bluerthnu

1ldowife, I think it's really cool the attitude you have about starting over. I love school and wouldn't mind doing that either. I'm sure there's a ton you've forgotten or even new things to learn. Congratulations on geting into an RN program and good luck. I'm inspired by you.

Hi butterfly, As a person who just graduated from an LPN voc-tech school, I have to agree a little with your friend. It did feel like we were teaching ourselves quite a bit, but now that I'm doing my preceptorship, I keep remembering things I learned FROM THE INSTRUCTORS. The program was fast-paced, time consuming and stressful. AND it wasactually one of the best experiences I could have had. It felt unorganized at times, and like I wasn't learning nearly enough. But I learned to be open to anything, to expect the unexpected, and to rely on myself and my classmates much more than I ever had before. I left there a stronger person and having worked with lots of students from the local community college (where I'll be attending too in Jan), I feel like I actually learned more than they did in the same amount of time. The stress level is high and we did lose about 40% of our class but those that stuck with it are better off for it. I think it's definitely worth a shot and will make RN school easier for you when the time comes. GOOD LUCK!

I think the reason people have said you can't get into an RN program that way is that you won't have taken any of the pre-requisite classes. Even with an LPN/LVN license, it will take some pre-requisite classes to get into an RN program later. Basic English, probably psychology, and the sciences- A&P with a lab and chemistry at least. But you still can get into one, as long as you get those done. Either way, I wish you luck on your journey!

I just finished the LPN portion of my LPN-RN bridge and I think it was a great way to go! If, for some reason, I could not continue school, I now have the ability to work as a licensed nurse. And lots of my friends in class who aren't already in a bridge program have been able to get into RN school now that they have finished LPN school and not had to have such a high GPA or wait a long time. I think it's a great way to go and can save you money, too (as opposed to university). Good luck on your journey, it's worth it!

I personally hate doing careplans, BUT I definitely feel they were a useful tool in school. Anytime I felt like I didn't know what to do, I could refer to my careplan and form a plan. Sometimes the whole idea of what to do seems overwhelming until you sit down and break down a person with a certain medical dx into a list of nursing dxs that you can work with. I'm glad we did SO MANY careplan in LPN school and am kind of looking forward to doing new ones in RN school now. Weird!

In my program, we already had to be licensed CNA's before starting. So our first day of clinicals, we did head-to-toe assessments on our patients. Vitals signs first then every thing else. We had a form/check off to follow. This was all after we had been there the day before to pick pts and gather information from their charts, then went home to look up their meds and all the conditions. So we did one assessment, then did the CNA stuff like getting them up, dressed, and groomed and taking them to their meals or feeding them. We did total pt care so we changed their linen and took them to physical therapy, etc. We didn't pass meds at first, but once we did, the day went even faster. Just remember, questions are a good thing and like someone else said, you are there to learn, not to impress anyone (yet). You'll be fine and hopefully you'll even have fun! Take the time to get to know your patient and spend time with them. Good luck!

During my clinicals I found that besides the things prescribed from the chart (like turning a pt every 2 hours or performing ROM exercises), if I just kept checking in with each pt once an hour or so, I had plenty to do just to keep them company or make them comfortable. You'll be surprised how fast the day goes once you get the hang of it. Each clinical site takes a little getting used to and you can always ask the nurse your pt is assigned to if he/she needs help with blood sugars or procedures. They usually like that. Good luck!

Hi megpeg, My LPN program was pretty different but we also did total pt care. We started clinicals in our 2nd of 5 quarters, so at that point we didn't pass meds yet until 3rd quarter. We were always allowed to ask for help from CNA's but advised to try everything on our own first. Sometimes it was just a matter of needing a second pair of hands because of a pt's mobility or weight though. Once we started giving meds, we had to bring all the meds to our nursing instructor and have her go over them with us first. It took a while so we always had to be ready to start early and push to be first if we had something really time-specific like insulin or Reglan that needed to be given a half-hour before meals. Otherwise, we waited our turn and could end up giving them up to an hour past the due time. I don't think a day went by when we weren't all a little bit scared, but there was also down time, like when the pts were napping. As long as you pay attention to your 2 patients, you'll do fine. And hopefully if you can't have CNA help, you can pick pts near other students and help eachother out. We did that a lot. GOOD LUCK, you'll do great!

Hi everyone, I'm Kris. I just finished LPN school in Tacoma, WA and am starting the RN program at a community college January 5th. I'll be taking my NCLEX-PN next month and am currently finishing up my preceptorship on a med/surg floor noc shift at the children's hospital a few days a week. I'm nervous about the NCLEX but feel pretty confident based on what former students in my program's experiences. (Everyone passed on the first try.) Anyway, I've been a member here for a while and have found it very helpful while doing careplans so thank you everyone!

Thanks to both of you! I was thinking the same thing about the thyroid, loricatus, but the ABC's suggestion is excellent. Thank you thank you thank you! Off to bed, have a great night!:redpinkhe

Ah! So I should give the Potassium gluconate elixir after the Dig & Lasix?!

Well, since Dig can be highly toxic and I'm also giving Potassium, I suppose I'm watching the electrolyte balance with the Lasix because hypokalemia would up the risk of Dig toxicity? Is this making sense? I've just started learning about these meds today so I hope I'm on the right track here. I'm thinking the order would be Dig, then Lasix, then Persantine, then the thyroid and finally the Potassium. Please someone let me know if this sounds crazy, yeah?! Thanks! -Kris

Hi everyone, I'm a new nursing student. Tomorrow we are doing a mock drug-pour and we've been instructed that we should always give the "most important" meds first... since our fake pt is elderly, just in case he can't swallow them all, we'd want to get the most important stuff in first. So I have a list of 5 meds which are all related and used for treating HTN and CHF. I have no idea how to decide which are most important?! Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here are the meds: Digoxin Persantine Lasix Thyroid (armour thyroid) Potassium Gluconate elixir I know the dig. is extremely important. And I've heard that elixirs should go last in general, but that's all I can figure out! :icon_roll