slsmithe

My school is the same way-- we need 100% to pass. A friend of mine almost got kicked out, but studied her but off for her last try and passed with flying colors.

UCSF just dropped their GRE requirement

I would just wait until the class starts. Most of it probably won't make much sense to you right now anyways. I would enjoy your time before schools starts because before you know it, you will want another break! Oh and I hardly used my fundamentals book either. I used it as more of a reference, but I almost wished I had not paid all that money. But I thought I would rather have it then not and worry that I was missing something.

Just curious if anyone here has any advise for me. I moved to a new city with my sister to start a BSN program and I am in my first semester. I have found that my life is completely and utterly revolving around nursing school. All my friends are nursing students, all our converstaions revolve around nursing, I study pretty much everyday and when I am not studying, I am thinking about the fact I should be studying. I can't go one day without studying or I feel like I am wasting time. I usaully take time off after a test, but that is it. I know I should set apart a day to relax, but I can't relax because I am so anxious! I really want to meet people and start doing things outside of school, but I feel like I don't have any time. I feel like I have no time to go out and meet people, let alone develop close relationships. I have met some wonderful people in my class who I have gotten pretty close with, but I feel like I need to also be around people that have nothing to do with nursing to keep my sanity!!! Is anyone here in my situation where they moved to a new place for ns? What do you all do to try to fit in non-nursing activities? I am afraid I will get burnt out in school and end up hating it when I really do love it right now.

Why would it violate hippa as long as they don't say any identifiers that make the patient too specific, the patient name, or the hospital? My professors talk about patients a lot, but they don't go into to great of detail that it would matter. I record all my lectures.

I have never heard of a four year nursing program, unless you are including prereq's... where do you go? No wonder you are burned out!

I think the best place to look is at the school you are attending. They have tons of scholarships specifically for nursing students where I go. You write a general essay that can apply to almost all of them. I tend to stray away from scholarships found online, especially ones that try to charge you money. They just never seem very legit in my opinion.

Have you tried to contact your school's student disability center? My mom was diagnosed with anxiety, so she got a doctor's note and was able to take her tests in a separate room with unlimited time. It really helped to decrease her anxiety when it came to test taking. They also can do this when it comes time to take your NCLEX if need be.

That sounds similar to what my program may be implementing next semester. We have these things called clickers, where we punch in the letter of our answer and it automatically goes into our instructor's computer. It's supposed to be like the NCLEX, where we can't go back to look at any previous questions. Unlike yours though, we each will have our own test. I sure hope they won't start doing that with us as well. I already have so much anxiety on finishing on time, I can't imagine being timed for every single question. Like you said, people finishing early wouldn't know what to do, and being that I usually take a little longer, it would just make me more anxious. People work at different paces, and it's not fair to categorize everyone. That's not even how NCLEX works! I would pursue this more and see what you can do about it. Good luck.

Navy blue. Enough said!

exercise!

I'm not really sure what you are asking. Are you talking about a letter about your volunteer work? I really think that the best thing you can do is call the Nursing Department, ask them who specifically you should talk to regarding requirements, and set up an appointment to go see them. This is where you will get all your questions answered. Be proactive and get to know the people who will be looking at your application.

I took all my pre-req's at a community college, which is WAY cheaper than taking them at a University. Then, when I was done, I applied to about 5 CSU's (I also applied to the CC I went to just in case I ddin't get accpted anywhere) and now I am in my third week of NS. I saved my parents about $40,000, and got the same education I would've had at a University. Also something to remember is that all nursing programs are impacted, so you may be at a University for 3 or 4 years before you get accepted. Just because you are a declared Nursing major doesn't mean you have a spot secured in the program. I have heard of people about to graduate when they are finally accepted. You basically could be getting another Bachelor's degree in that amount of time.

