SMS80

Not going to lie... It's hard but do-able. I knew I was 5 weeks pregnant with my fourth child at the time of the interview for my FNP program. Hubby and I had a long discussion but we felt it was right opportunity. So, I continued on, full-time, even through clinicals. I had a good relationship with my midwives; so they agreed to induce me if needed between end of the semester exams and finals. I was 2 days past due date with a history of big babies. Fortunately, I had Christmas break to recover. IMO, the older children are the more they need you (homework, school activities, sports, etc.). You have to have family help or an awesome daycare that you trust and a very supportive husband. There were days I thought I was crazy and I knew I drove my husband crazy. But we love each other very much and always work together as a team for the good of the family. I wish you luck. If it is truly in your heart, you will find a way to make it happen.

I don't have personal experience with GSU but grad school is challenging with a family and work. I did an FNP program in 4 semesters with 3 kids and had a 4th baby before Christmas break. The best advice anyone ever gave me was when you are on break from school, truly be on break and spend that time with your family. Best of luck to you!

Congrats! I too recently joined the home health field and love it. There are times when it is very overwhelming but what nursing job hasn't been like that? I love the flexibility of it and that is where my life is right now. I can work full time but still volunteer and be a full time mommy :redpinkhe I wish you the best as you get through your training :)

i can't recommend a specific brand but the best time to try on shoes for work is when you get off of a shift or have been on your feet all day and they are swollen but keep in mind they will swell even more the further along you go in pregnancy. this will give you a good idea as what kind of stretch you need. also consider how far into your pregnancy are you going to be working (i say this because every pregnancy/person is different; with my first i worked on my due date, with my second i stopped at just before 8 months, and now with my third i've gotten hired on at two PRN jobs at 9 months, go figure - and yes, i'm due in a few weeks)... so, at 8 or 9 months are you going to be able to tie your shoes or do you need to only get slip on kind... mine look like leather slippers but they work best of luck to you and consider getting some support hose, supposedly it makes a world of difference but i just can't stand having something that tight on my legs...

at my school we have access to both. i've used ati a lot more then medspub. ati's questions seem to be more difficult than medspub and from what i've heard more nclex like. i have looked at the dose-cal questions on medspub and they are a joke when compared to what i get tested on. hope this helps.

No he did not continue to call RBC's "RBG's" for the entire 1 1/2 hour lecture and then proceed to tell us that immunocompetence is a compromised immune system! Thank God I passed the test with no help from this instructor...

here's a site that lists all of the programs in ga... http://www.sowega-ahec.org/2007CareerGuide/Phlebotomist.htm hope it helps

for party hats you could use the old school caps that nurses wore in the past. i think some scrub shops still sell some paper ones. you can always check ebay, they have everything; also try the oriental trading company. i think the colors red and white with hints of black would be good. like an american red cross theme or you could always go with your school colors or do a formal all white party... it all depends on how you want your party to go. you've worked hard you have every right to party!

like everyone else has said, neither one is easier. here is my own experience... i'm am doing an accelerated ADN program (16 months) and i am drained. i would have loved to have done a part-time bsn program (2 1/2 years) but it was just not in the cards for me. i had to reprioritize my life. thank god i have a supportive husband and a 24-hour daycare! it just depends on what is going on in your life.

the semester was rough but i survived, that's all that matters. and i think i'm more scared out of my mind then excited for the next one. but i'm getting through it come hell or high water . hopefull, you have a wonderful holiday and enjoy your time now. see you in january.

