PBCC-palm beach comm. college

VegetasGRL03RN · Dec 10, 2009

Anyone have any advice for students entering 2nd semester??????

Second semester is your meat and potatoes of nursing (Med-Surg). It's a lot of information for some and has been rumored to be the hardest semester. You will got over diagnoses by body system, so make sure you are strong in your A&P (that's what was beneficial to me). Also, I think if you can find one of Daytonite's posts and use that Critical Flowsheet located in the signature, it may serve pretty helpful in your studies (I wish I had it since it was clear and concise). If reading works for you, stay way ahead of the readings. But definitely use lectures as a reivew for material that you've gone over, not as an introduction. The book was pretty wordy for me, like they wanted an award for how many words can they use to say the same thing, so be sure to look else where if necessary. Hope this helps!

VegetasGRL03RN · Dec 10, 2009

I was placed with the online group, I guess because I scheduled to take lecture online. There was a lot of chatter as to whether or not that was a good choice or not. It was after the tour I began questioning my decision. If there are any thoughts out there as to Lecture online or in class I would love some feedback. Some of the girls in the upper semesters say that the online class doesn't prepare you well enough for the test...thats scary. I had read that others felt that the inclass lecture read directly from the power points anyway. Im a single mom so that was one of the reasons I chose online. I hope I made the right choice..Any advice?

I'm third semester and I can say a lot of our classmates who started out online have been making it through okay. I wouldn't say it doesn't prepare you well for the test, because there are some mates who sit in class and still don't do well. It is true that the teachers are just reading off the powerpoints, however it is not guaranteed that you may have them next semester cause the faculty has been known to change their minds and make them available to NO ONE. Lecture may tell you where they MIGHT place their emphasis on for the test, but everyone is still responsible for all the topics (health challenges and objectives) listed in the syllabus. The majority of the questions seem like they came from the test bank of the book, so if you get your info from the book and understand the major points while paying attention to the syllabus and direction online, you'll be fine.

The choice really depends on how precious your time is. You're a single mom so I would guess that you HAVE to be available for other things. But I have to admit that sometimes sitting in class seemed quite pointless lol. Worse case scenario? By the second test you feel like online isn't working for you, you are allowed one intra-semester change from online to face-to-face with approval. If you finish the semester and think you could do better in face-to-face for second, then you can choose so. If you pick one method from the beginning, you aren't locked into it for the duration of the program.

It kind of bothers me that the upperclassmen told you that online doesn't prepare you for the test. I wonder how they came to that decision or if it was just hearsay. I think it's all in how you study and absorb the material. I know of some classmates we've had that just sit and read for hours on end, don't do well on the test, blame the teachers for making it hard and setting them up to fail, and study the same way for the next test. See the problem? It's all about adjustment and finding out what works for you in the most efficient manner. I think I got a bit wordy, so now I done lol. Let us know how it turns out!

VegetasGRL03RN · Dec 10, 2009

I'd also like to know what was everyone else's impression of Welcome Night. The Junior (soon Senior) Executive Board redid the format of how it's been done in the past, so I'd love to offer them some feedback from those who attended, as well as how your family and friends took it. Good, bad, suggested improvements... all are welcomed in advance!!

happyjj777 · Dec 10, 2009

Thanks VegetasGRL03 that was informative and useful information! I appreciate you taking the time to respond. Your time is much appreciated.

My impression of Welcome Night was that the evening provided some useful information and opened the lines of communication for the attendees with the Q & A session. The raffle was fun and I thought those who donated the items were extremely generous. Congratulations to those that won stethescopes and text books! The only draw back for me was that I was in an online group, it was too large of a group to get much out of the tour. Those who had their name called for the smaller groups probably got a lot of great information. Overall I felt welcomed, enthusiastic and overwhelmed all at the same time.

pickledcookie · Dec 11, 2009

I'd also like to know what was everyone else's impression of Welcome Night. The Junior (soon Senior) Executive Board redid the format of how it's been done in the past, so I'd love to offer them some feedback from those who attended, as well as how your family and friends took it. Good, bad, suggested improvements... all are welcomed in advance!!

