nhctc in Manchester Fall 2006

nursewannabee · May 5, 2006

Hi Rnizer,

You have been through a lot and succeeded wonderfully. I know how hard it is to go to school and work. I used to work 60 hrs a week while taking my

prereqs. I felt like I was going crazy too. I am going to try to not work so much during school and hopefully the school will accept everything they unofficially accepted. Still trying to get an answer on that one. You sound like a type A personality. I know I am. Been trying to cut myself some slack though because this behavior is way too stressful.

Did you work as an aide? I am thinking about it for the summer. I think this will help with clinicals. Did you start your clinical rotations in the nursing homes? I love old people.

Also, do you think buying pharmacology for dummies (if such a book exists) and studying it over the summer would help?

Take care

Nurse wannabee

RNIZER3000 · May 5, 2006

Yey2bRn,

My best advice for studying for the test is quite simple. Study as if you had a weekly test. In other words, do the readings before the lecture. This will help lay a foundation of information, almost like building a house from the ground up. In lecture take excellent notes and pay attention to any unusual focus from the infinite pages of reading that you have already read. What is so hard about lecture is that I found that instructors relay the big picture, but some are sensitive to the fact that you need good test scores to pass, final grade of 73.33 or better. After lecture respectfully ask if there are any areas that you as a student should focus on in front of the whole class. The instructor will usually give you some hint and you better take it to the bank because what is so hard about clinicals is that when you take the test it is already expected you know the facts. Study the book and notes every night with every new lecture and every new set of notes so that it almost becomes second nature and reading it bores you to death, not because it is tedious, but because you know everything. It is the way you use those facts to guide your mind and your hand to perform the correct nursing intervention/assessment Let me give you an example:

A patient on your floor is diagnosed with Addison's Disease. When you pull up the patient's serum lab values, which condition would you see?

a.hyperkalemia

b.hypernatremia

c.hypocalcemia

d.hyperglycemia

I understand this may sound like Chinese to you right now but even with my studying I froze and then I realized that Addison's Disease is a disorder in which the patient's adrenal gland doesn't secrete enough glucocorticoids, adrogens, aldosterone, and mineralcorticoids to maintain homeostasis...OK now what? Alright...I remember from the readings that hypersecretion of steroid hormones, such as the "coritcoids", cause hyperglycemia...so "d" is out. I didn't remember reading that the adrenal gland had much influence over one's serum calcium so I crossed of "c." Ok now I have "a" and "b." AH now I remember, aldosterone causes the kidney to conserve sodium ions with water and causes potassium ions to be excreted in the urine. So not enough aldosterone will cause sodium ions to go down "hyponatremia" and potassium levels to go up "hyperkalemia." "B" is out and the correct answer is "A."

Now all that entire mental process was for only one question now multiply that by 60!! The tests usually have 60 questions and I usually know 40 without a shadow of a doubt and very educated guesses on 20. The second test, the one I got a 71.2 on, I only felt comfortable with 20 questions and practically guessed on the other 40. This happened because I just didn't feel like putting in the work anymore, I have had enough...I just wanted to get by. I guess in the end that C- saved my grade because it impassioned me to do better and I did. So study each and every week and add the new material and go over it every day or night over and over and over and over...wake up extra early for the test and go over all of it all over again! My buddies from nursing school would laugh at me cause I dragged practically every book I needed for the test...when I came back 9 of my buddies were gone and another couple of classmates (one of which was a veteran paramedic) dropped out halfway through. This is just as intense, if not more so than a graduate program, and paradoxically the only people who understand are your classmates and you quickly find yourself leaning on others for support as others lean on you. Divorces and breakups are not uncommon in our class. Life intensifies when your in school, especially nursing school, and it really tests the forces that hold your family together. It is possible, when you see a second year nursing student walk by (A senior), you say to yourself, "Hey if she can do it with a family and work then so can I...a single bartender with no attachments." They are pretty much our walking talking inspiration and they have told us that the second year makes the first year of school look like a cake walk (AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH)!! Prepare for clinical by looking up what your patient's diagnoses is in your med/surg book, in the index, and focus on the priority nursing diagnoses and the related assessments and interventions. Best of luck and spend some quality time with your husband...you will miss each other.

