Ishtart

i hate this exam with more words than i care to write, but i've done it twice now and (luckily) passed the first try through both times. every class has a significant number of people who fail the first exam, so we all know somebody who has gone through what you're going through and can relate to the emotional roller-coaster that results. stay positive. you were taught to id the site with the capped syringe, so the evaluator should, in theory, require that you identify the site with the capped syringe. honestly, i think some evaluators would let you point with your fingers, but others would not. to be on the safe side, id it with that capped syringe. take comfot knowing that you did all of your skills fine. to me, that means you shouldn't have any problems the second time around, if you practice finding that vg site some more. don't be flustered next time. you pretty much know that you can pass the exam if you get that vg site down. and yes, more students pass the second time around than fail, so again, stay positive.

That's a heck of a question. First, let me describe the PE. The performance exam is a practical test administered by a faculty member at the end of each nursing semester. It involves a hypothetical situation in which a nursing student must perform certain tasks. In the case of the first PE, those tasks include checking vital signs, administering medication, and performing an area of care (bed bath, TED hose or elastic bandage change, or ambulation/transfer). CLC provides a packet of information to each student that details the "critical elements" that must be performed for the student to pass. This is what you must follow to pass the exam. For example, when giving medications, the student must secure the right drug, prepare the right dose, identify the patient before administration, administer the drug correctly, and document correctly in the chart. You get two chances to pass. In theory, it's an excellent idea. Who wants a nurse who gives you the wrong drug or can't take vital signs? In practice, it's a bit of a nightmare. You will be told time and time again that the pass/fail is based solely on the critical elements, but the exact definition of some of those elements is left up to your grader, and there is a lot of room for interpretation by the grader. I saw a fellow student failed for forgetting to put soap on the washcloth during a bedbath. Is that specifically stated in the critical elements? No. Is that going to harm your patient? No. Is that likely to be forgotten in an actual clinical setting? No. Did we use soap on the washcloth at any other point during the semester? No. We were expressly told to simulate it. So... yeah. (Incidentally, said student did fine on her second exam). There are many more absurd examples, but I'm trying not to scare you too much here. Try to be calm about it. Practice. Practice. Practice. I would practice a full run-through of a practice scenario at least three times. Practice your documentation. Practice some more. And last, but not least, practice. The two things most students fail on? ID'ing the patient (you just forget, trust me) and improper documentation (check it before you turn it in). It's silly, but one of the things we did was, when our partner came into the room to perform care and introduced him/herself (you as the patient aren't technically allowed to give hints), we would say a very exaggerated HI for "hands" and "identification"). Good luck! PS: Practice!

the rolling luggage is a good call. it will save your back. i don't carry all of my books around any more, and i've managed so far without the rolling backpack, but i would say 9 out of 10 nursing students have them. when this backpack gives up on me i'll probably switch over to a rolling one. we have several people in class who use a pda device. they do come in handy when you want to look something up on the go, but i couldn't tell you what software to use or where to find it. you can buy any nursing drug guide. i can't remember which one they stock in the bookstore, but i didn't like it. my mother (a nurse) sent me a copy of davis's drug guide for nurses, 10th edition ($30 on amazon), and i love it. it's a little more comprehensive than the bookstore drug guide and it includes "nursing implications" which will be a section that you have to fill out on your drug sheets (part of your clinical written work). but really, any newer drug book will do.

