Petitioning for DCCC 2014 Nursing Program

fieldhockey24 · Dec 20, 2013

Pink_princess11 what were your teas scores if you don't mind me asking. I'm still waiting for my acceptance letter and want to get an idea :)

pink_princess11 · Dec 21, 2013

Pink_princess11 what were your teas scores if you don't mind me asking. I'm still waiting for my acceptance letter and want to get an idea :)

no problem! i had:

67.3% overall

71.4% reading

73.3% math

58.3% science

70.0% english

annlpn25 · Dec 21, 2013

I work full time and plan to continue could you give me an idea of the clinical times?

4boysmama · Dec 21, 2013

one more question. what books are required for fundamentals of nursing? I wanted to know in advance so I have somewhat of an idea on how much money to set aside.

sure :) The main text for 110 is Fundamentals of Nursing: Fundamentals of Nursing: The Art and Science of Nursing Care: Carol R. Taylor PhD MSN RN, Carol Lillis MSN RN, Priscilla LeMone DSN RN FAAN, Pamela Lynn MSN RN: 9780781793834: Amazon.com: Books

you'll also need Maternal-Child Nursing: (they said the 3rd edition for us, but there's a new one so it might be 4th for you - but either way, I'd go with the 3rd cause it will be cheaper!!) Maternal-Child Nursing, 4e: Emily Slone McKinney MSN RN C, Susan R. James PhD MSN RN, Sharon Smith Murray MSN RN C, Kristine Nelson RN MN, Jean Ashwill MSN RN: 9781437727753: Amazon.com: Books

they also required Dudek's Nutrition for Nurses, but I know at least 6 people who never bought it (myself included) who did just fine without it. (there's a brand new edition of this one that came out, and it's crazy expensive. This is the previous edition, which is NOT) Nutrition Essentials for Nursing Practice: Susan G. Dudek RD BS: 9780781784542: Amazon.com: Books

You'll be much better off buying texts from online sources instead of the bookstore. You will have to buy two printed packets each semester from the bookstore - the clinical packet (this has all your skills checkoffs for sim lab for first semester, and then rotation-based stuff for the rest of the semesters) The other is the classroom modules that outline each unit with the objectives you'll cover, vocab words, text readings, etc. Basically it's like a giant, detailed syllabus.

For 111, the only other book you'll need is Medical Surgical Nursing: Medical-Surgical Nursing: Assessment and Management of Clinical Problems, 8th Edition: Sharon L. Lewis, Shannon Ruff Dirksen, Margaret McLean Heitkemper, Linda Bucher, Ian Camera: 9780323065801: Amazon.com: Books

For clinical times, first semester is one day a week in sim lab and one in clinical. Sim lab day/time depends on which section you are in - I was in Sect 1 and we were tuesdays, 3-5:15 if I remember right. Clinical day is monday 6:45-1 for everyone (in the marple day program, at least) evening/weekend I think the clinical day is sunday, with sim lab on sat. I have no idea what the chester co schedule is! Sect 1 class schedule for first year is tues/thurs 12:10-2:something and sim lab from 3-5ish on tues. Sect 2 is same, but sim lab on thurs instead of tues. In 111, clinical days are mon/tues - most groups are 6:45-1, but there were a few (2 or 3, I think) that were 2-7:30. You'll do your maternity rotation in 111, as well as any OR/cath lab/interventional radiology observations in this semester. You only get your clinical placement like, a week or two before classes start, so that would be an unwelcome surprise for anyone who has carefully-planned childcare. In 210, clinical days are thur/fri - again most are 6:45-2, but a few of the rotations (it's peds, community, and psych in 210) are 2-8. Sect 1 and 2 classes are mon/wed 10:10-12. Same schedule in 211, except the wed class is every OTHER week.

pink_princess11 · Dec 21, 2013

You only get your clinical placement like, a week or two before classes start]
so wait a minute, you don't find out where or when your clinicals are until 2 weeks before you start them?!?!?! i can also assume you have 0 say in where they place you too?
also what color scrubs do you wear for clinical? i have the ceil blue and white but wasn't sure if you had to wear another color.

4boysmama · Dec 21, 2013

For first semester, you actually don't find out your clinical placement until first day of sim lab (in Sept, you're in sim lab for clinical days learning skills before they'll let you in hospital) your sim lab group is your clinical group. For the rest of the semesters, you'll find out from the clinical schedule posted in webstudy online which usually opens a week before classes start.

Scrubs are royal blue pants and top, white leather shoes /sneakers.

