Ok Class of 2017, Where are you??

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Hello my fellow nursing students. I will be starting my nursing classes on July 6. That's only 12 days from now! :nailbiting: I'm both excited and nervous. We had our first orientation yesterday, well it was more like a meet and greet. I have been on YouTube all day looking at videos on nursing school supplies. So I will be starting my school shopping this week. When did you get your school supply list? I was hoping to get mine at orientation, but nope no list! I hope that we can keep each other encouraged through the process. Congratulations to everyone who got accepted into the program.

I had orientation a few weeks back but I had my uniform ordered on Amazon along with a stethoscope and sphygmometer. We learned about sim labs and got our schedule which they all picked out for us so that's a little less stress. Met the faculty and overall I'm excited and nervous to get started so I can finish and start my career. Whenever I get nervous I just tell myself that there are people already doing what I'm about to do and if they can do it, so can I. That mindset got me through basic training, and many deployments so I'm hoping it works for nursing school as well. 2 weeks of summer left!

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Start in October, graduating in October of 2017 👏🏻

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I had orientation today from 8a-2p. It was a great day! The Dean of Nursing is so nice. She laid out what the semester will look like, how busy we'll be, told us it's ok to cry (lol). I met two of my instructors and they seem like sweethearts too. 100% of students in the last three years have passed NCLEX and 100% of them got jobs right away, mostly at a particular hospital that I'm interested in applying to next year as a CNA, so that was encouraging. She was frank with us in telling us that we all need to continue our education right after we graduate, but I'm relieved to know that there's a big chance I'll get a job right away. We got our uniforms and the rest of our books...(wow, my arms hurt!). Took a Kaplan test to see how far along our critical thinking skills are, and we will continue to be tested so that the Dean can compare our progress and see what areas we might be struggling in.

I also got to meet many of the new nursing students, and everyone (except one girl who gossiped about almost everyone behind their back) seemed pretty nice and had fun personalities, so I'm excited to get started with all of them! There are only three guys in our program! Poor guys.

Tomorrow we have another day of orientation, where I believe we will talk more specifically about class and clinical expectations now that we've gotten much of the technical stuff out of the way.

Overall, I love my school and am excited to begin this thing!

Those of you who have already begun this semester--how is everything going? Hope you're all doing well!

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Is anyone worried about having a peds stethoscope? I'm assuming since my school didn't specify to have one, I'm ok using my Littman classic?

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Specializes in NICU, telemetry.

I am class of '17, but for an NP program. I got accepted in April, had orientation last month, and start classes next week!

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Is anyone worried about having a peds stethoscope? I'm assuming since my school didn't specify to have one, I'm ok using my Littman classic?

I wouldn't worry about it. The stethoscope that my school actually recommends for us is the Littmann classic lightweight. Our schools know we will have to work with what we have.

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Glamcakes: I definitely think it's natural to end up having cold feet (and more common than we think)! Were you able to get your financial aid and other issues sorted? I've finally got everything done that I needed done and sorted, and I'm actually feeling a bit better about starting. I think having things that need fixed/done hanging over your head can make it seem a little more daunting!

Med term and med math will also be self taught at my school. I learned a lot of med term last year and had med math as well. Actually the book we were supposed to get is the same book I had last year, so I've already gone through it.

For what it's worth, and I know everyone is different, math is really my weakest area. I was terrified of taking math last fall. I really thought I'd struggle with it, but it turned out to be fairly easy. Again, I know everyone is different, but hopefully if you get help right away, it'll click for you. I found it so much easier after it clicked. It wasn't all just math.

A lot of it is ratio / proportion (ie x mg is ordered and you have pills in y mg, so how many pills do you give), knowing conversions (ie mg to g), learning conversions between oz, tbsp, cups, etc, knowing how to read a medication label, knowing how to read a syring/different types of syringe, different ways to administer (IM, oral, etc), difference between capsules, tablets, suspensions, etc., intake/output (which also comes along with knowing what's considered a liquid, what's not), pediatric calculations (which require more precise calculations), heparin administration, drop factor, etc.

I know that sounds overwhelming, but I don't think the med math was as bad as I thought it to be. Hopefully it turns out to be easier for you than you expect!

MissKrys: I have similar thoughts. I remember last year when I started another program, after my first night I felt like I couldn't do it. Fortunately the feeling didn't last long, but I actually learned later in the semester that so many of my classmates were feeling the same. I think it helps knowing that others are having the same sort of thoughts.

AspiringNurseMW: That definitely sounds overwhelming, but hopefully once things get rolling you'll start to settle in and the fear/anxiety will start to lessen. It seems like so much at once and is easy to wonder how we'll ever do it. Hopefully it gets better once you start adjusting.

