Roman813

Oh, are you an RN mentor to some one past or present? I counted only 3 specific questions that I asked; I can understand how 3 specific questions can overwhelm certain personalities.

Thanks so much Devon. You are right on about passing the NCLEX the first time. I am debating whether or not to take the Kaplan week long prep class. Some of my friends did Kaplan and some did not. My sister did not. All of them passed on the first attempt. Do you think Kaplan is worth $450? (Same price on-line or for the classroom.) I have a half dozen NCLEX books that I used to sharpen my mind during school, Saunders, HESI, etc. The only reason I wanted to get the PALS knocked out is if I have to take a job at a small rural hospital, where the chances of floating anywhere at any time are quite high, so I was told. Again, thanks very much for the advice.

Thanks for the advice. I got "pinned" on 12/12. There is a surplus of graduate nurses right now. So while I'm waiting to take the NCLEX, do you know of a hospital or provider that I could pay to take a telemetry course? We only got the basics in school. I am also planning to take ACLS/PALS while studying for the NCLEX..... If you hear of any floors with vacancies, please let me know. I did my internship/leadership on a cardiac/telemetry floor and loved it. That is where I want to ultimately end up. The tele techs were my best friends, and staying in regular communication with them helped me care for my patients.

I graduate in early December. Preceptorship starts November 1. So far nursing school has been very positive, but I have sensed sometimes that it is easier to talk with another male nurse, in regards to being in a predominantly female profession. The floor nurses have been great for the last two years, but the charge nurses, nurse techs, tele techs, and unit coordinaters have often been hostile or only communicate when I persistently ask for help. For instance, "Where do you keep the NPO signs?" or "Do you have an extra O2 sat machine that I could use on my patient to double check what the dynamap is reading." Often I get a single syllable grunt with no eye contact. I consistently get high evaluations during clinicals and all the nurses assigned to me have been positive to my instructors with their feedback. It is just the subtle sexism that is bothering me. Maybe it is all in my head. But it would be great to have a couple of male RN mentors who could help me interpret the eye rolling and smerks that the para-professional staff give off. Looking also to network with other male RNs in the Tampa Bay area. Is there a "Men in Nursing" organization, formal or informal? Thanks so much.

You made the right choice not to take the benzo. Klonopin is a very strong benzo. It is also used to prevent seizures. If you have a bona fide anxiety disorder, you should be managed by a psychiatrist who knows that you are a nursing student. I do not think your provider should have given you Klonopin as a first drug for situational anxiety related to clinicals. It seems very heavy handed; did the provider know you planned to perhaps take this drug while providing patient care in a hospital? While you are helping patients ambulate, ADLS? Wow.... There are other benzos that are shorter acting and less sedating than Klonopin. Did your provider discuss benadryl or atarax? These are antihistamines but also have been used successfully as mild anxiolytics. Have you struggled with anxiety all your life? Or just during new experiences? As with most medical situations, we need more information here.... There are also forms of meditation and guided imagery that can help. Furthermore, being completely rested, well-nourished, and academically prepared for your clinical day is the best way to reduce anxiety. Remember how we are taught to reduce our patient's anxiety???? Empower them with good information and good teaching. FURTHERMORE, we cannot practice THERAPEUTIC PRESENCE if we are stressed out and anxious. So, please go into the hospital as calm and collected as you can. We can't be a source of peace to others if we don't have it ourselves. Also, if your instructor is a decent human being, she/he will be able to offer you some additional tools and close guidance to allay anxiety. There should be counsellors at your school who will talk with you in complete confidence about this topic if needed. This topic deserves some input from experienced nurses and nurse managers. From the looks of this post, you did well without the benzo, but I wanted to get these thoughts out for others who may be in your same shoes, but were not as brave as you to ask. Again, if a student nurse needs Klonopin to function during clinicals because of anxiety, this is the tip of the iceberg. Peace. --Roman813

Read this HCC post all the way through. Get the book sold in the book store at HCC/Dale Mabry, and master chapters 1-8, (Clinical Calculations by Kee and Marshall, 5th edition, Elsevier/Saunders publishing.) You can buy a used book. This book was not required in Spring 2008, but recommended. You could use others. Practice, practice. You may have to review your fractions. Learn the conversions among the apothecary, household, and metric systems. Learn the abbreviations common to prescriptions, also in the above mentioned book. Each instructor is different; some may do a math review before the calculations test, others may not. At any rate, find a math whiz and make friends. Overstudy for this quiz, and you will be glad. --Roman813

Pharmacology is integrated throughout the curriculum. As of now, you do not need a separate class. I never had chemistry, but it would of course, be beneficial. They used to teach a course called something like, "Chemistry for Health Care Professionals." Maybe they still do. So take it this summer if you don't have anything else to do. Will it help you think like an RN? Probably not. Will it make you do better in the HCC RN program? Probably not, UNLESS you forgot all your A&P. At any rate, you don't need to master the periodic table to do well, but you need to know something about pH, acid and base. Review the A&P information on pH, acid and base. There are plenty of books to help you get through that, so don't sweat it. I'm not taking anything that might bring my GPA down before grad school. If you are accepted in the program, spend the time between now and when you start working on things I mentioned in previous posts. Hope this helps.