i agree with Katie, you will look like a better applicant if your pre-reqs are done but it is not a requirement. a classmate of mine has taken her history and human growth & development while in the program. it has been challenging for her but she is making it. so, it is possible. you can also take some of the pre-reqs over the summer semesters while in the program. but i would at least have my core sciences out of the way. keep in mind that while in the program, you eat, breathe, and sleep nursing; to throw something else in the mix (work, family, extra class) can have severe consequences if it is not handled (juggled ) carefully. best of luck to you

just to add to what downstethoscope had to say, gordon's minimum gpa requirement is, i think, a 2.0. but the best thing to do is to just apply and see what happens. that's kind of what happened to me... my gpa was not the greatest (i have a BS but barely graduated -- was young and thought i was invincible, yeah... not the case ) but i did well on the teas test and took some of my pre-reqs there. and i know of others who don't have a great gpa also and did not take pre-reqs there that got in. it all depends on who applies at the time. since they are now admitting in fall and spring your chances are a lot better then before. and i don't think that there is an essay anymore. best of luck to you

congrats on getting in :welcome: actually one of your first lectures will cover this question. nursing students from a BSN, ADN, and diploma programs all sit for the very same exam. the information that you need to know for nclex is the same for all of these different types of programs. i think if you go to the students forum there is a sticky that answers this question more in-depthly. at gordon if you are entering the program as a generic student, the program is 2 years. if you are an lpn, then it is about a year and half. once again congrats and welcome. best of luck to you

i've started to research into these programs but i'm finding that more and more of them are being phased out. i've heard this from ga state & medical college of ga; and mcg was my top choice. something about getting more goverment/federal funding for RN-MSN vs RN-BSN programs. i know that ga baptist, clayton, & kennesaw still have a bridge program. my question is what are their RN-BSN programs like and what has your experience been? is it very competitive? and are there any other RN-BSN programs left in ga besides these three? i like to know all of my options. if everything goes as planned i'm looking to enter into a program fall 08. any input would be appreciated. thanks!

as with any college it depends on who you take and what you take... i know it's not the answer you want to hear. but you can go to www.ratemyprofessors.com this will give you a good clue as to what other students think about their professors. best of luck to you

Mr. P is a nice guy and I didn't know that he was a Gordon grad. You are going to have fun but honestly, it's the only fun that another nursing student might understand. Don't be surprised when your friends who are outside of the medical field look at you like you've got nine heads with snakes coming out of your ears when you tell them "man, i saw the craziest thing today in clinicals and it was so cool!" but those are the best moments. for 1901, lecture is lecture (duh, right ), skills seminar is like lecture but you have a quiz right after they lecture on that material (so do your reading, very important), and clinical simulation is where you learn to do the skill that was lectured on in skills seminar. with clinical simulation you will have to check off, demonstrate how to do the procedure in front of the instructor or your lab partner. to be successful in clinical sim, it takes practice, practice, practice, and some more practice. if you do really well, the instructor may give you a clinical excellence. after clinical sim is completed (about halfway through the semester) your clinical rotation begins. there are people who commute from atlanta, decatur, and conyers area. so, if the determination is there i'm sure you could drive from florida and still do well. but one thing to remember, if you are late don't walk into the class when the instructor is lecturing unless you've called to let them know that you got a flat, were in an accident, etc. wait until there is a break and then go in. this has been an on-going issue. it can be disruptive. since you live in atlanta they probably will have you at grady for sure. psych you probably will be in decatur at ga regional. OB, maybe grady also or rockdale. peds, probably CHOA. but they are not going to always have you at the same clincal site because then you will only be familar with one system. grady is a wonderful hospital and you really will see a lot there. but you also need to be exposed to a slower hospital, one that has computerized charting, or a hospital that is not a teaching hospital. enjoy your time in the program, it feels like my time has flown by. hard to believe i'll be graduating in may. it feels like i just started. like i've said before there will be many tears along the way but there will also be many, many triumphs as well. and of course i always happy to help. a few of the students before me didn't really want to share what they had been through. i guess they kind of felt like "if i had to do it on my own, then you should too." i just don't agree with that. in the healthcare areana we all have to work together for the good of our clients, if we can't work together as nursing students then what does the future of healthcare look like? nurses are the backbone and we have to stick together. best of luck to you.

