TeeRN2Be

I just wanted to say congrats to you for passing on your first try!! :yeah: Hesi is hard and for you to have passed it on your first attempt it says you did know your material. I would pat myself on the back too, because if anyone has ever took Hesi, they would know that it's not something that you can really study for- either you know the material or you don't. Preparation is based on your current knowledge and how you apply the knowledge you have been taught. Sometimes even the review course and the Hesi Exit Prep book is not helpful.... Good luck to you and congrats on your upcoming graduation

From what I hear, they prefer new grads with BSN but if you "know" someone, you can probably still get a job as an ADN. HTH

Tomorrow you guys should be having Clinical Orientation, we all are Your first semester you guys will be in LTAC and rehab facilities. Our first day was scary, exciting, and an eye opener all in one! This semester in clinical you all will focus on vital signs without machines, bed baths, making an occupied and un occupied bed, nursing assessment, and at the end passing out meds to your patient. I know it may be scary but when you first walk into your patient room, walk in with confidence. A patient does not want someone frightened to take care of them. Walk in with a smile, you never know how much a smile in those type of facilities make the patients day. When you come to clinical, be prepared with all of your materials i.e. stethoscope, pen light, at least 3 black click pens, your watch, a clipboard if possible and NO GUM. Your instructors are expecting you to act as professional student nurses, don't let them down. The same instructors you have this semester you will probably have next semester so don't start off on the bad foot. I really can't tell you how to study for exams as everyone is different and even now at Level III you would think I have a method down but honestly I do not. In First Steps to Success did you guys learn how you learn the best? If you did, that's how I would tell you if you are keen to study groups, get with people in the SAME category as you. If you are not keen to study groups, do not force yourself into one, it may just winde up hurting you more than helping you. If you learn by hearing tape your lectures and listen to them in the car, MP3 player etc, if you learn by doing try to act out what you are reading, etc. visualize what you are reading, you will soon learn that nursing exams are nothing like your pre-req exams... they are mostly application based. I would advise all of you to buy the book Fundamentals Success and Test Success. They both will be your best friend in Level I, and if you master those, you may do better on your exams than some of your class mates ( I bought the book and never opened it until Level II) Go over your Powerpoints before every exam, take the section that was went over in the Powerpoint go to your textbook and study that section. Take all of the NCLEX review tests at the back of your required chapters and on the Evolve website. Set aside time each day to read even if it's for an hour. I do not reccommend CRAM exam sessions. If that works for you, you may burn out by the end of this semester. I tell you this by experience and I would only set all of you up for success. Walking into your first day of clinical it's going to hit you. I am officially a student nurse. I wish you all good luck tomorrow, please let me know how it went for all of you and if you have any more questions, please post them

Hi Kat, Just wanted to offer you some encouragement. If you can, I would go the RN route rather than the LVN route.... the LVN pay is not that great unless you're in an LTAC facility....start the pre-req's for the RN program, and since I'm gathering you may have good SAT scores, apply with that option. There are alot of hospitals phasing out LVN's here in Houston, I would rather set you up for success rather than failure. HTH, and good luck with your decision.

I am a Nursing III student and am in the night program. I am a wife, a mother of four kids, work full time, and go to nursing school full time. I will not lie, it is extremely hard to do all this simultaneously.... one of my roles always suffers at some point in the semester, but I do what I have to do to keep it moving. In the night program almost all of us, at least 80% of us work full time and have managed to remain in the program while doing so... you do what you have to do. Congrats on applying to program, if you do not have A's in the 1st 3 courses (A&P I or II, Intro to Pscyhe and Comp I) I would suggest you go ahead and retake it this semester so that you will be set to apply in the summer. To the Nursing I students, strap your boot straps, I hope you're ready for this wild but exciting ride. If any of you need help, please message me here and I'll do what I can to help you. Try not to get overwhelmed, pay attention to your power points in class for studying your exams, if you can not read every single page, read most of what you can (trust me, there will be exams with like 11 chapters of reading covered in about 3 or 4 days...you do the math) tape your lectures if you can... the Nursing I instructors are awesome, you'll love them. Congrats to all of you!!!

E- They tell you don't take Pharm if you're applying to Cy-fair because if you do, you have to pass a hard math Pharm test administered by Cy-fair to consider it complete. I would not take Pharm if I was only applying to Cy-fair until the program when required and I think it is in the second or third semester. Cy-fair is in a league of their own... As far as Life Span, that class was easy-peasy to me and I don't see any reason why not to take it during the Fall if you can. The class just went over psychology from birth-death as far as I can remember anyway. I can't remember the hours of Cy-fair program but I want to say they start at 8 and it's four days a week... really can't remember. Their uniforms are navy and orange, nothing like the other Lone Star system nursing programs and their program is a block program instead of integrated. They turn out great nurses though... most say their program in one of the hardest in the system, but it's for the best. Good luck!

