galactose

Hi everyone! I am about to attend my first clinical--and it is at a nursing home! We will be working the LTC side. As a former CNA, I am curious as to what nursing students do during nursing home clinicals? So far my instructors have said we will be turning, transferring, toileting, showering, (ADL related activities)---but wouldn't this be equivalent to CNA work? Let me know your experience in your clinical! I feel a little disappointed if it is similar CNA work, as I really wanted to start learning new skills ?

Hi OP! I did the same thing--admitted to college and changed my degree to nursing! For me, the BSN program at my previous university was very expensive and on probation with the Board of Nursing in our state, leading me to look elsewhere. I happened to have all of the pre-reqs and almost ALL of my general education credits for an ADN program and do not regret picking it. It is cheaper and a 2 year program. I was able to have a Assoc in Applied Science of Nursing major, and a Pre-BSN major in tandem (the latter I have already finished). I am locked into an agreement with a local university that takes our school's ADN students and admits them for two semesters post-grad from nursing school. Once these 2 semesters are finished, we are awarded BSNs. I agree with SourLemon, having a BSN is required for you to work in a hospital. I am an advocate for ADN, but if you do not have 60 credits laying around for transfer and will have to wait to finish pre-reqs, possibly look for really good BSN programs in your area. It cannot hurt to apply to both, as we do not know the level of competitiveness your portfolio has!

Really differs. My program is ADN and had us take the Kaplan. We were required to get a 45% or higher in each section, and as long as we met that 45% then we were good to go (i.e. were not awarded more points for higher scores). I was able to score near perfect in the math and reading sections, so it is possible! Maybe tutoring based on subject would be a good option with lots of guided math practice. Standardized testing is a way of life in many RN programs and getting normalized in that system could save you some grief when taking the NCLEX upon graduation! Good luck :)

From personal experience, I did take a urine drug test after getting dental work for my program. It never came up. If you are really worried, I would have your dentist write something up stating what you were treated for in office, and what medications were used on you during treatment--but only IF the test comes out positive for substances. I did some research, and apparently the benzocaine (etc) utilized in these drugs for dental treatment lack structural components of those in illicit drugs. They can tell the difference in lab between the illicit version and the legal version. As long as you are using modern local anesthesia (which you have), you are fine. It is a common misconception I have read!

Two sciences with labs is very hefty, even for a star student. I am a strong student and still had to take A&P II, etc one at a time. I would ask you if you were taking any other courses other than A&P II and microbiology at the same time? Even though you are familiar with A&P II material it is more than just anatomy, there is more physiology focuses (making it harder in my opinion)--plus microbiology is another set of labs/exams/studying. In my personal opinion, I would always shoot to score an A--the only way I did this the first time around was taking these courses one at a time. Seeing as you struggled with A&P II, due to lack of effort or not, I would not recommend this, at all. Ultimately it is up to you! But no nursing school will fault you for taking them one at a time and doing your absolute best, versus doing mediocre (i.e. C) on two prereqs. Good luck!

Definitely had to take it with a grain of salt. Worked in memory care, and oh boy--it was a lot to take in. Screaming and yelling that I was incompetent and awful, punched and slapped, etc. I learned a lot of those we care for as CNA's have lost their filter or become bitter due to disease, disability, or resentment towards losing their abilities. LTC facilities are VERY depressing when you see bad care from other CNA's, lack of family support in resident's lives, etc. Focus on making your resident's experiences positive and motivational. Anytime you see aggression, try to find the root of the issue for the resident and ask if you can do anything differently to fix it. If they tell you to F off/or they have a regular behavioral pattern, say ok--thank you! I found taking an interest in the resident's lives and stories made them bond easier with me, and see you as more than just some caretaker who could give two craps about them. Remember each resident/patient has days where they can act full-moon crazy! Just brush it off, or consider doing home health and requesting no memory care patients or elderly? Generally this happens regardless of if someone has dementia or not..

