I'm a freaking dummy(at least that's what I feel like)

[capribry]

This year has been a bit stressful for me! I'm mother of an 19m old, a waitress at the airport, a sophmore at college, and is now trying to get into nursing school. I decided to apply to a RN diploma program b/c their n-clex pass rates are 98% and the local colleges pass rates for the ADN programs are around 60% so I figured that maybe the teachers aren't as good as the diploma programs.

I applied for the school and recieved a letter in the mail stating that I needed to take the entrance exam at 5pm on the same day that I recieved the letter(I got the letter out the mailbox around 4:15pm) Needless to say I called the school and explained my situation and rescheduled for the next day. I briefly looked through the study guide and figured that it shouldn't be hard, after all I got a B+ in statistics and the entrance exam was middle school math.

I was so wrong!!!! The math seemed so easy but after years of doing higher math and using calculators I did not know a thing about fractions(I guess I missed that day in elementary school, at least that what it felt like) Basically I failed the math part of the test only by a few points b/c I took too long trying to jog my memory on how to convert fraction and decimals and percents without using a calculator and didn't get to finish the math portion. On the hand, I excelled in the reading part of the test.

The director read my results and told me that I am qualified to get in the school and knows that I can do the math and that I have to re-apply to the program to take the exam over.(I think they just want the app. fee)

I walked to my car crying my eyes out. How could I be so cocky and not study!! What the heck was I thinking. I feel like I blew my chance into getting in the program. I'm sure that nobody fails an easy test like that.

I re-applied to the school soon after that and hasn't recieved anything in the mail from them except a reciept for my check. I'm nervous b/c the first time I got a response within days and now it's been weeks for the second one. I called up there and they said that they recieved my application. I thought that it may seen rude for me to ask when they were going to send me anything in the mail about taking the test over.

Also A&P is kicking my butt. My teacher sets up his exams as if it they were the MCAT which gives us practice for the real thing. I just took my first exam and got a freaking D+. It seems like what I study isn't on the test. His question are so in depth that they seem tricky to me. When I sit in class sometimes, it seems like I am in a foreign language class. It's like everybody understands but me. I started to realize that most of the students in my night class are already working in the medical field or have relatives that do. Like the other week, this one guy was telling my teacher how to take crystals out of a person who has gout and what color they are. Now what avg. person can do that without a general form of education?

My question is am I really stupid or do it seem that way since most of the students have an upper hand? I really need some reasurance b/c i'm starting to think that nursing might not be for me. If this don't work out, I don't know what to do b/c my whole life has been geared towards becoming a nurse.

Thanks and sorry it's so long,

Capribry from Norfolk, VA

[bandas]

when i sit in class sometimes, it seems like i am in a foreign language class. it's like everybody understands but me. i started to realize that most of the students in my night class are already working in the medical field or have relatives that do. like the other week, this one guy was telling my teacher how to take crystals out of a person who has gout and what color they are. now what avg. person can do that without a general form of education?

my question is am i really stupid or do it seem that way since most of the students have an upper hand? i really need some reasurance b/c i'm starting to think that nursing might not be for me. if this don't work out, i don't know what to do b/c my whole life has been geared towards becoming a nurse.

i felt the exact same way in my a & p class last semester. freaked me out because i have never worked in a medical setting. it seemed like everyone else knew the lingo and could rattle of drug names like nothing! :eek:

and here i was coming into this class from a bachelor's degree accounting program. i was so lost. finally, one day i was sitting in a study session and i said i have no idea what people are talking about sometimes, and i had other people agree with me. they were just sitting there in class pretending to know what was going on, too. maybe that's the same way for your class. so don't feel too alone.

anyways, here's my advice to you:

1. if nursing is your passion, don't give up, you just might regret it later. everyone had to start somewhere, and that includes the people in class that seem to know everything.

2. ask questions, it can only benefit you. don't worry about what others think, you are doing this for you.

3. if you don't feel comfortable asking ?s in class, find someone with an "upper hand" to clarify things for you.

4. join a study group, i felt like i learned so much more there than in class.

and i think one of the most important things is to

5. focus on the important topics, such as the material stressed by the teacher. sometimes other students can get off on other topics that are not necessary knowledge to pass a & p. you have plenty of time to learn about drug names, lingo, and how to take crystals out of someone's gouty foot. that's what nursing school is for.

don't worry,you aren't the only medical newbie around. just read and study like you never have before. good luck!!!

of course, that's just my .

[Kim O'Therapy, BSN, RN]

Don't give up!

[WannaBeMaleRN]

A&P is a foreign language. I may not understand anything either but my goal is to get through it and move on! I know its nice to understand it but sometimes I just cant. I could read it 5 times and still wouldnt but the problem is each chapter is like 25-30 pages so who has time to read it more than once.

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

You are going to be ok and actually a lot of what you said I have experienced as well and I think is normal.

When I first went back to college I had a 3 year old and a baby at home and my first class was Anatomy with Lab. OMG I was so scared because most of the people taking that class did work in hospitals, etc and knew certain things I didn't.....get used to it because that is how it is I have found....a lot of the nursing students and pre-nursing students have a lot of health care experience but certainly not all of them, not at all. Anyways I studied my butt off and made an A in Anatomy and then another A when I took Physiology the next semester. Our tests were kinda like yours, application style maybe? We had to not just memorize everything but know how to apply it (especially in Physio)--it was hard. It may seem hard, and it is, but it will actually help prepare you for nursing school tests which are 100% pure application and they will throw questions at you from out of nowhere...stuff you have never even heard of, etc.

