MUSC Spring 2020 ABSN

Lauren · Dec 8, 2019

8 hours ago, bitter_betsy said:
Scheduling: figuring out what was going on, where I needed to be and what needed to be done by when. It can be a little overwhelming. While it looks like you have 4 classes - you really have more.
Your courses on Monday are Foundations and Health Assessment. Those both have clinical portions. So when you get your syllabus you will be assigned to a clinical group or groups. You have to figure out what day those groups go where and get all that into your planner. Health Assessment will have sim days and lab days - you just need to make sure you figure out what time and where each is (and put that in your planner also). If you miss a Sim Lab day its like a $250 make up fee and it has to be approved. You could potentially fail for missing a day without a valid excuse - not remembering or "not knowing" isn't valid.
Foundations gets a little more tricky. You have the classroom portion, you have lab days, sim days and you have clinical days. I did not have a single day off during First semester. So I had classes on Mon / Tue, Foundations clinical on Wednesday, Health Assessment sim or lab on Thursday and then foundations sim or lab on Friday. Sim lab takes places on the 1st floor of CON (until they move it to the library) while normal lab takes place on the 3rd floor of CON or in rare cases the normal classrooms. Be sure to mark the time AND location.
Your courses on Tuesday only have classroom lecture portions so that is a lot easier to keep track of.
What they don't tell you about is IP classes. First semester is hard because you are trying to figure out what is going on, and either on Monday or Tuesday during what should be your lunch period, you have to go to an IP course and you have homework. It lasts approximately 6 weeks and then you switch and get to pick a second IP course for the next 6 weeks. You have to add those classes and homework into your planner also. Don't get this confused with IP day. IP day we (the whole university student body) will do something together for IP day. Make sure you mark down the location and time for this as well because no one seems to be able to tell you where you are going. Your location will either come in an email or you have to look it up - but directions are provided.
Some people I know only did a week at a time of their schedule because the whole schedule overwhelmed them. I did my entire planner in the beginning so that I would know what I had to study for and if there were smaller assignments that I could get out of the way - then I did. Also it was easier for me to plan out when to study for what.
Syllabi are not released until Moodle (or Harbor) opens up which is usually 72 hours before the course starts. I would take 1 syllabus at a time and get all the assignments and what nots entered into my planner (keep reading assignments on a separate sheet of paper). Do foundations last - it can get confusing. Once you know where you have to be and when, then you have to figure out what time you need to leave in order to get there on time. Traffic sucks. Unless you can walk to campus, it will take you at least twice as long as you think it should and if you are in a hurry it will take 3x as long. Add in additional extra time for school buses and rain.
They don't remind you that something is due - thats your job. Sometimes you have pre-work in order to enter into Sim Lab or be permitted to take a test. Its your job to make sure that its done on time. Most instructors don't answer questions on the weekends when we do most of our catch up work - so make sure you get your questions out of the way early.
Long winded answer... sorry. I'm trying to be helpful but if its too much let me know and I'll be brief instead.

No that is super helpful thank you!

bitter_betsy, BSN · Dec 9, 2019

@emilylooney @Drakesghostwriter

So.... bad news. Someone and their hot pink thongs ruined it for everyone. You DO have to buy from that particular company. I asked if we were able to sell our scrubs and the answer is yes we can sell them to you - but.... you can't technically wear them. Now they will be super strict when you first start, but its possible that by 4th semester you may be able to wear whatever scrubs you want. For now - follow the rules. I'm sorry!

Keep in mind that things change EVERY semester - sometimes for the better and sometimes not (at least from our perspective). In the big scheme of things - its 16 months. It goes by terribly fast. White scrubs suck no matter how they fit, so take this as something you can't change and keep going.

If I haven't told you already - buy a good backpack. Most of my books are digital now, but I still schlep all kinds of crap around. Always keep a spare set of scrubs in your car because you never know when you will end up with something on you that you would rather not wear around for the next 8-12 hours. Getting puked on is not a reason to go home for the day.

You will probably also need a small umbrella to tote in that backpack. It doesn't rain often but when it does, it usually comes out of nowhere. Most people just carry one of those little ones at the bottom of their bag all the time.

