michigansstudent

I am currently in the program. Work two twelves a week and have a family. The first semester was not a problem. Now that class is four days a week, I do find some stress in trying to get all of the assignments done. I am thinking of cutting back to one day of work a week. The material comes at you fast. The tests are crazy, unlike any tests taken before, but also not impossible. I had to give up my 4.0 status to accept an occasional B without freaking out. I still think the hardest part was waiting for that darn acceptance letter. Good luck!! PS save your pennies because the cost of books will shock you, then you will want all the nice extra stuff like Made Easy flip books, and NCLEX study guides. Pretty pricey but totally worth it. When I find myself thinking this is just too much, I remember how many days I almost cried when "the letter" wasnt in my mailbox. You have to keep the joy of acceptance in the fore thought of your mind sometimes. We have lost some along the way, but I believe it is possible for anyone who wants it bad enough. I still see my freinds and go out sometimes. Nursing school at macomb does require some sacrifice, but no more than can be handled. Good luck watching the mail man everyday. I do not miss that feeling

Congrats! It is refreshing to hear about those who are doing well. I am holding my own in my first 7.5 week classes, also. The amount of reading took a minute to get used to, but totally doable. To all those stressing about hearing how impossible it is, we are hear to say you can do it, and do it well. YEAH!!!!

Personally I would take A&P in the winter. It is the most important prereq once you get into the program. You could prob do ok in the summer if that is your only obligation, but you might be cutting yourself short by cramming in the info so quick. I know people who have done it both ways. You will have to recall a lot of that info once you are in the program. Just my own personal thoughts. Good Luck!!

A&P is tough it requires a lot of rope memory. I found it best to read chapter all the way through, then make an outline of the important parts in the chapter before lecture. i also used a coloring book that had all of the body parts in extreme detail. It was fun, I colored while I watched tv and when I would draw a blank on exam the color would come first. I felt that way, too. Everyone told me you couldnt get in, it was too hard, you had to be perfect, the stress was crazy. All I heard about were people who didnt get into the program. Well, I got in first try. Passed A&P with an A too. Let me tell you, that is the hardest class in this whole process. Respect it and give it the time that it deserves and you will do well. Good Luck

Thanks for all the advice. I think I need to relax a little. I do the questions on the cd with the book. They only give like 10 per chapter so going through those twice and it is a done deal. I attend Macomb Comm. I think my biggest problem is getting over the concept of knowing every word on every page like you have to in A&P or Micro. A friend of mine just gave me some good advice. She said that you will only be tested on about 70% and that is all the main points and ideas. So you dont want to spend time on little details. In nursing exams it is the concept and main ideas that they are testing your knowledge of. No reason to get bogged down on every point. The teachers want to make sure you understand the big picture more than they want to know if you can recall when the final revision of the nursing practice act was amended. lol That is in the book too. I just need to relax!!!!!! maybe more than just a little. hee hee

we have a group of older ladies that make little blankets for the babies that get hospitalized. They are fuzzy on one side and silky on the other. they do a simple in out stitch around the sides and call it a day. The kids really love them and i think the ladies enjoy the comforting, charitable idea. We had one little guy, 2 yo, who had a fractured femur that went through three of them while he was inpatient. He would rub the silk right off. Very cute!

total height 67 in shoulder to finger 27 in hip to floor 37 in good luck, I hope you get all twenty today!!

I have just started nursing school. In my prereq's I would pre read each chapter, go to lecture and take notes, get home and rewrite my notes, then do a final reading of the chapter. It was a great system. Pulled high A's the entire stretch. I never felt unprepared or nervous for an exam. My plan is to do the same for nursing school. Worked well for the first two weeks. Now the list of chapters for this week is twenty chapters long. I just finished rewriting and rereading material from last week. It is already late in the day tuesday and I have yet to begin the reading assignment for Friday and Monday. If I continue this coorifice I will not be able to get through next week. I understand that but am having trouble letting go of a technique that I know will work. What in the world do I do now? I am feeling that overwhelming feeling that I have heard so many speak of that are ahead of me in this journey. To make matters worse, in one of my coorifices we have two exams and each is only worth 35 points. They cover a million chapters in several texts and only 70 pts are possible in the entire class. I have no wiggle room. What to do...what to do....

The first test is always the hardest. You just dont know what to expect so therefor are not sure what and how to study. Sometimes getting a bad grade on the first test gives you insight into getting great grades the rest of the term. Of coorifice the tests will get harder, they are covering more material. Now you know what they will look like. If I were you I would ask teach if I could meet with her during her office hours to go over my bad test. Let her explain to you why you got the ones wrong and maybe how you should have read the questions. Sometimes we as students forget that teachers are grading themselves on how well their students do. I am sure she will be more than glad to give you some of her time to go over the first test on a one on one basis. Then, you can blow her and yourself away with the next one, because you will be better prepared. Try not to feel too discouraged, a lot of people score low on their first nursing test. It is a new format of testing. Good Luck!!!

That is prob true regarding the study guide for those who had high school not too long ago. i was returning after some 15 years. I had no idea how to divide fractions or disect a sentence into all its million parts. lol. If it has been a long time, the meap study guides are great.