i think they are planning on changing this schedule but this how it was/is for me... first semester: beginning med-surg (half of the semester) second semester: ob & psych third semester: advanced med-surg, 2 days in peds, 1 day in or (observation only), 1 day community health (hospice, dialysis, sickle-cell, etc.) fourth semester: preceptorship or varied clinical experience (you spend a few weeks in er, icu, hospice, doctor's office, dialysis, med-surg, etc.) or rotation is done at the hospital you do your adv med-surg at. you will understand why you don't spend a lot of days in the or once you see what the rn's role is in that setting, there is not a lot of med-surg type, hands-on work and gordon wants you to have that type of experience above anything else. at least this is what i saw during my or rotation. clinical sites depend on the rotation... med-surg & ob can be at just about any hospital between atlanta and macon; psych is as far north as decatur and south as macon. psych rotations can be at any psych hospitals or rehab facilities. you will enjoy clinicals. i loved being at a busy hospital because i feel like a saw everything (gunshot wounds, traction, chest tubes, severe car accidents, and the list goes on...) and i feel more prepared for my preceptorship. don't worry about clinicals now, you needs to get through skills seminar first. best of luck to you.

and you were belittling me, it's called being passive aggressive. but i'll end argument now... it's sad that you got offended because you were not thanked over a response. that says a lot about a person's character or lack (and yes, a lot is two words not one). i will agree that i did blow some of this out of proportion but you did as well. i sincerely hope that one day you can learn to play nice, that is genuinely nice, with others. you all have a good night. redneckrn2b, good luck on your test, i'm sure you'll do fine.

comments and tones like that are not okay. i'm sure that i will have to deal with this is the real world of nursing but on a forum from an RN?! you've got be kidding me! and i didn't wear a thong today, thank you. i do have a sense of humor as long a someone does not belittle me into trying to make me feel like an idiot to make themself feel better. do you Nrs_angie like to be called "silly", silly? didn't think so... it's like calling your patient honey or sweetheart. don't insult me.

how can you be offended? we are trying to help each other out. you were once a nursing student or were you born a nurse? and captron is right, it's all about what works best for you. and to me your way is not simpler and quicker. but what do i know, i'm just a nursing student who has a BS already, the highest math i've completed is Cal 2, and am doing this RN program in 18 months... yes, what could i possibly know about anything...

funny... i think your way is reallyyyyy confusing...

you know that the formula that you will need is: V/T x gtt Factor you know the volume to be infused: 500cc gtt Factor: 60 gtt/mL but you have to figure out the time... the doc wants 1mg/min and 1000mg/500mL is what's available... so set up a proportion using this information: 1mg/1min = 1000mg/X min X = 1000 min now, set up the equation: 500cc/1000min x 60 gtt/mL = 30 gtts/min i think i did this right... hope this helps...

read Test Success (see previous post in this thread) and if you can work overtime now because you won't have a chance to until the break between the semesters. buy your textbooks ahead of time if you can, if you qualify for Hope then wait. i bought my books out of pocket and i got 1/3 of them on overstock.com, another 1/3 from the gordon's bookstore (used), and the last 1/3 from someone who was in the program. if you go through other routes make sure the isbn numbers match (you can check this on the bookstore's website). some good sites are half.com, ebay.com, and sometimes amazon.com is okay. buy the course book before Camp I Can, so you can follow along. this will also guide you as where you can get ahead. when i say "get a ahead" i mean "be on task" (there is no such thing as getting ahead in nursing school). do not read the course book ahead of time, you will freak out, become overwhelmed, and then stressed. after they have gone over the course book, take it home and organize it the way that it make sense to you (tabs, dividers, etc.) don't go crazy reading trying to get ahead, you might get burnt out. the med-surg book is huge. in the beginning i hated that book but now it's my best friend and it has almost all the answers. don't sweat reviewing a&p, it will only give you more of a headache and you need that brain space you will have dos-cal questions on every test (except in a few classes) and usually 5 or more; so get a decent calculator, nothing fancy. and you may also be quizzed in the clinical setting. the one thing that i do remember from first semester is that i really had to read for skills seminar before the lecture because there was a quiz on the material right after the lecture. do not get stressed out about this program too much. you will learn that a little stress is good because it makes you keep your game on but too much stress can paralyze you. paralysis is not always a good thing. best of luck to you.