Drakesghostwriter · Dec 9, 2019

You’re a gem @bitter_betsy! Thank you!

bitter_betsy, BSN · Dec 9, 2019

@Drakesghostwriter No problem. Its not always easy to navigate and all of us could use a helping hand at some point!!

yenool, BSN · Jan 2, 2020

Anyone know what book we're supposed to be getting for Health Assessment? I can't find anything with the ISBN number they provide, and it's not on the MUSC bookstore website.

bitter_betsy, BSN · Jan 2, 2020

@emilylooney

https://nursing.musc.edu/academics/student-services/college-of-nursing-booklists

That is the link to where the booklist is located (it is a pdf - you want Spring 2020 ABSN booklist. This is the description for Health Assessment:

Hogan-Quigley, B. Palm, M.L., & Bickley, L.S. (2016). CoursePoint+ for Hogan-Quigley, Palm & Bickley: Bates Nursing Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking (1st ed.) Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Includes ebook, PrepU Health Assessment, Lippincott advisor, resources, Stedman Medical dictionary and vSim Health Assessment ISBN: 978-1496356673

Do not shortcut anything with vSim or PrepU - you will just end up spending more money and it will hurt you in the end. PrepU really helps when you use it. vSim is a requirement and there is no way around it. We were guinea pigs and PrepU was optional - its entirely possible that portions of it will be required for grades now.

This is a direct link to Lippincott where you can order what you need at a discount.

lippincottdirect.lww.com

You just put in Medical University of South Carolina and it brings up the books available from them at the discounted price. The issue with Health Assessment is that the ISBNs do not match. What I would actually do, is be prepared to spend about $250 on this stuff and wait and speak with Dr. Kinyon on the first day of class. She is amazing and will tell you exactly what you need to do. She doesn't love technology but she will tell you exactly which pieces of that you need. If you just need the book, you can get it from anywhere (I'm pretty partial to ebooks now). If you need the digital stuff that goes with it - just order it from Lippincott. You can always post here and I'll help decipher the answer too. You have Health Assessment on Tuesday and I will check and see if you have posted anything ?

Good Luck!! Are you ready???

bitter_betsy, BSN · Jan 2, 2020

@emilylooney

https://shop.lww.com/Lippincott-CoursePoint--for-Hogan-Quigley--Palm---Bickley--Bates-Nursing-Guide-to-Physical-Examination-and-His/p/9781496356673

Sorry - this would have been helpful.

Drakesghostwriter · Jan 4, 2020

@bitter_betsywould your recommend that we buy the Health Assessment book directly from the publisher? I was going to just buy the ebook but I wasn't sure if I needed the other stuff included:

PrepU Health Assessment,

Lippincott advisor, resources, Stedman Medical dictionary

and vSim Health Assessment)

bitter_betsy, BSN · Jan 4, 2020

@drakesghostwriter

I would wait until Tuesday and find out if PrepU is required. I know that it can be torture to wait, but it may save you $$. They were deciding if Prep U was going to be mandatory when we were going through. If you just buy the ebook, you may be going back to purchase the other stuff and in the end will cost you more.

Some things I have learned - buying ebooks from the publisher is almost always better. Ebay sucks for books because you never know what page stuff is really going to be on (cheaper but not worth the effort to find the sections). It is also beneficial because the publisher has a reader included so if you are driving, then your car can read the text to you. This may seem minor, but depending on where you life - traffic can REALLY suck. Those who live in Summerville have a nasty commute. Even coming from West Ashley is dreadful on days - never mind hitting school bus traffic!! That is a whole new level of SUCKS.

For me I appreciate PrepU and its the best way for me to study. I do 50 NCLEX questions per day, its just how I learn. I read the rationales and that is how PrepU works also. My grades are better when I use PrepU. Its expensive, but in my opinion worth the time and effort. It wasn't an option for our HA class, but for Foundations, Women's Health, Med Surg and Peds - it was worth every cent!

Lauren · Jan 5, 2020

So I know they said dress code is business casual but does anyone know if we’re suppose to wear our lab coat?

bitter_betsy, BSN · Jan 6, 2020

@Lauren

very rarely will your wear your lab coat separate from your white uniform. The stethoscope ceremony is an instance when you will wear your lab coat with professional dress. I keep my lab coat in my car so grabbing it is always an option.

When wearing the white uniform you are only allowed to wear a solid white long sleeve top under the scrubs for warmth and/or the lab coat. No hoodies, zip ups, sweaters or sweatshirts are allowed.