FLhusker

Yeah....pre-nursing studying is nothing like nursing school. I'm in first term nursing school (Fundamentals) and I study ALL the time. Probably 2 hours on weeknights and 6 hours on Saturday and Sunday. There is no "down time". I don't care how good your study habits were in pre-reqs, you will need to improve on them for nursing school. You need to organize and be very efficient with your time. On top of all the reading, care plans and concept maps and dosage calculations tests.....do as many NCLEX questions as you can get your hands on. I spend hours a week doing these and it has paid off. Before nursing school I had it in my head that I wouldn't study much on the weekends because I wanted that for my family. Well....reality hit and I never leave home without something to study. 20 hours per week of studying is not unrealistic....on top of 4 full days of class. Having said all that...I'm having the MOST fun in school and it is much more rewarding that I could have imagined. Yes, it is ton of work, but I don't mind it because it is so interesting.

I'm the OP and am now 2 months into my ADN program so I thought I'd post how much studying I do. I have class M-Th 9 to 4. I study 6 or 7 hours on Friday, 3 or 4 hours on Sat and Sun and about 1 hour each week night. Yes, it is a LOT but it's really not as bad as I thought. I love the material and so far I'm making A's. I find that it is much easier to keep up with the material than to try and cram before exams. I read each chapter before lecture and that makes understanding it so much easier. Then I immediately make note cards. I do every NCLEX practice test I can get my hands on. I'm having so much more fun than I ever thought. It helps to be in the program with some great friends! I have 4 kids (ages 6 - 19) and have been able to keep up with all of their sporting events. The material is not hard per se.....there is just SO much of it. I can't believe how much I've learned in the past 6 weeks!!!

WHITE top (not even really a scrub top, it zips up the front and is hideous) with an ugly patch on the sleeve, WHITE pants. Do they just want to humiliate us by making us look as stupid as possible? You'll be able to pick us out from all other students. It looks like something an orderly would wear in a mental ward 30 years ago. Baaaaaaad!

I start my ADN program next week. Over the past month or so I have read the entire Foundations book and am half way through Calculate With Confidence. I have also viewed many procedure videos. I can tell you that my stress level has gone WAY down after doing all of this. I feel like I will understand some of what they are talking about. And I won't have to read the chapters word for word since I already did it. I have no medical background whatsoever so I really wanted to not feel so overwhelmed the first few weeks.

I finished pre-reqs in the spring and I start NS in August. I've been trying to enjoy all the time with my kids. Getting the house clean! But I've also been reading the entire Foundations text, just 10 or 20 pages a day but I feel like I'm learning a lot and won't be so overwhelmed with reading the first few months. I have no medical experience whatsoever so I wanted to give myslef every advantage.

At my orientation a few weeks ago, they told us to have a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C. They said you have to attend class and being sick (or sick kids) is no excuse for missing a test (documented emergencies are the exception). Fortunately my husband can take sick time for the kids and my mother will be a backup for him. I just don't know how single moms do it if they don't have a super great support system. There are several nursing programs in my area and they all make it clear....Nursing School must come first and if you can't accept that, don't go. Harsh but true. I can understand it though because would you want YOUR nurse to have missed the day they were taught injections? or IV's? or drug interactions?

Starting my 1st sememster in ADN program next month. It is also 9 credit hours goes like this: Monday - 9 to 4 Fundamentals class Tues/Wed/Thurs - 9 to 4 Fundamentals lab (and later in semester clinicals) I sure hope I can get most of my studying done all day Friday with a few weekend hours!! I don't work either but have 4 kids and we all know that is a job in itself!

If you go into the lab NUR1020L and click on the CRN number, it will show a different schedule. Hoping that is wrong!

Has anyone else looked at the schedule? It almost looks like at Palatka we will be in class on Tues/Wed/Thurs from 9 until 6 plus Mon/Fri from 4 until 6. In the past the first semester students have done a four day 9 to 4 schedule. This seems to be kind of a silly schedule.

I got into Palatka as well! Congrats to my future classmates and good luck to everyone!

I still haven't found out yet....I'm on vacation....of all weeks. Maybe they will tell me if I call them. ToreoN2B, were you in Category 1 or 2?

Nothing here in North St. Augustine. Did he get a letter or a packet? Great.....no sleep tonight!

