After months of document submittal, subjecting myself to immunizations and physicals, taking pre-reqs and 2 entrance exams, doing several interviews, and finally getting accepted - I'm ready to start on January 4th.
The school had its orientation last Friday. We were fitted for uniforms, given our textbooks, and informed of the class/clinical schedule for the first 6 months. I'm happy to report that we will get a very occassional day off here and there, but in late May, they give us a whole week to regroup, catch up, take care of business, and generally live life for 7 days!
The school director reinforced the notion that NS will be difficult but not impossible. The critical point being that we simply can not get behind. We need to understand all the concepts that we will be taught, because sure as snot, the one(s) we don't "get" will be the one(s) that will hang us up on NCLEX. She explained how the NCLEX CAT is designed and that if you show weakness in an area, you will get repeated questions to fully check for understanding (or not) of the subject. That was enlightening.
She further discussed the 4 levels of brain work that will get us through the next 11 months.
memorization (and lots of it, no getting around it)
understanding (the boatloads of material)
application (of the above), and finally
analyzing (all that we've learned)
Nurses aren't born, they're created. And I need to get going cuz they want us to hit the ground running. They gave us our first assignment due on the 4th. Eight chapters and complete the workbook. There will be a vocabulary test and a shorter quiz on the first day of class.
On your mark, get set, go.....
Anyone else want to start a new thread for January 2010 starts to share experiences? I'm game!
intheflames: we started clinicals last week after NF I and a skills check-off. luckily, we're in a rehab facility with a staff that, for the most part, is greatful that we're there.
the CNA staff is helpful c/showing us how to transfer pts, assist c/ADLs, and generally show us pt care ropes. the nursing staff is great when it comes to showing us how to do tx, tube feedings, wound care, g-tube care, etc.
our instructor is always close by. even for the folks in the class who have had zilch experience, the transition has been doable.
I am not pleased with my program at all. We started on the 14th and still have not set foot in the lab. It's been classroom all day every day. They are teaching us the skills (in class with videos and/or lecture) but not giving us lab time to practice them. We will do 5 days of clinicals on the last 5 days of class this semester.
I like one of the teachers but the other can't teach. There is a a distinct difference between the tests that one writes versus the other. We are so far behind in nutrition. We had our first test over Ch 1-3 last Friday, it was the hardest test I've taken and I studied more than normal for it. We haven't looked at it again, according to the schedule, we should have taken another test this week and another one next week. She also goes off on way to many personal experience tangents. It take her an hour to get through a short chapter.
So far I've gotten all As except the Nutrition test, I was 1 pt from an A!! So I'm doing great in the classes but just not really happy with the overall program.
I've found in the program I'm in, you are on your own a lot. We get the syllabus, and they cover what they're going to cover in class, but it's up to us to make sure we know all the material in the syllabus, whether they covered it or not. The tests are definitely way different than any of the general ed's, as is the studying method. It took me the whole first month to get into a routine of how I need to study for this. We have had some lab time, but that too is up to us to schedule time in the lab to practice on our own.
We were told that we would have time in the lab to practice, but that's after they cover these things in lab.
With one teacher, everything on the test is covered in lecture. She even gives what she calls "blues clues" so that we KNOW it will be on the test. The other teacher did say to read the chapter that there would be more than what was covered in lecture. The problem with some of her questions is the wording. Plus one question she asked had two different answers in the book. It was on the vital signs test, the page she referred us to in the book said one thing in the text and another in a table. She quoted a number from the table, which was not what she stated in her lecture. Oh and she is always making mistakes. She tried to teach us how to figure BMR and messed up the math on it. She mispronounces words throughout lecture.
Oh and she doesn't allow discussion. Every general ed teacher I had allowed us to ask for rationale of an answer. This teacher does not, the answer is what it is and she says that she will go back and look at it but nothing is ever changed.
Oh and we aren't allowed to see our tests. We review the test right after we take it, without our answers. So you go through it and figure out how many you missed based on memory. Almost every test comes back with one more missing than I figured. With all of the mistakes that she makes during lecture, it makes me wonder if she makes mistakes while she's grading the written parts of the tests.
That does sound frustrating. The test questions I can understand, as that is helping you prepart for the NCLEX, there will always be more than one correct answer, they want you to use critical thinking to decide which is the BEST answer. But the rest of your issues would definitely warrant addressing your dean of nursing about. You should of course be given a rationale for the correct answer, that's a huge part of the learning process. You need to be able to see what you got wrong so you can go back and study those things, otherwise you will continue on with the wrong answer in your head about that topic!
Specializes in Corrections, Pediatric Home Health.
Oh and she doesn't allow discussion. Every general ed teacher I had allowed us to ask for rationale of an answer. This teacher does not, the answer is what it is and she says that she will go back and look at it but nothing is ever changed.
Oh and we aren't allowed to see our tests. We review the test right after we take it, without our answers. So you go through it and figure out how many you missed based on memory. Almost every test comes back with one more missing than I figured. With all of the mistakes that she makes during lecture, it makes me wonder if she makes mistakes while she's grading the written parts of the tests.
Okay, I'm done with my vent.
I'm having the same problems. My teacher actually told us that we shouldn't question what she says because she's the one with a license. I'm in the same situation as you with the tests too. Every week we take the test, she goes over the answers, and the next morning when scores are posted, there are always several people whose scores are lower than they were expecting. With this week's test, half the class scored three points lower than they should have, but we have to wait until next week to schedule appointments to go over our tests with the teacher. And her idea of scheduling an appointment isn't actually scheduling an appointment, it's waiting in line outside her office after class ends.
I started NF1 & AP1 on the 20th of January. Things have been going pretty well so far. It has been rather fast paced, but interesting! So far I took an AP quiz in lab and got an 80% and I got an 84% on our 1st NF test, which I am very happy about since alot of people FAILED!! I also took a test in AP, but won't know my grade until next week. Man, I hope I did ok?! I feel like I didn't prepare as well as I would have like to. Our clinical roations have been GREAT! I am surprised and quite pleased at how well I am doing on them! I LOVE the patients ( I have always had a fondness for the elderly) and am learning SO much! I am SO happy that I finally listened to my heart and am pursing Nursing!! I was always afraid of " gross" stuff and figured I'd never be able to handle it, but I swear I am surprising myself every week! I wish you all the best of luck and hope that those of you having difficulties with your instructors can find a way to resolve those issues!
Hi everyone! I'm late to finding this message board, but I am so glad I did. I'm joining this 2010 class :). I am loving class. I'm a CNA, but I feel like I've learned more since starting class than I have throughout my CNA time.
plaza
160 Posts
intheflames: we started clinicals last week after NF I and a skills check-off. luckily, we're in a rehab facility with a staff that, for the most part, is greatful that we're there.
the CNA staff is helpful c/showing us how to transfer pts, assist c/ADLs, and generally show us pt care ropes. the nursing staff is great when it comes to showing us how to do tx, tube feedings, wound care, g-tube care, etc.
our instructor is always close by. even for the folks in the class who have had zilch experience, the transition has been doable.