You will get all of your clinical information during orientation. You will get all of the directions you need in class before you go to clinical. You will have two clinical sites during your first semester. One will be a long-term care facility (nursing home). One will be a hospital. These sites can be anywhere in the county (with one or two sites in McHenry county) and can change from semester to semester. Your best bet is to not stress out about it. At orientation you can jot down your clinical sites and look them up to get some idea of how long it will take you to get there. I was in the spring 2007 evening section and we went to Whitehall (Highland Park area) and Midwest Regional Cancer Centers of America (Zion). For nursing 172 we have been exclusively at Lake Forest Hospital (Lake Forest), rotating areas depending on what we are studying. Someone mentioned stethoscopes... yes, you will need a stethoscope. No, you do not need to run out and buy a really expensive stethoscope. I wouldn't recommend buying the ones in the bookstore, but if you're on a tight budget, do what you have to do. A $30 stethoscope will get you through school and then you can get a nice Stethoscope for a graduation gift. A word to the wise concerning the lab stethoscopes - yes, they are terrible, but you will be required to use those stethoscopes during the end of semester Performance Exam, so do practice with them. The evening instructor for Nursing 171 is retiring this year, so I am not sure who will be teaching that. The day instructor is very good. You will be in class three days per week, but you know that already because you've seen the schedule! There is a 4-hour class, a 2-hour lab, and a 5-hour clinical. Prepare to create a study group early on. I cannot stress this enough. I find 6 to be an ideal size if you are looking for a group that can coordinate schedules and get together for study sessions before each exam, but that's really up to you. Each module contains vocabulary, a page of reading assignments, 30 EBOs (more on this later), a few case studies, supplemental drug information, a page detailing the lab day, and a packet of written work for your clinical day. Before class you are expected to do your readings and review your class guides. You will find early on that the reading is overwhelming, so you'll want to focus on the readings that pertain to your EBOs (don't worry, I'm still getting around to that). During class you will go over a series of class guides. They involve discussion of a mock situation that pertains to whatever you are studying. There is rarely any formal lecture. Before lab you may be asked to do some reading from your skills book, but I would say I usually didn't do anything to prepare for lab. During lab you will be practicing nursing skills. You will have to take three or four "performance appraisals" over the course of the semester during which you demonstrate a skill and create a nursing note for a lab instructor. If I'm not mistaken, bed-making, bed baths, transfer and ambulation, TED hose and elastic bandages, and basic drug calculations/administration is covered during the first semester. These appraisals take 15-30 minutes to complete, sometimes with a partner, and are done on your own time by signing up for an appraisal time in the lab. I always come in to practice a skill several times and practice documenting said skill at least once before my appraisal, usually for at least 1 hour. Before clinical there isn't much to prepare. Just show up with your drug book, stethoscope, watch, and written work packet and the instructor will take it from there. Do everything you can do. See everything you can see. The more proactive you are during clinical, the better your experience will be. The written work for clinical usually took me 2-3 hours to complete. And finally... the EBOs. The expected behavioral outcomes are just a series of questions. This will be your focus for the exam. Nobody checks that you do them, but your exam will be heavily based on these, so I would suggest that you answer the questions. This is where the study group comes in handy. Our study group splits up the EBOs and decides a study session date at the beginning of each set of modules. If you have dependable study group members, it saves a lot of time. I spend about an hour each week answering 6 EBOs. If I had to do all 30 it would kill me. So here's my time breakdown: Reading, preparing for class: 2-3 hours/week Written assignments: 2-3 hours/week EBOs: 1 hour/week Practicing in the lab: 1-2 hours/month Appraisals in the lab: 30m-1h/month Class, Lab, Clinical: 11h/week So there you have it. It's a big time commitment, but you get used to it. I almost never do anything on Fridays, so I still have one nursing-free day in my life, and I go to school and work full time. I don't have children, but some people in our class managed work and school and kids! Hopefully that gives you an idea of what your weeks will be like. Just be prepared to put a lot of time and effort into your work. Be flexible, and realize that the first couple of weeks will be spent adjusting to the class and figuring out what study strategy works best for you. All of the instructors have office hours. If you need help with something, anything, talk to a staff member in the lab or another student or your instructor... they really do want you to succeed (though you will question this at times ).

Well for starters, congratulations! Step one to the CLC Nursing program is to relax. Are we relaxed yet? That's good. Keep relaxing. What is your orientation date? You should have gotten a letter about that with your acceptance letter. Whatever that date is... that's how long you have to relax. So do it. :) Feel free to make an appointment with the CLC health clinic. Tell them you are a CLC nursing student and you need an appointment for immunizations. Bring any immunization information you have with you. They will use that and a checklist to get you all set for the nursing program. They can bill it directly to your student account, so know your student ID number as well. You will need a physical as well. The health center does not do that, but will give you a form for your doctor to fill out. It's nice to get it out of the way before orientation so that you don't have to stand in line with all the other nursing students, but that's up to you. Do you have your CPR certification? Is it up to date and do you have a card? Do you have insurance and proof thereof? All of this will need to be taken care of by your second week of class so that you can go to clinical. The health center must clear you for clinicals (they should, in theory, directly contact your instructor, but make a copy of ALL of your information because they can and do lose things). The instructor will ask for a copy of your CPR card and insurance card during the first week of class. Now. Go back to that letter about orientation. Most of your questions will be answered during orientation. You will also have your drug screen during orientation. Hopefully they will have the Nursing 172 module packet available in the bookstore at that time. If so, you can buy it then. It's $40-$50. They will also give you a book list. Prepare yourself. The list is HUGE and if you buy every book it will cost you about $1,000. More than tuition. BUT you DO NOT NEED all of those books right out of the gate. Some of them you don't really need until later semesters. Initially you need your Fundamentals of Nursing Book (Potter and Perry), the accompanying Nursing Skills Book, a nursing diagnosis book, a nursing drug guide, and a Psychiatric book (Varcarolis). That will get you through at least the first three weeks. The exact title and editions will be given to you AT ORIENTATION, so I wouldn't worry about books until then. During orientation I would write down the cost of the books from the bookstore so you can price-shop online later. There will be one math/medication module for you to complete before you come to class. It's pretty easy. The grading scheme, your instructors, uniform/stethoscope information... all of that will be covered during orientation. The CLC program is largely self-study. I should just reiterate that. The CLC program is largely self-study. There. Now you've been told. Twice. More questions?