In VA, we also had similar issues with teaching styles of the skills conflicting with the actual Skills Assessment. What I learned to do was go through the skills checklist brochure sent out by the VA Board of Nursing and practice! I practiced a ton of times as videos/reading really don't cement anything for me. I usually did this on a family member as your skills will be on another able-bodied person. Really emphasize on the vitals--I bought a cheaper BP cuff and stethescope from CVS and practiced cleaning the materials, taking BP, writing it down, etc. I had to get in there and perform out each skill (introductions, washing hand, bringing materials, performing the skill, ending steps, etc). The clinicals and nursing homes do not go by the books, and they will often teach you how to do skills very differently from the state. Make sure you know all your supplies you will need, so when you are demonstrating the skill you are grabbing the right components. I had to continually say it outloud during my skills portion of the exam while doing the actions in order to pass both sections the first time!! Good Luck :)

I have found both types of programs to be EXTREMELY competitive. In VA, ADN programs at community college level have guaranteed admission to universities post-graduation. It just so happens that my ADN program actually teaches the BSN students from a nearby university, so if we gain licensure and decent grades, we have a seat for us at the university to finish up 2 semesters and gain a BSN. Both ADN and BSN have similar requirements, it seems you need to look more so at the area to gauge competitiveness. If there are a ton of applicants, it's a busier area, you are going to have less spots as y'all have to compete for clinical space with other schools even. Both programs have the same subject matter and are hard. It really is up to what your portfolio looks like to a school as well as your schedule and how much money you can afford to spend!

Can't wait to see everyone at orientation on the 19th next month!! :)

Did you ever hear from them? I was told they are doing multiple rounds (up to three) of applicant acceptances, so if you haven't heard back yet--they could be letting you know soon! If you have heard back I'd love to exchange contact info so we can continue to communicate, if you'd like :)

I got my email around 12:06 today that I was accepted--the email was dated for November 14th though so they may be late with sending them out?

The nursing department JUST let me know they are planning on having decisions out this week but it could change to a later date. I asked if they would let us know if it ends up being later in the month and they said, "we are shooting for this week". Ugh, the anxiety! Good luck :)

Hi everyone! I am curious to see if anyone has applied to Germanna Community College's RN program, specifically for this Spring 2019 semester? We are supposed to be getting responses this week but it is driving me crazy! Has anyone received a reply/any information yet? Losing my mind over here, I turned in my application on September 1st and have been waiting AGES to find out!

Hi Diana! Sounds like the professor isn't really on track with his materials..A&P is a thick course, but you sound like you are doing good. It's hard to get A's sometimes in prereqs for nursing, especially if the professor is randomly assigning a big test. I went through a similar situation with Anatomy & Phys II, I took it over the summer for 8 weeks, online. I was in agony over the 130 question exams and the lack of lecturing from the professor. I was told to just look at the book and do the assignments. I did squeak by with an "A", but it felt like hell! Moral of the story: pre-reqs for nursing school are meant to challenge & weed out the weaker students before nursing school. It is going to challenge you but you just have to work through it! It is a great place to develop and hone study skills for nursing school! These are all foundational courses to nursing so the workload will feel intense, don't stress :)

I believe 4-year nursing programs do not require prereqs other than a HS diploma. They do want you to be fresh out of high school usually but require you have taken Chemistry, Biology, certain maths, and decent SAT scores while in high school. It really depends on the school!

Hello all! I am eagerly awaiting to apply for a VA community college RN program (Germanna CC). Apps open on September 1 and I wanted a bit of advice based off their requirements and if anyone else has applied to Germanna and gotten in! They are requiring a 2.5 or higher GPA wise, and stressed GPA is the biggest factor bringing in points (2.5=2 pts, 3.0= 3 pts, 4.0=4 pts). They state it's basically GPA, GPA GPA--while the Kaplan Pre-Nursing exam is a baseline 45% or higher in each section. Literally had a professor and advisor sitting on the nursing school board state they don't care if you just get all '45's' as long as you can hit that 45% you're good to go. Everything else is run of the mill background checks, transcripts, etc. My institutional GPA is a 4.0. This includes the required pre-reqs of English 101, 102, Student Development, Human Lifespan and Dev, and A&P I. I also have taken A&P II and received an 'A', but on my humanities course a flat "B". I recently transferred from GMU to this school due to financial burden, and on my GMU transcript I have a 'C' for an unrelated Bio 101 course I did not study my best on. I'm worried they will take my other GPA from GMU and include it in my institutional GPA or use it for comparison! The Nursing Board did specify they are looking for a 2.5 or higher GPA, GPA specific to Germanna courses and in only the pre-reqs (A&P I, Humanities course, PSYC 230, ENG 101, SDV 101, etc)--but I am extremely worried! My Kaplan was great and I obviously scored way higher than a 45% in each of the four sections, nor do I have any type of issue with my background check (not even a traffic ticket:woot:). Can someone tell me if I'm seriously being delusional in thinking they'll give me a hard time ? Also, if anyone has been accepted by Germanna (they have over 120 seats to fill each semester I believe) please let me know your baseline GPA and education experience!