Hotdharma2011

0.3% NaCl is a hypotonic solution. I haven't learned about kidney disease yet, (that's part of the curriculum in my next quarter) but I do know that healthy kidneys are necessary to maintain an electrolyte balance, specifically potassium so I will assume that a person with glomeruleronephritis(sp?) would be suffering from hyperkalemia or is at risk for it and a hypotonic solution is used to treat hyperkalemia. I hope that helps.

The grading scale for my school is: 96% is an A and less than 80% is failing. It is tough and there are always lots of tears after every exam! and just like many of the other posts, my school prides itself on the high percentage of students that pass the nclex.

I agree with the previous posts, that you should try to review your tests and talk to your instructor if possible. Before I start studying, I always review the vocab, and make sure I understand the terms well, well enough to rewrite the definition in my own words. I also re-write the notes, in my own words, and when taking the tests, I try to answer the question before looking at the given answers, if that's possible. And always look for sneaky words in the question, like always, normal, never....Oh and lastly, if the question asks for a priority nursing intervention and you look and see the exact match, the thing that works, make sure it's an intervention and not a goal, or vice-versa! Those are the ones that are really sneaky!!! Also, make sure to sleep and eat and be hydrated. Now, I really need to go back to studying for my test on Monday! Good luck!!!

when I'm deciding on interventions, I like to first figure out what my goal is, and the goal is usually the opposite of the diagnosis. with that said, if my patient had impaired tissue perfusion, I would want to increase tissue perfusion. ways to do that, or interventions as we call them would be like....keep affected limb elevated, above heart to increase blood flow; ensure compliance with meds to decrease infection, and thus increase perfusion, and you always want to have some type of 'monitoring' as an intervention so, you could 'monitor perfusion by checking cap-refill and pedal pulse, every 2 hours, and also I'm assuming the patient has DM so you could 'monitor blood glucose'.....or something like that. I hope that helps! good luck!

I definitely think you should take chemistry 1st, if that is an option! And I understand needing to work during pre-reqs, cuz that's what I did. And like the other post, I too didn't have much of a social life, and that is really true for nursing school. I see my clients and my classmates more than my own family! The best advice i can give is, make yourself a schedule, and stick to it, and eventually you'll get used to more studying and less sleep. The nursing school terms are 14 credits and at my school, less than an 80% on an exam, isn't passing- because in nursing school the grading scale is ridiculous! 80%=C, and less than a C isn't passing, and the labs, assignments, clinical, etc are calculated separately, so that if you aren't passing the tests, they completely disregard the grades you got in any of the other stuff and you fail the whole term! I'm not trying to scare you, trust me, if I can do it, it can be done!! Just make sure you learn the core stuff, like A&P. Straight memorizing doesn't help when you have to use the info to answer critical thinking application questions. Oh yeah, and I think it works well to do like you said and take one science with a general ed course. I took psych, physiology and nutrition together. The cool part is many of the classes are similar in many ways so you'll find that you are covering the same content, just in different formats. In psych you learn about the brain and in nutrition you learn about what nutrients the brain needs and in phys you learn how the brain does what it does, with the proper nutrition. And then in nursing school, you get to learn how it all goes wrong, and why, and what we nurses, can do about it!!! You just gotta find the common thread, and then you're really only studying one thing for 3 classes! Good luck! You can do it!!

I think that it's definitely 'doable', especially if you're motivated, which it sounds like you are. I just finished my 2nd term of nursing school and I think that taking 2 difficult science classes together is good practice, to help prepare for the stamina that is needed to survive. Sort of like training for a marathon. i worked less than full but more than part-time, all through pre-reqs, and my lowest grade was one B. Nursing school is really intense; not just because the content is difficult but it's also long days, and late nights, but I LOVE it! Oh and only a few students in my class work, and only very part-time. Unfortunately, I have noticed that the students that have failed out of my nursing school class, so far, are the ones who got straight A's in their pre-reqs, but only took one class at a time. It's really just my own, very unscientific study I've done, but we started with 35 and are now down to 30, and that is the only commonality they all shared. What ever you decide, good luck! And I agree with the post above that said how important chemistry is. I don't really know how anyone could do well in cellular bio, physiology and even micro without having 1st learned the basics of chemistry. And if you don't get to take chem before A&P, maybe you could get a chemistry study book and at least learn about osmosis, diffusion, anions vs. cations and polar vs. non-polar. Trust me!! You'll be glad you did!

Of course, I can only speak for myself, and I will preface this in saying that I found chemistry pretty hard too, but I don't see how anyone could do well in phys or micro and especially the pathophys stuff in nursing school, without having a pretty good handle on chemistry. I know.....probably not the answer you wanted to hear. Can you find a tutor? I was able to join a study group/problem solving tutor group held by the science retention folks at my school. Trust me....when you're in nursing school and have to explain to an instructor in lab and at clinicals, in front of everyone: how and why certain meds do what they do (pathophys), including side effects, liver vs. renal metabolism and soforth, you will be very thankful that you stuck it out, and learned chemistry!! Oh yeah, and the math part of chemistry, the conversions of grams into mLs, etc.....that IS nursing, so you have to learn that!! Good luck!!

