texkid

When my mom went to the hospital, she told each and every nurse that came in that I was a nurse and that I was studying to be a flight nurse. Each time, I just looked at the ground and smirked. Then, each nurse could not get in an IV on her. So my mom looked at me and told me I needed to show them how to start IVs. I told her, "if you make me get off this chair, I am going to put 16g in you. They know what they're doing". Soon the nurse got a good one in her. Funniness aside, I truly believe most nurses know how to laugh it off when a parent brags about their child being a fellow nurse. Its the person his/herself that comes screaming "I AM A NURSE" and start barking out orders that I don't tolerate.

I know switched to a Welch Allyn DLX triple-head stethoscope. It is an awesome scope. I even hear sounds Docs can't, they dismiss me, I hand them my scope so they can hear it, and then they walk away questioning their scope.

I use one of those tactical messenger bags so I can carry a lot of spare stuff. Its a Maxpedition Operator Attache.

Working almost a year now, quite frankly it doesn't bother me that most still consider me a "new grad". In a way, it works for my benefit in the sense that the seasoned nurses will say, "hey, go get him, he's gotta see this". And I will be like, "ah snap! Thanks, I learned something new!" and then we'll have coffee and reminisce of the awesomeness that is new knowledge. But hey, acting all top gun barely a year out is cool too.

All i got to say is I finished nursing school a year ago but learned so much more in the past year working with the "seasoned" nurses than nursing school barely skimmed on. And....when the chocolate pudding hits the fan and that little blue switch on wall is pulled, take a second to look at who is next to you at that faithful hour. I can tell you it ain't going to be "Polly Anna", she is at the door not knowing what to do and will confuse a vial of mucomyst for succinylcholine. Laugh now, but that scenario happened actually happened to me and "Polly Anna" was the charge nurse for the day.

I wear the Landau Premium Scrub Top with the Men's scrub pants. Love the little velcro pocket for small stuff like alcohol wipes and PB crackers.

Wow, thats worse than the pt I had last week. 30-something pt. kicking and screaming in my left ear while I was inserting a 20# in her forearm. My other patients in the hallway swore I was cutting her open.

Own the Cardiology III, Master Cardiology, and currently using Welch Allyn DLX Triple Head. The Cardiology III is the most versatile. Definitely a good investment. My personal favorite is my Welch Allyn and I keep my Cardiology III as backup. Which ever stethoscope you buy, make sure you get the chest piece engraved!

I am a long time nurse assistant, 1st-year RN. I started out in the MedSurg unit and I am loving it! However, it depends on the person. In the 6 months working the unit, I have seen a HUGE turnover rate of both experienced and new grads. I am in a high paced unit. But I love the craziness, the complex and diverse cases, and I love the people I work with. If there is one I would change, it would be the darn "politics". I do hope to finish out the year and move up to ICU. Whether or not you should do it is totally up to you. But whatever you do in life, whether it be nursing or some other profession, you must have one thing gushing thru your veins, and thats PASSION!! Without it, it doesn't matter how much you make or how many hours you work, you're never going to be happy.

Well if money is not too much of an issue. Hire a clean-up lady. There are people out there that go from house-to-house and clean up the whole house in one day and charge maybe $70-$125 depending on the person. There are some agencies and there are some free-lance people that USED to work for an agency but now need to make some side cash (those charge less for same quality of work). You can hire one through word of mouth and have him/her clean up your house once a month and all you'd have to worry about would be the daily dishes and laundry. If you want to pay LESS, you better know how to speak spanish. (before someone jumps on me and say I am racist, let it be known that I am hispanic and know the ins-and-outs of the cleaning business)

Highly inappropriate. Before I started working as a tech a few years back, I was told that a another tech saw that the wife of a patient in radiology was still in the room. He said in a "non-threatening, joking" manner, "oh, you're here all by yourself? Need some company?" and the next day the woman called the supervisor and said that the tech was making advances on her while her SICK husband was away. He was written up.

I like the show but I hate that character. I have never met a male nurse with that personality. However, there is something funny that I noticed. Watch any of the early episodes and pay close attention to him or some of the background male actors and you might see that the male nurses in that show like to lean back on the wall or desk and cross their arms. As if to keep that MALE look. The sad thing is......I catch myself doing that from time to time. LOL!

