Miami Dade College Spring 2015 RN Program

U.S.A. Florida

Published

Hi all!

I wanted to start a thread for all of the Spring 2015 MDC RN applicants. I finally finished all of my pre-req's, and have started studying for the NLN PAX RN exam. I am hoping this thread, like many other MDC threads of the past, can help us all to build friendships, support one another, and most importantly, help us through this difficult process. Welcome! :)

I'm on your same boat. I'm a bit over all this mess and shenanigans. I did read in this forum that someone got accepted to the bridge program this Monday and their orientation was on Thursday. So that gave me a little hope. Also, someone mentioned that Homestead campus is full but when I had called they said that until we don't receive rejection letters that there are still spots open. So let's hope there is. Good luck to those of us still waiting and congratulations to those who made it!

I'm applying in May/2015 but Lord I feel the pain and excitement for all of you. I want this to be over already. Hang in there I have the feeling you are going to be running like crazy a week before orientation. I've read that, it had happened before.

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Wow thank you! This was so helpful especially to someone like myself who is accepted into nursing school and truly doesn't know what to expect. It helps to know there are people like you who take time out to come back and give advice to pre-nursing students like myself and others. God bless you!

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Hello everyone I saw this post and wanted to share with future nursing students a "guide " to surviving nursing school exams and coursework.

Author is gcat626_RN

Studying And Managing Coursework

It's your first day of class. Your excited, scared, and eager. All the hard work in your pre-requisites has finally payed off, and you are officially a nursing student. Your professor walks in, greets the classroom, and dives right into the syllabus. One look at the syllabus, and the anxiety starts to kick in. It is several pages long. " Geez, this might be the biggest syllabus I've ever had!" You turn the page and there is the reading list--- you think to yourself, " you have got to be kidding me...there is just no way one person can study this much material! "

Get used to this feeling. Not only will it start in your very first nursing fundamentals course, but it will continue all the way up until graduation. Nursing school is no joke -- it is very overwhelming. It may seem impossible, but with the right study habits and time management skills, you can and will succeed.

The following are the most valuable pearls of wisdom I can give you in terms of studying and acheiving good grades in your courses.

What to study: **Only study what is covered in class--this will cut down your workload significantly and make your time spent studying that much more meaningful.**

You must be thinking to yourself " you mean I dont have to read all 1 million chapters assigned by the professor for week 1?! " THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I'M SAYING! Although you "should" read everything, it's just not feasible. There are not enough hours in the week to do all that reading and simultaneously prep for clinical, eat, sleep, and maintain your health and sanity. Take it from me. During my first fundamentals course, I read and studied every single page, box, etc assigned in t c che syllabus. I was too scared to skip anything. I was so anxious that I even started studying 3 weeks before the class actually started, which accumulated into over 5 weeks of studying by the time the first exam was even given. It took a serious toll on my heath, yet I continued to read and study every page, box etc for the remainder of the course. By the time the first semester ended, I was mentally and physically exhausted and I told myself I didn't want to do this anymore. I vented to a friend of mine who was a senior nursing student getting ready to graduate, and she told me to only study what was covered in class. I thought to myself, " there's no way ," but I had to try something or else I was going to end up withdrawing myself from the nursing program. So I took her advice with me into my next course. The assigned readings/ chapters list was comparable, if not larger, than the list for my funamentals course. Even though deep down I wanted to read all of it to be on the safe side, I only read what was covered in class. I got a 96 on the first exam. For example, lets say on the syllabus your teacher assigned chapter 21, " postpartum assessment and complications " to be read and studied. However, during class, he or she only teaches certain sections of chapter 21. ONLY STUDY THOSE SECTIONS! There is a reason for this-- the professor is covering what he or she deems the most important information, which translates into the information that will be covered on the test. I used this technique all the way until my very last exam in nursing school, and not only did it prove to be correct each time, but it was probably what saved me from burning out and subsequently withdrawing from school.

How to study: ** Study what you need to know as a nurse. **

What I mean is this: your professor won't care that you can describe why the pain felt during a heart attack is due to the buildup of lactic acid as a result of oxygen deprivation and every biological step involved in anaerobic metabolism ( and these processes are covered quite extensively in nursing textbooks). Sure, it's nice to know, but your not getting a degree in chemistry. Instead, they want to know what YOU would do if a patient presented to the ER with chest pain, important nursing actions to take during this situation, and why you take those actions. Study what you need to know as a nurse.

In addition, applying what you study is most important and this is where the bulk of where your testing will come from. From day one your teachers will speak of critical thinking and the nursing process, and your licensing exam will focus heavily on these concepts. These principles are exactly what makes nursing so difficult and also why so many people will not make it through nursing school. At this point your probably asking yourself, " Well how do I know if I can critically think and apply what I have learned? " Practice applying what you know with NCLEX style questions. One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is to purchase an NCLEX practice question book early on in your academic career. Purchase a book that divides the questions up by sections, ie cardiac, oncology, etc. so that you can use them to study when you are covering different topics in school.