HCC Lab hours. I can't remember how many first semster nursing lab hours were required... I am thinking 15? And the computer lab hours were 5 or 10. These are PER YOUR FIRST SEMESTER. Your nursing instructor will have a sign in sheet in the labs. You will also keep track of your hours and hand in a log sheet. The computer hours are pretty much on the honor system. Same with the nursing lab hours, except you can't do those hours unless an RN is covering the lab. No lab hours are not available on Sunday. You will have to make the hours any way you can, regardless if you are a day or evening student. So if you set aside two hours a week you should have them complete before Thanksgiving. These are minimum requirements. Believe me, some of the skills videos you will want to watch several times, especially if your learning style is audio-visual, rather than just reading. After your first test, you may find yourself in the computer lab doing dozens and dozens of NCLEX style questions. It will all come into focus about week four. Toward the very end of the semester there was a shortage of RNs to proctor in the lab. SO, the point is, get them done early. Of course, this can all change a little from semester to semester. The bottom line is: Plan ahead. (There were no independent lab hours required in NP II, nor in NP III, at least for me.)

NewGoal, the evening/weekend course has the same lab requirements as the day classes. No slack is cut the evening/weekend people. There are fewer lab hours in the evenings, and obviously you will be in clinicals on Saturdays. You will just have to work the lab hours in. If you start early, it will not be a problem for the nursing lab hours or for the computer lab hours. Yes, you may have to cut your hours back at work, take some paid time off, or use vacation time to squeeze everything in. There are many students who work full time and do very well. But these students are usually able to take a weekday off here and there to make it happen. Be honest with your employer about what is going on, if you can. Don't think you can cram everything into two weeks, because the lab may not be open then. Knock those lab hours out a couple of hours at a time, and you will be fine.

Danielle, I did some of my lab hours at Plant City, and some at Dale Mabry, and it was fine. But a couple of times at Plant City the lab was closed. If an RN calls in sick, that is something to be prepared for, SO THE POINT IS, get your hours done EARLY in the semester. But always double check with your instructor to make sure it is kosher, in case lab policies change. Also, don't pester the nursing program or other professors with lots of questions before the semester starts unless it is absolutely necessary. They get dozens and dozens of emails a day. You might get ignored, get a flip answer, or they just might remember you as dippy when you really do need a favor. Just write your questions down on a notebook and take them with you to class. OR, post them here, and I will respond back when I have time. Spend this time before you start the program having fun, losing weight if necessary, exercising, learning how to relax, and strengthening your marriage or relationship with SO (significant other). Pay off your car if you can and save some extra money for car repairs--like oil, brakes and tires. Schedule your physical, lab work, etc. asap. You should get all the medical forms at orientation. As I am a book nut, I strongly recommend the book: How to Survive & Maybe Even Love Nursing School, by Kelli S. Dunham, RN, BSN. Published by F.A. Davis Company, Philadelphia. I have the 3rd edition, but there may be a newer edition out there. --Roman813