I don't know about other people but I just take it day by day. If the office is a mess, I'll clean AFTER I take my exam or finish my careplan. If the dishes need washing, I just fill the sink with water and soap and get to it right before I need to eat. BUT, all books are closed when it is time to sleep. If its 23:00, I go to bed and get my 8 hours of sleep. I don't care if I still have a chapter to read or if the careplan is unfinished. I tell myself, all that will get done first thing in the morning. Lack of quality sleep will affect your concentration, your stamina, and ultimately your grades. believe me, I don't care if my house is a mess right now because I don't need to impress anyone since I don't have time but to read. How to organize? Get a Blackberry. Its a good long-term investment. You can get all your calendar into that one phone, you can install nursing software (drug book, merck manual, nursing diagnosis) which is LESS STRESS on your back when going to school or clinicals, and you can stay up to date with your classmates via email or Blackberry Messenger if your classmates have Blackberrys as well. But don't get me wrong, I still have a hard copy of the drug book and any schedule that goes into my Blackberry is also backed-up on my desktop AND handwritten in my planner just in case it is stolen or it catches on fire. If you don't want a Blackberry, you can get the iPhone, a Palm phone, or a stable Windows Mobile smartphone such as the Motorola Q or HTC. As far eating. You're going to kill yourself and your wallet. No one ever said you had to turn on the stove. You can get cheap microwave dinners, peanut butter and a loaf of bread goes a long way, peanut butter crackers are a good source of protein, fresh fruits, and good old fashion milk. Any one of those items can easily be stuffed into a lunch box and out the door you go. I actually have lost weight since I stopped eating out and finding ways to make that can of Tuna taste like gourmet cuisine.

I heard a rumor that its not hard to get into the HBU nursing program. Its just HELL to pass through.

Main Campus in the sense of the central campus off of Holman near downtown. I know its a drive, but for some reason some of my best professors teach there. As far as which ENGL professor, I can't really say. I took it at TWU in Denton.

As far as difficult. Well...it depends. I actually look at it as tedious. There is so much to soak in such short time. In the end, you have to not only know the info but also put it into practice. However, I have heard that Houston Baptist Univ. is super, uber hard. TWU is a great school. I hope to get my Masters there. FIN

From what I've seen, we're well appreciated. Of course, I have heard worse outside of Tex Med Center. My thing though, since I am also hispanic, is that I have been more appreciated by hispanic patients at Ben Taub. The common thing I hear is that its great to see a hispanic male "make something of himself" other than joining a gang, dropping out of school, or just becoming a bum. Yet, not one of them question me on my decision of becoming a nurse. Now, I do plan on going for my ACNP after HCC nursing school. I don't see a reason NOT to go for nurse practitioner.

Anything Psych, go to Genevieve Stevens in the main campus. ENGL 1301 is best taken over the summer. Your pharmacology and VNSG courses I believe are assigned by the school.

Usually its at 17:00. The lectures last about 4hrs where as clinical last about 6hrs. However, there is caveat, although they try to keep the clinicals at evenings, every now and then some of the evening students will have to take a morning clinical (usually in the weekend).

Don't ever think that your accomplishments in life rely on luck or that your failures are caused by your origin or religion. Likewise, don't ever assume that I am at where I am because of luck. I have had my share of odd jobs, sacrifices, and dissapointments. I have taken pharmacology twice, I have taken A&P I twice, I have been working since I have been 14 being paid "under the table". I may not be the smartest kid in the class, but I sure am the most determined b*astard you will ever meet. Mission360 has provided some solid advice that you should adhere to. You need to get out of that bubble you're in and get rolling. School starts in a week, you have your choices laid out for you. Quit worrying about clinicals, quit worrying about how far a school is, quit worrying about parking, testing, and all the other trivial info. You'll cross those bridges when you get there. If you can't live with that, then maybe nursing is not for you. Because a patient will not always have the answers laid out for you, sometimes you got search it for yourself.