Time management is also essential to success in nursing school yet very difficult to get a grasp of early on. To effectively manage your time, there are several steps to take. First off, get a calendar. On the very first day of class, mark each and every quizz and exam on the calendar. Next, and probably most important, study every day. By no means do I mean 4-5 hours a day. Not only is that foolish but you will burn out fast. Study 2 hours a day, and as far in advance as you can. Not only will you be adequately prepared, but the information will stay in your long term memory-- theres no such thing as cramming in nursing school the night before, you've gotta know this stuff forever.For example, lets say your test is in two weeks. Start studying the very first day the teacher presents the information. Take notes in class, and clarify any missing portions with your textbook. Learn this information, then start practicing the information with corresponding nclex questions. At first, you will probably get a decent amount of the questions wrong. BUT THATS OK! This is how you learn, and when you go back to do more questions you will start to notice that there is only so many ways they can ask you about a given topic or scenario. Also, do every question you can get your hands on. I used to go to barnes and noble, pay for a coffee , and take all of the nclex books out of their nursing section and do them until I got sick of them. If you practice questions and study your notes like I said for 2 hours a day up until the exam, you will be an expert by the time you have to test and I guarentee you will pass, probably with flying colors.

" What do I do when i'm crunched for time and can't take notes from my textbook? " Purchase Med/surg nursing reviews and rationales by mary ann hogan. Essentially this book is a cliff notes version of your bulky med/surg textbook. It has notes on the most important diseases, procedures, surgeries etc divided by body system and is worth its weight in gold. There were several times where I replaced my med/surg text with this book and used it along with nclex questions for practice to learn the info. For example, lets say you are covering cardiac tamponade in class, but dont have time to take notes on it from your med/surg text. Open up reviews and rationales by mary ann hogan, turn to the cardiac section, and you will find an excellent breakdown of the disease in bullet-point format which includes a defintion, signs and symptoms, and associated nursing interventions. Study this breakdown, and then practice nclex questions on it. Repeat this process over and over for all disorders/diseases/procedures you are learning about it and you will shine when it comes to testing time.

Well that about covers it. I really hope this will help nursing students to excell in the classroom and do well on exams. If you're wondering how I did, I graduated with a 3.9 cumulative GPA and passed the nclex in 75 questions. Best of luck everyone.

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Have anyone applied for the accelerated program for spring? I apllied for that but am not sure if acceptance letters have gone out yet?

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Have anyone applied for the accelerated program for spring? I apllied for that but am not sure if acceptance letters have gone out yet?

I got mine in October 16th, I'm guessing since then they started sending out letters .

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& you got an email right?

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& you got an email right?

Yes, to my MDC account.

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Ok thank. & congrats on the acceptance :)

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Ok thank. & congrats on the acceptance :)

Thank you :)

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All acceptance letters were sent out on the 16th of October. If you didn't receive an email from advisement , wait till Monday they might have onerous two spots open. Cause orientation for accelared is nov 21 and nov 20th for generic. Good luck, if you didn't make it, reapply again in May, make sure you apply for both Generic and Accelarated, so u can have a better chance. And also, apply to other schools.

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Hey all! Congrats to those who have been accepted! i was a little nostalgic and was cruising through this thread. I'm in 3rd semester now and wanted to share some info that I wish someone had shared with me when i first got accepted:

vaccinations/drug test/tb etc - i go to a place near le jeune and 836, Dr Josefina Tur 4100 NW 9th St, Miami, FL 33126

(305) 642-7111. Its a little cheaper than the MDC clinic and is a walkin, no appointment needed.

books - dont buy from the bookstore! rent or buy used from Amazon, you will save yourself hundreds of dollars. i bought one edition back

for all the selected texts, and never had much of a problem, other than having to use the index more as the chapters would sometimes be

renumbered. but otherwise, i havent had a problem with older editions.

uniforms - angel across the street from the campus gives a better deal than the bookstore. you will also need white shoes for clinical.

teachers - ratemyprofessor.com is your friend. teachers are really hit and miss. some are awesome, some are outright horrible. overall though,

you need to be ready and able to teach yourself, even if the teacher is good. there are a lot of great youtube resources like khan academy,

dr john campbell, and this other guy, i think his name is michael linnares.

studying - this is not regular school. you have to study study study. make study groups and study hard. there are small group study rooms

in the library that you can book. my friends and i videochat the night before tests to review. semester 2 was a killer with medsurg and pharm. we lost

a lot of students at the end of that semester.

if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

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Hey all! Congrats to those who have been accepted! i was a little nostalgic and was cruising through this thread. I'm in 3rd semester now and wanted to share some info that I wish someone had shared with me when i first got accepted:

vaccinations/drug test/tb etc - i go to a place near le jeune and 836, Dr Josefina Tur 4100 NW 9th St, Miami, FL 33126

(305) 642-7111. Its a little cheaper than the MDC clinic and is a walkin, no appointment needed.

books - dont buy from the bookstore! rent or buy used from Amazon, you will save yourself hundreds of dollars. i bought one edition back

for all the selected texts, and never had much of a problem, other than having to use the index more as the chapters would sometimes be

renumbered. but otherwise, i havent had a problem with older editions.

uniforms - angel across the street from the campus gives a better deal than the bookstore. you will also need white shoes for clinical.

teachers - ratemyprofessor.com is your friend. teachers are really hit and miss. some are awesome, some are outright horrible. overall though,

you need to be ready and able to teach yourself, even if the teacher is good. there are a lot of great youtube resources like khan academy,

dr john campbell, and this other guy, i think his name is michael linnares.

studying - this is not regular school. you have to study study study. make study groups and study hard. there are small group study rooms

in the library that you can book. my friends and i videochat the night before tests to review. semester 2 was a killer with medsurg and pharm. we lost

a lot of students at the end of that semester.

if anyone has any questions, feel free to ask!

Thanks for the information. Did you have any professors give you any issues regarding uniforms. Someone stated that professor are strict on uniforms that did not come from Miami Dade although Blue Angel scrubs are identical in color and style

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