kad13579

I agree with sitting back and enjoying it. I thought before I started that I may need to start looking into books or going over what I thought we might be studying, but when I got into the program, I was happy I didn't. They will teach you anything and everything you need to know to get through it. Don't try to overload yourself right now, just take your time and learn what you can when you start classes. What kind of classes have you had already?

I used a water bottle in between my husbands legs(he was dressed of course) to practice foley insertion. It makes it more realistic when you are doing sterile technique.

can anyone please tell me what rhabdomyalgia is?? i had a pt. that had a hx. of this the other day and i try to look up anything that i have never heard of or don't know much about. when i googled this, it didn't really give me much information. can anyone else elaborate?

daytonite, you are so wise! that was the right answer about the pillow. thank you so much. i understand the rational now that you explained it to me. let me ask you a question--i know that this is another topic on here, but i would like to have your opinion. what do you think about nurses and dr.s not taking full precautions with mrsa pts.? do you think if there is a gown/glove box on the door that everyone who enters the room should have to utilize it?

That would be for thyroid treatment? Why would it have to stay visible?

We just had a test on endocrine disorders and there was a question an there about iodine. Why would you drink an iodine preparation through a straw? I looked all in our book and notes and could not find the answer. (I thought maybe discoloration, but unsure.) Another... What position would you put an immediatelt post-thyroidectomy pt. in? a. Fowlers with small pillow b. supine with pillow c. supine w/o pillow d. hob 30 degrees

That was the hardest test that we had in med/surg. I'm not really sure how, but I managed to get a 95 on it. My advice is just to research all of the illnesses on your own and understand them before you try to remember all of the aspects of the disorder. Then pick out the aspect that is different and focus on learning what makes it different. It will all fall into place.

We are checked too. One day a girl in our class wore pink flowered panties--not even thinking about her uniform being white. She hid from the instructor all morning and finally got caught. She didn't have to go home though. I think just white ones will work. That's what I wear and you can't see it as bad as you would think. Also, if you decide to wear a shirt under your uniform, make sure that is a PLAIN WHITE T-SHIRT. Lol. We have gotten in trouble for having writing all over the back of our shirts. It just looks bad showing through the white uniform.

Congrats! I finished my first one recently!! I didn't realize how much time actually went into one. I thought that it was just a "fill in the blank" kind of thing--boy was i wrong. We had to have 5 nsg diagnoses,5 goals, 5 interventions, 5 rationals, and 5 outcomes. I thought I would never get finished!! All of the other things were mostly in the chart but I still even had to do some research on that information. Thank goodness it is over!

I like to eat those soup at hands and oyster crackers.

Most instructors give that first test as a "break you in" test. On our first test only 3 out of 28 passed--only by 2 points. Our inst. told us to buckle down and study and we now still have 25 students with about 4 months left of school. Needless to say, we figured out her testing format and studied according to that. I personally use flash cards to try and learn the information. It works pretty well. Good luck!!

I am having a little trouble with finding peripheral pulses. I can find the ones in the arms, neck, and face, but have problems with the lower extremities. I can only palpate them sometimes. Any advice?

I have just a few months left of school and I remember my first bed bath. I was so nervous! I was shaking so bad. I just went in and got my supplies together and started talking to my pt. I think that's what really got me through it. Like posts said before, the pts LOVE to tell you all about their families and their lives. Work fast, work efficiently, and make sure that you have eveything you will need for that procedure before you begin. I can tell you from experience, you will take a very long time if you don't gather everything first. Good luck!!

thank you guys so much!! I just had my respiratory med/surg test and i made a 98!!! I couldn't believe it. Thank you all for your advice.

I am in my second semester of school to be a LPN. We just started med surg in January and have already had 2 HUGE tests. Although I did okay on these two, I am finding it kind of hard to keep everything straight. Is this normal? We have two clinicals a week on a med surg floor and it's not that bad. It is just the testing. It just seems like I can hardly keep a grasp on some things. I think that I know the material well, I just have extreme test anxiety. Does anyone have any advice?