In Houston, most of the hospitals in the medical center is not hiring new grads. Most is on a hiring freeze. Our own Houstonian new grads can't find jobs...

cschoppe- Don't lose hope. That was Cy-fair's cut off for Spring 2009. You have an excellent shot! Keep the faith

You're welcome :wink2: I would take CPR now to have it out of the way why you're still waiting on time to pass and make sure if you do take it, that it is the one for Healthcare Providers. When accepted, 1172 is in January and either for a month if you're doing it on Saturdays or for 4 days straight during the week. They offer day and evening courses. Day is 12:30-3:00PM I believe and evening is 5:00PM-7:30 or 8:00PM. Clinicals are Monday, Wed, Thurs, Fri and Sat. Our uniforms are teal bottoms and white tops. Have you took Pharm yet? If not, I would try and get in a class and finish that prior to being admitted. I took Pharm with Fundamentals last semester and it was a little overwhelming. If you've already taken it, brush up on dosage calculations because you will have a test every semester starting with Level I. If you have any other questions, just ask

Good luck to you all! I'm getting ready to enter Nursing II at Kingwood, for all of you trying for Kingwood, awesome choice! I love my school. I put all of my eggs in a basket and only applied to Kingwood because I have to work full time during the day to pay my mortgage, daycare, truck note, etc... and did I mention my 4 kiddos :wink2: I won't lie to you and tell you that it won't be hard but it is manageable, you just have to manage your time well and you should get by. My score was 11.7448 and I prayed that would get me in. Our Spring 2009 cut off was 11.45, so remember to study hard for the Reading part of Hesi... there is where most of your score comes from. Try to enjoy the rest of your time off... to pass the time by I will tell you guys what some of the veterans told me. If you can, get a NCLEX book and start at least reading it. Other good books to buy are Fundamentals for Nursing Success and also Test Success for Beginning Nursing Students. Trust me, you'll thank me later. :smokin:Nursing test questions are nothing like you're used to so you might want to see how they are formatted. If I can help in anyway, please let me know. Congrats to you all and good luck

No problem :-) I'm all ears. I know how frustrating it is to have 50 million questions (not that you do but I did) and not a lot of people in my situation that could help. I go to Lone Star College in Kingwood. They have an evening RN program and only admit in the spring semester. I'm not going to lie to you. It's very hard, working fulltime, going to nursing school fulltime, being a mom of 4 kids under the age of 11 amongst other things but you do what has to be done to get somewhere- at least that's what I keep telling myself. I'm not a LVN, a Medical Assistant by trade but now I work as a Staffing Coordinator. My youngest just turned 1 and when we began school this past January I had just had surgery in September, was still recouping and trucked on because I've waited so long. I was lucky when I graduated trade school for my Medical Assisting and got on a floor in a hospital working as a PCA. That was over ten years ago though.... last year, you could have probably got on in a hospital with your LTC experience, but the pickings are slim right now because of the economy. Some of our NA's came from LTC facilities, so I know this to be true. Our hospital is on a hiring freeze for almost every position. What I have saw done from applicants though is to put your application in, find out the unit/department, call the operator and ask to be transferred to that particular department and then ask for the nurse manager. This works for some. Sounds icky but just be persistent. If you want to pursue your LVN, most schools have no pre-req's. You only have to take the entrance exam. Get a TASP study guide and study that to refresh yourself. You can always transition later for your RN if you choose to. Good luck with whatever decision you make and please post back if you have any other questions :-)

Hi. There are many LVN programs in the Houston area but know that many hospitals are phasing out LVNs and some are even paying for their LVNs to go back to school to get their RN. ( I work for one of the biggest, if not the largest hospital in TMC and they are doing this). While I would suggest you maybe look into getting your RN, especially since you already have an undergrad degree- you may be able to apply to an acclerated RN program after completing the other pre-req's. I know you mentioned you have 4 kids, I do also and work fulltime and go to nursing school full time. Like you math is not my best subject but I function for calculating medication dosages just fine so don't be scared of that aspect; most of the entrance math at it's highest is 9th grade math. Study percentages, fractions and ratios and you should be fine. I wouldn't deter you from getting your LVN. There are still many jobs for LVNs particulary in the long care term facilities and some hospitals. I hadn't heard of anyone leaving Texas to get their LVN training though, that's strange. Some of the better LVN programs I would look into are Lone Star College, San Jacinto College, Alvin Community College and HCC but some may disagree. Good luck in your decision. HTH:redpinkhe

To the above poster that said look in Texas, hmmmm I think not! I'm in the Houston area, and most of our hospitals here are under a hiring freeze as well. Our new grads are searching in other states also

You guys may want to check your Summer 2009 schedules. Ours was there a little after acceptance and our intent to enroll were turned in. The days/times will be on there. HTH!

I have it, used it alot in clinicals this past semester, my first semester and it was WELL worth it. Made not having to pick up a drug book alot easier. I love the I Touch.