I'm so excited! :)

Shorty11, BSN, RN · Dec 15, 2012

I would stay away from private schools too if possible. Private schools are very, very expensive. Same degree whether it is from the expensive private school or the community college. That is a really long wait list! I feel for you! I'm a little confused about your explanation of wait times. Wait list is 2 years (or possibly less) if you volunteer at one partner hospital or 4 years (or possibly less) if you volunteer at a different partner hospital?? That is a pretty big difference in wait times! I'm not sure what you meant exactly, but I would obviously try to volunteer at the hospital that gives you the shortest wait list time. I just finished my second semester of nursing courses in a traditional BSN program. Since the wait time is so long, I would try to keep up as much as possible with your A&P. A good, solid foundation of A&P will be a big help once you start nursing courses. I would probably wait to buy supplies (i.e. stethoscope). If your heart is set on getting supplies already though, you could purchase something like a nursing skills book. I use "Skills for Clinical Nursing" (Pearson is the publisher). Without the classes or instruction/demonstration from professors, a skills book could prove to be confusing though. Much of the skills book will no doubt be above your head at this point, but it will give you an idea of the clinical skills used in nursing, if anything. I would recommend purchasing a book like "Fluids & Electrolytes Made Incredibly Easy." Fluid & electrolytes are something that I found challenging at first, but that book helped me quite a bit. It would be beneficial to already have a grasp on fluid & electrolytes before you start. Pathophysiology would also be a good place to start. I used "Pathophysiology for the Health Professions" (Saunders is the publisher). As long as you know you A&P and have a medical dictionary handy (recommend Taber's), you should be able to understand it without being in class yet. A dosage calculation book might also be something you could study up on in the meantime. At this point, you probably will not understand everything in a dosage calc book, but dosage calculation is very important so you could study up on the basics. I used "Calculate with Confidence" (Mosby is the publisher). It probably isn't the best dosage calc book out there, but it does have a lot of practice questions and tests. I wouldn't want to go too crazy and get too far ahead into studying without being in nursing classes yet though.. don't want to confuse yourself too much, or burn yourself out before you even start. If anything, just make sure you don't forget your A&P!! Best of luck!

ShadowPlanet · Dec 15, 2012

Oh, sorry for the confusion. School A (my current school) has a 2 year waitlist, that can be shortened if you volunteer at Hospital A. School B has a 4 year wait list, that can be shortened by volunteering at the hospital I currently volunteer at. I think I'm just going to volunteer at Hospital A though.

I used to be a pharmacy technician (even went to private school for it, which is another reason I don't want to go that route again) so I'm pretty good with dosage calculations, but I do need to refresh.

Thank you for all of your advice and book recommendations!

Shorty11, BSN, RN · Dec 15, 2012

Ahh I see. Gotcha.

That's great that you have the background with being a Pharm Tech. Knowing dosage calc already will definitely help! You can refresh a little and then focus on other things while everyone else is learning dosage calc!