Lower Columbia College, Campus Based

patwil73 · Oct 14, 2009

Congratulations - I graduated there in 2001, so I might not have the most up to date experiences from there. As I recall class size started at about 20 and we had 5 at the end.

We did Long Term Care the first 2 quarters then on to St. John's for most of the rest - except 6th quarter which was partially pysch.

Some of my experiences - 2nd quarter was the toughest as we did diseases - and everything seemed to have the same symptoms. I also had a lot of trouble that quarter with the medications trying to keep it all straight (I had no medical background going in - so if you are like me, get a drug book early and just start reading it a bit each night).

Take advantage of the skill labs to practice your skills and always volunteer for procedures in the hospital - the more experiences you get the more comfortable you will feel.

All the clinical areas were nice to work in - they mostly made you feel welcome and helped out as they could. But be prepared when you go in, because you will get grilled on your knowledge. I tried to memorize everything which I don't think was the best plan - instead try to organize your patient knowledge from general to specific (such as airway/breathing to COPD to using oxygen to needing more rest during activity to using medications such as albuterol/atrovent or lasix). Note how yu can take a general area, list their diseasee process, what that means to them, what you need to be aware of, and what they take for it).

Also try to make a lot of connections between the different pieces of knowledge you have - it will make things easier to remember if you have more than one way to get at it?

For example a person is in for infection. They have a history of hypertension, congestive heart failure, and atrial fib. They have been vomiting and had diarrhea for the past 4 days. So the infection leads to a high WBC and temp which is the bodies way of making it easier to fight the infection. Vomiting and diarrhea lead to fluid loss or dehydration - to help it we replace it with more fluids usually IV. Too much fluids can overload the heart, especially in CHF so we give lasix to help remove the fluid. If we don't do it quickly enough the person can have breathing difficulties from fluid overload which can stress the heart and cause the afib to increase in rate which leads back to the heart not pumping effectively enough to remove the fluid which makes it more difficult to breathe. So because they are getting sicker we tell them to stay in bed and place a foley to help drain the fluid away. The foley is a prime spot for infection to enter the body and without scrupulous care, they get another infection from the foley which leads to elevated WBC and temp and off we go again.

So when researching your patient try to make a flow chart and diagram how one thing can lead to another or impact another.

Finally when you go in to take care of a patient - ask yourself what is everything that I might need when I walk in that room and make sure you bring it - try to anticipate what your patient might want so you are not always running out to grab something you need.

Hope all this helps - it is a lot of fun to be a nurse. Good luck.

Pat

Browneyes98 · Oct 16, 2009

Thanks Pat for all those great tips. I will keep your email as a reminder for when I start. I hope my background will help me out as well, I was a CNA for ten years and obtained my LPN license last year. I have been working as a Charge nurse in a Intermediate Dementia care facility. I sure have learned alot this last year and I am so looking forward to obtaining my RN and greater knowledge base it will bring me. I love being a nurse and know that I am in the best profession. Thanks again!!

lovetowork · Oct 29, 2009

Congratulations! Can you rell me if you have to have all pre-requisites finished before applying? I am also wondering if a person can get in with a 3.0 GPA and have a chance of getting in. Best of luck to you. I have a few co-workers that graduated there and said it is a great program.

Browneyes98 · Oct 30, 2009

Yes I did have all my pre req's before I applied. You have to have a minimum GPA of 2.0 to get in. Checkout there nursing homepage it will explain everything. Good luck!!

mariahas4kids · Nov 3, 2009

I graduated in 2007. Great program. Use the RAP lab (skills lab practice). The clinical and class teachers know if you are going in and practicing your skills. Show up early for all classes and clinicals. Sit in the front of the class. Take notes, lots and lots of notes. Care Plans are horrible, ask for help. Do Not Forget your Med Cards. Listen to Sharon Layton's stories. It was thanks to her stories about her mother-in-law that helped me remember hyperparathyroid versus hypoparathyroid. Have fun, study hard and relax. Feel free to email me if you have questions about the classes or professors. :nurse:

tartar · Sep 30, 2011

Hello all you nurses! I am starting this winter's lpn to rn campus based and was wondering if anyone else is going to be starting with me??? plus, for those people who have graduated already, I would love to hear how you liked the program