sproeber89

Our instructor for a class forced us to make a study plan, twice. I graduate later this week and now I have a definite idea of how to study made into a calendar so i can check things off. I am going through all of LaCharity even if I've gone through a lot of it with this class. I am also aiming at 150 questions a day, it is what Kaplan has suggested as the "you don't really want to do more than that" number. I will be taking Kaplan in January so that will also be in my study plan. After Kaplan is done I will continue doing 150 questions as a mix from Kaplan QBank, QTrainers, and other resources I have on my computer from the disks. I will also be reviewing 3-4 chapters in Saunders, and by review I mean go through all the questions behind the chapter and if I get less than an 89% I read the entire chapter. Hope this helps! Good luck!

If I were you I would also look pretty in depth into a review book, mostly since it's been 2 years since you have been in nursing school. I am just graduating this week and I know how much I have forgotten since first semester....I can't imagine how much information I'd forget 2 years later. Good luck!

I used to work at a subacute PM shift where we had 18 patients and I was the only CNA on PM's. The nurses were supposed to help but that was usually a joke! I usually put every single one of them to bed by myself. We had a lot of patients there who were semi-independent and we had chairs in the bathroom so many of them I set them up with all of their materials and let them go at it. This made it a little easier. My other piece of advice is just remember you are only ONE person. You can't be everywhere at once. At times I had 6 call lights on and I know I could only do one at a time. We are all human and sometimes you have to explain to patients that you are human. I would kindly say "I'm really sorry it took so long to answer your light, it's been a crazy night what can I do for you." Many of my patients were there for a long time so they understood how it works. Just do one thing at a time and remember to breath. If it gets really bad ask the nurses for help, it's their patients too.

I hated, loathed clinicals for a while. I kept second guessing if it was what I was meant to do, should I go back to school. However, Once I entered third semester where we were given all the skills to be a nurse I finally figured out it was what I'm supposed to do. I say wait it out, it took me two full semesters before I felt fully comfortable and loved what I was doing.

I have a very solid study group, we get together the day of tests to go over what we will be tested on and just review. We make up lots of silly things that help us remember what we need to know. We also help each other with large projects, we pretty much camp out in the library and help each other. The best thing we do is make each other laugh. We are infamous for going on YouTube and finding funny videos. It might not be helpful for studying but it keeps us all a little more relaxed.

This summer I'm spending it reading two of the "Made Incredibly Easy" books, our teacher recommended them for fall. I graduate in December so I also went through an NCLEX strategies book and typed up some notes on it, so that way when I graduate I can get straight to studying the information. Hopefully it helps out a bit! I would suggest maybe reading over an NCLEX review book and just kind of keep up to date on things. Our college has three campuses and one of them has a nursing lap open during summer so a couple of us are going to head to that one to do a little skills practice. Maybe also keep up with math and review that a bit.

I never gave up my sleep, I sleep an average of 7-8 hours every night. now it depends more on when I have early morning clinicals. I just made my 5 minute commute to clinicals to a 40 minute one! Those nights I'll be skimping on sleep or staying at my parents house. But it'll be manageable.

Are you guys counting percentages by finishing each chapter and then calculating it.

It's a combo between good nursing friends to make you laugh till you cry after you failed a test, my amazing supportive boyfriend who takes care of me financially so I can pursue my dreams and a dog who will always cuddle up with me when I need some time on my own. Also, having my own separate study room has proved very helpful, hopefully it'll stay as my room even when the bf starts school in fall. And an overly organized personality never hurts either

I have the Saunder's Flashcards. I have a feeling that it will be a bit of repeating from the books but it's something that I can use when on break at work, waiting for things, etc. It came with a protective plastic sleeve type thing that makes it easier to carry around.

My plan is to go over information in Saunders by taking the end of chapter quizzes rather than reading all the information. If I get a 75% or better then I can continue to the next chapter, if not then I'll review the chapter. Once I finish that I'm going to just keep doing question after question after question until my brain can't handle it!

My latest clinical was an evening one and it was by far my favorite one. You aren't fighting for time with your patient between MD/therapies/appointments and you aren't thrown into the day right away. We usually got there around 2 pm and had until 3 pm to get our patient information and then start everything. It was very relaxed (although we were lucky enough to have two computers per patient so we always had the computer chart handy). I was also lucky enough to get fresh post-op patients, because most come back to their rooms around 2/3pm. Such a great learning experience. Plus, most of the students prefer the AM clinical and therefore there is usually less students. We split into groups and at one point it was two students to one teacher. AWESOME learning ratio.

This summer I'll be: -Sleeping...LOTS! -Spending lots of time with all of my nieces and nephew. -Losing the last 20 lbs. to meet my goal -Reviewing topics for NCLEX as I'll be entering my last semester -Spending time with my boyfriend -Working enough to pay for school next semester -Just spending time loving life and being thankful because after next semester my life is gonna be getting REALLY crazy! and not just because of NCLEX!