As far as the nursing entrance test you took I could have written the same thing. I excel with math....algebra, statistics, etc I made A's in while most made C's. But I got so used to do higher level maths with graphing calculators that I had forgotten how to do ratios, fractions etc BY HAND when I took the TEAS (thinking it would be a breeze for me....lol) and did horrible on the math part and it's actually very simple math. I had to go back and refresh myself with ratios, etc for Dosage Calculations that I am taking now (and making an A in). It's the whole if you don't use it you'll lose it thing....it's true.

Just keep going, don't let one or two things stop you because there is always going to be rough spots along the road...we have all been through them, it will only make you better!

[stpauligirl]

You have alot on your plate taking this very hard A&P class, being a mom of a 19 month old, and a job.

Please don't let these 'sharpshooters' intimidate you in your class. It happens im my class all the time, they bring up all kinds of stuff that they think they are experts in. Too many that claimed to be "this and that" in the medical field and "my mom is a nurse" or "I alaready have a degree in Biology" had that kind of power over me at one time....but not anymore because many didn't perform well enough on the tests and dropped out in my A&P class and it looks there are more like that in my current Microbiology class. A&P is a very hard class and many people underestimate how much they need to study to do well. Close your ears to anybody bragging....this may hopefully make you feel better: In my current micro class there is a girl who claims she is a teacher but she is complaining that she cannot take multiple choice tests (she didn't do well on our first test) and she wants the tests to be changed to essay tests! Makes you scratch your head....

Another one was challenging our teacher last time about the Aids Virus.....we started the chapter on viruses, all very introductory: shape, size, what viruses do, how they function etc ....she went on and on and on about her knowledge and questioned every other statement the teacher made. But what matters is that she knows whatever we have to know up until tuesday about those darn viruses (has nothing to do with anything Aids related) because we have a quizz coming up. Over half the peoople downright failed the first test....it would be interesting to find out how she will do on this quizz. I know I will do fine because I study exactly what we have to know, and it doesn't matter how much or how little I know about this darn Aids virus!

Just keep your head up, study for the entrance test and keep studying for the A&P class, stay focused on the material at hand and get yourself some earplugs

[capribry]

Thank you guys for responding b/c i was really feeling kinda lost. I'm about to email my whole class to see who wants to be in a study group with me.(we have a test on the cardiovascular and pulmonary system on wed.) I also think that different schools have different systems. Like one person stated that she takes anatomy the first semester and then physiology. At Old Dominion University(where I attend) we take anatomy, physiology, and pathophys. all together. Just broken up in two semesters.

[stpauligirl]

Thank you guys for responding b/c i was really feeling kinda lost. I'm about to email my whole class to see who wants to be in a study group with me.(we have a test on the cardiovascular and pulmonary system on wed.) I also think that different schools have different systems. Like one person stated that she takes anatomy the first semester and then physiology. At Old Dominion University(where I attend) we take anatomy, physiology, and pathophys. all together. Just broken up in two semesters.

Our A&P classes are both parts together, we have Anatomy&Physiology part 1 and 2. You've got to get a least a C to get into part 2. All together it's worth 8 credit hours (should be double that considering the work you have to do )

Good luck with the study group, it can be a great thing! And don't forget to tune out the "experts on everything"

[Kim O'Therapy, BSN, RN]

Study groups rule! I don't know if I would have made that "A" if I wasn't in one. We met every Wednesday evening at my house and studied. Before lab practicals, we would meet at the school library on Sunday, check out the appropriate mannequin, hog a conference room, and spend the whole day there! It worked and, without fail, each one of us brought up something the others had not considered and was on the test. Really worked well.

Now, for microbiology I did not join a study group. I found the subject matter easier to study on my own. Same with chemistry. Don't really know why.

[capribry]

Study groups rule! I don't know if I would have made that "A" if I wasn't in one. We met every Wednesday evening at my house and studied. Before lab practicals, we would meet at the school library on Sunday, check out the appropriate mannequin, hog a conference room, and spend the whole day there! It worked and, without fail, each one of us brought up something the others had not considered and was on the test. Really worked well.

Now, for microbiology I did not join a study group. I found the subject matter easier to study on my own. Same with chemistry. Don't really know why.

Did you get to take lab material out of the lab to study with? Because we can't we don't have alot of lab stuff to go around and we don't have open labs. I guess that will give you the upper hand. All I can do is take pictures with my digital camera.

[stpauligirl]

Study groups rule! I don't know if I would have made that "A" if I wasn't in one. We met every Wednesday evening at my house and studied. Before lab practicals, we would meet at the school library on Sunday, check out the appropriate mannequin, hog a conference room, and spend the whole day there! It worked and, without fail, each one of us brought up something the others had not considered and was on the test. Really worked well.

Now, for microbiology I did not join a study group. I found the subject matter easier to study on my own. Same with chemistry. Don't really know why.

You are very llucky to have found a good study group. I don't know what's going on at our school, it seems impossible to get people together who are interested.....I am a social butterfly and would love to be in study groups but so far no luck and it is basically me and my book and notes alone.....well in my A&P class I ended up one of the only students left to take the final (only one other person lasted t'ill the end) I guess everyone just has too much going in their lives....and the grades reflect it too, unfortunately!

[Kim O'Therapy, BSN, RN]

Our school library had extra "muscle men", "bones", and "organ donors" that we could check out like a book (for a day - on campus). However, another great study habit I had was finding either a worksheet or diagram, making several copies, then filling in the names of the muscles/bone/organs by memory until I got 100%. And finally, yes, I was one of the geeks that bought an A&P coloring book and actually used it! Does your school offer tutoring?