Nervous.... LPN Program

STA29 · Sep 1, 2007

Thank you for your kind words on my nervous post. BELIEVE me I know what you are going through. As far as the entrance exam goes.... it's cake! I was nervous going into it and I didn't study at all. It was basic math, adding, subtracting, multiply and divide. There were maybe one or two very simple algebra equations on it. For example 3x+5=20. The english part was easy also... just read the sentence out loud but in your head... that makes it easy to find the errors. DON'T let negative people discourage you. I am a mom of two ages 6 and 9 months. My boyfriend is NOT supportive in this at all. He tells me that Nursing is a job for lowly people. I ignore him and am still going to follow my dream. You should do the same as well! Good luck :)

dmarie (GA) · Sep 7, 2007

You'll do great! Just study hard and believe in yourself! You can do it!

cschmill · Sep 8, 2007

i have some advice that was given to me that i found very useful:

1. be enthusiastic, volunteer whenever possible. even if you get it wrong, your instructors will still be impressed that you made the effort.

2. there are no stupid questions, ask as many as you need until you understand. life is a learning process. better to figure it out than to say 'oh well' and have it come back to haunt you after school.

3. be dedicated, i was told to expect 3-4 hours of homework/studying a night, and i found myself doing at least that.

4. remember to take some time for yourself. it's very important to take a break during studying. get up and walk around for 15 minutes every hour or so, it not only refreshes you but your brain as well.

5. eat right and get plenty of sleep. it not only keeps you healthy, but in top performance.

6. don't sweat the small stuff. you will have a day when you come home saying 'i'm never going back there!,' but most often the next day will be the best one ever.

i hope this will help, good luck and believe in yourself!

Ish7 · Oct 26, 2007

Thank you For the list I will be focused and I know that it will get frustraing at times But Im gonna keep pushing thru I was actually looking at some of the calculations for the IV and Oral meds and the word problems they give you So you can Find ML. or Gtt whatever Its so confusing but Im browsing thru this stuff now so When I do get in school Sep '08 Ill be a little use the stuff Once again thank you for taking the time to give me that extra boost of Motivation.. :)

NC Girl BSN · Oct 26, 2007

Believe it or not, I had to write 5 papers in my LPN program. And I'm no talking 2 pagers.More like 7-10 pages. I'm a genius in writing either but I found someone to proofread them and got A's on them. Good luck in nursing and the entrance test. You can do anything you put your heart into.

Ish7 · Oct 26, 2007

Thanks NCgirl, Your absolutely right, gotta do what you gotta do!! What was the topic you had to write on and did it come natural to you??

NC Girl BSN · Oct 26, 2007

Thanks NCgirl, Your absolutely right, gotta do what you gotta do!! What was the topic you had to write on and did it come natural to you??

1. Well the first semester we had to go visit a Nursing home and conduct an interview with a patient tell a little about them and talk about non-therapeutic and therapeutic gestures and communication you used on your patient and some you saw your patient use. We had to identify 3 therapeutic techniques and 3 non-therapeutic techniques. We also had to list our strengths and weaknesses during the interview like being aware of the lightening in the room and the patients disabilities.

2. 2nd semester we had to visits a Dr. office. We had about 15 questions to answer. Ex the types of patients that came through. What the nurse did, communication techniques, diagnosis etc. How they paid for it and the services that the office provided. Also write about procedures we witnesses and the computer system that they use. And the role of the LPN.(Job description)

3. Then we had to write about and witness a operation and had to go into details about what it was, meds given, each persons role in the OR, What they did in PACU. What they did when the patient went to the floor after recovery. It was a very detailed paper. I saw a gentleman having a hernia repaired.

The 4th paper was we had to interview and pregnant woman and identify her nutritional habits and risk factors, allergies, and come up with suggestions to increase her nutritional health.

Then we wrote a labor and delivery paper where we had to follow a woman from the moment she walked into the delivery room till the time she had the baby and went into the recovery room. This was the Mac daddy of all the papers. I think mine was about 15 pages. We has to tell about the experience, the drugs used, family support, status of her and the baby through all the stages of Labor.

The last paper was a pediatric paper where had to visit a daycare and pick a child and follow them and observe them all day and analyze if they were at there appropriate age group. We had to describe events that they did all day and give our reasoning.

All these papers were written in the course of 3 semesters. This was my experience, not all programs do this. But I can honestly say that I learned a ton of things in the course of 12 months. I am truly blessed.

NC Girl BSN · Oct 26, 2007

The papers were difficult to write and I did well on all of them 93 to 100%. My husband would help me proofread them.

Ish7 · Oct 29, 2007

WOW, Thats alot but when when You think about it Its JUST SOMETHING U gotta do!! Thank you so much for all the detail.. well Im thinking that all programs vary But That must've been something writing a paper on the Pregnant woman having a baby Thank you for taking the time to run all the topics to me APPRECIATED!! Even tho I dont start school until '08 Im trying to do my own researches on topic that I know ill have in the program LIKE Im reviewing the basics Of 1gram equaling 1000mg 1mg = 1000mcg ETC... !! Im also looking at some of the math problems when you have to figure out how to get the dosage amount and its a formula thats always used Cross multiplying and I jus can figure out where to place the number which side... Im hoping after a few problems I will get the hang of it and it will stick this stuff

Hope u have a good day!!