student_B

I would caution against a less than 2 year program. I am in the second year of an ADN program and the workload is very challenging. If you are able to devote 100% of your time to nursing school, a shorter program could be feasible, but solely working and doing nursing school is a daily triage of priorities! Also be aware that there are many opportunities for research during school which can take additional time, if you're interested in that kind of thing. Two years fly by; I feel like I just started yesterday!

Don't Overstudy I found that increasing my study times beyond a certain point resulted in increased mental fatigue and confusion. The more I studied beyond that point the worse I did on exams. So this time I reduced my studying time two days before the exam and took the day before the exam to clear my obligations early and relax in the evening. I don't know the exam results yet, but I felt my critical thinking skills were much improved compared to being "burnt out" from overstudying. I also went through the exam quickly at first without spending much time on any question, then went back through slowly and analyzed each question. I ended up changing almost 10% of my answers, all the while my professor was periodically reminding us "DON'T ERASE!" Really hoping this experiment has good results!

I learned this from reading posts on AN while I was in pre-nursing, and it holds true in my year and a half of experience. I think a big part of it is that these questions are not like math problems that are strictly formulaic. With nursing the questions are perception and judgement based, and students come at the question from different background experiences that can affect perception of the question. I feel the same way about these tests as you do, but we can only learn the info as best we can and utilize test-taking strategies (search these boards). Since we don't have the full question, could the answer have been something like assess airway for clearance before administering O2? Administering O2 can be tricky with things like COPD, but 51 is significantly lower than I think would be ok for an advanced case of COPD. *just reread the OP. Yep, that looks like one of those questions where one book says start with NC, and another source says go right to 100% non-rebreather. I.e., I just took an ATI exam that states a 22ga IV cath is too small to use for blood products while my Lewis Med-Surg book states 22ga and larger is acceptable for blood (clinically I've seen 20ga and larger for blood). I wish there was an international standard for these kind of things...

Take it upon yourself to find learning opportunities; they may not be obvious, but there are plenty in any hospital setting. If I find myself not immediately busy in clinical, I will ask if any other students need help (repositioning, ambulate assist, grab supplies, etc.), check for any unanswered call bells, find a piece of equipment I'm not familiar with and read instruction sheet/play with the machine, spend more time examining my patient's hx/labs/orders/charts/VS trends, or I'll look up meds or diseases that I'm not totally familiar with. Also, ask questions to anyone you encounter. I've learned a ton from nurses (obviously), MDs, surgeons, specialists, aides, techs, unit clerks, housekeeping, and maintenance workers; all have valuable insights relevant to hospital nursing. My favorite thing about being a student in clinical is having time to converse with a patient and not only find out valuable details about their condition (origin, progression, treatments, responses) but also just having the time to really hear what they have to say is a therapeutic catharsis. I feel bad for my clinical professors, I must be exhausting to deal with! I feel mentally and physically exhausted by the end of the clinical day, but its well worth it since we only have a very limited time in actual clinical practice.

Excellent article! Interesting and well-written!

Prepare yourself for a year-round grueling schedule, to some extent. work and save up as much as possible before school, during summer & winter breaks, and whenever you can. It's not just the clinicals you have to worry about, there's also the suddenly changing class schedule, and inevitably, extra work or studying required for some units. Maximize your income potential, live frugally, and look into all possible forms of tuition assistance. ADN is surely an economical choice; concentrate on passing all your classes and the debt incurred will be minute compared to potential career earnings!

My nursing school has a blanket policy of no recording of any nursing classes including labs. The rationale given was that students and professors are encouraged to share personal experiences relating to the subjects being taught and recording could lead to personal information being shared inappropriately. I can understand that, but would really prefer to be able to record; oh well. For my prerequisites, I used a Sony "ICD-PX333" recorder that was cheap on amazon. Great for making use of long commutes to school & clinicals! *edit: I just checked on amazon, and the price of the px333 is way higher than when I bought it. Any mp3-based recorder would probably work, or perhaps look into buying a small, external microphone for your smartphone.

