Kiwi65

a word on downloading the powerpoints and study guides from blackboard........ all the material is developed in fccj's computers which all have the most updated version of microsoft office, i believe it's office '07. if you have an earlier version of office on your computer ( such as 2000 or '03) you may have problems being able to download the documents. office '07 gives users the option to maintain complatability with earlier versions when you save a document but sometimes the professors forget and sometimes it just doesn't work. we had to ask some of our professors to post a separate version of documents some times. you can tell the difference because old documents end in .doc or .ppt and new ones will end in .docx or .pptx if you find this is not your problem then it may just be that blackboard is having a bad day or you may have do to what some people in my class do which is print everything in a computer lab.

The format for pharm can be different for different sections. I took the class online with the rest of the nights and weekends section. Some of the day sections had it online, others were hybrid, and others had it on campus and met like a regular class. So how you take the class may depend on which section you are in.

actually that's not completely accurate. i'm currently in nights and weekends, going into third term. we did the lottery to pick our sections for next term. the difference is that there are only 2 sections, and we all have lecture together on the same day, so you are really only picking where you want to have clinical's at and who you want as an instructor. granted it's a little silly considering there's only 24 of us but that's what they did. for people who want nights and weekends, just know that there will be times you have to attend things during the day during the week. most hospital orientations are during the day during the week and they are mandatory. we usually get the schedule decently in advance so we know when we have to be places. but realize you are effectively giving up your weekends for the next 16 months.

Bossladi: You may want to go see if you can get one of the books at the library. A lot of the time they have the nursing textbooks available to be checked out. They may have the dosage calc and med term books available. It may not be the newest edition but all the info is pretty much the same. Also sometimes the professors will loan you books if you have great financial need. Talk to Ms James or Ms Barrett they may be able to help you either buy the books or loan you a copy until you can get yours.

No, and no. You are expected to know the information before you start. Dosage should be your first exam and med term will be in the first 2 weeks. IV should be shortly thereafter. You need to make at least an 80% on all three or you will be exited from the program. You have the opportunity to take the 2 dosage calc's over if you don't make an 80 the first time. Unless they have changed it all three grades will count toward your Techniques grade. All of that information is subject to be changed for your term but that's how it was for us and I'm just finishing my first term.

For this semester term 2 was not a lottery it was more like a mad dash. What they had been doing was sending out the schedule for the next term and then giving us a time to register. For example I'm going in to term 2 and I'm in nights and weekends. Our registration opened August 6th at 6pm. So you can imagine that everyone in the program was sitting at the computer on august 6th starting at 5:55 and waiting for the clock to hit 6pm so you could push the button to add the classes. Unfortunately registration this semster has been a huge mess due to several factors and in the end they had to close registration and the nursing office went back in and manually entered people into sections randomly. And this applied to all terms. So people who had signed up for certain sections were moved and people who were unable to register for whatever reason were assigned a section. Long story short Ms Barrett (the director) is speaking to administration to see if they can come up with a better way to do it next semester but for now it's who ever pushes the "add classes" button fastest.

If you're interested in community mental health you might try working with the FACT Team. It stands for Florida Assertive Community Treatment. They have them in areas all over Florida. It may be difficult to get a lot of information about them on the internet because most don't have websites. I believe they originated with the company I work for which is Renaisance Behavioral Health Services (RBHS) but someone can correct me if I'm wrong about that. I work for them in Jacksonville but I work at a crisis center, but not as a nurse I'm in nursing school. I work in emergency services very closely with the nurses. On another note I used to work in mental health in Pennsylvania before I moved to Florida and I was absolutely shocked at the difference in services between the two states. It's VERY different down here. It may be different in other parts of the state but we have some very sick people here and there are almost no services for them. They are managed mostly by the FACT Teams in the community. If you want to PM me I can give you the information to contact RBHS about FACT Team positions.

Yes the way it works is the teacher can pose question to the class and you have to pick an answer and register it via your iclicker. We were told we had to get them for concepts and assessment but we never used them. I'm only holding on to it because I'm told there is a possibility of using it in every term.

I had mine from my previous job where I had to have an ID. Otherwise I think they have some in the bookstore at North campus. If they don't you can get them in packs of 20 or so at Office Depot. I think the whole pack might be $5. I would get a bunch of people together and contribute 50 cents each or something and just buy a pack and everyone can have one.

Ok here's the deal with the ID. You need it for clinicals. It's considered part of your uniform. It's so hospital staff can identify you. You will need to get a little plastic holder for it because you also have to carry your CPR card with you at all times. I just stick both in the little plastic holder and put my lunch money in between the two. You don't know this yet but you can't bring your purse or anything to clinicals with you. You have to carry everything on you. And to the person who said she can't take her earrings out...... I hope they are studs because we are not allowed to wear more than one pair of earrings and they have to be studs. No hoops or dangly ones or anything. The only other jewelry we are allowed to wear is a plain wedding band. And if you have a visible tattoo you have to cover it up. It's all in the handbook you got with your packet. And they will go over it in orientation.

Don't forget to mention that if you do miss a clinical day you have to submit a signed statement that includes why you missed and any documentation regarding your circumstance. And if you're late you have to submit a signed statement as to why and what time you arrived. Both of the above go into your permanent record. And in regards to the classes.... I have Pharm online now and I wish it was hybrid so next semester is lucky. I have concepts hybrid right now .. jury's still out on that one. We didn't even know the class was hybrid till the first day of class and the schedule has changed at least 4 times. The prof is great but because we don't see her that much we have too much to do on the days we do see her and when it came time to do care plans... oh my god... it was mayhem. We were all so confused. Thank god our techniques prof talks to our concepts prof or we'd still be lost. I can see that it's doable online but it needs to be more organized. My techniques prof says she's taking the class over next term and she's great about organization stuff and giving very clear directions so it should be better.

Cynical? ...no... realistic? yes! Look back at the thread for Summer 2008. The last post from one of the people that got in was the day before the semester started. Nothing since. We're all too busy and you will be too. Not to mention we all see eachother in class, we don't need to post.

bossladi I am just about into my 11th week of my first term YAY!!!! only 5 weeks to go!! So I've had my uniform since... I don't know... April maybe? I don't remember.

Oh and you may want to get a watch that is plastic and water resistant. Your gloves don't always cover your watch and I have come home from clinicals and felt the need to disinfect mine. Can you imagine the kinds of bacteria that could be on there after dealing with sick patients all day? Some people have watches that attach to their stethoscope too.

Most of us wear white or nude colored. But it's not too big a deal because the uniform top is long enough (mine comes down past my fingertips) and you can't see the underwear through the pants and the top. You will see that when you get them. However you are going to need like a tank top or camosole(sp?) to wear because you can see a bra through the tops. And you will notice that you can see the guy's boxer shorts through their white scrubs.