amgRN

I think this comment referred more to those people that watch Youtube like TV. Certainly Youtube nursing videos can be very helpful for learners that are auditory and do better with those types of resources. You may also find Picmonic helpful. Those should be resources that support your learning, not your primary source of information.

If you are working full time and in school full time, social stuff will probably go out the window for a while. It will be worth it in the end, but something will have to give. ? In fundamentals, focus on the rationales of procedures and that will help things make more sense rather than just trying to memorize. And make sure you spend lots of time on vocabulary because you can't answer a test question if you don't know what the words mean. Just learn short definitions in your own words. That will make them easier to remember. Pharmacology - Study this every day, over and over. Repetition is the key to success. Focus on learning the things that make one drug class stand out from another and focus on safety aspects of a drug. For example, some drugs may not be taken with food, or some may make a patient's blood pressure drop, etc. Know those things. Concept maps are a great way to learn drugs. Every day. Multiple times a day. Also, there are good online resources for learning drugs/drug classes. Check out Youtube for nursing pharmacology help. Hope that helps! ? ~amg

I believe that school has a ASN program and an accelerated BSN program. You may find the ASN program to be more manageable. I had my ASN for almost 20 years. It gets you started and you are still an RN. You can always bridge to your BSN later if you choose. I would focus on finding the program you have the best chance of making it thru. I have experience working in an ABSN program and as a general rule, the students find it difficult to work full-time during the beginning of the program. However, each program is structured differently. I think it is a good idea to talk with someone in the nursing school about that balance and try to get some honest insight. For advice, I would say you will need to be extremely organized and structured with your days and study times. A strict schedule will help you feel more in control and will make the time you do have be more productive. For encouragement, I would say this is so worth it. I have been a nurse for well over 20 years and have worked in many nursing roles and I wouldn't change it. It is an incredibly flexible career with more types of jobs than you can probably even imagine. During this time while you finish your prereqs, do some casual research by looking at job boards and job websites and find some positive nurses to follow on social media. As you find jobs that look interesting or fun to you, hold on to those thoughts because it will be worth the work and effort. There is a job for everyone in nursing no matter your interests if you are willing to find your passion. Best of luck as you finish your last few courses! You can do it! ~amg

I think you need to plan for multiple hours a day of study time. The goal of nursing school is not to pass exams (like with prereqs), but to actually understand and learn the material. It takes a tremendous amount of time to do that and you probably won't accomplish that in an hour a day. And your personal life will need to be less of a priority during nursing school and certainly during the first semester when you are trying to find best ways to study, how to manage time, and how to balance your course load. What courses do you have the first semester? I suggest you find a weekly calendar to use. I recommend the pad of weekly sheets so you can tear off that one week and keep it with you. Plan out every part of your week and include class time, study times, and times to exercise or do something fun, errands. Of course add work hours if you have a job. Plan to study every course every day if you have multiple courses. Study in chunks of time (like 45 minutes of studying and then a 15 minute break and keep repeating). If 45 minutes is too long to focus, study for 20 minutes, take a 10 minute break and keep repeating. Put your phone away when you are studying. Don't take a million notes but focus on understanding what you are learning. Learn all of the whys of what happens in the body and why nurses do things a certain way. Find good resources to help you. Look online and on Youtube for nursing school help. Pick just one or two people/sites that you like and stick with those. Best of luck this semester! amg

How confident are you with regular math (fractions, conversions, etc.)? And is there a particular method your instructor uses to teach or do they teach all three ways for calculations?

Usually this is because it their retention rates can be less than traditional nursing programs. Sometimes it is a reflection on the quality of the nursing program, but even a good ABSN program may have lower retention rates due to the intensity level of the program. The A in ABSN is for accelerated. That means everything a nurse needs to learn in nursing school is still taught but at a faster rate. Students think that is a win because they graduate faster, but they still have to learn all the material. It is very difficult and many students are not able to keep up with the pace. So, is it a red flag? Maybe. But it may attributed to many factors. Another indicator of the quality of the program can be their NCLEX passage rates. This is something you could inquire about. If a school will not share retention rates or NCLEX passage rates, I would steer clear. Hope that helps a bit, amg

The ABSN programs are accelerated and will be harder than a traditional program just because all of the knowledge you learn in nursing school is condensed and courses move faster. These programs can be difficult for students with no medical knowledge. It is possible to be successful, but it is more difficult. A traditional program may feel more manageable (ASN or traditional BSN). And if you do not get in and still want to pursue nursing school, you could spend the time before the next admission cycle working as a nurse tech and repeating some of courses with lower grades to improve your GPA and gain some experience in the medical field. Hope this helps, ~amg

I am not from your area and do not know the school you are referring to, but if a school doesn't "do financial aid", that could be a bit of a red flag for whether they are accredited or there may be other issues. Just an idea, but it may be worth looking at getting your LPN certificate at a vocational school or community college. The cost would be significantly lower and they may offer some financial aid if you qualify.

