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

I think every school is different. I am 4 weeks into N101 (Fundamentals) course at a 2 year diploma program and we have covered nursing history, HIPAA, ethical issues, medical asepsis and head to toe physical assessment (temperature, pulse, BP, Cardio, respiratory, neuro, skin, GI). We sit in class and take notes for 10 hours each week, then practice on our "lab buddy" an hour or two each week for the physical assessment test in two weeks. Every other weekend are designated "clinicals", and so far we've done demonstrations on assessment techniques, bed making, range of motion and bed baths. This upcoming Sunday is our first day at the hospital where we will get a tour and orientation, followed by a scavenger hunt on our floor . Afterwards we will buddy up for bed baths and bed making for the rest of the day. Saturday will be more assessment demonstration and practice. It sounds like alot, but it is really manageable; we just had our first test and I did well. Because schools do everything differently, you would probably get the most accurate portrayal by finding someone who is currently going to the nursing school of your choice and asking them, or an adviser. Good luck!

Hi Career Change! Welcome to the wonderful world of nursing student information overload! :) The best advice I can give regarding the admission process is to apply early. As soon as you have 5 of your prerequisite courses completed (minimum of 2 sciences), submit your application. The early admission deadline is November 15th, but it is a rolling admission process. Even though you won't be finished with the prerequisites until Summer 2010, you may still be able to get in to the 2010 class, depending on your GPA and how many classes you have completed already. Make a checklist and be sure to have everything completed in time (2 references, college transcripts, etc.). Being super-organized is a skill we all need in nursing school anyway, so starting early never hurts! Good luck to you!

The interview was comfortable. They asked me a few questions about why I wanted to be a nurse and why I wanted to go to Abington. Just dress business casual and try to be relaxed. They ask to write a short essay before the interview starts. I wrote it in the empty lobby so I didn't feel pressured to write with a bunch of people staring at me! Your scores appear to be good enough, but Abington is a tough school to get into. They told us they interviewed over 300 students for 66 spots in the E/W program. If Abington is your first choice, be sure to let them know WHY. Good luck and I hope to see you there next fall. :)

traumaRUs - I have an 8.9" Acer that I absolutely adore too! I bought the upgraded battery so it lasts me 10 hours or so - definitely long enough for school - and it is incredibly light. And yes, the keyboard is a "soft click" variety, so no noisy clicking. I know many students who learn better by writing down notes from the lectures, but I found that I learn better when I have everything organized and easily accessible on my computer, with lecture notes, textbook notes, pictures, sketches, web links and lecture recordings all in one file. As far as backing up all of your data: if you don't want to spend $50 - $100 dollars on an external drive, you could back up quite a few documents and other personal information on a thumb drive or CD/DVD. Also, some websites offer up to a few gigs of free storage (google docs, Microsoft live).

I am sure you will be fine. Just use the ATI book for the TEAS test practice and enjoy your time before nursing school starts. Did you apply for the evening/weekend or day program. I haven't started the program yet, but if you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them

If you aren'y planning on keeping the books after the class is over, check out Chegg.com

Congratulations on coming this far! I was accepted to Abington's early acceptance option last year. They send letters out around December / Early January. I had a 3.7 GPA, TEAS individual score of 95.3% and a small amount of volunteer work that I had done over the years. Microbiology & A&P II were the only classes I needed to complete. I don't really know what criteria they use to decide, but it sounds like you have a good shot. Good luck to you!

PrncessLaur, Haha - a 4.0 GPA? I wish that were true. I don't know what Abington uses as their metrics, but I did apply as soon as I had the required prerequisites for early admission and I'm told they admit on a "first come first serve" policy. LaSalle has a lot of things going for it and I was looking at their RN-to-BSN/MSN bridge programs if OneDayAttaTime's little birdie doesn't come through in time :). Good luck you guys and remember that the only thing that matters in the end are two little letters - RN. They are a larger school, so I'd think they'd have better facilities and programs for commuting students.

Prncesslaur, I will be entering Abington's program in the fall. I am really excited and keep marking down the days on the calender (and driving my boyfriend crazy). Don't worry - your day will come at whichever school you choose. I didn't apply anywhere else; I put all my eggs in one basket! Since early decision lets you know before January I still had time to apply elsewhere if I didn't get in. Among the factors you may want to consider is the first time pass rate for the NCLEX. Regarding payment - Abington applies your grants as soon as they come in. Your loans are applied later, but as long as they know that they are coming (and they do since the student loan has to go through them), they don't require any payment for tuition except what is not covered by loans & grants. You still would have to cover books and supplies, but I think that is true no matter where you go.

It all depends on what works best for you. I have to work during the day throughout school, so that eliminated most programs for me. If I had been able to go to a fulltime day program, I would probably have chosen a BSN program, too. However, at Abington I get significant clinical hours at an excellant hospital, and evening/weekend program. If I can get the rest of my pre-requisites finished and get into an 18 month RN to MSN bridge after I get my RN. It'll still take longer than a 4 year BSN program, but it is more doable for me.