I passed Nac I

Smartferret · Dec 4, 2009

Congratulations!

su9032 · Dec 6, 2009

Congratulations! I start Charity in January. I'm nervous about all the work and managing my time. What was your first semester like? What's the hardest part (the content? the amount of work? clinicals? Any pointers would be appreciated. Good luck with the spring.

nolamomx2 · Dec 7, 2009

Congrads to you also :yeah: ! Basics was not that bad to me. It was NOT easy but not that bad. We had 4 tests that were 15% each & a final that was 25%. Each test had 50 questions & the final 100. Test 1 consisted of: History of nursing-1, Community Based nursing-5, Wellness-Illness-4, Communication-16, Nursing process-4, Prevention of infection-10, Growth & development-8, Culture-2. The questions are very different from reg college test questions. They will ask you a question & all 4 of the choices might be correct but they want to know which is priority. An example would be: If your patient was lying in the bed & began having difficulty breathing what would you do first? a-call the MD b-give them oxygen c-sit the patient up d-call a code blue. The answer would be sit the patient up. Also you will not begin clinicals for several weeks so take full advantage of that. I learned late that their questions come straight from their lectures. Therefore tegrity is YOUR FRIEND. I just listened to tegrity over & over again. You will always hear something you missed before.

Books: The only books you'll need is the Fundamentals of nursing, a Drug guide, Fundamentals of success-(a MUST for great practice questions). If you take the morning instuctor for Pharm then you will NOT need the book. I promise you. I bought it anyway when people told me that and never opened it.

I dont know if you have done your TB test yet but if not wait until Jan that way it will be valid thru Jan 2011. When you begin your 2nd semester your TB test has to last until the semester is over. And the same thing for your insurance. Well that's my :twocents: . If you have any more questions just let me know. Good luck to you.

su9032 · Nov 28, 2010

nolamomx2,

How are things going for you? I'm assuming that you are graduating from NAC II right about now. I'm finishing NAC1 - I cannot wait till this class is over. Hope all is well.

BeeJayCeeYa · Nov 28, 2010

nolamomx2,
How are things going for you? I'm assuming that you are graduating from NAC II right about now. I'm finishing NAC1 - I cannot wait till this class is over. Hope all is well.

I posted in a question to you in another thread but I also want to ask if you have any words of wisdom for someone starting NAC1 in January? Thanks!

su9032 · Nov 28, 2010

Beejaycee,

NAC1, where to start? It's much harder than Basics. My first test was a 79 which was good compared to most people. I've managed to pull my grade up to an 88, but I've had to work for it.

As far as clinicals, my first clinical instructor was very intense, he made us go in from 6 am til 2 pm; gave us a complete careplan, a narrative, and a flowsheet each week. The paperwork alone took 6 to 8 hours. He also gave us 2 -3 patients from the start. I learned a lot, but I was miserable.Fortunately, my second clinical teacher was super easy and let us out early with minimal paperwork.

Here is what has helped me survive this class:

BE PREPARED FOR CLASS:

Step 1-Before class, print your notes (or outline) and supplement the material from your text. Just read the intro & the sections that correlate to the teachers notes. Skip the diseases that aren't covered. Also, pay attention to the Nursing Care plans and especially the nursing interventions.

Preparing before class in soooo helpful. Some of the teachers fly through the lectures so its easy to get lost if unprepared. If you don't have time to supplement with the text prior to class, then at least read the teachers notes first. Then sometime before the test, read the important section in the text and supplement your notes.

Step 2-Goto class & take notes; if you supplemented your outline, you will have most of the info already.

HOW TO STUDY:

Step 1: Go Home home & Review your notes (you should have any text book info added already). Then review the end of chapter questions in the text.

Step 2: If it's a section that is heavily weighted on the test or if you need extra review, watch the Tegrity lecture. The benefit of Tegrity is that the person on Tegrity will usually be highly experienced in that area so lecture may be better than the one you heard in class.

Step 3: Review with a study group if you have time. I didn't actually do this, but most students do.

Step 4 (EXTREMELY important)

- Do about 40 NCLEX questions for each section. Use any of the "comprehensive" NCLEX books and the Medical Surgical Success book. Another resource is "Medical-Surgical Reviews & Rationals". I don't have this, but many students swear by it.

Extra Tips: Prioritize your time based on the number of test questions. Like Basics, some sections have 4 questions and others may have 10. Some students retype their notes because the notes we get are in the Powerpoint outline format so every few lines have a heading and its totally annoying. I just white out all the repeticious stuff because typing takes too long. Also, learn the lab values that are relevant for that section. Over the holidays, review your pharm notes, physical assessment, body fluids, oxygenation, mobility, and skin integrity (the lecture with pressure ulcers). If you can get ahold of a "Fluid & Electrolytes made easy," then read the beginning sections on F & E and acid-base.

In a nutshell, NAC1 is a whole new world compared to Basics. Basics is easy compared to NAC1 because we had several "fluff" topics like "stress & anziety, sleep, pain, teaching and learning, etc". NAC1 is more about chronic diseases for each of the body systems so there aren't too many "fluff" sections. The first test was the worst for me. It covered IV"s, fluid & electrolites, acid-base, neurovascular, cardiac, and respiratory assessment, and ethics. We only had 2 weeks to prepare and the overall grades were bad. A lot of people got low C's or failed. The main issue was the volume of material and the fact that we only had 2 weeks to study.

Good Luck. I wish you the best.

JustKeepSmiling, ADN, BSN, RN · Nov 28, 2010

I need a 68 on the final and I too will have passed NAC 1!!!

NAC 1 students.. see ya'll tomorrow @ workshop!

nolamomx2 · Dec 2, 2010

SU9032..... Yes I just found out today that I passed Nac II :grad: . My brain is soooo sexy :cool: b/c it definitely went thru the bootcamp from hell for 2 yrs. How r u doing in Nac I?

su9032 · Dec 4, 2010

Nolamom,

NAC1 was very stressful at times. I managed to get a B--thank goodness for multiple choice. I also started reviewing for the first test a week before school started to get an edge. I still got a 79 on that test though. The first half of my clinicals were really intense with a lot of paperwork, but the 2nd half wasn't bad because we always got out early and had minimal paperwork. I had never experienced real anxiety till I started Charity. Now, I'm nervous about PCN, but I plan to get a head start with the notes over the holidays.

Congrats again for successfully completing NAC II. I've heard that this last class had it really tough.

Su