Hey "lilsporty11", I would do what Mission360 is trying to tell you. But then again, its all up to you. Grab a course NOW at Lee College and have a chance at starting nursing school in fall and either colleges or wait 'til summer and pray that you get in to HCC by Fall. You either want to get into nursing or not. There are other students out that apply to multiple colleges, there students out there that are willing to drive across town to attend nursing school, and they all know that there aren't that many spots left and nursing school is very competitive to get in. So while you're moaning that you don't want to go to Lee College and you can't take pharm this Spring semester, there are already 100 kids or so that got head start and getting things done.

Sorry, been fixing my fence and working on my car. I have to make the most of the next two weeks before school starts. Anyway, I am not very familiar with Lee College. But if you can take pharmacology there, then run for it. After taking pharmacology at Lee, you can just take the math exam back at HCC or continue at Lee College. The clinicals are assigned to you. One semester you may be at Ben Taub, the next may be at West Houston. You don't have the same hospital nor same clinical instructor back-to-back. You're going to have to talk to someone who has been at Lee College or talk to their admission yourself. Heck, you can probably look it up online. However, it would be more appropiate if you called or actually showed up to their office. It shows that you're really interested in enrolling in their program. Believe me, they'll remember a friendly face before they remember a number on a piece of paper.

We are all trying help you out. I have the edge because I am in the program and have already dealt with the first semester. I am emphasizing the fact that you DO NOT take it lightly. Even my wife who went through the TWU BSN program admits that I am going thru more hell than she did (even though we have our share of hell). When I saw that I passed this semester and heard who didn't, it felt like I was more lucky than I should've deserved. But hey, we have tried to give you the best advice we can give. I understand that you like to run a tight ship and want to expect the expected. So when you get that acceptance letter, ask yourself this, "isn't a basket a bit too flimsy to go to hell in?"

You can park across the street. Either you can pay $10/day or you can go on a contract with TMC parking for $65/Month. You do have a good chance of starting in Fall of 2009. C's on pre-reqs are NOT good. C's on nursing courses is okay. Look at it this way, you want to get the best grades you can get to make your transcript look better for admission. Once you get accepted, the competition is over. From then on, your main focus is getting at least a C or better. I am not the best person to ask about the HESI. I just showed up after a night of drinking. The pharm math test is pretty much simple algebra with the use of the metric system. The trick is to know where the punch in the numbers, what end result are you searching for (eg, mL, mg, kg?), and making sure you write the proper answer in its proper unit. If you take pharm in Spring semester, you'll most likely take the math exam in April. If you take it in the summer, you will take the math exam around July/August. Your lectures take usually 4 hours. Your clinicals usually take 6 hours per day. Thats not including the pre-clinical day that can take anywhere from 8-12hrs.

I don't know where you get your info son. You take the Pharm math exam in June IF you have taken Pharmacology at another school or IF you took Pharmacology during the Spring semester. If you plan on starting in Fall of 2009, you take Pharmacology in the Summer-09, take the math exam (must make at least a 90% on that exam), and THEN you can start the program in the Fall. MY GPA was a 2.9. I am IN the nursing program, why are still questioning me? You are not finishing the program early, you're just getting the courses out of your way so you can focus on the nursing program. These courses are NO joke. You don't just show up Monday, read a couple chapters, and think you're ready for the Exam that entails up to 6-9 chapters. In the first 8 weeks of the first semester, you are going to class 4 days a week, 4 hours a day. You are not only studying from the Fundamentals text book, but you're also studying from the Skills book because you will be tested on your ability to not only be competent in your theory but also in your practice. After the first 8 weeks, you are then rushed off to your clinicals where you are tested again for you ability to combine both theory and practice. You STILL go to lectures on Mondays, depending on your schedules, you might do a pre-clinical on Tuesday (which takes up to 8 hours to complete if you want to do a great care plan), go to clinical on Wednesday to prove to your instructor that you know your theory, go again on Thursday to prove to you instructor that you know your practice. You then spend the weekend studying for your lecture and completing your care plan and start all over the next week. At the end of the semester, your clinical instructor will test you on your skills by making you go through a practicum, you will take a final exam for Fundamentals, and you will also take a skills final exam. If you think you have the testicular fortitude to take your AnPII, Micro, and Psych while still going through the nursing program, then by all means, go on ahead. As far as i know, four of my classmates already failed the first semester. Thats four seats that opened for students that know what they're doing. Stop worrying about finishing early, it won't happen. As long as you stay focused and calm, you will be fine. Straight B's is good enough.