DaniMV815 · Dec 21, 2013

Thanks for all the info!! Is there a book or site to read up on they can help with the math test at orientation?

cianni2000 · Dec 21, 2013

Thanks for all the info!! Is there a book or site to read up on they can help with the math test at orientation?

They will mail you a "study guide" of drug calculations and conversions you will be tested on soon along with info on orientation and registration for Nursing 110. If you study that and understand the formulas and conversions, you will be fine. I ended up taking the drug calculations class and found it to be beneficial.

DaniMV815 · Dec 22, 2013

Great thanks so much!! You have been very helpful!! :)

Also, from Nancy: You will receive a letter in the mail assigning you a date and time. (probably March 10th or March 12th.) You'll get enough notice to set up child care.

Nancy

pink_princess11 · Dec 27, 2013

Does anyone know when the letters go out for our college planning session? I'm hoping they base it around your schedule because I'm taking a statistics class at night during the spring semester and can't miss class

pink_princess11 · Jan 1, 2014

congrats everyone!! We just finished up our final for 210 this week, and it's nice to see all of you enthusiasm and excitement while my class is all just feeling like zombies, lol!
I would (strongly) suggest getting the Math for Nurses done prior to 110- every test has nursing math questions on it! You can test out of the class at orientation if you get 100% on the challenge test (you'll take it after the orientation talk, at the end of the day) ANY mistakes (rounding, decimal, not putting units, etc) will be a fail (ask me how I know that one - I rounded to 2 decimals places where it should have been rounded to a whole #, and had to take the class because that was a "fail" ugh!!)
If you haven't done A+P yet, I'd find a way to get it done over the summer. The people in our cohort who had to do it with 110 really struggled. Most, if not all, of the A+P exams are on the same schedule as 110 - so they wound up with 2 exams on the same day for pretty much every test the entire semester.
other helpful tips: you can order uniforms at orientation; they're from a scrub shop in Malvern. They're... eh. they don't wash great, they fade terribly, and this year a lot of us bought new scrubs (in the same blue) and just got the DCCC patch from the place in malvern (you have to have the patch on your sleeve so that the hospital staff can easily recognize that you are a student) The patches are $5 each. Defintiely get two sets of scrubs; even though you only have 1 day of clinical a week in the beginning; you don't want to be rushing home after clinical to wash scrubs for the next morning in 210! Don't bother getting a white scrub jacket - it's always hot as heck on the floors, and you can wear long sleeved white tees under your scrubs if you get cold occasionally. If you have any visible tattoos (neck, arm, etc) you'll be mandated to wear long sleeves and/or turtleneck to cover them.
the 110 textbook is Fundamentals of Nursing (TLL) - if you want to save $$, buy the previous edition on amazon, it's WAY cheaper and I couldn't find anything that was different. Same thing for the 111/210/211 text: Medical-Surgical Nursing (Lewis).
They tell you at orientation to get the Test for Success book - do it!! It's really helpful in learning how to answer nursing school questions. they are unlike anything else you've ever seen. Every answer is (usually) correct, and you have to pick out the MOST correct. Seriously - buythe book, and read it ALL before your first exam. There's questions that correlate to the first several topics for your 110 exams, do those practice questions and they'll really help you be successful on those first few tests.
Be prepared to spend a LOT of money on books and other ancillary stuff. Each semester you'll have to pay $100 towards the Kaplan prep course at the end of the program. You'll get access to practice tests on Kaplan during the whole course, which is really helpful in studying for exams. Once you hit 111, you should definitely invest in a few NCLEX books (Saunders, Lippincott, and the Medical_surgical Nursing Made Incredibly Easy are favorites in my class) When you're studying for an exam, do the practice questions from these books that correlate to your topic.
Hope that's all helpful - it's stuff I wish someone had told me at the beginning! There's not a lot of interaction between the first year and second year nursing students, and sometimes it's nice to hear how it is from someone who has just been there. I'm happy to answer any other questions if you've got any (only like, 300 or so, right? )

What auxilary/ancillary stuff do you have to buy for nursing 110?

4boysmama · Jan 1, 2014

besides kaplan ($100/semester) and other books like NCLEX and study guides, in first semester you'll need to buy a stethoscope, penlight, a watch (has to be non-digital, with secondhand sweep, and I suggest getting one that has military time on the numbers since that's what you'll use for all charting). You'll get uniforms (they'll give you a chance to order at orientation, but you can go elsewhere if you want, just get the DCCC patches for the sleeves from the place they use), all-white sneakers/shoes (no open back clogs, and top must be completely closed; no mary janes or other holes) It's not required, but I'd suggest getting a clipboard for clinical - helps to keep all your papers together! I'm sure there's more but that's what I can think of off the top of my head.