? for previous RPN students.....

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I just got accepted for the RPN course starting in Sept and was just wondering what I should expect??? What's the workload like, the degree of difficulty, what are the placements like????? Just trying to get a feel for what's it's going to be like. Thanks.

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Hmmm...let's see. The difficulty is hard to rate. It depends on how good a student you are. the best advice I can give is to do all the reading, don't let it get ahead of you. When I was in school we usually read 1-2 chapters before we had actually taken them in class. Some people skipped the reading thinking that they would just wait until we discussed it in class but it really does help it click if you read it before class. Are you good at oral presentations? We did TONS of these. Some were informal and you would have 10 minutes to prepare and some were major and you prepared for weeks. I had one that was an hour long and I was up there alone. You will do many group projects.

When it comes to work load you will have to get organized.Don't procrastinate.

Clinicals? I can tell you what mine were like. In clinical you will be able to practice some of the skills you have learned. My first clinical I was bathing people and making beds and feeding people. As school progresses you will do more and more. By the end you will have your own patients and be passing your own meds with minimal supervision.

Advice - keep away from the gossipers, stay out of the cat fights, be respectful of your teachers. Find some classmates that you genuinely get along with, study groups are great. Don't forget to have some fun along the way.

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Which school did you get accepted to?

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I will be attending St Lawrence College. I'm not too worried about the gossip end...i'm 36, too busy and too old to get involved..LOL! I have 3 kids, one who's a teenager so if I want gossip I can just ask him for some...LOL! Not happy to hear about the oral presentations.....I guess i'll have to work on that! Hopefully the class sizes aren't too big. I'm just so anxious to get started...it's going to be a long spring and summer waiting. I'll definitely take your advice about the reading and being organized.....something i'm actually good at!

Thank you for taking the time to give me some insight. It helps so much!!

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

Hey don't think that being older precludes gossiping, infighting and other immmature behviour. lol. I was 38 and most of our class was made up of 30, 40 and a couple of 50 year olds. It was like being back in high school again! Social groups divided the class and some of the girls were really catty. Wait until you have someone trying to sabotage you in clinicals. You will also make some great friends though so it balances out.

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And here I was thinking it only happened in my class!

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Specializes in Acute Care, Rehab, Palliative.

hey, it really was like high school! We even had the loud rowdies that always sat in the back and talked loudly all through class. One is a bad RPN, one failed the CPRNE and one is an awesome RPN that is going for her degree. I wondered if our class was the only one like it. We also had the competitive types that were always saying " whatja get on the test? Grrr

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Better to go through the basics of Anatomy and physiology of human body if you don't have science backround bcoz this was the toghest subject for 80% of the RPN students in my class.

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Ahhhh, nothing like high school all over again..LOL! I'll just mind my business and do my work. I certainly don't want to flush a potential diploma and the money it's going to cost me to get it down the toilet!!! I just finished a biology course so my brain has hopefully retained some if not most of it. I was also going to purchase a biology textbook and read it over the summer. I think the more information I know going into it the better off i'll be!

I'm actually working on math right now (my final prerequisite) and this is the subject that's going to make me have a breakdown..LOL! There are just way too many rules that seem to change every time I turn the page.

Thanks again for the info....very helpful!

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Med-Surg..

Great advice that you have been given and you will soon see how right it is. I would only add that you really need to respect your teachers as you will find that some of them are going to be really tough on you. What I mean by this is;listen during class much more than you talk, turn in your work on time, and stay away from the troublemakers.

Your instructor has lots of knowledge to share with you but they need to know that you are serious about your work.

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