I'm worried about the same thing when I go to NS this fall. I'm kind of a perfectionist and earned A's in my pre-reqs. I'm the kind of person to ask what question I got wrong and then argue my case. I've been told that this will make me crazy if I try to keep this up in NS. If I have to get by on C's to continue to lead a normal family life then so be it. I once read "C = RN"!

Based on what I was told in an informational session earlier this year, I think you would be classified as a Cat 2 then.....but if you want to know for sure, call them and I'm sure they can tell you. Oh, and if you call....ask when letters are going out

Yes, your pre-req GPA and HESI determine what category you are in. Then they rank by points within that category, then by application submission time if there is a tie. I think I'm in category 1 as well. From past groups, I've heard that everyone in Category 1 was accepted and they went into Category 2. I think I heard that you must score a 90% on dosage calculation each semester, but you get 2 tries. If you don't pass, you leave the program....but you can join the next class if there is room (so I've heard). However, they are not hard problems....."your patient needs 1g Tylenol and you have 200mg tablets, how much does he get".....stuff like that at least initially. I was told we should hear by the end of June, but I have not called the nursing office to confirm this. Please post if you call and get different information.

Nomijen.....are you in NS now? How do you deal with the sick people when what you really want to do is deal with injuries? How do you just "suck it up"? I just keep wondering if 2 years of NS dealing with stuff I don't like is worth it to get where I want to be. I guess it depends on how badly one wants it. I think I want it pretty bad, I mean whenever I read articles about PEDS or LD, I'm totally interested, but I just get bored with the other stuff. Then again, I really had NO desire to take Chemistry or Algebra, but I got through those with flying colors....I guess I will have to look at this the same way?

Toreo....do you know anyone in the program? Have you heard what it might be like?

The new guidelines are 3.5 GPA to put you in category one. I think I was told that they have drawn from category two in the past as well. Hopefully letters will go out soon!

outside of class and clinical, on average, how many hours per day or week do you study? do you find you have time for family? do you have days where you don't have to study or do you feel like you are always studying? if i'm going into nursing school without having to work at all, can my kids expect me to be "around"? do you read everything assigned or just skim or go off powerpoints? you hear quite often that ns is difficult or challenging, but there is very little information out here on how much study time people put in. i know it is different for everyone but i just want to get a general idea.

I applied to both, you?

So, the fact that I say "eeeewwwwwwww" when I even think about doing bed baths, catheters, wound care, etc. on adults.....this will go away in time? leenak....EXACTLY! What if I can't get a job in OB or PEDS after I graduate? It seems that a lot of pre-nursing students I know all want these areas as well so maybe they are in high demand. I guess I'm not opposed to "paying my dues" somewhere else for a year....but right now I just can't imagine working with adults. Funny, my husband asks WHY I want to go into nursing when I can't stand it when HE is sick! Oh, how I wish there was just a program for OB or pediatic nurses!

Yes, I'm waiting. I think the letter might go out next week, based on what they said in an informational session.

Here is my dilemma. I have a HUGE passion for labor/delivery and pediatrics (having had 4 children myself). However, I do NOT want to deal with sick adults. I understand that NS is mostly about sick adults and we will only spend 8 to 10 weeks total on mother/child and peds. Is it possible for someone like me to make it through nursing school (as a means to an end)? I keep thinking as soon as we start clinicals in a nursing home I will run the other way. Does anyone else feel this way and if so, how do you get through it?

You all say NS will be great "if nursing is your passion". Well, my situation is that I really want to work in LDRP or pediatrics....but I can't really imagine myself giving a bed bath to a 65 year old man. I find myself with a HUGE passion for labor/delivery and NICU or PICU but absolutely NOT with sick adults. Is it possible for someone like me to make it through nursing school?

Can I get some input as far as actual time spent studying? I'm considering an ADN program for the fall, it is 4 days per week from 9 to 4 (some clinicals go 7 until 7). Can I expect to have most nights/weekends free for family time or am I kidding myself? My kids are 6 and 8 and I don't want to miss out on soccer games, sleepovers and just family time in general. I've read some posts about students having to put their lives on hold for school. I think I'm willing to do it and commit the time as if it were a full time job, but if I have to study every night and weekend then school might just have to wait a few years until my kids don't need me quite so much.