Narnian70

Isn't it funny how we can change that way? I used to be the same way. A few years ago if someone had told me I'd actually enjoy working on cadavers I would NOT have believed it! It's funny what we can overcome when we really want to! :)

I'll be 40 in two weeks and just finished my pre-reqs. Took me two years, but the time has flown by and I'm enjoying the process. I'm a single mom - my children are 10 and 17. My 17 year old is in 11th grade and is considering nursing. :) So, I'll be around 42 when I'm an RN but that's fine with me. I look at it this way: I've got at least 20 years left of working before I can retire, so I might as well spend that time doing something I love. Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use. ~Earl Nightingale

Congrats - A&P II is a tough class! Regarding Micro - I think you will find you are well-prepared, since you've successfully completed A&P I & II. I found it helpful to look at as many slides as I could find online. There's a lot of chemistry in Micro - how's your background in that?

LOL - me too! I'll be 40 next month and just finished my nursing pre-reqs! 26 is SO young - I'd love to be that age again and know what I know now! I love this forum :) I had doubts about starting a new career at my age, but I feel better reading about people my age and beyond doing this! To the original poster: I think you might be eligible for Pell grants and lots of other financial aid. You might want to start by filling out the FAFSA to see what you may be eligible for. I'm a single mother too. I have two children, a mortgage, and a jerk for an ex-husband. I work full-time, am on my own, and I am making this happen. You definitely can do this.

I think people mean well and/or don't realize what they are saying and the impact it is having on you. Only you know what is right for YOU - don't let anyone discourage you from following your heart. My mother always sees the glass half empty - she's very much a pessimist. I decided to change careers and go to nursing school about 2.5 years ago. I was very squeamish as a kid - the sight of so much as a drop of blood freaked me out. My mother still holds that image of me, so it is hard for her to imagine me being a nurse. She was pretty negative about my decision to go to nursing school at first, and she still makes comments about it occassionally. Try to shut it out and follow YOUR dream. When I was in high school, I decided I wanted to be a psychiatrist. My mother talked me out of it. I changed to law school. She talked me out of that too. I considered majoring in Journalism. She said I'd never find a job. Then it was advertising - he said it was too competitive and I'd starve. No matter what I chose, she had something negative to say about it. I learned to stop letting it affect me. You've finished your pre-reqs and have been accepted. That's awesome! Don't let anyone discourage you!

Did you already take A&P? I took Micro before A&P I and II - big mistake IMO. I wish I'd taken both A&P classes first. I found A&P I easier than Micro and A&P II harder. In the Micro class I took, spelling counted (I'm guessing it does in all Micro classes), so that was sometimes tricky. I though it was a very interesting class. Just keep up with studying and you'll do fine. If your professor uses a lot of slides, you can practice recognizing microbes, etc, by searching for them online.

If my calculations are correct, I ended up with a 68.95 in the class (a D). I got an 80 on my final, which really surprised me...I felt very confident that I scored at least a 90. I'm pretty distraught right now. The lecture was online and lab was at the school. The professor never let us have any of our papers or exams back. So, I have no idea what I got wrong on any of my tests. That's frustrating. I emailed her to see if I could come to her office to review some things and she said she isn't going to be available after today. What on Earth? The semester doesn't officially end until Friday! I've heard other students say that they've gone to her office to review tests/dispute grades and have found that she has marked items wrong that were correct. I am sure that if I had the opportunity to do that, my grade would be bumped up to a C. This has seriously bruised my ego, as I am not used to doing so terribly in a class. It didn't help that I was sick for 5 weeks and missed a lab and a 30 point quiz. If it weren't for that, I would have earned a B. I understand why they don't want you to miss more than one lab, but I don't understand not excusing some things - I had a doctor's note and was almost hospitalized mid-semester. They don't care. Looks like I will be repeating the class in the fall. Thankfully I have a high enough overall GPA to save me from this being a catastrophe. On the bright side, I should have a very thorough understanding of the material in A&P II after this.

The same thing just happened to me with A&P II. I missed a B by 1.5 points. I asked the professor if I could come by to look at my final exam (lecture is online and we never get to actually see our results, just the grades, unless we go by her office) and she said yes, but I can't make it there tonight. I got an 80 on my final (out of 105 possible points), which surprised me...I felt really good about the exam. There were only a few answers I felt unsure of. Right there with ya.

I have a BS degree already, and I work in a non-healthcare field. The company I work for is huge and has been around for almost 80 years. Last summer, they laid people off for the first time in the company's history. Things are bad all around, but I think nursing (and healthcare in general) is one of the best careers to be in if you think long-term. If you do a search for "US job outlook" you'll find the US government website that provides info about demand for specific careers. Nursing is one that has a much brighter long-term outlook than most others. Around here, most of the available jobs I see are in nursing and healthcare. I've talked to people who work at hospitals now and they say they are hiring, although not as much as they were two years ago. Things will pick up.