Interesting topic & article, are your sources for this information available? The inflorescence ("flowers" or "buds") are the drug-containing portion of the cannabis sativa plant, while the leaves contain significantly less psychoactive chemicals and the seeds have no significant drug content. The chemicals are primarily cannabinoids, i.e. THC, and bind to human CB-1 and CB-2 G-protein coupled receptors, as does endogenous anandamide. These receptors help regulate nausea/appetite, pain, and inflammatory response. There are also many additional compounds in cannabis that are purported to provide a synergistic and/or additive effect to the cannabinoids. Whether or not plant-based cannabinoid or synthetic cannabinoid mimetics are useful as medications is not yet the issue. The extensive anecdotal evidence as well as the rare clinical evidence warrants further study of these compounds and receptor systems. So many users (patients?) chronically consuming something we (clinically/scientifically) know very little about!

the ↑PaCO2 is the respiratory compensation for the metabolic alkalosis; the ↑PaO2 is a bit puzzling though. Perhaps something like continuous vomiting from an obstruction of the small intestine causing metabolic alkalosis from gastric acid loss and hemoconcentration from fluid loss which might result in ↑PaO2?

You should be able to find plenty of nursing diagnoses on this patient, think ABCs! Look through a NANDA or nursing diagnosis handbook and prioritize the most life-threatening/emergent bodily functions. Also, escape rhythm r/t 3rd degree block? Trying to think of interventions beyond calling RR or code (also not sure which if pt is still A+O). I enjoy learning from other students questions:specs:

This caused me some mistakes early in nursing school for the same reason. I learned that ATI wants certain numbers rounded in each step in the calculation while other figures can be left as is. I think it was specifically the need to round the lb-to-kg numbers before calculating dosage. I recommend following what was stated (round to tenths), since I kept getting ATI questions wrong until I started rounding. That was a tough transition having just finished two stellar semesters of statistics. Just one of many reasons I strongly dislike mandatory use of ATI (though it could be very useful if reformed)...

My staple has been Sweet Earth frozen burritos, and frequently a falafel (trader joes frozen)-hummus-arugula-tabasco wrap. The frozen burritos are great for when I'm running late (frequently) and this brand is quite healthy in my opinion, and has a variety of choices. I just microwave for 2min, then toast for a couple mins. The burritos are protein-heavy and digest slowly, so I'm full and energetic, but also have to sip water frequently for an hour or two after eating it to prevent upset stomach. For clinicals, I bought a square nalgene water bottle that fits in my scrub pocket. Going to try to get some oatmeal breakfasts in the rotation this semester.

Foremostly, I continue to be very alarmed at the anti-science paradigm that's become pandemic within our government. However, from what I've gathered this is a reaction by the CDC to the current political conditions; as in, the CDC is attempting to self-censor its reports to avoid conflict with some ill-informed politicians that approve the CDC's budget. It'd be like the EPA telling its folks to not use the words "warming" "human-caused" or "flooding" in any reports as to placate its director. I haven't read too deeply into this particular issue. This is just my opinion, from various news reports. In any case, denying or oppressing science does no good.

Just wanted to add that my ADN-RN program states that "initiating IV therapy is not part of undergraduate nursing curriculum" and that the professors said we'd be taught this during orientation when we start working at a hospital. That does seem to leave a gap for those not going into hospital nursing. However, we did thoroughly learn IV maintenance, fluid incompatibilities, calculating and measuring drip rates, how to d/c an IV, etc. Just not initiation of IV. I agree with others that learning this skill will very likely pay for itself. Hope you can find a class nearby! Have you looked into an online-only certification course or is it required to be in-person?

This was recently emphasized to us in NS, and aligns with the mfr recommendations. I don't think much, if any, of the air bubble escapes the needle tip, it's probably calibrated to fully empty the syringe and needle of medication (expensive drug).