This is my second day in the nursing program and already we have our first test on Friday. The test is over 350 medical terms. Next week we start Intro to Nursing and that test is like 3 days after the class starts.
Im not complaining. I mean this is made to be tough and fast so we can be good trained nurses. It'll all be worth it in the end. It's only one year of sacrifice.
Anyway my first day started in my computer course for 4 hours. Every hour we would get a break and could grab a snack or a drink. I'm trying to stay healthy so I'm munching on granola bars and water. For lunch I even had a ham and cheese sandwhich. But, I digress....haha. The computer course is pretty basic. The things we already know but they want us to be sure how to send our assignments and check our emails for class. Just to jogg our memories I suppose.
Next I headed off to Med Term. We sat and watched a video that repeated every term over and over for the next 4 hours of my school day. It actually kind of worked. I went home and could remember some of the visuals that the video had in it, so i remembered the terms! That's when she broke the news....test Friday for 350 words. I guess it's not that bad..but 350 words!!!!!!!! Ahh!
Well I'm in computer class right now so I should pay attention...I'll update later.
Ok. I passed anatomy and physioolgy! Now on to nurtrition! So far we hav been learning about vitamins and such. Not too much on the first day but it is alot of stuff to remember. Clinicals start in two weeks. I have to pass nutrition and med math then Im on my way to geriatric clinical! I am so excited. So far everyone in my study group is doing quite well also. Were hanging in there. Im not one for math so I must say I am more worried about med math than ana and physio...but I will get my group to go over and over with me if I feel lost. Thats the only way I'll get it...pride aside...I have to graduate! Guys pray for us all! And keep up the good work in your classes also!
Thanks for the tips. I start in August and aI need all the help I can get. I work as a Cna in a nursing home so I know about sundowners. I also found out that during a full moon everything goes haywire so watch out. Other than that it it fun, I love my residents and they love me.!!! I think working in a nursing home would be great, but I also want some hospital experience. Keep posting the wonderful tips, as I need all the help I can get!
ashleys: don't be scared!! It's really fun because it's exactly what you want to do. It's to the point without all that extra hoopla most majors make you go through before you can get to the meat and potatoes!
Right now I'm in Nurtition. We went through the basics of nutrition on day one..took a test yesterday and learned about vitamins and essentials and the food processes that each cycle of life goes through...then took a test this morning on what we learned yesterday. Today we learned about different diseases and their correlating diets. The test on that is friday and if we pass this test and make good grades on the others, which is our final, we can go on to med math on friday. Tomorrow our two ati practice test are due. We have to make a 90%. Not to mention the diet projects we have due. My project is one the Coumadin Diet, which just had restictions on food high in vitamin k. Im taking ice cream cake for the class as my sample food. I hope everyone likes it, since I;m making it homemade.
Well thats a huge update on this week. April 1st we start geriatrics clinicals!!! Wish me luck in med math guys!
So we were tuaght med math on Thursday. Had test 1 on Friday..were taught even more math..then took our final that following Monday. Med math. I passed it! With an 92 % A. ME!..MISS BAD AT MATH passed med math. I was so happy as you can see. So what is med math? It's just formulas to calculate drip rates and med doses. Once you learn to cancel out your units...ratio proportion style you'll be fine. Our teacher taught some crazy hoopla but a friend of mine in the class taught me a much easier way with the proportions. So with that being said...I have made it onto clinicals! We started geriactrics yesterday and clinicals start Wednesday. I can't type long because I'm headed to get my uniforms but I will be back to update later. Bye guys and good luck!
It's fun! I finally get to care for patients and be hands on. And all the practice on our dummies really helped. So a day in clinical starts out in pre conference. This is were I get my assigned patients rm number and the drug information they are on and all the disease processes they are going through. I head to my patients rm to intro myself and get my assessment completed. Give the bed bath if the patient is bedridden, if not they will be taken to the whirlpool sometime during the day. I then change the linnens and straighten up the bedside table. I comb my patients hair and get them ready for the new day. By then it's almost time for breakfast so I head to the conference room and write my formal assessment on the nurses notes form. I go back to check on my patient and normally breakfast is there already ( waiting if the patient cannot feed themself....in that case I feed them) or if the patient is mobile or can get around in a wheelchair they have already been taken to the dinning room for breakfast ( if not I take them myself). The rest of the day is spent doing two hour checks and helping other classmates. During the two hour checks you just go to the patients room and ask if they need anything...typically if they are bedridden they may need assistance with something ( water, positioning, etc). I like to turn my bedridden patients every two hours with pillows or other soft linnens. I also have this thing about putting lotion on their hands and asking if they need chapstick...hey! you never know. I try to treat them like they are my grandparents or how I would like to be treated. Alot of the cnas talk to them like they are babies but I noticed me and my classmates treat them with respect and talk to them as older individuals. In between checks I tend to change alot of diapers, watch med pass, watch whirlpool, watch wound care, or change trashcans. Anything to keep yourself busy and learning. Already I have seen 5 pressure ulcers ( yes even stage IV), a colostomy burping ( when the bag gets too full it has to be emptied out so it won't burst all over the patient), seen wound care on several patients, and learned how to administer O2. Nursing homes are at a laid back pace and it seems the major job of the LPN is to pass meds from 8 am to 10:30 am. After that I see them writting out their forms behind the nurses station. Very rarely do I see them even doing checks. Alot of my classmates do not like geriatrics but I like it. The patients are sweet at this facility, and I'm getting the hang of things.
Now homework? Ok let me tell you! We go to clinical 3 days out of 5. On the first day we get those drugs and pathology I mentioned earlier. Well we get to go home and write a drug and patho card for each drug and disease process. Plus a careplan....all due the next morning. Mind you, geriatrics patients seem to all be on a million drugs with an ample amount of diseases so it takes awhile to get homework done but I see the point in making us do the cards.
All in all geriatrics is fun! Two more weeks at the nursing home and then I'm off to IV Therapy clinical. Wish me luck and pray for me!
Nursingladyquinn, you are very inspirational to me! I hope to be starting LPN school soon, and keeping up with this post has provided me with so much insight on what to expect and how not to give up when things get difficult. Thanks!
Thank you Ivaiav. I truly appreciate it and I'm glad my experiences are helping others like you. That's why I wrote this forum because when I was making my decision to start lpn school there was only one other forum like this one and it helped me soo much.
Ok so today was the last day of clinical in the geriatric site.Tuesday was our last day of geriatric theory. We had a final Tuesday and my overall theory grade was an A. Today I found out my clinical average was was a high B. I got a few points away from an A but it's ok because my entire group was averaging out at making B's. So overall how was geriatrics? It was hard the first week. Taking all the information and procedures we learned from practicing with dummies, and transfering it to a real live person. It was hard. Around week 3 things got alot easier. I was booking my assesment, ADLS, and linnen change in a much faster rate than the first week. I am proud of myself for getting as far as I have so far. I know that may sound conceited but it is not meant to be. It's just been a twisted road to get here and I have to give myself a nice pat on the back.
NursingLadyQuinn
26 Posts
Ok. I passed anatomy and physioolgy! Now on to nurtrition! So far we hav been learning about vitamins and such. Not too much on the first day but it is alot of stuff to remember. Clinicals start in two weeks. I have to pass nutrition and med math then Im on my way to geriatric clinical! I am so excited. So far everyone in my study group is doing quite well also. Were hanging in there. Im not one for math so I must say I am more worried about med math than ana and physio...but I will get my group to go over and over with me if I feel lost. Thats the only way I'll get it...pride aside...I have to graduate! Guys pray for us all! And keep up the good work in your classes also!
NursingladyQuinn