Trigirl.m

2 weeks of classroom, 2 weeks of day shift, 2 weeks of nightshift.

Hi everybody! I recently passed my boards and will be starting my first nursing job at the hospital I worked at as a CNA during nursing school. How is everyone else doing? I hear the first year can be rough. Any words of advice? I hope we can all share stories and get through this first year together. Mel RN

There are a number of things to look into aside from the ADN / BSN issue. What are the NCLEX pass rates of the two schools? Can you find out the attrition rate? How many clinical hours will you be getting? Rural does not necessarily mean that they do not have acute trauma centers. Look into the hospitals available for clinicals. You mentioned a long commute for the BSN program - will you be working full time? Do you have children that will need daycare? Have you accounted for gas and food in addition to the 30,000 tuition? The BSN may give you a leg up on the competition, but what is the actual price you will pay? From what I have heard the only benefit to an ADN over a BSN is the shorter time to an RN, but many community colleges have wait lists that are years long and the prereqs themselves that take year or so to finish. I would think that more clinical time would only apply to a Hospital school or a Diploma program. If you choose to do the ADN, there are a number of online RN-BSN programs in the Philly area, including Thomas Jefferson, Penn State, Drexel and Temple. Thomas Jefferson and Drexel are $20,000+; Temple and Penn State are both 10,000+. These schools all offer RN-MSN programs as well that will get you started towards your masters, if that is your end goal. Whichever way you decide to go, good luck! Study hard, and invest in a coffee company

Mommi97 That is for E/W students. Day students get the whole summer off.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! We get two weeks off in April, four weeks in Aug/Sept and two weeks over Christmas.

Prncesslaur, Hi! I am currently a student at Dixon, one semester away from my senior year. We get about 2 weeks off between semesters and 1 week off in the middle of the semester. They gave us our clinical schedule for the year in August. Let me know if you have any additional questions.

I am a nursing student in my second semester of clinicals. We use ABD pads as wipes and an incontinence foam spray for cleaning fecal incontinence patients. Could the nurses or other clinical personnel on the floor help you locate the appropriate tools at your facility?

I experience a vasovagal response to severe pain or moderate cuts, but only on myself. I have been in nursing school for 6 months and have removed IVs, given several injections, seen PICC lines removed, stage 4 pressure ulcers dressed, blood draws, surgery etc and have no problems. I think my response relates only to my own personal injuries and not observing others. I would definitely try to see if your particular response is only for blood drawn on yourself or anytime you see blood drawn. I think the idea of volunteering at a blood drive is a good one, although you might want to convince a friend to volunteer with you, just in case you need emotional support. Good luck!

I just did a quick google search and came up with: http://www.noah-health.org/en/kidver/liver/diseases/hepatitis/what/atog/ http://www.ann-clinmicrob.com/content/8/1/36 Definitions for both can also be found in the 21st edition of Tabor's Cyclopedic Hope this helps!

Before nursing school, I got straight As in all my prereqs without having to do much more than review the material 30 minutes or so before the test (almost never read the textbooks unless it was a subject I found interesting). Now I review the material for at least an hour or so every single day, and that doesn't include the reading material (60-250 pages per week) and am happy to get Bs. The sheer amount of material is what I found almost overwhelming. Although I enjoy clinicals and look forward to them, the 6 hours of prep work the night before is just enough to get me feeling comfortable about taking care of my patient and giving them meds. I used to work full-time, but have taken a part-time job so I can increase my study time and bring back my As that I was used to. One thing to remember is that when I complain that I used to be a straight-A student, about 90% of the class can sympathize with me - they too used to be straight-A students. In our program we have one 10-11 credit class a semester, with 3 exams plus a final. On our first exam of the second semester, we were tested on Anticoagulants, Electrolytes, Parenteral Nutrition, Enteral Nutrition, Psychosocial Needs, Gastric Tubes, Alternative Medicine, Diabetes, Team Building, IV Math, Nursing Informatics and Neurological, Musculoskeletal & Gastrointestinal Assessments. That is a lot of material to review! I wish you the best in nursing school!

Good luck to all of you!

2004newmom, Although it is more difficult to complete nursing school while raising a child and working full time, it is not impossible. There are several students in our e/w class that work full time and have small children. By reading your post, it sounds as though you have yet to complete the prerequisites, is this correct? If you do not already have any college credits you may want to take a few prerequisites part-time at your local community college while researching the best nursing school for you. Most nursing schools require at least the following courses English Comp I Intro to Psych Intro to Sociology Anatomy & Physiology I Anatomy & Physiology II Microbiology The science courses tend to fill up very quickly. Feel free to ask if you any additional questions

So true casi! My boyfriend says it's like "having a long-distance relationship with the girl you live with"

Abington Hospital also has an evening/weekend diploma program that runs continuously for 2 years, after prerequisites are met.

Good Luck! Let us know how you do and whether you are day or evening/weekend