MDC *Generic F/T* Fall 2011 ;-D

[on eagles wings]

hi and congrats to all of us! i made this thread so we could all exhange info for out ft cohort. that way we won't get mixed up with the other p/timers and ao track! congrats to them too!

for those who are just tuning in:

• our orientation is july 18th, the ati assessment is july 19. mark your calendars!
  
• we do need to get titers for 2 tb's, mmr, varicella and hep b is highly suggested! i think hep a too!
  
• the program is 4 semesters. we graduate in december 2012!!!!!!:yeah:
  
• we have to turn in all our paper work for orientation, which includes our drug screen, health record, background check(i think they receive this from the actually company though)
  
• make your ati account!!! atitesting.com
  

what i have left to do:

• get my drug screen and 2nd tb! should go tomorrow.
  
• uhhh all my titers actually
  
• my unform--although i've already gotten my skirt for clinicals (don't wear pants), i don't have the top or lab coat!!!
  
• get my books-- i've gotten supplementals like an nclex book and stuff but not the actual texts.
  

what i have done to get ready:

• i am going on a diet! healthy meals all day! i don't want to gain 10+ lbs--don't like the idea of being an unhealthy nurse lol
  
• going over some, but not all a&p--mostly bones, muscles, heart, endocrine, and stuff like that.
  
• cleaning out my room to make more space.
  
• i got an extra desk--its big and spacious for those late night study sessions. i have another one but its small. mostly for the computer. but it has lots of shelves for my "enjoyment books".
  
• i am cleaning my shelves(i have lots) and organizing the books by subject (anatomy, physio, patho, bio, chemistry, dictionaries, etc) and as time goes by, i'll put the nursing books as follows: (fundamentals, health assessments, pharmacology, patho, medsurge, specialties, references/dictionaries, review books)
  
• i'm cleaning my filing cabinet out but i am making copies of all my important documents, including my health record incase mdc loses it, lol. so i'll have files for my health docs, extra copies of my other valuable docs(house docs, car docs, insurance etc), and drug screen results. i'm also going to keep file of my ap notes. this is all for simplicity!!!
  
• i'm going to buy those under-bed storage bins to store my extras-- extra back packs, extra office supplies, and my sewing supplies(yes i love crafts)
  
• make sure my dental appointments and my dog's shots are up to date!!!
  
• i printed a ton of "grocery list/menu planner" sheets. i am going to put it on a magnetic clipboard and put it on my white board. every week or month i am going to pick out a day just for meal planning and grocery shopping. i am going to work it out so that the first semester i only have to go shopping twice a month. most of my meals, if they turn out alright lol, will be freezer meals.
  
• i think i need to buy a mini freezer lol
  
• i'm going to do all my fun stuff before school starts. i want to go to the zoo and see some museums and other geeky stuff with my mum. might not be able to for a while
  

what other misc stuff are you doing to organize your life? i *love* organizing :redbeathe any tips would be great!!!!!can't wait :redbeathe:eek::rolleyes::clown:

[on eagles wings, ASN, RN]

You just made me so hungry!!

LOL! Well let me tell you, I talk about food ALL.THE.TIME So I am SO not going to sacrifice my good food for school! No siree bob In fact, its something that me and my coworkers laugh at. We just sit at our desks sharing recipes hahah

But be happy, because I'll be the one bringing freshly baked cookies to study group sessions LOL

[on eagles wings, ASN, RN]

If you have ondemand there are lots of exercise videos. They have dance, cardio kickbox, yoga, etc. Just search the health & fitness section. There's no extra charge as long as you subscribe to basic ondemand.

Ahhh interesting! I don't watch TV so I am in the dark But I think my mom has that in the living room! I am going to check right now! That would be a life saver!

[on eagles wings, ASN, RN]

so i just flipped through several diff. videos and i loved them! the yoga one looks great for the night before clinicals!!