Me too. I've been back in school since Fall '08 - nonstop. I saved easier classes for the summer semesters (Psych, Soc, etc) but decided I really needed a break this summer. I feel a bit guilty about it, but it will not affect my RN program start date so I figured I'd take the break while I can. I'm a single mother and I really owe it to my kids (ages 17 and 10) to give them my undivided attention for a few months. :)

Oh man. I am nervously awaiting my final grade in A&P II. I did terribly in the lab portion of the class. We had two cadavers, several prosections, and lots of organs and parts (and of course, lots of models). I learned a tremendous amount, but I really struggled with a few parts (no pun intended) of the lab portion of the course. We had a Blood Tracing exam, and I just could not figure out how to memorize the sequence of all of the traces (there were 9). I also had a hard time with the cadaver portions of the practical exams. The professor stuck numbered pins ("tagged") random nerves, veins, arteries, muscles, etc, and we had to label them. It was never easily identifiable parts like the gallbladder or sciatic nerve; it was always the more difficult parts. We only used the newer cadaver ONCE the entire semester, yet he was out for the final practical. We all talked afterward and most of the students said they were completely lost regarding the questions on the newer cadaver. I'm teetering on the line between a C and a D in the class. To put things in perspective, I made the Dean's List last semester - that was with a full-time courseload, including A&P I (I got a high B in part I) and three other classes - and being a single mother who works full-time and has her house on the market. If I end up with a D, I'm going to take the class again for sure. Even f I get a C, I probably will take it again - I eventually would like to become a CRNA and want to have a very thorough understanding of the body and the best grades possible. My problem is this: I can't figure out how I can do better with regards to learning the more intricate parts of the cadavers. I have never studied so much for anything in my life before this class (and I have a BS degree already). The only people I know who did well in the class were those who were repeating it. For those of you who have taken A&P II with cadavers, how did you remember what everything is in there? I used virtual anatomy lab CDs with cadavers, two atlases, lots of pictures online, etc, to study. I'm not sure what else I could have done. I found it very difficult to recognize everything in the cadavers. That could be because they have been used by other classes and things are moved around a lot; I don't know... I just want to do better next time and want to learn from my mistakes, but I can't figure out where I went wrong with regards to studying. I'd appreciate any advice or ideas.

I took my A&P II lecture final today. My lab final was a week and a half ago, and we still haven't received our grades. The anticipation is killing me! I got a high B in A&P I, but found A&P II MUCH harder....the material was more in depth and there was so much more to cover. We had two cadavers and prosections, and lots of parts and models. The instructor tagged parts on the cadavers, parts, and prosections and we had to identify them. My guess would be that a lot of schools do it that way, but wow - I found it very difficult. The instructor doesn't tag things like the gallbladder or the cystic duct - it was always the much more difficult veins, arteries, nerves, etc. I have never studied so much for anything in my entire life, and I already have a BS degree. Last semester I took four classes, including A&P I, and made the Dean's List. This semester the only class I took was A&P II and I studied far more than I did for all four classes combined last semester. I should add that I work full-time and am a single mother. I was sick for 5 weeks this semester (never found out what was wrong...had terrible stomach pain and we thought it was H pylori or a pancreatic issue, but all tests were okay) so that didn't help. I missed a quiz and of course was not allowed to make it up, despite having a doctor's note. *sigh* I'm not sure what my final grade is going to be...I still have no idea what I got on the lab final. I did okay in lecture but lab is 40% of my grade. Even if I come out with a C, I think I may retake the class in the fall. The nursing school I'm applying to accepts Cs for science classes, but I want to do a BSN-MSN and think I'm going to need at least a B to get accepted. Sorry for babbling To those who haven't taken A&P I and/or II yet: I found both parts I and II very interesting and really enjoyed both. Just be prepared to study a LOT. Make sure you keep up with the professor's pace. Use as many resources as you can to help you gain a strong understanding of the material.

The college I go to has a class called Survey of Chemistry that is 3 credits without a lab. It covers the basic concepts of general, biochem, and organic chem. I'm probably going to take that one in the fall, since I haven't had chem since high school.

I'm a pre-nursing student at TCC. I am just finishing up BIO 142, and let me tell you - it is a LOT of work. The workload is much heavier than BIO 141. To give you an idea of what I mean: I work full-time, and took 4 classes last semester and made the Dean's List. One of those classes was BIO 141 (I got a high B in that class). This semester, BIO 142 was the only class I took and I have struggled all semester. They have two cadavers and lots of prosections and parts. For me, the cadaver parts of the practicals were pretty difficult. The class is much more fast-paced than 141 and there is a lot more complex material that is covered. I have (moderator edit of faculty name) and she is a fantastic instructor. (moderator edit of faculty name) is also a great teacher (had her for 141). I took Micro last year and do not recommend taking it with A&P unless you have a lot of time to study and have a good chemistry background. Just IMO. Good luck to everyone! :) Oh - I'm applying to Riverside because I need a nights/weekends program.

It's funny you mention retirement - I work in that industry right now and can't wait to get out. The only guy huh? You'll get a lot of attention. Congrats on starting the program! Keep us posted on how it goes. I've heard good things about it.