malec33

Hi there, As far as preparation I would say the best thing to do is make sure you have a good study routine down and know what study methods work for you. It might set you behind, especially in theory, to barely be figuring out how you study best since you'll be hit with "choose-the-best-answer" and "select-all-that-apply" critical thinking/application type of exam questions to adjust to as well. If you have the time, I'd recommend doing a pathophysiology or pharmacology course. The program does not have a dedicated class for either of those subjects, but girls who have taken them when they applied to other nursing schools that required it said it has helped them a lot. You will not go too far in depth with either of these the first semester, so maybe even just picking up a pharm book and going over med classifications would be helpful. I recommend going over analgesics, opioid analgesics, beta blockers, benzodiazepines, antipsychotics, diuretics, anticoagulants, insulins, and ACE inhibitors. For pathophysiology I would look at signs and symptoms of the most common illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, renal failure, congestive heart failure, pneumonia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, chronic artery disease, UTI's, pressure ulcers, and antibiotic resistant infections such as MRSA, CRE, and C. diff. If you've never been in a clinical setting before nursing school, like me, skimming over the signs and symptoms of these and being familiar with them will help you a great deal in clinical and will be more beneficial than just cracking open the foundations book and reading chapter 1. You'll have a dosage calculation test within the first few weeks but it's really not that hard, go to the Think Tanks (study sessions) for it as soon as school starts and you'll be totally fine...and then just keep going to the Think Tanks every week, they will help you learn to answer the big scary exam questions I was talking about earlier. Best of luck!

There is but I believe only for clinical, I'm not too sure though. For used supplies I highly recommend joining the Facebook group for your class, look up Nursing Fall 2019 Tarrant County College and the group should come up. This is how I was able to get a lot of books and my scrubs this semester. A lot of people further along in the program use it as well and are always happy to answer any questions.

Yeah, tuition alone is definitely not 10K. They factor in supplies, books, uniforms, other fees from vaccinations, BLS certification, transportation and things like that. But if you buy used books and discounted/used uniforms you can save a lot of money. The time you're in school depends, but skills class is 4 hours and theory is 4 hours. So on whatever day you get assigned each of those classes, you will only be on campus for those 4 hours. Clinical for your first semester will not be 12 hours, 12 hour clinical start in the Adult semester which is your 3rd semester of school. For first semester it will be about 9 hours. Mine, for instance, is from 6:30 am to 3:30 pm but sometimes runs until 4 pm.

I think they factor in a lot more than tuition into the 10K. This is what they told me as well, but, for reference, the tuition for my first semester was $512. So if you are asking about tuition alone, I don't see how it could add up to 10K.

Hi there! The scrubs you will need have to be all teal, I've seen slight variations in shades of teal but most people wear this shade: https://www.uniformadvantage.com/pages/prod/skechers-vitality-sk101-scrub-top.asp?1=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwy7vlBRACEiwAZvdx9vrJcOesnFatcVJsqi4d3Li4fxqfvdBE4vqfpEOIdNF0k8LxXb5zOxoCpjUQAvD_BwE&1=1&frmColor=TEAL&size=L&REFCODE=UASHOPGG&ef_id=XK-bzQAABBZLCf2-:20190412002901:s As far as style they're not very strict, I like to wear a crewneck top instead of v-neck and my clinical instructor was okay with it. For socks, shoes, and undershirts, though, they do have to be either all white or all black. For instance, if you are wearing a black undershirt your shoes have to be black as well. For outerwear at the hospital, you can either wear a white coat or a white scrub jacket. All your tops have to have the TCC Nursing patch on the left shoulder, you can purchase these at the bookstore.

Tuition is, I believe, $60 additional per credit hour for the nursing program. Here is the link to the cost of tuition according to TCC https://www.tccd.edu/documents/services/paying-for-college/tuition-and-fees/degree-certificate-cost/2018-2019-program-tuition-fees.pdf. In addition to tuition there is the cost of books, access codes, supplies, and uniforms. The supplies that you'll need for skills class are sold as a bundle through the school for about $115 if I'm remembering correctly. They sell a book bundle as well but a lot of girls sell their old books and scrubs as they graduate so you can get them cheaper that way. You'll need a few other things not included in the skills kit such as a watch and a stethoscope. I would suggest joining the Facebook group for your class if you can, they have a lot of information on supplies for you and people usually sell their old uniforms and books to the incoming classes. This helped me a lot when I started.

Hello! I am wrapping up my first semester and decided to quit work while I got a feel for how busy I'll be the first semester. After this semester ends, however, I plan on looking for a job. It's a lot of information but if you can find a routine that works for you and manage your time well you should have enough time to work also. A lot of the girls in my class work and still do very well in class so it's definitely doable. Per week I study about 10-15 hours, more if we have an exam or a skills check-off. Yes, there is 2 days a week of class (one is theory and the other is skills) and one day of clinical the first semester. They pick your entire schedule for you, but you can switch schedules with another person if something doesn't align with your personal schedule or if your clinical placement is too far.

For foundations you'll have 3 classes - theory, skills and clinical. The first 4 weeks you'll be on campus for clinical then you will go to your assigned hospital. So 2 days on campus and 1 day at the hospital. Your clinical placement can be anywhere in Fort Worth or around Fort Worth from Arlington to Mansfield to Keller, but they do give you the option to switch schedules with another student if it's too far for you or if you'd like clinical a different day (the entire schedule is switched, including theory and skills not just clinical).

Hi there, I think the program is great so far. I'm only in my first semester but all the professors are great, they have supplemental instructors with tutoring sessions almost every day of the week, and the school in general has a very good reputation with the hospitals in the area. At first it can seem a little disorganized because you're bombarded with information (the syllabus for my clinical, for instance, is 50 something pages) but once you find a routine it gets better to manage. I recommend taking advantage of all the resources made available to you especially during first semester. It's a lot of information and a lot of self-teaching and the tutoring sessions really help bridge any gaps.

Hi everyone! I am currently a nursing student at TCC. I decided to pop in here and see if anyone had any questions I can help with. Good luck to you all!

Hey guys! Can someone add me into the Facebook group? Name is Mayra Castilleja

That's awesome! Great job! If you don't mind sharing, what did you use to study for the HESI? I got a 90 my first time around but I'm retaking it August 1st to get a better score.

Best of luck!

@ it's time - AP 2 is going well, it's definitely more challenging than I anticipated but the instructor goes almost exactly by the book so it's not too hard to study for.