[pixiemom]

I have CPR class tomorrow too. Are you going to take it at the medical campus? If so, let's meet before it starts so we have a friend in class. :)

YAY!That would be awesome! Do you want to meet at the door of the classroom? I will stand outside and wait for you, or you wait for me? I will be wearing blue jeans and a MDC t-shirt. I hope you get this message in time!:redbeathe

[pixiemom]

Oh no!!! I'll pray you find it FAST! :/ My micro lab was tough--I scored a B on it, I think. Just keep trying, I know you'll make it!!!!

well tell your lurker friend I say hi and I will see her on the 18th!! Let me know what happened to your manual once you find out!!

pixiemom, I take my recert tomorrow at Kendall and I am also freaking out :) It is so close, bahahaah I was talking to this new grad RN and he told me how you have to work hard and do something other than school to not lose your mind. He said girls in his program had nervous breakdowns

so he advised exercise or some other extracurricular activity i know i am NOT joining a gym--so expensive nowadays. i think i am just going to hit youtube and find exercise videos. hey its free do you know of any???

on eagles wings - I am so glad you said that. I mean, I don't wish for you to be nervous, but it helps to know I'm not the only one who is nervous! Nervous breakdowns, huh...wow, ok, I guess I will stash some sci-fi novels to read between assignments. I have a gym in my neighborhood, but I messed up my knee a few months ago! So, I'm not losing weight the way I would like. However, I am going to work out a meal plan with my kids so that they can help me and we all eat healthy - it would be too easy to fall into bad habits just so I don't have to cook! My wrist and hand surgery on the 22nd will also put me behind *sigh*, so it looks like eating healthy is more important than ever! Thank you for sharing your ideas with us, I will definitely be using them!

[pixiemom]

LOL! Well let me tell you, I talk about food ALL.THE.TIME So I am SO not going to sacrifice my good food for school! No siree bob In fact, its something that me and my coworkers laugh at. We just sit at our desks sharing recipes hahah

But be happy, because I'll be the one bringing freshly baked cookies to study group sessions LOL

mmmmm, cookies? you are a treasure! :bowingpur You will help keep us sane during study groups:yeah:I hope we can all manage to meet before we have to pick classes (or will they be assigned to us?), so that it would make study group a little easier. I can't wait to meet you and the others from our thread! Next week we should start a roll call to get a clearer picture of who is going to be in class with us and then decide where to meet before orientation. What do you think?

[Salutations]

We *Should* meet up before orientation! I'm all for people making cookies and bringing them in :)

I'm starting to get a little nervous/frustrated. I just got another MMR shot, so hopefully the negative titer along with the vaccine is acceptable. I'm not sure how long it takes the body to have an adequate number of antibodies after getting the vaccine...

Other questions some of you might be able to help me out with:

Do we need a fancy stethoscope, or will a 'normal' one do? (I have an old basic one from a previous job)

How many books do you think we'll need to bring on a daily basis? I can basically bring what I can carry on my back every day. . .

Will we learn everything we need at orientation? (ie, type of uniform, books, other materials like stethoscope, etc)

Not as important, but is anyone else working? I am a little concerned about balancing making enough money to pay rent and eat with having enough time to study. Because I already have an exorbitant amount of loans and have an upper level degree, I am not eligible for any type of federal funding, be it though loans or grants.

[futrn]

Hey everyone just found this thread =) Haven't been on here in a while. So I have the drug test and titers done and I am going to get the TB tests and whatnot done this week...honestly I have been so nervous the past few weeks I have even been questioning whether or not I can really make it as a nurse. =( but I know I at least need to try =) Reading all of your posts are encouraging me though...thanks! For books I think I am going to get one of those rolling backpacks but I am going to wait and see what they say at orientation. Also I bought the Littman lightweight stethoscope so I hope that will work alright?? Any suggestions on good shoes to get?

