Just got into ABSN- how to prepare!

Devon Rex, ADN, BSN · Nov 23, 2017

Hello sfrederick2011 !

Speaking from personal experience... the Associates of Science in Nursing (ASN) was very challenging/difficult due to its rigorous syllabus, schedule, and clinicals. While the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) was mild to moderate to complete because it was mostly about research and papers.

I decided to take my pre-requisites first, then went for my ASN degree (at a private school), got my RN license, found a job, then went for my BSN degree at a cheaper school (SPC in FL). There are programs that take you from pre-requisites to BSN, but that's not what I chose for financial reasons. Having said that, the BSN was a LOT easier to complete than the ASN. It is remarkable that your family would have your back while you take care of your grandmother and pursue nursing school.

The ASN program will guide you through fundamentals of Nursing, health assessment, diseases and conditions, pathology, pharmacology, mental health, pediatrics, OBGYN, and critical care while you also go through clinicals. The BSN degree teaches you a broader perspective of nursing which prepares you for a management role. The Master and Doctoral degrees prepare you for more specialized and higher level of patient care.

What can you do to prepare yourself for nursing school? Do the same you have been doing... look at the program's syllabus and make short term goals of learning the material ahead of time. It will help you comprehend it when you encounter it in class. Also, meet with small group of students (1 to 3 other people) to brainstorm and learn from each other on a regular basis. There is a lot to absorb! Serious students help each other out to success!

Hope this helps!

KateNYC · Nov 25, 2017

When I spoke with the dean of one of the ABSN programs I applied to, she advised to heavily review anatomy and physiology and if I was feeling ambitious, to start reading up and familiarizing myself on pharmacology.

Tacomaboy3 · Nov 25, 2017

It sounds like you're motivated and probably won't have too much difficulty with the material. If I were you, I'd only brush up on some anatomy stuff - immune system, respiratory and cardiovascular systems.

If you want a leg up in clinicals, becoming a CNA would likely be helpful, though not necessary. You'll get used to the CNA tasks (which are part of the tasks of an RN), and will increasingly become comfortable with patient care and interaction. Clinicals will be a breeze for you.

sfrederick2011 · Nov 27, 2017

Thank you so much for your reply! really good advice here. Definitely doing the small groups thing- definitely helps me remember large amounts of information. And I will definitely brush up on A&P and Med Terminology. You all had really great advice. I'll also try to relax a little. I just feel like it's wasted time.

It sounds nuts, but I watch youtube videos sometimes as well (even describing things in clinicals like how to start an IV) just so that the terms are familiar to me. I personally have not been around clinical nursing much at all, I have some experience in a physical rehab facility and taking care of my grandmother, but no clue about any clinical stuff. I learned that veins can roll while watching a video yesterday, so that's something new for me haha!

I'm going to try and be careful though- it occurred to me yesterday that if I watch too many videos, or read too much, I could confuse myself OR start learning incorrect information. So sticking to the basic information and just waiting to learn the actual NURSING material may be best, as some others have said.

Again- loving the advice and will listen to you guys. You guys are the experts! :happy:

mmanzella18 · Nov 27, 2017

Hey! Current ABSN nursing student here!

I can tell you right now, it is NOTHING like your first bachelors degree. Even as the type a that you say you are, you will have to become comfortable with not getting an A in every class. It will not happen. You're going to get teachers that are just straight up terrible. Which is fine, because at the end of the day, all you need to do is pass! NO ONE in the nursing field is going to hire you based on your GPA. No one.

I have 2 months left out of my 14 month program, and I can tell you that there are STILL some people in my cohort that have not yet started an IV, so it is good that you are youtubing them and becoming aware. I personally have started about 15 total (because my clinical instructor was super cool), and Ive done 1 foley catheter on a real person. You do them on the dummy's in lab but come on, we all know thats not even close!

I can tell you that in my personal nursing school, I feel like I have to teach myself everything, so I would HIGHLY recommend the youtube channel called "Oasis," that channel has saved me because I am a visual learner. I never even open the book.

