BRFirefly

I think they have done surveys with the graduates and the more general education classes you have completed (especially A&P2 and micro), the more likely you are to finish the program in four semesters. It is possible to get in with only the 16...but I would also try to complete A&P2, micro, and stats. The art/humanities class and English 102 could probably be put off without a problem.

Jackie, it's been over a month since pinning and I still cannot believe I survived the program. Haha. You are going to do awesome in 220 and 212.

If you are really interested in psych nursing, check out the psych units at your local hospitals for 'mental health tech' positions [it helps to have your CNA license or if you have taken general/abnormal psychology classes or a psychiatric nursing class but I know of a few places in my area where it isn't a requirement because they have on-the-job training]. When I started nursing school, I thought I wanted to be a psych nurse as well. But by the time I completed my mental health nursing clinicals...well...let's just say that isn't the case anymore. :sofahider Best of luck with everything though. The world needs good psych nurses. :-)

My OB rotation was 3 weeks (3 twelve-hour days and 3 four-hour days) at the VERY beginning of my 3rd semester. We didn't have any of the theory class yet so the instructor's standards were not as high for us as the groups that followed who benefited from a fews weeks of classroom time. I spent 2 days on L&D, one on Mother/Baby, one in the NICU, one at a women's health clinic and one doing an online unit activity. For L&D, we basically shadowed the nurses. I saw 2 delivers (one C/S in the OR and one lady partsl birth in a patient's room). Watched admit assessments. Placed moms on fetal heart monitors. Patient teaching. Newborn assessments, vitamin K injections, and baths. There was a lot of downtime so we got a chance to really talk to the nurses about their jobs. If we were interested, we got to attend teaching sessions with a lactation counselor. For postpartum (normally Mother/Baby), my patient's newborn was in the NICU so I just had the mom. She was on an MgSO4 drip so i was assessing UOP, reflexes, and respirations every hour. I also administered pain medication. Again, a lot of downtime if you are interested in OB, take advantage and chat up the nurses. Or bring your notes from class. For NICU, we shadowed. Couldn't give any medications (because really, who wants a bunch of student nurses giving drugs to their babies?) but we feed and rocked the babies. My classmate and I actually took turned reading notecards from class to the infants. Doubt they understand the pharmacology of antibiotics but it helped us review of the exam and they calmed down at the sound of our voices. During that rotation, one of the babies (an older one...several months old) fell into respiratory distress (O2 sat in the 60s). There was talk of a possible intubation but we had to leave the unit before that took place. As far as male nursing students in OB, not many of the patients had a problem with it. The only issue was that one of the moms didn't want my male classmate in the room while she was breastfeeding but no big deal.

Not to post off-topic but you might be surprised at how common the use of ADD/ADHD medication (Adderall, Focalin, Concerta, Vyvance) is in nursing school. I know several students who, after the first exam during our fundamentals semester, went to their doctors to ask for it. And of course, with healthcare now being more of a business than anything else, the customer is always right. o_O

ASN ~ 76.5%

Hey Jackie. Congrats on getting in. This fall, I'll be in my third semester (Adult Nursing 2 and Maternal-Child Nursing). Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or if you would like me to email you notes from the Fundementals course so you can get an idea of what you are getting yourself into. Haha Good luck and study hard. I am sure you will do great.

The Fall 2009 class received their letters around the second or third weeks of June. Good luck. I know how hard the wait was for us.