Jacquie1 et al. The lab hours are in addition to the clinical hours. The lab will have an RN sitting in there, and you have to go in and practice skills, as in assessments, blood pressures, etc. Or sometimes you can watch skills videos. The good news is that you can focus on whatever you feel deficient in. Also, if the RN covering the lab is cool, you can pick his/her brain and hear some war stories. The bad news is that the lab is not always staffed.... They try hard to keep it staffed, but sometimes it is hard to find RNs to come in and do this work.... SO, it is hit or miss. There will be a schedule of lab hours posted, and you just have to fit it in. There were ALSO 5 or 10 hours of computer lab hours in addition to the nursing lab hours. The computer lab hours can be spent viewing skills DVDs or practicing NCLEX type questions. The computer lab at Dale Mabry is right beside the nursing lab. I did some of my nursing lab hours in Plant City...... The best advice I can give you is to relax.... It is a very fair program, and what seems like madness and chaos early on actually gets better the further on you go. NP II was easier than NP I, and NP III has only been hard because of the amount of information--NP III has Peds, OB and Psych. NP II is basically a continuation of NP I's med-surg content. Keep a good attitude and you will get along with all the instructors. I find the people that have the most trouble adjusting to the culture of this program are 20-25 year olds. You will have all the tools you need to succeed. The instructors do not set you up for failure. Plan ahead. Having elective surgery? Do it before the program starts. Like barefoot water skiing or other extreme sports? Do it after you graduate. Want to experience the joys of pregnancy? Do it after you graduate. Now advice you can't afford to ignore: However much data you gather for your care plan, it will not be enough, gather more. Think you can do the care plan the night before it is due? Forget it. Plan on spending 2-3 days of uninterrupted work on your care plans. Turn you care plan into your clinical instructor one or two weeks before it is due, and perhaps they will give you a chance to correct your mistakes before the final due date. Never be late to clinicals. It is rude to your instructor, fellow students, and the nurses you hope to work with that day, and dangerous to the patients. Being late risks making you miss "Report," which is that golden window of time where the night nurse passes on all the VITAL information to the oncoming morning nurse about the patients she/he will be taking care of that shift. If you miss that "Report," you will be playing catch up all day, and you will start the day on a bad note with the nurse who is supposed to be teaching you. And if you make the whole clinical group late for report, woe unto you. Set three alarm clocks, your cell phone alarm, get your land line to make wake up call, use a wind up alarm clock if you need to, in case the power goes out. Do not be late to clinicals. Don't forget your stethoscope or pen light, id, etc. Have a spotless uniform and very clean shoes. Spit the gum out in your car. If you wear contacts, don't! Wear your glasses. Nothing worse than getting to clinicals at 6:00 AM and having to leave at 9:00 AM because you lost a contact. (Glasses also help protect your eyes from errant body fluids.) Sorry, I didn't mean to get on a soapbox. Did I mention not to be late for clinicals?

Jacquie1 and others... Orientation is very important. There is one test, but you can't study for it, so don't worry about it. They will tell you almost everything you need to know. You can start studying your clinical calculation book. Go ahead and visit the HCC bookstore to price things and budget ahead. The first semester is the most expensive as far as books and supplies, scrubs, medical exams, etc. You will need an updated PPD, Varicella Titer, HBV vaccine or HBV titers, CPR for Health Care Providers and a physical. So this is all expensive and time consuming. So plan ahead. Brush up on your metric system conversions, basic algebra, and fractions. The tests in NP I take about half the semester to figure out. These are tests unlike anything you have taken before. They are not just testing content mastery, but critical thinking. Go ahead and buy an NCLEX review book and start practicing some of the med-surg content before your first exam. Saunders is a good NCLEX review book, but there are other good ones too. As for supplies, HCC has a duffle bag package that includes a decent stethoscope and supplies for nursing lab. Don't buy an expensive stethoscope. You can upgrade when you get to NP IV. NP I has extra lab hour requirements and a community service project... so if you work, plan to take some time off during the semester, as you will need it. They tell you at orientation not to work more than 20 hours. This is highly individual. Some people work full time and get through with A's. Some can't manage the program while keeping a part time job, so time will tell. If you are married, with or without children, I think they should let the spouses attend the orientation. It is a very stressful program, and your spouse or significant other needs to be supportive and prepared for your lack of attention for two years. You also make some great friends, work with really great nurses and take care of amazing patients. For many of us, it is a lot of fun too! Good luck!

I am almost finished with my OB rotation, and it is going OK. My clinical instructor is very good about getting me assigned to patients in a very professional and matter of fact manner. She merely says, "My names is Ms. Instructor and I have a student I would like to assign to work with you and your nurse, his name is Bill. Can he help take care of you today? " I have done postpartum two days already with no problems. In L&D worked with two patients: one was no problem, witnessed everything from epidural, AROM, thru birth; another patient in L&D later that day -- the female DOCTOR came in after I was well established with the patient and the DOCTOR asked me to go stand at the door while she asked the patient twice if she minded having a student in the room and then if she minded having a male in the room. The doctor later sought me out and invited me to watch the delivery. My shift ended before delivery.... I know she felt bad about how she handled the situation--she was very friendly on a different floor the next clinical day, going out of her way to say hello to me. I think it helped things that I did not get an attitude, and I stayed very busy helping the patient with basic care and ADLs. Labor and delivery is a very emotional time, and I well understand if a lady does not want me in the room. So far, it has only been a doctor who created a fuss. My instructor wanted me to ask you guys who have had negative experiences, what part of the country you are in? Tampa, Florida here.