Preparation for nursing school...

[kenny b]

i tried a search and i was only able to find one post about this topic (hope i was thorough enough in my search). that post is below for anyone who might be interested in the information. most of the posts were about preparing for the nclex or specific tests/procedures/etc.

i'm taking my prereqs now and i'm concerned about the horror stories from the nursing students about how difficult it is. i'm entirely prepared for the sacrifice (i've actually scrimped and saved over a period of years so that i can support my family while i attend for 18 months).

what i'd like to know is, what is the best way now to prepare for nursing school so that some of the material will look familiar to me. i understand that a lot of what it takes to be a good nurse does not come from school, but i want to walk out of school with the absolutely most solid set of skills and knowledge i can. i want to be an exceptional nurse.

i made it through a math degree (pales in comparison to a nursing degree i know), by trying to read through the books a semseter in advance every semester. i didn't understand the material, but having seen it made it much easier to absorb the lectures. could i do this with nursing? perhaps i should get some nclex prep books or some school books from the program (or volunteer at a hospital). there are lots of things i can do. i was just wondering what the best way might be.

ideas from both nursing students and veteran nurses are more than welcome, and thank you in advance for your time.

regards,

kenny b.

http://www.csufresno.edu/nursingstudents/fsnc/abbreviations.htm - common abbreviations used for nurses, particularly related to medication administration routes, times and measurements, iv solution shortened names, abbreviations of dosage forms, commonly used documentation terms and common lab tests that are ordered.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/wnor/terminologyanatplanes.htm - this really is more for someone taking anatomy, but it is medical terminology. the site the shows and tells you the anatomical planes of the body, defines terms of relation or position, defines terms of movement, and has a listing of frequently used medical terms in anatomy with their definitions. a reference you might want to print out for your anatomy notebooks.

http://www.msjensen.gen.umn.edu/1135/med_term_activites/ - medical terminology help from the university of minnesota - includes link to their interactive quiz program that has a medical terminology section - lots of online quizzes to help you learn medical terminology

http://www.accd.edu/sac/history/keller/accditg/ssindex.htm - strategies for success, an online primer and tutorial on how to study for students from the alamo community college. this is a pretty extensive resource with links on the right side of the page to click into the following subjects: learning styles, note taking, memory techniques, time management, overcoming procrastination, sq3r (a method for getting the most out of reading your textbooks), study tips, critical thinking, preparing for tests, and oral presentations. also, take a look at the faq's (frequently asked questions).

http://flightline.highline.edu/drydberg/basic%20nursing%20skills.htm - basic nursing skills. a page of links into these procedures: measuring intake and output, sterile technique, urinary catheterization, application of heat and cold, enema administration, wound packing, gloving, and vital sign measurements.

http://homepage.smc.edu/wissmann_paul/anatomy1/1bloodpressure.html - how to take a blood pressure

medline plus http://www.medlineplus.gov/ - extensive information at this site. there are videos of commonly performed medical and surgical procedures as well as links to information about all kinds of health, medical and disease states. it is well worth learning what is on this site and how to search a topic on this site.

merck manual of diagnosis and therapy http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/sections.jsp

merck manual of medical information http://www.merck.com/mmhe/index.html

merck manual of geriatrics http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmg/contents.jsp

encyclopedia of surgery http://www.surgeryencyclopedia.com/index.html

[AuntieRN]

I felt being a CNA first helped me out in nursing school. It helped me be comfortable with my pts, and I already knew how to feed, give bedbaths, toilet, turn, ambulate, make occupied beds and do vital signs. It let me focus more on the things I did not already know and the theory my first semester.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

hi, kenny b!