They will use your college gpa. Stress over the hesi that is worth 50%. I picked up work books used to study for the meap. I ended up with a great score. I found the study guide to be too vague. GL

Hi I am so excited to start the program. I have read so many things on how scary school will be, 50% make it, no time for anything but studying, a syllabus that is about a hundred pages, etc. Yet, I cannot wait to meet all of you and get started. Seven more days. Who's with me?

I am a student nurse working at Henry Ford. Tuition reimbursement is 1500 a semester if you get your classes preapproved and can produce reciepts and passing grades. Then, once you become an RN you get 3000 a year in tuition reimbursment. I am very interested in the BSN program. Three of the nurses I work with went through the program at the hospital and it cost them nothing out of pocket. The catch was passing grades and a three year commitment post schooling. The time is going to go by anyway, so I want in. Please continue to post info regarding this process. I dont want to get ahead of myself but it is the goal. NS starts next week!!

OMG I feel the exact same way. We are to study the same chapters. I am a notebook/flashcard girl myself!! What I am going to do until school starts is write the definitions out on flash cards, hang them on a little ring and carry them around with me. I will read the chapters twice. Once up front then again when I can remember all the definitions. I am saving the notebook until we have had lecture so that I can be sure to include what is important to the teacher and not have a rewritten text in spiral form lol. Good luck to all of us newbies. It is almost time. CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Studying at work is great because you have so many resources at your fingertips. Nurses, doctors, pts, scenarios. Its great, but it is a different kind of studying. You cannot bring out a book or a big notebook and be curled up in the corner doing some serious readings. I like to bring a small stack of flash cards in my pants pocket. Many opportunities to run through them. I also like to bring one sheet of paper folded stuffed into my top with things to bring up with the nurses. Today we talked about the nanda (sp?) dx and how to choose them. I went over a few scenerios that were in the text, what I had chosen, and what the book said. The nurses chuckled remembering when they were learning how to pick and choose nursing dx and were quite insightful on the subject and quizzed me for the rest of the shift. Good Good Stuff!!!

i too am starting in august but have heard it recommended many times to get a NCLEX review and to do the review workbook right along with the classes from beginning to end. I would get that asap

Go to school. Your BF is in school and you can get your school out of the way, then when you can move in together and start planning a life together you will have one less thing to worry about. Regrets are hard to handle and if you two do get married and all that everytime you are short on cash or hating your job bc you didnt get into the next ns, you might hold that against him and that just doesnt sound like the way to start things off. Marriage is difficult. If you guys think you will take it to that level than any prep that you do now will only make things better. If he is not able to hold out for 15 months. Then he is not the one to try to hold onto for 50 years. Cheesy but true. Best of Luck!! PS Dad's are difficult. lol

All these stories sound the same. It is so nice not to feel alone in this overwhelmed mother moment. LOL. I too have two teenage boys at home and one in college. I was fretting about the cost of books for me and the one at Oakland University when my youngest piped up with "I cant start high school without new clothes. I mean I need the best stuff It's high school!" Ugh. I try to keep my priority's straight but college books and high school attire are right up there with food I guess. I cant leave the little one out, that seems to happen too often. He gets hand me down everything and he is starting high school. Maybe I will have to bust out the plastic for this school shopping trip. I guess I need to be thankful that this will be the first time I have ever had to charge clothes for my children! The house is still a mess, the dishwasher is broke, and I have a light bulb burned out in this room and no new light bulbs in the cabinet!!!!!!! hee-hee. That's all i can do. Peace to all of you and your crazy houses!

you poor thing. I agree with daytonite on not saying anything to the school. Present yourself as female and use your real name. I have a family that comes into the pediatrician office I work at and the girls all have boy names. "Ryan, Ricky, and Joey." That is their names that appear on all their legal documents. If you are wanted to trans into a full time female why not include it day one of nursing school. Noone is going to see you naked there so own it. Good luck to you! Stay level headed and remember you get more of what you pay attention to so dont go looking for people to give you a hard time.

I work as a CNA on a peds unit. Sitting is great for students. When we have to sit with a pt it is due to them trying to do personal harm. Usually the pt will ask you some silly stuff about life, school etc then want to watch tv or whatever leaving you time to read your notes from school. Your job is to try to prevent damage and to call for help whenever things look rough. You need to let the nurses know that you are unsure of what to do. They are very helpful and will give you good direction. When a bathroom break is needed you call the desk and the secretary, nurse or aid on the floor will cover you. I have found that being honest of your apprehension is the best route. The nurses are extremely helpful. They donot seem to mind the aid that asks for help. It seems to me that they would prefer someone who says I dont know what to do over someone who tries to do what they think they should and is wrong. Pushing someone back into bed, wrong. Speak up. You are new and do not know what to do and that is OK. I love sitting. It is perfect time management. I have learned a lot while being on the floor stuck in a room for eight hours with the same person. I wish I could be a sitter for the entire time I am in NS but they only come around once in a while and you get called in for sitting at my hospital. No position for sitting alone. Good Luck. I hope you enjoy your new job. FYI learn from the nurses on the unit they are a priceless tool for us!