Something to give you a leg up, be prepared to be overly stressed at the beginning of the program. They bombard you with stress at the beginning and then eventually, it gets so much easier. Also, I would look up lab values and become familiar with those, they are pretty important in all that you do. Another great tip someone told me, is to keep a portfolio with the type of patients you see in clinical and make a graph. Bring this to your first job interview and when they say, "We really want someone who has experience with diabetes patients, how many have you seen?" You can whip out your chart and say, I am fresh out of school, but I have had 8 patients with diabetes that I was with for the shift. A CEO of a hospital came in to our lecture and suggested that, its a great idea!

Other than that, this isnt medical school, they are not going to expect you to know information on the same scale that a physician needs to know it. They cover a much more broad scale type of info and they focus much more on patient care.

Feel free to PM if you have any more questions, glad to help!

sfrederick2011 · Nov 28, 2017

I haven't had an opportunity to speak to anyone currently in an absn program, or anyone who has completed that type of program. Your insight is so welcomed! First congrats on having 2 months left!! Almost there!

And haha, not getting A's will be hard, but as long as I know I'm doing my best (and I pass too omg, i couldn't imagine not passing I'd just pass out for a month in a stupor) I'm going to be satisfied.

Thanks for telling me about Oasis! I've bookmarked them in my browser so I'll be sure to check it out.

The heads up about the initial stress is great- i would've thought the beginning would be tough, but I thought it would be similar to undergrad in that the classes you take get progressively harder so my senior year was my most stressful. But since nursing school sounds like another beast entirely, I can see how initially it's going to be rough. Thanks for that, I'll know then that that's a normal reaction in the beginning!

I'll also totally keep a portfolio. That's an invaluable tip, I never would have thought of that but that's genius! plus it's good just for your own knowledge, even beyond a job interview.

Thank you for being so open and willing to answer questions!!

mmanzella18 · Nov 28, 2017

Not a problem!

It's a lot of info being thrown at you, but that portfolio that I'm talking about, keep things like number of IVs started, # of Foley's performed, etc, because like I said, not everyone will even get the chance to do them! So it'll set you apart if you can go into to an interview and say I've done exactly 15 instead of something like, "I think I've done 2?" Not sure if that makes sense, but like I said, it was suggested to us by a CEO.

Secondly, ABSN is COMPLETELY different than traditional. The traditional students have far more time to understand and learn material. My program consists of 7 terms each 7 weeks long. They are called terms because unlike semesters, which are 14 weeks, they are 7 as I mentioned.

You literally do not have enough time to know everything, so that is why it is so stressful. They're going to tell you that you need to have 30-45 textbook style pages read by the next day. It's just not feasible. You'll have to figure out how to manage that stress and learn how to study all over again.

I used to write notecards in my undergrad, I had a 3.8 in high school, graduated undergrad with a 3.6 and my current nursing GPA is a 3.3- which in the world of nursing is prettt good if you're the type that wants to go on to more schooling.

Passing at my school is a 75%. That's the magic number, so long as you get a 75, take it and move on because the time flies.

Hmm... what else can I tell you? When I say it gets easier, it took me about 3 months to really get a grip and by month 6 I realized a significant difference. The class load became a lot lighters. Went from having classes 3 days a week and clinical 2 times a week to class 2 days a week and clinical 1 day a week and next term will be class 1 day a week and clinical 2 times a day if that gives you any insight.

We had exams that were over 15 chapters in the book. I know right? Insane. Undergrad covers what? Maybe 5 chapters usually?

That is where oasis helped me the most. I'm THE slowest reader when it comes to textbooks. I just have no patience for it.

Hopefully that provides a little more insight!

rileowski · Nov 28, 2017

I am currently in prereqs and just applied to nursing school so I won't pretend like I know how to prepare for it lol. However, I do have a very similar mindset as you and I am currently preparing for nursing school on my own time--mostly by watching youtube videos. Here are some channels I found that are REALLY and you might like them too (:

professorfink

- YouTube ---- this is by far the best channel I've found. He has an entire playlist of anatomy, physiology, and pharmacology! His pharmacology playlist helped me understand all of the major classes of drugs and the most popular drug names. His physiology playlist really helped me understand how the body works; and what I like about his teaching style is he ties in the physiology with clinically relevant information. For example, when he goes over cardiovascular physiology he talks about a lot of the major diseases like congestive heart failure and he describes the difference between right-sided heart failure and left-sided heart failure and how it can lead to pulmonary edema. He then talks about the major types of drugs a patient with CHF would take like diuretics, statins, beta blockers, and digitalis. This is just one of the hundreds of examples of how he ties in physiology with patho and pharm. His anatomy playlist is useful too.