Oh, I also just looked at the admission criteria, and it says that you have to have a minimum of 100 hours if you happen to have less than 1,000 hours. I sent in two letters of health care experience, one being my clinical experience as a student nurses aid. I never actually worked as an aid, but they said as long as I recieved clinical experience, I would get credit. I actually had been e-mailing back with the advisor, Dr. Nicodemus, about this relentllessly. She said as long as I had contact with ill patients in an acute care setting (I think I remember her stating also it shold have the "yuck factor") that it wold be fine. You might try contacting her, she is very nice and helpful. I had about 112 hours in the clinical setting, so this was enough for the admission criteria when I applied. They didn't require 1,000 hours when I applied. That is a bummer, I'm sorry. However, I actually think this is a good idea, as even the little bit of experience I had has been helping me tremendously. So what I am trying to say is if you were to take a CNA class (which always includes a clinical portion) make sure the clincals add up to atleast 100 hours, and you have 10 points in the bag. It's not 15, but it's not 0! I had my clinical instructor write me a really nice letter of recommendation with the number of hours stated and what I had accomplished. Just an FYI: this could be completely changed and they may not allow this anymore since they are making so many changes in the program already. Make sure you find out. You sould call and plan to meet with someone about this. I highly recommend Dr. Charlie Nicodemus. If you can't meet anyone, she replies to her e-mails very quickly and is always willing to answer any questions. Sorry for the long post. Good luck!

I would try to find a hospital where you can take a CNA class. I think they are usually quicker than the semester-long classes at a school. You have about 7 months before everything is due, right? Worst case scenario, if you don't have enough hours, apply for spring. It might hit you hard if you lose those 10-15 points.

My nursing program requires that we purchase a PDA, and we have a class dedicated to teaching us how to use it. I was planning on buying one but had no idea where to start, so this helped out tremendously! We are using the Palm TX... so far so good.

My mom just graduated from an ADN program at 50, and she is planning on getting her masters AND she wants to be a personal trainer as well. We have a 59 year old in my NS class. I honestly think that for everything in life there is never truly a perfect time, so go for it now! You won't regret it.

Most Universities have a study section of the library that is open 24 hours. Pretty sure SF State does.

Absolutely. That was actually one of the biggest things I relied on when I had to choose between two schools. The school I chose ended up having a 10% higher pass rate. It's important if the school consistently has high pass rates and low drop out, because it means they are preparing the students well. I'm not saying that you won't do well in a program that has lower pass rates, or that you should choose solely on the school and not how you could do despite that. It just seems to me that it would put the odds in your favor if you chose a school that would prepare you well for the NCLEX and your future as a nurse, which is what you want!

I am about to start nursing school in September, and I have a slight concern about working as a nurse. Do you find it is hard to leave work at work? If you experience something traumatizing or heart wrenching, does it overwhelm you when you go home? Is it hard to separate the two? I hope to be an ER nurse one day, and I hear you see a lot of traumatizing things. I don't want to become emotionally drained or be constantly thinking of work while I'm not at work. While I realize nursing will be a huge part of my life, I don't want it overtake my life. It seems as though it is unavoidable for anyone in the medical profession to not be impacted by something that happens at work once and a while. But is it even possible to witness something devastating, and not think about it or dwell on it when you walk out the door? Any opinions and/or advice welcome!

I'm using student loans, but I am constantly looking for available scholarships. I am going to apply for a scholarship through the Health Professions Education Foundation, which requires you to work for a medically underserved area for two years after graduation. Although I'm still trying to figure out which hospitals fall under this category. Is anyone else here applied for this or are planning on applying?

Loved it! Definitely go see it if you get the chance. I would love to go again.

I bought the study guide off the ATI website and studied that for a week or two before the test. It was very helpful because it was similar to the actual test. Also, time management is very important. Make sure you don't spend too much time on one question, because each section is timed. Good luck!

Thanks for your reply! So it includes all county hospitals? What is LACUSC? They didn't tell you there is a specific list of hospitals? I'm going to school in San Diego, and I will most likely end up there. It's either that, or possibly the SF Bay Area. But for the most part, I'm not really sure.

Anyone here ever applied for this scholarship or are planning on applying? When awarded, you must commit to working in a medically underserved area (MUA) hospital in California for two years upon graduation. I am applying for the Bachelor Of Science Scholarship. Does anyone know how to find what hospitals are categorized as an MUA? I contacted someone at the foundation to ask, but she said that it constantly changes, almost daily! I am just worried when I graduate, I will have to work in a hospital I don't want to or I will get some great opportunity somewhere and not be able to work there because I am obligated to another hospital. I believe it works the same as hospital scholarships, that if you decide not to work at that hospital, you have to pay the money back. I would really prefer not to do this, and would rather know there are good MUA's out there that I can work at.