CONAH-sn

Students bring either small bags or regular size back packs to the hospital. No lockers allocated for students specifically. Not much space for personal items and you don't need to bring much to the hospital. Have not seen staff or students shower after shifts.

I believe the kit from school should come with a pen light but I'd also recommend medical scissors, a dry erasable marker (when you meet your patient & update the white board in the room), a recorder (for lectures - many student do this), and this foldable clip board

People bring laptops but there are limited outlets along the wall. People bring tablets too

Books are about $700 and are electronic and come with a program. You can order a loose leaf version along with it $50/book but it’s pretty much mandatory that you get the ebooks because there are assignments only accessible through the ebook program . Booked are purchased directly through Lippincott

I've seen students use clogs, Nurse mates shoes, and sketchers shoes. I haven't seen my classmates use cloth-based shoes.

First there was an intro lecture, then fluid & electrolytes, pain, hypertension, respiratory, and ending with cancer.

You mean which topic from pharm?

For pharm, it's not broken down by body system; it's broken down into hypertension meds, pain meds, fluids & electrolytes, cancer meds, & respiratory meds. 1st semester, you're hanging IV bag but not starting IV - that's 3rd semester skill. Pharm doesn't start until later in the semester. Essentially for 1st semester, you're focusing on 2 classes at a time.

Monday - MedSurg lecture from 7am-12pm Tues/Weds - 7am-1:30pm. First 3 weeks you'll be at school learning skills before going to the hospital, week 4 you're in the hospital taking care of 1 patient. You pick up 1 more patient as each semester goes by. Thurs - Nursing Role lecture from 1:30-4:30 first 6 weeks, Pharm lecture 1:30-4:30 next 6 weeks 1st semester, no quizzes, mainly tests, 1 short paper, online testing from textbook readings called prepU (they give you a deadline for this). Books are eBooks and cost about $600 and these books are used throughout the program. Professors are definitely helpful

It is possible but most people cut their hours significantly and work on the weekends. Mondays, although you're out by 12pm, you'll be gathering info on your patient since clinicals are Tues and Weds (out by 1:30pm). Thursdays you're in class from 1:30-4:30pm. Gathering info (Monday) initially takes a lot time but you'll learn how to research faster as the weeks go by

Yes we have. We've lost maybe 3 people very early on and another 2 students from week 6 onward.

If you want to get ahead, practice your drug dose calculations

Congratulations to those who have been accepted to CONAH. I'm a student nurse. Our school is a tough school but so far it's been worth the lack of sleep and countless hours of studying. I've asked nurses on the unit how are CONAH students are compared to students from other schools who do rotations at LAC+USC and they have said that CONAH students are VERY competent, well prepared, and well rounded. By 1st semester, you're passing out all PO meds (tabs/caps/liquid), doing nebulizers, injections, hanging solutions, do your own charting, doing wound dressings, head to toe assessments, flushing lines, and more. At CONAH, we have a lot more freedom on the floor compared to other schools (comparing info from what I've heard from other RN programs and what they do for 1st semester). CONAH is extremely hands on. My clinical group was encouraged to go with our patient if they go off the floor for procedures like a catheter change and diagnostic testing like ultrasound, CT, or MRI. You see patients with crazy comorbidities like hypertension, diabetes, renal failure, liver failure, heart disease, COPD (even patients who have ALL those issues). You have homeless patients, patients with "altered mental status", extremely sick patients, very injured patients, etc. Lectures are from powerpoints and many students record lectures. Tests are 50 questions in 50 mins and are situational questions. You are in for one hell of a ride. No doubt, it's going to be hard, you're going to want to cry, anxiety will shoot through the roof, you're going to question "do I really want to do this?" or "am I capable of doing this?".. YES you can most definitely do it. Mind over matter and you'll need to power through. Learn to lean on your classmates because you'll need them as much as they'll need you. MAKE time to study because your whole life will revolve around nursing school. I've heard our school is quite the boot camp of nursing programs but you will come out a stronger person. Feel free to shoot me more questions and once again, congrats on your acceptance