let me tell you that the link to abbreviations at csu fresno is no longer active and has been shut down to internet users. i made a recent post on a thread where someone was asking what books would be good to have for nursing school. you can view it here:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/study-books-182249.html

here are some links to threads where students were wanting to know what went on in the first nursing class (fundamentals). my advice has always been to find out what textbook is being used by the program you are going into and buy it ahead of time and start reading. if you can get your hands on the syllabus for the nursing fundamentals class as well, all the better. whenever i've found a nursing fundamentals class syllabus online i've bookmarked it for posting and they are listed in some of the posts below. one of the biggest subjects of difficulty for students is fluid and electrolytes. i've always recommended the metheny book. it is mostly simple chemistry and physiology related material, so you might want to delve into that subject since it is going to be thrown in your face all throughout nursing school anyway.

https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/fund-nursing-157590.html - fund. of nursing

https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/starting-nursing-fall-158337.html - starting nursing in the fall

https://allnurses.com/forums/1643291-post4.html - fundamentals of nursing post

https://allnurses.com/forums/f50/what-do-before-classes-start-165765.html - what to do before classes start?

https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/starting-aug-06-a-166290.html - starting in aug. 06

others were asking about advice for med/surg nursing classes:

https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/med-surg-help-119956.html - med/surg help

https://allnurses.com/forums/f205/advice-med-surge-1-a-133555.html - advice on med-surg

you should also thoroughly check out the threads on the nursing student assistant and general nursing student discussion forums for other advice and weblinks. i would highly recommend that before you get into your nursing classes that you explore some of the links and set up some kind of organized system so you can find and access them when the time comes. i keep weblinks filed in individual files by subject areas so i can find links very quickly and just copy and paste them into replies to student posts. you will need to be able to access sites that can give you quick information about the sign, symptoms and medical treatment for diseases. i'm a little hesitant about even mentioning the nursing process to you since it hasn't been introduced to you yet, but you are going to read about it if you investigate some of the threads that are "stickys". if you follow any of my posts, you'll see that i respond to a lot of posts about care planning which is part of the nursing process. the nursing process is addressed in all the care plan books. here are some reference sites that i link into frequently for information:

medline plus http://www.medlineplus.gov/

drugs.com http://www.drugs.com/

family practice notebook http://www.fpnotebook.com/index.htm

cleveland clinic disease management project http://www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/diseasemanagement/medicineindex.htm

emedicine http://www.emedicine.com/ index listing http://www.emedicine.com/specialties.htm - listing of specialties

lab tests online http://www.labtestsonline.org/

web md index list of tests http://www.webmd.com/a_to_z_guide/medical_tests.htm

national library of medicine http://www.nlm.nih.gov/nlmhome.html

cdc list of topics http://www.cdc.gov/az.do - includes national statistics

national center for health statistics http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/default.htm

up to date patient information (also can get some professional information as well) http://www.patients.uptodate.com/

http://www.globalrph.com/ - has drug listings, instructions for iv dilutions in mixing piggyback meds, you can search for specific drugs (uses rxlist.com), or chose the drug table button to get lists of medications arranged by categories. clicking on the infectious disease button takes you to an infectious disease database arranged by disease which give you listings of antibiotic choices that can be used for treatment. there are a number of medical calculators here including one to calculate drip rates on some of the commonly used icu medications. there are also links to a video library.

there aren't many internet sources for obstetrics that are helpful to students, but here are two:

http://www.brooksidepress.org/products/military_obgyn/procedures/procedures.htm - military obstetrics & gynecology procedures. the main page for this site is here:

http://www.brooksidepress.org/products/military_obgyn/home.htm and includes links to the complete online textbook, laboratory tests commonly ordered in ob/gyn, medications commonly used in ob/gyn, ultrasound and x-ray used in ob/gyn, a large number of useful clinical forms you can download and print, and access to procedure videos that include a lady partsl delivery, episiotomy, circumcision, pelvic exam, pap smear and much more.

http://www.childbirths.com/euniversity/mainpage.htm - the main page with links to all kinds of ob related information including assessment of the mother prenatally, during labor and post-partum, assessment of the newborn and fetal monitoring