For clinical rotations, it depends on if it's med-surg, psych, OB, peds, etc. Just put it this way, you can go as far north as Atlanta (Grady or CHOA) or as far south as Macon and just about everything inbetween. They will try to place you close to home. But they will also try to place you at a busy hospital (Grady or Macon) at least once during the program. First semester, 4 days on campus. I seem to remember getting out around 11 or 12. For the first half of the semester you will have lecture, clinical simulation, and seminar. Once clinicals begin the clinical simulation component goes away; and you will be on campus 3 days then with one day of clinical (Thursday or Friday). As far as working goes... it is frowned upon. But, and this is a very small but... it is possible to work full time and be in this program full time for the first semester. It worked for me but I know for two of my classmates it did not and they failed out. They knew they were overwhelmed but kept going. I knew I was taking on a lot but I managed to pace myself and I worked between 25-40 hours a week. Second semester I had to change to working only one day a week because it was accelerated. This semester I had to quit. I was about to snap and in some ways I did. It really varies on the student if they want to take out loans or not. I had previous loans so I didn't want to take out more but when I switched to part-time I had to take out student loans. Some of my classmates have taken out service-cancelable loans, while others work part-time, and some will be in debt up to their eyeballs. You just have to do what it best for you. I am not against loans. Someone once told me that if you have to take out loans during your time in college and your total amount of loans is less then what you will be making your first year out of college it's okay because when compared to the money you will be making it's not so bad having to repay it. And many hospitals have loan reimbursment programs, some as high as $10,000. But you also have to realize what is important... your future. As far as dress... uniforms are for clinicals. For class, whatever you are comfortable in, minus pj's. Your excitement is a good reminder... best of luck you.

Congrats on the acceptance! Right now don't worry about the dosage & cal questions, you have time to work on this the first few days. I'm not saying blow it off but don't invest hours upon hours of work into it. If you can, buy their recommended book Test Success and follow the directions in it. A few of my friends have recommended it. It lays the foundation for their testing style. You will be overwhelmed and it's okay. There will be drama in your life; there will be times that you want to cry and you will. There will be times when you have given everything you have but you keep giving more. There will be many times when you have to pick between nursing school and your family... and nursing school wins, most of the time. All of this is normal. The main thing is to keep your focus. You may forget the reason of why you want to be a nurse along the way but something will happen to remind you, it happens to most of us. If you have God in your life, He will have to carry you most of the way through it. If you have a family, have a long talk before you begin school and tell them that there will be times that you can't be there for them. And you will need them more then ever... Once you start you will make many friendships. And your heart may break when they don't pass a semester and you don't see them again. Use your experience and knowledge, don't hide your talents. Always follow your gut, chances are it's that nurses intuition kicking in. Do as much of your reading as you can but the reality is that it's not possible to do it all with a family and trying to have a life. You will learn how to prioritize quickly. When you are in lecture, FOCUS! Don't think about work, the kids, the spouse, the bills, what's on TV, what you're having for lunch, etc. During lecture, lecture is all that matters. I get to class an hour early just to clear my mind, get myself focused for the day, and take care of any thing last minute. Be honest with the professors, they will respect you for it. Always turn your work in on time and if you can't, be honest about why it's late, so many people lie... During clinicals if you are not sure always, always, always ask. Never assume, it will always get you in trouble. For clinicals, I started out at a slow hospital and I was happy with it because I felt that I was in over my head. This semester I am a lot more confident and I'm at a very busy hospital. I look forward to seeing you in the halls next semester. Best of luck to you. If you have anymore questions do not hesitate to ask.