1andrea1

I was not at the registration but I know some of the people that were there, they are wonderful. Enjoy your summer, once the fall comes, there will be very little free time.

I am a second year student at south and I can tell you that it is a hard program but you can make it through if you put in the time studying. For the medical abbreviation quiz they gave us the information to study, I think it was in one of the packets that we purchased from the book store. Be prepared, utilize the help that they offer (tutors) and stay organized. I also found that having separate binders for lecture, lab and clinical helped. Good luck to both of you!

Some places hire GNs or graduate nurses for the time frame between graduation and boards. I was told though that if you don't pass boards the first time that you can no longer work as a GN (not sure if that is true or not).

I am also a SAHM with three children ages 7, 5 and 1 1/2. I completed some of my pre reqs while pregnant with my last child and I am completing my first year of and ADN program right now (I have class Tues and Thurs nights and clinical on Saturdays). It is difficult because you don't have tons of free time to study and everything always gets in the way. My two oldest boys are in school so while the baby naps during the day is when I get most of my studying done (probably about 1 or 2 hours a day) and on weekends I try to get my hubby to take all three out for a couple of hours to get some study time in then. I have managed to carrry a 4.0 through my pre reqs and the first year of nursing, so it is possible, you just have to be creative about how you find the time to study (every free minute). Good luck, you can do it!

I'll send a pm, just give me a few minutes to fill out everything. Good luck!

I'll answer your questions, do you want me to do it on here or pm you?

If you can only choose one I would go with anatomy, I am not sure if the college that you choose would accept it as credit but it would be a good jump start to understanding a lot of the components of nursing school. I am not sure if all nursing programs requre chemistry or not, I took it in high school (13 years ago) and it counted towards my pre-reqs. Good luck, I wish you the best with your future nursing career!

I did the survey, hope it helps. Good luck!

Our instructor taught us ROME Respiratory Opposite Metabolic Equal (not actuall equal, it would just be on the same end of the spectrum) pH7.35 -------------------------------------------pH7.45 acidosis ------------------------------------------alkalosis Basically if the pH is low (acidosis) and the CO2 is high it would be Respiratory Acidosis and if the pH is high and the CO2 is low it would be Respiratory Alkalosis (respiratory opposite) If the pH is low (acidosis) and the bicarb is also low it would be Metabolic Acidosis and if the pH is high and the bicarb is high it would be Metabolic alkalosis. (metabolic equal) This helped me in class but I know it confused some others, good luck!

I would just do my best to ignore her, don't get sucked in to her competition with you. It takes a whole team to take care of patients and it sounds like she may not realize that. Hopefully at some point she will realize that she is wasting her time and give up. At least for your sake I hope she does. Congrats on the upcoming graduation, don't let her get you down.

I don't see how anybody that cheats to get through school could pass the NCLEX unless he was very lucky. Anyway, I would just keep my distance and do my best if I were you, you can't worry about him. Good luck!

I am glad that I am not the only one that gets really excited about all of the new stuff. I just couldn't stop smiling after I gave my first IM, subq and hung my first IV. It really does make you feel like a real nurse (at least it makes me feel that way!) Good luck!

I use Davis's Drug Guide. I have only come across 1 or 2 meds that I couldn't find in the book. I haven't tried to cut and paste from their site so I couldn't give any info about that. I think that the most time consuming part of my clinical day is looking up the drugs before we give them at 8am, but it is a necessary evil. Good luck

I attend CCAC in Pittsburgh and they have both day and evening ADN programs. I go on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 - 8 (every other Tuesday until 10 for lab) and my clinicals are on Saturdays from 6:30am - 2:30pm. I love it and it fits in with my life as a wife and mother.

Our instructors have exam review in their offices at posted times for all exams except the final. You are basically given your test to look at and you can ask questions about rationales. It is stressed that no bags, jackets etc are allowed into the office and if anybody argues about their test, the review is over. So far it has been pretty nice, I know not everybody takes advantage of it but it has helped me understand some of the things that I missed.

I agree, it feels great! I am in my second semester and we began with OB/newborn and the content just really keeps me interested. I also find that the more I get to do at clinical the better I feel. I am slowly but surely becoming comfortable in the "nurse" role. I love it!

I think that you need to do what is best for you, it is really easy to think that it is something you want when others are putting pressure on you. If you think you can and it is something you want - then do it. I have three children ages 7, 5 and 1 and I am a first year nursing student. It is a lot of work but I would not change it for the world. I wish you good luck with whatever you decide.

I would like to say: "don't tell me that you don't have time to study and need to borrow my study guide after you just told me how much time you spend at the bar" "stop talking in lecture, I am tired of hearing your voice on my recordings" "if you don't want to deal with isolation patients, don't be a nurse" (a fellow student gripes and moans every time he gets a patient that is not self care or is in isolation)

I am 31 and worked in banking and retail before having my three children and staying home for a while. I am only in my first year of an ADN program but I don't feel like I am too old. I take the evening classes because of my kids and at least half of the class is older than me. I don't think 30 is too old, I almost wish that I had started back sooner so that I would have finished by 30, it just wasn't in the cards for me. If you feel that it is your calling, you should go for it. Good luck!

I too am motivated by my husband and children, my sons are so proud of their mom and they always ask about my grades and how my day was at school. I feel like, even though it is hard, I am showing them that what I am doing is worth it. I hope that as they get older they will remember how hard mom worked to better herself and to make a better life for them, I hope it motivates them to be the best they can be. I am very excited about having a job as an RN one day and I think a lot about which hospital I might like to work at, what my specialty might be and so on. I can't wait!

I am a first year student at CCAC and when I applied it took forever to hear an answer, at least 3 weeks later than they told us.

In our program we have to pass a math exam with a 92% each to semester to stay in. We just took ours and for both of the questions I would use: Desired amount/Have on hand x Quantity so for the first one you have 1/16 of a grain, I would convert that to mg first by taking 1/16 x 60 and you get 3.75 then take the 250mg and divide it by 3.75 then multiply by 1ml, I ended up with 67 ml, convert 67 ml to oz and you get 2.23 oz round down for 2 oz. for the second question I converted the grains to mg by taking 1/8 x 60 and ended up with 7.5 mg. Take this and plug it into the problem 7.5/125 x 5ml = 0.3 ml. I have found that using D/H x Q works for most problems after all of the conversions are done. About the 60 or 65 mg for 1 grain, we were taught to use 65 for aspirin and 60 for everything else. Sorry for the mistake, I actually converted the first problem to ounces instead of teaspoons, maybe that is why it is wrong on your sheet.

In my program (community college), if you fail any part you fail it all. The only grades that we get are from our exams in lecture and lab. I know of people that got an A or B in class and an unsatisfactory in clinical and that turned their grade into an automatic D - they have to repeat it all. I don't know how universities do it, they would probably take your credits though.

I attend CCAC in Pittsburgh and they require that all tattoos be covered up and the only jewelry allowed is a pair of stud earrings and a smooth wedding band. Some of my fellow students have eyebrow and tongue rings and they take them out every Saturday for our clinical.

I have to say, I am an A student and I do fairly well in clinicals (I am only going into my second semester, so nothing too intense yet). I have three children under the age of 7 and I am a stay at home mom. I spend a lot of free time studying and I feel that I deserve the A that I earned. In my school I am treated as though I should be ashamed to have good grades and have had at least one person tell me it is because I don't work and have tons of time to study (with three young kids there is very little free time). Will my A in class make me a better nurse? I'm not sure but I know that I try hard and it sucks when others put you down for your efforts.