[on eagles wings, ASN, RN]

pixiemom, we should definitely do a roll call next week! sounds like a plan! BTW I also have terrible knees. I got two surgeries in the past 3 years and have been in physical therapy since high school so i've been trying to work out my flimsy legs and also i have been taking glucosamine and chondroitin (proteoglycans found in the cartilage ap review!! LOL) also, when it hurts i rub it with bengay or something. we will get through clinicals if we just keep our legs as fit as possible, i think!!

Salutations, :) I hear people all the time talking about Littmanns and I do suggest them if you can afford it! Medisave.net has the nice lightweight ones futrn mentioned. You can have them engraved for free with your name or initials, etc. I got a stealth black prestige clinical 1 by prestige medical. its pretty but it gets the job done (i take bps all the time and i hear perfectly out of them)

i work at the medical campus and i see nursing students carrying rolling backpacks but many just carry normal targus backpacks. you don't need to carry your laptop bc the medical campus has a lot of laptops/computer stations on the 2nd and 3rd floors. but if you feel comfortable taking in class notes that way, that is cool too.

i don't think a lot of the students carry all their books. i see students carrying their med surg book(which is like 7lbs+) and that alone makes me want to carry a suitcase LOL but for 1st semester, not so sure

i think we will get the gist of everything at orientation. they will probably talk about scholarships, clinicals, ATI testing, exit exams, etc

and like i mentioned, i currently work on campus as a student assistant, so i only get 17 hours a week. its more than enough for a nursing student. as we will be in the f/t program, we shouldn't work more than 15-20 hrs/week. more than that is academic/emotional suicide :| i know a guy in the program who was a class mate of mine in microbio and he was working f/t. he told me it showed in his grades and he had to take less hours to be able to pass the program.

the thing is at my job i can study. i have a desk w/ a computer and its fairly quiet. i've heard of nursing students getting jobs as unit secretaries at really slow floors and they were able to do homework.

[on eagles wings, ASN, RN]

Hey everyone just found this thread =) Haven't been on here in a while. So I have the drug test and titers done and I am going to get the TB tests and whatnot done this week...honestly I have been so nervous the past few weeks I have even been questioning whether or not I can really make it as a nurse. =( but I know I at least need to try =) Reading all of your posts are encouraging me though...thanks! For books I think I am going to get one of those rolling backpacks but I am going to wait and see what they say at orientation. Also I bought the Littman lightweight stethoscope so I hope that will work alright?? Any suggestions on good shoes to get?

i know exactly what you mean! just last night i was telling my friend i was totally freaked out but that is why i am trying to organize myself! it keeps me busy and it will pay off once school starts. just try not to think about failing or anything because it will only bog you down! if you are determined to be a great nurse, you will!

as for shoes, i am also having the same problem. but i think i'll just end up getting the ones at the bookstore LOL easy and cheap

[pixiemom]

i know exactly what you mean! just last night i was telling my friend i was totally freaked out but that is why i am trying to organize myself! it keeps me busy and it will pay off once school starts. just try not to think about failing or anything because it will only bog you down! if you are determined to be a great nurse, you will!

as for shoes, i am also having the same problem. but i think I'll just end up getting the ones at the bookstore LOL easy and cheap

As long as they fit well and are comfortable, they would be like gold to me! I have to go by a uniform store and begin looking, too. They have to be all white correct? Also, guys, we have to set up study groups early in the year so that we can set up our support system too. It has been great, for example, to have on eagles wings share her list with us. It's given me alot of ideas! Wouldn't it be neat if those of you who know nursing students or graduates make a list of the things that the students and graduates found the most useful in nursing school - like shoes, books, pens, pencils, notebooks, organizational systems, PDA or iTouch for clinicals, stuff we haven't thought about, etc (even the simplest things could be of great help).:heartbeat:nurse:

[pixiemom]

oh, i know there was a similar list posted on another thread that someone found, but i figure that that list is from 2005 - maybe we can update it.

btw, yay, i finally got the cpr class done! my knee is killing me! it was fun, but kind of exhausting! (i definitely have all the confidence in the world that i know how to do chest compressions!!) lol must have done a few hundred!