Pkham: I think that's a good way to look at it. I try thinking about other people getting through it. My uncle almost married a woman who was a nurse (and she was... not even sure how to describe her!), but whenever I start feeling doubt, my mom always reminds me that if she became a nurse, I'll be fine :D

Purple_roses: That sounds really promising! It sounds like a good school and like they are very supportive and understanding of their students. About how many students are in your cohort? We have about 100!

atlast: My school didn't specify what type of stethoscope, but I got a Littman. I wouldn't worry about having a stethoscope geared towards pediatrics unless your school specifies that you have to. I would think your Littman classic would work just fine.

littlepeopleRNICU: Congrats on NP! Good luck with the start of your classes!

So I've got all of my stuff sorted out. My email was never set up (which I expected), but it was taken care of first thing Monday morning (like I was just only out of bed when they called). I had a small hiccup with financial aid, but it was sorted with a phone call. I feel so much better knowing that things are taken care of/done. I'm only waiting for my BCI/FBI finger printing results to come back, though it sounds like it's taking a week or more for them to come back based on what another classmate said last Friday. I just got the finger printing done on the 7th.

Orientation last Friday was just for the most recent admits, so only about 20 of us. We have a mandatory meeting/orientation tomorrow from 9-1 with the whole cohort. It'll be nice to see everyone there, not that I'll remember anyone!

I think I'm done buying supplies (other than my shoes, bandage scissors, and hemostats), but I'm not sure if I'm missing anything.

What did everyone buy for lectures?

I have a lot from what I bought last year (black pens, spiral notebooks, folders, highlighters, white out, note cards, post its, sticky tabs, etc).

Today I bought some more loose leaf as I figure I'll go back and forth between spiral note book and loose leaf (depending on what it's for and when). I bought two binders to put all my loose leaf papers and handouts (my husband already has a hole punch). I found last year that just putting handouts in a folder made it so unorganized and hard to keep track of stuff, so I'm hoping having a binder will help me organize better.

I opted to not get a planner this year. I got one last year and it was very time consuming to put stuff in it only to not use it. This time I'm planning on using Google calendar and syncing it to my phone as I feel I'll utilize that more and it'll be more helpful as I have reminders set up. Plus it'll be easier to type what I need than hand write it all in a planner.

I did get a dry erase board calendar so that my husband always knows my schedule. I do plan on putting important items such as test dates and whatnot on there as well so I have a visual reminder as I walk past it. I'm hoping between Google calendar and the dry erase board calendar, that'll help keep me on track.

Is there anything crucial that I'm missing?

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augurey, there are 40 in my cohort. As far as supplies, one of my instructors gave us a pretty good idea during orientation. She stressed the fact that all the information we learn will continue to build, and that we'll want to keep our books and notes and papers. She said we should get box for each core nursing class (fundamentals, for example) and place dividers in the box and to store everything in there throughout school and as a reference for when we start our careers. She also said we should get a clipboard with lab values taped on the back for clinicals.
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Specializes in Adult Psychiatry, Correctional/Forensic Psychiatry.

Today was the last day of "nursing boot camp". Just something my school does for a few days to get students adjusted to being in nursing school. We got to visit the simulation lab and even practice checking vitals in there as well. I am so excited to start.

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I start nursing school on the 24th at UAB go Blazers! lol. Haven't gotten a schedule either though, so nervous

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Hey all! I start my ASN program August 24th. My program was very flexible with hours. I only go twice a week which is great because I commute about an hour. I go on Thursdays for lecture from 8am-12 and again in Saturday from 7am-830pm. Since I had all the prerequisites and corequisites done (a&p, micro, psych, soc, developmental psych, etc) done I am basically taking this program part time. This is great since I will still be working full time. Our long day is both lab and clinical. We got a choice if we wanted lecture in the morning or evening and which day we wanted our long day to be. Every five weeks we have to meet with our advisor and I had my first one yesterday. We talked for over an hour and she was able to get to know me and answer all of my questions. She gave me examples on how to incorporate different styles of learning which was really awesome. Also what's nice is that our lecture isn't really a lecture. Its not us sitting while a teacher goes through a PowerPoint presentation. Instead it's much more active. Its case studies, discussions, active participation, etc. My only worry is doing all of our reading and PowerPoint presentations outside of lecture time. I have to find a system that works for me. I know it's going to be best to do a few hours each day. Also to note, we do an integrated approach. So we bought textbooks for fundamentals, med surg, maternity/child, and psych but our actual classes are just nursing science 1-4. Pharmacology is taught as we need it. Pretty sure first semester is fundamentals, second med surg 1, third med surg 2, and fourth maternity and psych

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Oh I wish my school required black! Mine have to be white...hello stains! I'm going to try something like Sketchers with gell inserts. I'm not a fan of $100 nursing shoes, but we'll see how my feet do after this semester.

That's what I'm doing for shoes, too. White Skechers Synergy Elite Status with memory foam insoles. They also are available in black.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Skechers+Synergy+Elite+Status&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

As far as other supplies, I still need to get all of my books (ugh) and my name badge, which we have to do within the first 2 weeks of the quarter starting. I also need notebooks, a binder or two and a planner. Never have been one to use a planner before, but I've read multiple threads that people strongly suggested using them so I think I'll give it a try.

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