Hey there Studentnurse888, I know exactly how you feel!!! It is sooooo frustrating! I still can't believe how unorganized and downright unprofessional nursing school seems to be sometimes. It's the polar opposite of what I expected! I think many nursing schools operate in the ways that you described. Anyways, I know that mine sure does! So I just finished 1st qtr last week, and 2nd qtr starts in a week and a half. My instructors haven't even gotten around to posting our grades yet, so until they do, we all just sit and wait, cuz w/o grades we can't register for the next term, which means we can't get our schedule or our books!! Ugh!! So, again, I feel your pain!! Just make sure to remember that no matter what, only you have control over how you feel about and react to things. I think you're giving them too much power. I am too! The way I see it is, we sacrificed a whole lot to get into nursing school and now they're testing us to see if we're willing and able to keep on sacrificing so that we can stay in nursing school!! Stay strong!! We can do it!! P.s. I find myself saying (sarcastically of course), "no wonder there's a ***** nurses shortage!!:wink2:

It is really so refreshing to hear that it's so common to feel what I'm feeling! I agree that giving baths, doing peri-care, etc is a way we learn compassion, and what not. I get it. I even enjoy hair care and bathing. I love it when a client looks up and smiles and gives me their hand. I get the 'warm fuzzy feeling' all day long, when I'm actually able to do the things, how I was taught. Everytime I go into a room of a compative client, I tell myself,"this is someone's grandma". And it isn't necessarily the CNA work that I dislike, but in school they teach us the systematic way to do things, using proper lifting techniques, isolation as needed, wash hands and change gloves religiously and report anything unusual because it's all about patient care and C.Y.A.!! However, I have been "practicing" at a facility that is known for having multiple marks against them for 'elder abuse', I haven't seen anyone use a gait belt, and the place also has multiple patients with MRSA which isn't all that hard to believe considering that things like gloves and linens are worth more than gold in this place!! The CNA that my classmate and I shadowed all day the first day, never washed her hands once, and she only put gloves on to change an attends with a really messy BM, when we asked her about it!! I guess, I feel like if they're going to put a nursing student who is 'greeener than green' in a LTC facility, and expect us to do as the CNAs do, it should be done atleast somewhat correctly. right? I don't feel like I know the ropes well enough to always distinguish what's right and what's cutting corners and I don't want to pick up any bad habits and I certainly don't want to get in any trouble! I just didn't know that nursing school would involve being 'pimped out' by my school to understaffed LTC facilities. My instructors even admit that the facilities love getting all of the overqualified free labor from our school! Ugh! Just one more week until spring break! Thanks again, for letting me vent!

Thanks coolpeach and soon2bnurse3! I feel better knowing I'm not the only one. I have a pretty good idea that many of my classmates might feel the same way, but we're still kind of new to each other, so I don't think anyone wants to say it first! :) You know, nobody wants to admit it's getting to them, because we're all still just a bunch of 'over achievers'! LOL! That's what my A&P Prof. called all of the pre-nursing students!! Good luck! and keep in touch!

I have wanted to be a nurse for most of my life, and have been working towards this goal for a couple years now, taking prerequisites, etc. Well I'm towards the end of my first quarter of nursing school, and am doing great in the theory/ lecture aspect: getting an A- but, I really don't enjoy the clinical at all, this far! Please someone tell me it's going to be more than just basic, basic CNA skills at long term care facilities?! Maybe I'm just tired, from a week of 6am-2pm clinicals mixed in with cramming for my final exam but, I'm having a tough time getting motivated to be the CNA's assistant! I want to actually 'do' all the stuff I learned about in school! :wink2: Oh and just incase someone might be misunderstanding where I'm coming from: it's not that I don't think i should have to do peri-care because I do, I think every nursing student should, but after the 10th time in one day, I think I've got it down. I'm also extremely efficient at bed-making, oral care and feeding....Now I want to do the wound care that goes with the level 3 pressure ulcer on the coccyx of the client who's 'attends' I just removed! Or something of the sort!! You know what I mean?! I'm afraid that all this 'theory' isn't going to stick, without any 'practice'! Anyways, thanks for letting me vent!

sorry. didnt mean to offend!!

comment removed, it offended the 'murse'. sorry, didn't mean to.

GOALS * Pt will be able to explain the purpose of digoxin * Pt will be able to recognize s/s of digoxin toxicity and when to contact their doctor/healthcare provider * Pt will be able to take their own pulse Hey there, so I'm doing a similar assignment, and you are definitely on the right track but.... for our learning outcomes (aka goals) we are required to have a time frame that the goal is to be achieved by, as part of the goal and they also must include a measurable or an observable activity, just like client outcomes for nursing diagnoses. Also, we have to address one of the three "learning domains" in each goal, and they are: cognitive, affective and psychomotor. For example, a goal/learning outcome for the 'cognitive' domain would be: By discharge, the Pt will state three of the s/s of digoxin toxicity. And for the 'psychomotor' domain: At the next office visit, the client will demonstrate the ability to correctly assess his/her pulse. I hope this helps! Good luck!

Nursing8648, I forgot to submit this in my last post: ati testing, is the website that we used on Friday to take the TEAS. My RN adviser said that we will get very comfortable with this site because it's where all of our standardized tests come from, through out the whole program. And there are practice tests...I'm just not sure if just anyone can access it, but it's worth a try! :) Good luck!!:typing