I did not bridge like this, but I did bridge from my ASN to BSN. I found it much easier than nursing school the first time. As an LPN, you should already know basic procedures, common meds and disorders, and medical terminology. You will have a lot to learn, but hopefully it will be less overwhelming. That being said, if you chose an accelerated program, you may find it as or more difficult than your LPN program. If you are not set on your BSN, you may find an LPN to ASN program more manageable. There is no real way for anyone else to compare experiences for you since LPN and RN (ASN and BSN) programs are so different and everyone learns differently. Do your research, talk with students of the school or program you are considering if possible, and make an appointment and talk with the school you are considering. Hope that helps! ~amg

I do not have opinions and every nurse is looking for different things when attending school. Unlike your MSN, your FNP obviously requires a large number of clinical hours. One obstacle I have heard from students is that some schools do not help with clinical placements. That may be something to look at; as well as accreditation and board passage rates. This may be helpful in comparing the programs you are considering. https://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/nursing/online-family-nurse-practitioner-rankings Good luck with your decision and with your FNP! ~amg

Generally you can expect weekly assignments and discussion questions in an online program. There are many good online programs. I completed an online program to go from my ASN to BSN. I found US New College Rankings (https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges) helpful when I was looking for a program. I found some schools I would have never know about, I was able to easily review approximate tuitions, length of program, and information about admission requirements. These are all things to consider when finding a program that would be a good fit for you. It is also a good idea to look at clinical requirements and make sure the program is accredited. Good luck with your search! There are many excellent programs available and online programs make so many schools accessible that you can surely find a school that is a good match for what you are wanting. ~amg

In nursing, we generally prioritize airway, breathing and circulation needs first, then we move on to other needs. You may want to take a look at Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This will be in any of your fundamentals of nursing textbooks and is often covered in other nursing books, as well as NCLEX review books. Nursing priorities are usually based on these levels of need and this will guide you in answering many questions on exams and on licensing boards. Best of luck with your questions!

The two things I would recommend would be to make sure you are very strong in anatomy and physiology and consider a medical terminology course. You can find many free or low cost resources for both of these. Knowing your A&P will make it easier to understand disease processes and related symptoms. And nursing students spend a tremendous amount of time learning medical/nursing terminology so having a head start on this would be beneficial. You will need both of these much more in depth than you will with your EMT certification so keep building on what you are currently learning. Hopefully that helps and best of luck with your EMT certification!

I think your comment might be referring to my suggestion to use Picmonic. Picmonic is a study resource for students (PA students, pharmacology students, NPs, nurses, etc.). It is a very effective learning tool for students. that are trying to memorize large numbers of medications in a short amount of time. It is in no way a substitute for appropriate drug reference books. ?

That's great! Really the concept maps can be whatever makes logical sense to you. There are a lot on etsy too, strangely enough. That is a lot of drugs so really truly work on them every day. Some people make up silly stories or word associations to help them remember drug facts. If you are a visual/auditory learner, Picmonic is a great resource and a lot of students really like it for Pharm. The other piece of advice I would add it to keep your concept maps very, very brief. A very simple explanation of the drug, how it works, the most common side effects, and the nursing actions that are most common and those that have big safety implications. Don't forget to put everything in your own words. Also, if you have related or similar drugs, such as the diuretics, be sure to look for the things that make each one different from the others. That will help you decide correct answers when you take your test.

You should only have medications for one patient at a time and take only those medications into a room. Also, never ever set your meds down and walk away/leave the room. Do you have locked med drawers for each patient so you could prepare each one and then leave them locked until you come back to get them? Or, do you know what zipper binder notebooks are? Those big three ring binders with the zipper that closes them. If you had to, you could prepare the meds and since they are in pencil cases, they would probably fit in the three ring binder. You could clip them in in order of the room numbers. That way they would be secured and you could unzip it, take out just the one you need, and keep zipped between patients. You might start a whole trend on your unit. ? Of course check with your manager or another leader to make sure you are acting within your unit policy. If they do say you should be taking multiple patient meds in one trip, I would suggest they be in something you can close securely between patients.

You are sweet. I love nursing students. Congratulations on starting nursing school! And don't worry. It will all start coming together. Try these couple of things in your pharmacology class. When you learn your drug classes, spend a bit of time figuring out the action of that drug class and what it is doing in the body. You may have to read it a few time and think about it or look up more information online, but figure it out. Taking the time to understand the action of the drug class will greatly improve your understanding and also cut down on your study time because understanding is much faster and easier than memorizing a pile of words that don't make sense. After you understand the action of a drug class, fill out a concept map for that class. As you are filling it out, be thinking about that action and see if you can connect those actions to the side effects. Often the side effects are just an "over" effect of the drug. Using your example, if diuretics cause the body to increase urination, most of the common side effects are related to the body losing too much fluid. If we give a patient a medication to lower their blood pressure, most of those common side effects are related to the blood pressure being too low. Look for those connections. If you are in an ABSN, you probably are learning anywhere from 20-25 drugs per exam. Work on 2 -4 drug classes each day and spend a bit of time reviewing the ones you did the days before. As for the rest, don't get ahead of yourself. You will be fine by the time you are passing meds on your own. Best of luck this quarter/semester! amg