RNIZER3000 · May 5, 2006

Nursewannabe,

Once again I stress, make sure your prereqs are done call the school meet with your advisor if he can't help you ask him/her for the phone number of some who will!!! I have found that people who have had no prior experience actually fare better. I'm a bartender and have no clue so I study like it's going out of style...paramedics, emts, and cnas seem to struggle. Why I don't know but perhaps its because they feel like they have the inside track and WHAM! Never get lured into a false sense of security because that is when you get lazy and make mistakes. Every week meet with your clinical instructor and ask how you can do better and how you can make your paperwork better. You will write SOAP notes S(subjective), O(objective), A(Assessment), P(Planning), process recordings (where you focus on psychosocial issues with the patient), comprehensive functional health care patterns spanning over 11 dimensions of the patient as a whole (areas such as coping/stress tolerance, nutrition/metabolic, perception/cognitive, activity/excercise, and health perception/ health management with five others), pages and pages and pages of meds and what their adverse reactions, therpeutic effects, necessary teachings, usual dosages, class types, and generic/brand names, and how it is administered.

If this sounds like a whirlwind of paperwork then you are starting to understand what nursing school is all about. A part of me wants to say enjoy your summer but over the summer the college tells the class about the upcoming pharmocology exam and you should begin to study around mid-August and kiss you lives goodbye. Study Intramuscular (IM) meds (where are the four IM sites, how do you properly locate them and what size needles should be used and what gauge is most appropriate for heparin/insulin injections, abbreviations...PO (by mouth) qd (every day) tid (three times a day) SOB (shortness of breath) LOC (Level of Consciousness), Conversions such as 2.2 lbs = 1 kg, 5mls = 1 teaspoon, 15mls = 1 tablespoon and on and on and on. I wouldn't waste money on another book because you will spend a small fortune on the 12 + books you will need for the fall semester. Enjoy your life now while you have a chance. So that I won't lose my hard earned clinical skills I have applied and have been accepted to the PACU(Peri-Anesthsia Care Unit) at CMC over the summer so that I can gain an edge and build my skills. At least I won't have to write piles of paperwork and study for any test. Good luck.

nursewannabee · May 5, 2006

RNizer,

Thank you so much for all of your advice. I will definitely call again Monday

and get an answer about my pre-reqs. Kick butt on your final exams. I also need to go study for my Microbiology final.

I'll talk to you again.

Peace and grace

Nursewannabee

Nursewannabe,

Once again I stress, make sure your prereqs are done call the school meet with your advisor if he can't help you ask him/her for the phone number of some who will!!! I have found that people who have had no prior experience actually fare better. I'm a bartender and have no clue so I study like it's going out of style...paramedics, emts, and cnas seem to struggle. Why I don't know but perhaps its because they feel like they have the inside track and WHAM! Never get lured into a false sense of security because that is when you get lazy and make mistakes. Every week meet with your clinical instructor and ask how you can do better and how you can make your paperwork better. You will write SOAP notes S(subjective), O(objective), A(Assessment), P(Planning), process recordings (where you focus on psychosocial issues with the patient), comprehensive functional health care patterns spanning over 11 dimensions of the patient as a whole (areas such as coping/stress tolerance, nutrition/metabolic, perception/cognitive, activity/excercise, and health perception/ health management with five others), pages and pages and pages of meds and what their adverse reactions, therpeutic effects, necessary teachings, usual dosages, class types, and generic/brand names, and how it is administered.

If this sounds like a whirlwind of paperwork then you are starting to understand what nursing school is all about. A part of me wants to say enjoy your summer but over the summer the college tells the class about the upcoming pharmocology exam and you should begin to study around mid-August and kiss you lives goodbye. Study Intramuscular (IM) meds (where are the four IM sites, how do you properly locate them and what size needles should be used and what gauge is most appropriate for heparin/insulin injections, abbreviations...PO (by mouth) qd (every day) tid (three times a day) SOB (shortness of breath) LOC (Level of Consciousness), Conversions such as 2.2 lbs = 1 kg, 5mls = 1 teaspoon, 15mls = 1 tablespoon and on and on and on. I wouldn't waste money on another book because you will spend a small fortune on the 12 + books you will need for the fall semester. Enjoy your life now while you have a chance. So that I won't lose my hard earned clinical skills I have applied and have been accepted to the PACU(Peri-Anesthsia Care Unit) at CMC over the summer so that I can gain an edge and build my skills. At least I won't have to write piles of paperwork and study for any test. Good luck.