brewskiii

We had to have all of our pre reqs done ahead of time too so you don't overwhelm yourself!!! First Semester in my nursing program: Monday: lecture ALL day (Nursing Fundamentals and Pharmacology Theory) Tuesday: 1/2 day Drug calc. class 1/2 day in nursing lab (learning nursing skills like vitals, assessments, med passing etc) Wed: Clinical 4.5 hours Thurs: Clinical 4.5 hours Friday: OFF (Fridays ARE AWESOME!!) Clinicals in first semester kind of suck- lots of assessment (borrriinggg) and taking vitals- bed baths- feels like aide work- but if you don't have any experience in healthcare, I think you would enjoy the experience. I thought 2nd semester (Med/Surg) was kind of rough. But you get out of it what you put in. If you really study hard, you will be fine. You learn a lot more skills (trach suctioning, foley catheters, NG tubes, etc). And we have to do HUGE papers (in every semester) called Care Plans. They get bigger and require more detail as you progress in the nursing program. Also as you progress, you are in lecture less often and in clinical more- which is nice. Our tests are NCLEX (state board) format- sometimes there may be more than 1 right answer but it is up to you to chose the BEST answer.

My clinical instructor grills the hell out of us for Dx's that are the most critical: ABC's (Airway, breathing, circulation) no matter what the medical dx may be. I know this may be different for some of you. My opinion: 1. ineffective airway clearance (think about post op breathing complications like atelectasis- the patient may not feel like coughing and deep breathing after this procedure) 2. DVT 3. Pain rel. to gb removal 4. Risk for infection 5. Risk for fluid volume inmbalance

I am in the RN program and I only waited 10 months. They tell you 2 years, but you don't wait that long

sorry for late reply. i go to lakeland and have taken several classes online. your biology should definetly not be online because there is a lab, you have to take them on campus unless you picked the wrong bio class (if i remember correctly it is bio 1200- you need even before a&p i & ii and you can't take it online) financial aid does cover them. i know if you go to lakeland's website they have a blackboard tutorial, i suggest reading it so you know how the system works. the time devoted to the class depends on what your syllabus looks like and who your instructor is. for example: i took english online and each week was in monday-sunday format (meaning the assignments were due each sunday at midnight) i also took pych online and there were no assignments, just 4 tests. you had to read the material and know it and then take a test every couple of weeks. math was the same format as english but the instructor made you come to the campus and take your exams in the testing center. so like i said, it varies with the instructor. also, keep in mind summer semesters are much shorter and they tend to cram a lot of material into 8 & 5 week period. hope this helps and good luck to you.