trustbirth

I am going to try to make this as short and un-complicated as I can so that hopefully everyone can understand the questions I am asking. I am in my second semester of an ADN program and will Graduate next May (2010). My plan is to take a semester off of school after that, and start work in June 2010. I do want to go back to school and finish either my BSN or my MSN. By the time I graduate from my ADN program, I will have completed all pre-requisites required to get into a BSN program. The two areas of nursing that I am interested in are Labor and Delivery (nurse-midwife if I get a masters), or pediatric oncology (pediatric nurse practitioner if I get a masters). I guess my question is, what educational route should I take? Is it better for me to go from my ADN-BSN (RN-BSN) or go straight from RN-MSN? Which is going to be faster and more efficient? I am sort of clueless when it comes to this. If it helps any, I live in the Houston Texas area. Thanks!

I am finishing my first semester of school, and just took the HESI exam. My score was a 969. Is this a good score? I know that the average and the score you "need" is an 850, but I was just wondering where exactly my score places me...if that makes any sense at all. Our school does not require us to pass the HESI exam because they have an additional accredidation so we don't need it.

You are lucky that you can drop classes! If we get less than a 75% in a class, we are dismissed from the program. And then we can re-apply with everyone else, for the next August starting class.

Dosage Calculation Tests are the worst. CONGRATS ON PASSING! We have to take one every semester. 20 questions each. For the first three semesters we must make at least a 90% to pass it, and then the last two semesters we must make 100%. We get 4 chances and then we are dismissed from the program. ....I can't stand those tests.

I have not taken the test yet. But, I know that you can pass with 75 questions. It is set up in a way that allows you to pass like that. Don't give up yet. You may get great news!!!!

We started clinicals two days ago. I am in an Associate Degree Program and will graduate May 2010 Our routine has been the same from day one and will continue to be that way. We got to our unit and find out who our patient is for the day. Clinical starts at 6:30am. Since change of shift reports start at 7:15, we have about 45 minutes to look over our patient's chart and start filling out the "chart" that we have. We turn this in at the end of the day but it is not graded. Assuming that the residents or staff nurses do not have the chart, we really focus on getting the history from the chart, lab test results, and list of current medications. The medications then have to be looked up in either the pyxis or our drug guides on our pda. After change of shift report, we go meet our patient. We take vitals and do a full head-to-toe assessment. Then we start with a bed bath ((if the patient is total care. If not, we let them do that on their own)), we give breakfast, and change sheets. Then we go sit down with our chart and write down our initial assessment findings, and come up with at least three diagnoses for our patient. From there we formulate a care plan and go back to the patient's room to start that. Vital signs must be taken every two hours and the patient is also re-assessed then. At the end of the day we chart the final evaluations of our care plan. If the patient needs a foley, IV flush, Injection, Blood Sugar Testing, or anything else like that....we must do it in front of the instructor once and then after that we are on our own for the rest of the semester. That is all. :) I was so worried about it before we started, but it ended up not really being that bad.

We have lost one student so far, and I started in August. We were told that the class that is graduating May 2009 lost 5 students overall. There are 80 students in each graduating class.

I can definitely identify with anxiety about all of this. This is my first semester as well. I have always been the type of person who can know everything then walk into the test and forget it all..walk out and know it. That is just me...and it drives me insane. As far as skills check-offs go.... I have no checked off on about 10 of them and my hands shake most every time...lol. Hopefully this gets better! There is just something about an instructor watching you that makes you go crazy.

This is my first semester. Monday/Wednesday: 9-11 Tuesday: 8-3 Thursday: Clinicals. 6:30-2:30 Next Semester: Monday/Wednesday: 9-11 Tuesday/Thursday(clinical): 6:30-1:30

The skills lab at our school allows us to do all of those skills on our computerized dummies. So luckily we dont have to do a single thing on each other. I would go crazy if we did.

We dont do anything with a nurse preceptor. Sorry about that. :)

I have been in nursing school since August. When I started out I was reading everything aside. Now I am not really reading at all and I am still making A's and high B's. I have found that application is a lot more efficient than just reading. I hope this helps. :)

I am really suprised to hear that some schools are having students do procedures on each other. Our school refused to do that because of liability issues and such. That just seems so strange to me. I am in my first semester and I have three classes. Dosage Calculations was half a semester, and we have nursing theory ((which has a lecture and a clinical portion)) and health asssessment. That is it.

We dont pick internship positions like you do. The ER might be fun though. The way our school works is that we go to a different unit every semester. Med-surg, ER, psychiatric, OB, Pediatrics...

We do have paperwork...our own version of a patient chart..that we turn in at the end of the day but it is not graded. We go in, and have one patient. Each of us have one. That is what we do during the day...take care of our patient. That is why the list doesnt have to be completed..because or patients during the semester may not need all of those things done.