I'm not into nursing with either the Army or Navy. However, as the gf of a U.S. Soldier I can let you know that as a woman you won't be in the front lines, most women in the Army that I know of (this is just me personally) have jobs in offices etc. Also, if you want to be a nurse in the Army I would look into training in the Army b/c they would pay for all of your training. And you'd be getting your seniority in.

That's a really good idea! I know my boyfriend has been there for me through it all...we were just friends my first semester and he was in Iraq...then we started dating and he was in Germany stationed. So if we can get through that, nursing school, and life...anyone can do it! What about for your mom a spa day? And your dad idk if he likes cars..but I know my dad would love a day at a race track to drive race cars. Fiancee...maybe take him for a weekend away?

A major part of nursing is CNA work, at a hospital they often don't have CNA's always on duty. You will end up doing the toileting, ADL's, etc. Plus, you will be a better nurse if you are able to do that part of nursing too. The greatest nurse I've ever met was when I worked in a nursing home. She was done with her work and she said "Hey...what can I do to help you out?" It's very important to be involved in every part of nursing. What better time to do a skin assessment than when washing up the patient or toileting them?

Personally, I need to work. I have a good chunk saved up but I'd rather work and be able to save up money. In my program it seems to be the opposite, that those who don't work end up with worse grades. I like that I have an outlet from school work. I work as a CNA at a hospital but they are very flexible with my schedule to give me the perfect one to work with.

I will be 21 when I graduate

I also got my bookstand yesterday and i LOVE IT :) So glad i splurged a bit :)

Here's the system I use. I have a desk in my room so it's off limits to anyone else, it's all mine. I have a 3 shelf book case, the top shelf holds all my current books, my second shelf holds all my current binders for my classes, I use a 1.5 in. binder and put my module and powerpoints in there, then for my actual clinical classes I take the graded papers out and put them into a smaller binder (I know my CI collects all our graded homework at the end of the class). The bottom bookshelf is for books that are from past semesters but are still useful enough to have handy just in case I need it. Then I have a 3 shelf cabinet filled with all my supplies. and organized based on use. Pens/pencils, highlights/sharpies and a big bin of post its and note cards. My computer is also organized based on subject, everything has its own folder. I'm taking 4 nursing classes and two online classes in fall so I need it. The major thing with me is I have a blackberry but don't use my calander on there, instead I have a larger planner and it has a date section and then a to-do section on it. I color code everything and write all my assignments in for the semester ASAP! I also then write it on my dry erase calendar. Thats just how I stay organized. I also have a bag for lecture with all the regular books packed in there and then a bag for clinical tht I have to order yet, tons of pockets and places to keep things. Also, be sure to invest in a good hole punch, it has saved my life!

I'm just ordering it now, you can get it from Amazon.com. Only bad thing is it doesn't qualify for super savings shipping. But I'm an Amazon member and it has all my account information.

By over studying is a lot of students literally took it as a full time job, which is understandable. However, they would literally be at school from 6 am till 5 pm. They studied everything the teacher talked about and things that she didn't even mention. then would panic and think they were getting things wrong because they had absorbed soo much information. They then began second guessing everything we were tested on. The only advice I could give is to if you are going to not be working a good idea is to just take some time out for yourself, I truly love my job right now and for me its an escape from school but I also get to learn all kinds of neat medical things. It's all about balance in life. Also, I noticed that the students who didn't work in my class would pester us who did work. Ask us why we worked. I got very fed up with it and finally started saying "Because I haven't found the money tree yet." Everyone in my classes were married or engaged and had kids except me (not even exaggerating here either). i didn't have the extra income and therefore couldn't afford to just not work, my parents don't pay for anything but health insurance but are gracious enough to let me live with them until I graduate. I just can't afford to NOT work.

Honestly my opinion is I would work but very limited part time. I work 5 shifts every two weeks, 2 one week, 1 another week and every other weekend. What I noticed with the people in my classes, we had some who did work similar hours/shifts to me and those who didn't work at all. Those who didn't work at all seemed to focus ALL their time on studying and school and therefore overstudied. However, if you give yourself something extra to do it might be a good idea. I studied a fair amount but also knew I had to work so I didn't study all the time. The ones at least in my classes who didn't work, did not do as well.

yea, I did some research, found some but look liked poor quality. So I'm going to splurge and get it! I deserve something to save my neck..my back is already messed up from work.

Honestly, at least for me it just works to have a plain backpack. My school has one class a day, so I only need to bring that one book for the day. And once I'm in school the backpack stays on the floor. For clinicals I'm getting a nursing bag but will keep my backpack with other references handy. It's just what I prefer. I used to just carry a tote but my one shoulder was killing me...so I got a regular backpack and love it!