I was accepted to WCCCD Spring 2012 RN Nursing Program. Any, How to Prepare Advice?

U.S.A. Michigan

Published

So, what happens next? Any advice? What should I brush up on? What books should I read now, while waiting for the program to begin? Uniforms/equipment requirements? Medical/insurance requirement? Which hospitals/facility offer clinicials? Anything you know now, that you wish you knew before you started the program? I realize that there will be an orientation, but any advice from the student's perspective would be invaluable. Thank you in advance for your time.:nurse:

I looked up the classes via http://www.wcccd.edu/academic/pdfs/Nursing.pdf

then I looked up the books via http://www.wcccdbookstore.com/buy_courselisting.asp?

Then I used Bookrenter.com and Amazon.com to purchase the inexpensive ones and rent the more expensive ones. Even if the books or edition change in January, my acquired knowledge will be irreplaceable. Best wishes.

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Congrats! I wish you much success. I am glad you are putting this information up. I found it really helpful.

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Thank you nitama2rnhopeful, after a while I asked myself, "Who am I talking to?" I couldn't come up with a good answer, so I started keeping a personal journal, but if you find it useful, I will continue to update.

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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Used http://www.medicinenet.com for medical definitions.

Took CFS Quiz and scored 93% 13/14 on first try. http://www.medicinenet.com/chronic_fatigue_quiz/quiz_result.htm

Found and started using the following links:

http://www.medilexicon.com/medicaldictionary.php

http://www4.caes.hku.hk/mt/

Matched lay terms for mouth with medical terms quiz...100% first try. http://www4.caes.hku.hk/mt/themouth.htm

Matched lay terms for head with medical terms quiz...100% first try.

http://www4.caes.hku.hk/mt/thehead.htm

Matched lay terms for urinary organs with medical terms...100% first try.

http://www4.caes.hku.hk/mt/urinary.htm

Matched lay terms for cardiovascular system with medical terms...100% first try.

http://www4.caes.hku.hk/mt/cardiovascular.htm

Matched lay terms for trunk with medical terms...80% first try (careless mistake,did not apply critical thinking) http://www4.caes.hku.hk/mt/trunks.htm

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Thanks for all the great posts!!!!

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You're welcome!

Found this on a related site:

from SmackerNurse

Registered User

Years Exp: 1 year nurse externship experience. 9 months of RN experience!

Nursing Specialty: Oncology/Hospice

Received 34 Kudos from 31 posts

Join Date: Feb 2008

Posts: 175

Today, 03:29 PM

"Good luck guys!!!! WCCCD nursing program is tough, fast paced and expect the disorganization to continue throughout the program. Get used to it now, because it will get worse.

Your first semester will be the most stressful due to the grueling schedule, but it is totally doable! Just stay focused and manage your time the best you can. You will have Fundamentals Lecture, fundamental lab and health assessment. You will have exams in lecture, check offs and exams in lab and check offs and exams in health assessment. Some will be weekly and some will be bi-weekly. Get a calendar to keep track of all of your exams and check offs and study, study, study. Get with a study group and utilize the nursing lab for check offs, make sure you have every detail down and take really good notes in class. If you have Mrs. D for fund lecture if she says something three times it will be on the exam. ) I recommend Test Success Fundamentals for nursing, The illustrated guide to NCLEX and if you haven't taken it already, medical terminology is a must for nursing school. Personally, I think it should be a prerequisite, but do yourself a favor and take that class or get a textbook and review it until you are familiar with the terms. It will save you a lot of time of needing to look up terms you don't know while studying for exams. Hope some of this helps. Btw, I am WCCCD graduate and have been working as an RN for over a year and a half!"

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Friday, September 23, 2011

Found and started using a really good medical terminology site:

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/dynamic_MC_med_voc_web.html

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September 24, 2011

Found and started using some very good medical terminology sites:

check out all 14 videos by http://www.youtube.com/user/MASSAGEstudy

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September 24, 2011

Found and reviewed a very good Medical Surgical Nursing video:

Made medical terminology, spelling/definition flash cards.

Left reminder of my Monday, First Aid class on my bathroom mirror.

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, Hospice, Homecare.

Hey rbrandnew,

Thanks for reposting my post :o) You are doing yourself a huge favor reviewing medical terminology. It is invaluable to the new nursing student. I have a funny story for you...during med-surg 1, I was studying with a really good friend of mine. As we were studying, she asked me what Hypertension was. I laughed so hard because I thought she was joking, but she was dead serious. We went through the first 8 weeks of fundamental lecture and lab learning how to take blood pressures and everything and she didn't know what hypertension was. When I told her it was high blood pressure, she was like, "OHHH now that makes sense!" If she had taken a medical terminology course before hand, it could have saved her this embarrassing moment. We still laugh about this today! BTW she is an ICU nurse in a major hospital downtown.

While you are doing your reading, always ask yourself these questions: What will I hear? What will I see? What will I do? You will learn about the nursing process and you will see how these questions fit into that process. :o) Good luck!

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SmackerNurse, you are a true gem...Thank you! And yes, that is a funny story. I study a little everyday, I was reading 6th Edition of Medical-Surgical Nursing/Ignatavicius-Workman when I received the email notification of your reply post. Good to hear that your friend caught on and is working in ICU. I am really looking forward to my January start. I know time will fly by and I will be in your shoes in no time. :)

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Specializes in M/S, MICU, Hospice, Homecare.

LOL yes she is working in the ICU downtown! She is an awesome nurse! It's just funny how far we come from start to finish. You will see what I mean...that first semester is a bear, but you get used to it and it makes the other three/four semesters seem like a cake walk in comparison! :nurse: You are doing a great job reviewing and getting prepared ahead of time. BTW, you should really be reading the Kozier book for Fundamentals and not Iggy. Look on craigslist for those books. There are alot of people who sell their books on there. Iggy is for med/surg1 and that is the second part of the semester. Hope this helps! :o)

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