the rest of it will be the same, regardless). There will also be days where you will not be assigned a Pt, but instead will be observing in some area of the hospital. At Town and Country, each person had 1 Endoscopy observation day, and 1 ER observation day. There might be more areas, in some of the bigger hospitals.

Start your care plans EARLY. If possible, use the first Pt you are assigned for your care plan. The first care plan is a biotch. It takes time getting used to, trust me. When you have downtime during the day, hop on a computer, or pull your Pt's chart, and write down EVERYTHING, so that you'll have it for your Pt.

The things you will NOT be doing in your first semester of clinicals: inserting anything into your Pt, unless it is an injection. So, no IV's (in fact, you won't be even administering any meds into the IV's) feeding tubes, foley's or other caths, drainage tubes, any kind of tube...blood transfusions (in any of your semesters). There are some things that your "technically" not supposed to do, but will probably be allowed to, once your instructor has done it with you once...those include removing IV's, and removing foley's.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I'll post some specific lists of things to study, and things to buy shortly. For now, though..off to bed for me!

I love reading all of your posts, I still remember how anxious I was (well, really, I still am, just anxious to get it done already instead of waiting for it to start already :-p)

Don't panic if you don't see anything under your "My Documents" for some it didn't show up until July. Enjoy your summer, I know how hard the wait is, but seriously, these next months will be the last breather you have for a while.

The nights/weekends fills up fast. If your on the lower end of the GPA pool, you even might get stuck with a different campus. I know..scary, but it is known to happen. All is not lost however, they DO let you switch, if you find someone to switch with, and there were even a couple of people that I *believe* were moved due to extenuating circumstances.

...

Noooooo, don't say that!

rnntrainng you are awesome! thanks for all of your information!! i am concerned now because you are saying that the evening classes at dm fill up fast- to my knowledge the only evening class available during the spring is at dm but you are saying that we might get stuck with a different campus- are you saying for daytime? i'd gladly go to pc for the evening classes (i live in lakeland) but they do not offer them for spring start...and i work ft m-f so daytime is not an option for me unfortunately...

Yes. You are correct. The only night classes are at DM. So, let's say your first choice is nights/weekends, but it fills up before they get to your GPA. You will then be put in DM days. Now, if all of the DM classes are filled up too, before they get to your GPA, then you will be put in Plant City days, or Southshore days.

:-( I know. There were two girls in my class this year, who were put into DM days, when they needed nights/weekends because of their job.

But remember...you CAN switch..several people did. So, if this happens to you, there is still hope!

Dear RnNtrainng, you are such a blessing for us. Thanks for such a detailed info, so so helpful. Look forward to all your lists and hints to do and to buy.

No problem. I love talking about it, (thus the really long-winded posts :-P), I remember wanting to learn everything I possibly could before it started, it helps pass the time whilst waiting for that letter. Most non-nursing program people don't seem to understand the agony of the wait, so having people to talk to about and during it is such a help. Thus the reason everyone I meet on campus who says they are going for nursing, I've pointed to allnurses.

Just wanted to share that courtesy of USPS Delivery Confirmation, my package was delivered at 10:22am this morning!

It's REALLY out of my hands now!

Yay Gradius!!! I'm sure you will get in :)

OK everyone, change of focus for a little bit to try to take the edge off of all this worrying about "did they receive my application?", "gosh I hope I sent in all of my transcripts", "jeeez, we really have to wait 4 months for a decision to be made!?", etc, etc, etc...

My question to everyone entering the RN program is...WHY did you choose pursue a career nursing?? When did you wake up one day and say..."I want to become a Registered Nurse"? As we should all already be aware, this is not a glamorous profession. Caring for the sick and injured is not a task everyone is cut out to do...what sets each of you apart?

OK everyone, change of focus for a little bit to try to take the edge off of all this worrying about "did they receive my application?", "gosh I hope I sent in all of my transcripts", "jeeez, we really have to wait 4 months for a decision to be made!?", etc, etc, etc...

My question to everyone entering the RN program is...WHY did you choose pursue a career nursing?? When did you wake up one day and say..."I want to become a Registered Nurse"? As we should all already be aware, this is not a glamorous profession. Caring for the sick and injured is not a task everyone is cut out to do...what sets each of you apart?

Yay, I was hoping we could have a new discussion/topic like this. That said...

----

Though I don't have one definitive reason, I have a few. More than 4 but I will keep it at that for now (no particular order) to allow for variety by anyone that chooses to comment on this after my reply.

-"Making a difference" as it were, in a greater sense than my current field.

-Recession proof job/job security. You can't outsource healthcare.

-A 3 day work week is insanely awesome.

-You could say I'm addicted to learning/school. If I wasn't planning on Nursing school in January I would probably start a Masters next year in my current field; I have thought a lot about teaching at the CC level. Maybe I'll do that after an MSN some day.

I am in complete agreement with all of your reasons Gradius. Healthcare is such a strong industry and I have been very blessed to be part of a healthcare organization (we manage skilled nursing facilities) for the past 7 years. I work in accounting and have seen so many other companies outsource their accounting duties and I am very fortunate that my company is still going strong.

Another reason I decided to become a RN is very personal and close to my heart. In 2009 I watched my papa pass away from lung cancer and the nurses at the hospice house were so compassionate and caring and they helped me and my family through it all. I realized at that moment that nursing is something I was destined to do, if I could bring comfort to at least one family or patient a day, I would feel like I made a difference. Working in accounting, pushing papers and crunching numbers is very mundane and lacks that personal contact with society and I'm glad I realized early on that it wasn't for me. I love people and I love to help others, it's just part of my make up. In 2010 my best friend died at the young age of 24 for reasons that could have been prevented and that reaffirmed my decision to become a nurse. I feel like if I could reach out to young people hospitalized and struggling with their demons, maybe I can prevent more young casualties to substance abuse and other factors.

There are so many nurses out there in the field (we have all seen it) that I question their motives and why they choose to become a nurse...they are bitter and lack the bedside manner that should in my opinion, be required for the task at hand. I think above all other attributes, a compassionate and caring nature should be a prerequisite for becoming a nurse and people that have those traits should pursue nursing because at the end of the day it shouldn't be solely about the money but about the positive difference we can make in our patients and their families lives- improving the quality of care that is received and improving the quality of their lives.

I think people, as they get into the field will realize whether or not they are cut out for it. Changing dressings on wounds, caring for burn patients and the critically ill are situations I know I will struggle with but knowing that someone's life is depending on my actions will help me to overcome even the most undesirable conditions I will be required to work under.

Welcome Shakeitoff219, first off. If my calculations are correct you have a 3.14. Based on prior Spring threads, the acceptance cutoff is usually 3.4ish. However dependent on the applicant pool that may put you in the alternate range.

The app however is here:

http://www.hccfl.edu/media/398640/nursing application 2-2-11 (2).pdf

Wow that's a huge bummer! I worked so hard to get better grades. I'm definitely going to submit my app though.