I'm not sure how helpful it actually was. Most of it was introductions of people who I'll prolly never see. I'm hoping the first day of class will be better. Tour was kinda worthless, but I was glad to take a peek at the skills lab.

I did LOVE the raffle tho! But I didn't win. Next time make it so I win. heh jk.

Oh, and can you say old people much? they were all over! I saw very few who looked under 35.

LexiB, BSN, RN · Dec 11, 2009

I was also part of the online tour group. Here's my take on it:

1. The group was too large. I could barely hear the tour guides.

2. I am unconcerned with their, or anyone's, opinion on how "hard" a class is, online or otherwise. Everyone is different. I think I'd actually prefer not knowing what a professor is emphasizing during a lecture. Just because a certain topic may not be on our test, who's to say it won't be relevant on the state board or during our nursing careers? I want to learn as much as I can about nursing and medicine, regardless of whether or not it is on a PBSC test.

3. It was nice to see the Skills Lab. I too was impressed with it.

Overall, I feel like orientation was a success, and that a lot of work was put into it. I just wish that the "online" tour group was split up, and that discussion of whether or not a particular style class is hard should have been a minimum, not a majority, of our conversation.

klee18 · Dec 11, 2009

I am in first semester now and from what I heard about orientation night this time 'round, you guys had more than we did. Ours was a complete waste of time, no tour, food, or decorations, other than us donating school supplies for entrance. We did have a raffle and a couple of people won a stethescope. Other than that, a complete waste of time. I was upset that I wasted my time going. Best of luck to everyone starting first. My recommendation is to get organized now and look over your syllabi and nursing handbook so you don't have to waste time with them when the semester starts. Best of luck to all!!!!

jdfflats · Dec 17, 2009

I'm not sure how helpful it actually was. Most of it was introductions of people who I'll prolly never see. I'm hoping the first day of class will be better. Tour was kinda worthless, but I was glad to take a peek at the skills lab.
I did LOVE the raffle tho! But I didn't win. Next time make it so I win. heh jk.
Oh, and can you say old people much? they were all over! I saw very few who looked under 35.

First off let me say, that with comments like this, it is no wonder Graduate Nurses have trouble getting help from more experienced Nurses.

Secondly, to all other incoming 1st Semester Students who aren't so immature... Don't get your hopes up for a "better 1st day". The first two weeks of classes are horrible. And the stress of the first semester continues for quite sometime. But, if you really "want" to be a nurse, you can do it!

As for taking online classes, VegetasGRL03 is right. It is possible to do well without going to lecture.

Good Luck to all.

proudtobeamom · Dec 17, 2009

I'd also like to know what was everyone else's impression of Welcome Night. The Junior (soon Senior) Executive Board redid the format of how it's been done in the past, so I'd love to offer them some feedback from those who attended, as well as how your family and friends took it. Good, bad, suggested improvements... all are welcomed in advance!!

I'm going into second semester however, I happened to be in the skills lab during the orientation and I have to say it was a vast improvement from what we had. I really liked the fact that a tour was included in the orientation.

happyjj777 · Dec 17, 2009

kudos to jdflatts for the last post!

proudtobeamom · Dec 17, 2009

I'm not sure how helpful it actually was. Most of it was introductions of people who I'll prolly never see. I'm hoping the first day of class will be better. Tour was kinda worthless, but I was glad to take a peek at the skills lab.
I did LOVE the raffle tho! But I didn't win. Next time make it so I win. heh jk.
Oh, and can you say old people much? they were all over! I saw very few who looked under 35.

As a nontraditional student I found your comment to be quite rude. You really shouldn't talk about your future fellow classmates that way. These students worked very hard to be here. Although, you'll see people from different age groups, backgrounds, etc you'd be surprised at the camaraderie (look it up). My advice to you is be able to adapt because most of the people who you're going to be around are going to be 35 and older including patients, teachers, nurses, etc.

happyjj777 · Dec 17, 2009

Well said Proudtobeamom!