RegisteredNurseRN

- YouTube ---- I'm sure you heard of this channel by now. She is amazing and has a video on just about everything! But she also has a website with a bunch of NCLEX style practice quizzes that are extremely useful.

Dr. Najeeb Lectures

- YouTube ----- He is a doctor who is a little hard to understand but pretty helpful describing some important topics!

------ these are webinars specifically made for nurses and they cover a pretty wide range of topics

Dr. John Campbell

- YouTube ----- this is probably my second favorite channel, right behind Professor Fink. He is a nurse lecturer and he has a very calm and direct way of talking that makes him very nice to listen to.

Hope this helps you a little bit (:

Lipoma, BSN, RN · Dec 3, 2017

First, welcome and congratulations on your Jefferson FACT acceptance!

I had the same concerns before I started the FACT 1 program at Jefferson and boy did I over exaggerate how hard it was going to be. I'm going to be completely honest here. The program is NOT that hard, albeit, I'm in my final week of the first quarter (s**t time flies). Yes I study everyday but mainly 1-2 hrs, 3 hrs max if I want to. Before the first day of classes, I enjoyed life. I didn't do anything school related because I will be dedicating 12 months to school. I still find myself either going out with fellow classmates on the weekends or just straight bumming it on as down time.

The program can be unorganized at times but you just have to be willing to accept change as you go along and not let it stress you out. The Faculty are amazing, and they welcome all questions and concerns. They are extremely helpful when it comes to clarifying confusing concepts and they bring REAL LIFE examples. As for math (the most you'll see is during pharm and it's really basic). The hardest thing you'll do is calculating drip rate/factor and with enough practice it's highly understandable if you understand "what you are solving for".

Relax, take a deep breath, enjoy some personal/family time and worry about nursing school when you get there. Nothing can prepare you in advance because you don't know what they will lecture on.

BioNerd19 · Jun 27, 2018

Not a problem!
It's a lot of info being thrown at you, but that portfolio that I'm talking about, keep things like number of IVs started, # of Foley's performed, etc, because like I said, not everyone will even get the chance to do them! So it'll set you apart if you can go into to an interview and say I've done exactly 15 instead of something like, "I think I've done 2?" Not sure if that makes sense, but like I said, it was suggested to us by a CEO.
Secondly, ABSN is COMPLETELY different than traditional. The traditional students have far more time to understand and learn material. My program consists of 7 terms each 7 weeks long. They are called terms because unlike semesters, which are 14 weeks, they are 7 as I mentioned.
You literally do not have enough time to know everything, so that is why it is so stressful. They're going to tell you that you need to have 30-45 textbook style pages read by the next day. It's just not feasible. You'll have to figure out how to manage that stress and learn how to study all over again.
I used to write notecards in my undergrad, I had a 3.8 in high school, graduated undergrad with a 3.6 and my current nursing GPA is a 3.3- which in the world of nursing is prettt good if you're the type that wants to go on to more schooling.
Passing at my school is a 75%. That's the magic number, so long as you get a 75, take it and move on because the time flies.
Hmm... what else can I tell you? When I say it gets easier, it took me about 3 months to really get a grip and by month 6 I realized a significant difference. The class load became a lot lighters. Went from having classes 3 days a week and clinical 2 times a week to class 2 days a week and clinical 1 day a week and next term will be class 1 day a week and clinical 2 times a day if that gives you any insight.
We had exams that were over 15 chapters in the book. I know right? Insane. Undergrad covers what? Maybe 5 chapters usually?
That is where oasis helped me the most. I'm THE slowest reader when it comes to textbooks. I just have no patience for it.
Hopefully that provides a little more insight!

What exactly is OASIS nursing? Tried Googling it and didnt come up with anything

mmanzella18 · Jun 27, 2018

Oh hey! Sorry about that, it's a YouTube channel!

Go to YouTube and type in "oasis" and it's got tons of medical topics that are reviewed by physicians, but put into cartoons that make it extremely easy to understand and follow. It saved me!