Nursing School Supplies?

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I am trying to buy supplies from the list as I go through the summer so I won't go into shock having to buy everything at once..

I was wondering if anyone has started buying supplies (to start Fall 2012)? I was told that I would be given more information about supplies during orientation but that isn't until a couple of days before the semester starts.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated :specs:

Robyn

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I too can't wait to find out exactly what we will need. If any past students could let us know what they needed that would be awesome!

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For school supplies, everyone is different. Some use a different binder for every class, some try to keep it all in one binder. There are lots of notes to print out. Definitely get a planner, or use some kind of system to keep everything straight. There are laptops in the nursing building for you to check out and use in the building, but there are only 2 or 3. If things are the same next semester....You will have labs/clinicals two days a week and probably back to back. If you don't want to do frequent laundry, get at least two sets (I had 3). You will have labs the first 10 weeks and clinicals the last 5. In the labs, they have everything you need- steth, pen light, etc, so you really just need a pen. I personally thought the school-provided stethoscopes were a little sub-par. During clinicals, you'll need your own stethoscope, pen light, bandage scissors (~2"), black ball point pens, and a sharpie. They aren't terribly anal about your uniform in the lab setting, but they are in the clinical setting, so it's best to just get it right from the beginning. Students had different color undershirts, such as white, and that wasn't a problem. Others had tennis shoes with a bit of color on them. I wouldn't recommend tennis shoes in the clinical setting just because of lack of liquid barrier. So, not too much stuff, but your books will set you back a bit :)

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Thanks, IrishMama!! So would you suggest that I wait to buy a stethoscope? And also, I am unsure if I should splurge on a pair of shoes or hold off...any suggestions?

It is nice to have someone that has been through this before to help out:)

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Splurge on shoes! When I was working as a CNA in WA that was one of the first things I did. Granted I was on my feet 8 hours a day 4 days a week instead of just one day at clinical. If you plan on working while in school or even just only having one pair for the next two years, it is worth it to splurge.

As for a stethoscope I ordered a cheapo sphyngmanometer kit from allhearts.com for like $15 and have been using it for years. It's not the greatest but the sound is good enough for bp. Most facilities also have 'spare' ones that you can use on site if you forget yourse. However I am wondering if I will need to get a better quality stethoscope since I will soon be making assessments instead of just observations.

Also Irish do you have any reccomendations for which lab instructors to take? I'm thinking of PMing you since I have to sign up for classes in two days.

Thanks

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Thanks, DarkLotus:)

Yeah, that is a good idea about lab instructors (I looked on ratemyprofessor.com but there wasn't very many reviews)

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Hi robyn,

Turns out all the instructors are equally awesome, lol! I'm not sure if I want to take the 7am section though. I'm hoping the 10 am classes are still open when I go to register tomorrow. But then again it would probably be easier to work part time if I did school super early in the mornings. I would like to take the first term off from being a CNA and wait till the second term to work as a tech but I'm not sure if I can afford that. Are you planning on working while in the program or just focusing on school?

Thanks

Becca

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Yay, that's good to hear about the instructors:) I hope I can get in the 7am section...I would rather take the 10am section but the early one would allow me to work a little. I am trying to save up this summer so I'll just have to work a little bit during the semester to pay bills (and not worry about tuition). If I had the money, I would definitely just focus on school.

Do you have a good pair of nursing shoes? There are sooo many brands and I'm lost. Plus I am pretty tall so I'm not thrilled with Danskos, etc that have the extra height haha

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Well I have to take a section at 7:30 because the BSU daycare closes at 5:30. I'm not sure what I will do for the two days of the week there are clinicals for the half hour between when clinical starts and the daycare opens. I tried to register today but I was not able too:( I can't wait to find out what books we will be using (and how much it will cost). Is it possible to use ebooks or do you have to have paper books? Also did anyone else get charged twice by CBC for their background check? I emailed them and the generic response was that the school required additional checks but at first they (CBC) just charges for the general one... I'm so mad about it even though it's only $65!

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Yeah, I am so impatient!! I was able to sign up for NURS105 but all the others said that I did not fulfill the prereq of being accepted to the nursing program (which it says that I am a nursing major elsewhere on broncoweb) :/ Hopefully we will be able to register either tonight or tomorrow so we can get the times we want. I wonder if there are any other mothers that have been in the same predicament..hopefully you will be able to work something out

I looked at the books we will need...somewhere between $700-800--ouch! I have never used an ebook and am not sure if we can use them or not.

Yeah CBC charged me twice ($66 and then another $13 since I have lived in more than one county--all that just to find out that I am not a criminal haha)

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Only another 13 you're lucky! They charged me another 65, maybe because I've lived in three different states in the past seven years. Anyways I was just told by financial aid that I can not get the GEM or WUE scholarship anymore since I'm now a nursing major. I have no clue how I can afford the outrageous out of state tuition without at least one of those scholarships! I'm seriously freaking out here. The out of state tuition is so high that even if I got loans it would not be enough to cover anything but tuition and I have two kids that I need to send to daycare, which is close to a grand a month. I'm going to financial aid tomorrow to plea for the GEM scholarship even though I'm in an impacted major. Ugh I'm so mad, I really don't want to wait until next fall to go to school here.

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If you can swing a stethoscope, I'd just get one for the whole semester. Everyone will have their own. I have a Littman Classic II SE or something like that. It was $60 on amazon and works great.Books will be ~$700! It will go down dramatically after that. I don't see why you couldn't do e-books for pretty much all of them as long as you have a way to access them at school/class, such as a tablet or laptop. WIth the exception of your 226 books, you'll probably want to keep the rest.*You may not be able to register for your other classes if you are currently in patho. Contact the admin to get permission numbers. Patho holds up one class, which as a result, holds up all the other ones!My kids go to the BSU children's center to (I had three there this past semester, so I hear you on tuition!), and thankfully my husband was able to rework his schedule to do the drop off on those days of clinical. You'd be surprised who you could find to babysit that early and maybe take them to BSU. Lots of people in the program have kids, and many are single parents. The clinical times will vary a bit, some start at 5:45am, some start at 7. Depends on the instructor and you won't know that until a few weeks before they start.Dark Lotus, if you can somehow swing the first semester (with like maybe a Wells Fargo loan or something), do it. You are eligible for scholarships after that and if you have kids, and happen to be a single parent, they have lots of money for you. I'm married, but still played the "I've got three kids in daycare" card and got a good chunk of money to cover a few months of daycare. I still have to take out private loans (WF) on top of financial aid because my husband is employed, but we still couldn't afford my school tuition and the kids daycare on just his salary. You will fill out a budget increase request and have the childrens center sign it. It will usually make you eligible for more financial aid and eligible for a better rate on a private loan since it is necessary. Plus, it turns out after the first year, if you are moving here and move your life here, you are eventually eligible for in state tuition. I thought if you were a full time student that wasn't possible, but it is!Good luck!

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