You are right about this being a lot to deal with as a new nurse and it is stressful. If you have a pharmacist checking orders where you work, that should make you feel better. They can make mistakes too, but they are another set of eyes reviewing orders. Most floors tend to have patients taking the same groups medications, so you will become more familiar with the common meds in your workplace as you gain more experience. Make sure you have a good drug app on your phone and be familiar with it. Before you give any medications you are not familiar with, check your app or a drug handbook. Taking a few seconds to look up a medication and verify the expected dose and route of admission will help you remember the meds and will ensure you are administering the medication safely. Never feel embarrassed to look up meds before you give them. You are responsible for the way you practice as a nurse and for your new license! Use any resources you need to be safe. You can even buy a very small flip notebook to keep med notes or make your own badge buddies with medications you come across if you want to have your own mini-resource. It will get easier though! Don't be discouraged. Also, never hesitate to have another experience nurse double check something with you if you are unsure. We have all be in your shoes! amg

The pumps don't work like that if you are using one channel and I believe connecting above a channel with a second pump would just cause pump errors. There was just a mistake. Professors make mistakes too. ?

You are correct. About the problem and about your professors. Sorry they did not acknowledge the mistake, but at least feel confident that you have a good understanding of the different IV line types. ?

IVPBs and primary fluids do not infuse at the same time, which is why you can run them on one channel of an IV pump. The piggyback runs then it kicks over to the primary. You can run a secondary line that connects in below a pump, but that would not be a piggyback. You may want to take another look at the wording and see if this was a secondary line or a IVPB.

Follow @theremotenurse on Instagram or look at her website. She keeps a good list of remote jobs. You can also just search normal job sites such as Indeed and LinkedIn. Just filter by LPN and remote. Best of luck!

Maybe this is something you could schedule to coincide with or overlap with a school break. For example, many colleges are finishing fall courses at Thanksgiving. If that is the case for you, you would be off for the month of December, so maybe that would be a good time to do a CNA course. Or maybe this would be best saved for the Summer. On the other hand, if you are planning to work when you are finished with your CNA and feel you can handle that, then just treat the CNA program like a job. You will need to be very diligent in scheduling study times and class times to not fall behind in your regular courses.

Just a few thoughts not knowing any other circumstances that might influence your decision. You mentioned you were not interested in an ABSN program. However, the MEPN programs are also accelerated leading to you becoming a nurse practitioner. If becoming an NP is your ultimate goal and you are positive of that, then it may be worth considering. I think tackling an ADN/ASN program first is a good idea. It is not as intense but still results in you being an RN when you graduate. There are many, many programs in person and online that will later let you bridge from your RN to a BSN, MSN, or NP if you decided to pursue furthering your degree. Taking nursing degrees in steps can be very beneficial as it lets you get working and gain experience and insight into what you really want to do. If you have never worked in healthcare or spent a significant amount of time having honest discussions with NPs, then I would hesitate to just jump down that road as it isn't the best path for everyone. It is amazing, but not for all nurses. As far as location or school, it makes the most sense to me to stay in the state you currently reside in. Why pay out of state tuition if you don't have to and some states have scholarships for adult learners, nursing students, etc. Typically you would not qualify for instate tuition or any state aid for at least one year after moving to a new state. I am sure there is variations to those rules, but that has been my general experience. My general advice is to balance your goals and the quality of education (like don't go to a school with a subpar NCLEX passing rate or low retention rate), but after identifying some acceptable possible schools, choose one that will be the most economical for you. This is another reason to take your nursing education in steps. If you were to finish your ADN or ASN and not want to go further, then you would not be committed to a tremendous amount of school debt for a degree you don't really want. Hope that helps a bit and best of luck to you!

I think is sounds like you might be in nursing school outside of the US. I might not be as able to help you. In general, I would say to look for concepts you can compare and contrast, such as related diseases, and write your notes in a chart format. Try really hard to keep your notes very short and in your own words. This means you may have to read your books and just think of ways to condense sections into just a small bit of notes. That actually helps you think about what you are reading and writing and will help you remember it. If you write notes in your own words instead of copying from books or lectures, you will find it sticks better. When you can, always try to understand the rationales for why certain things happen or why we take certain nursing actions. If you have a friend to study with, take turns explaining different concepts out loud to each other. If you can "teach" something to a friend, you probably understand it. If you don't have someone to talk to, talk out loud to yourself. It will help with your recall later, again, keeping everything short and in your own words. Best of luck and I am sorry I am not familiar enough with your specific courses to give more detailed suggestions, but hopefully some of these help. amg