winterlights08

Second to last semester for me starts Aug 26. Med-Surg III & clinical Pathopharm III Knowledge Synthesis III Population Health & clinical Bioterrorism (an elective) I can't wait to be finished!

I had ordered the Carried Away tote when I started my prereqs and it only took one day to realize that a bag that size was overkill. It's really big! If it were filled with books and a laptop it would be awful to carry. I ended up getting the Vera, which worked great for my needs at the time. I still use the Carried Away for traveling, and it works great for that purpose. I'm actually shopping for a backpack now, because my 15" laptop makes the Vera too heavy with my other stuff. I had tried a wheelie bag, but I felt really out of place and awkward using it (I was one of the only students with one). If I were you, I would just get a good backpack now, with a laptop pocket. Every school is different of course, but you may find that you don't need to bring your texts to class, just a binder or notebook. Even in nursing school, we never need to bring the huge books with us, just the smaller texts sometimes, and our laptops. A lot of people like taking notes in the power points, or your school may do computerized testing. If you end up at a school that requires you to bring books, the backpack will still be good for clinicals and work later, or lighter load days.

I have these and really like them. They were comfortable right out of the box, and were reasonably priced.

I agree with earplugs for exams. I use those silicone ones you roll into a ball that mold to your ear. They help to muffle the coughing in the class that for some reason only starts up during an exam, and our squeaky chairs.

Why choose failure when success is an option?

What on earth are they going to have you do with a computer that costs almost $2000? I have a clearance PC that cost me $280 and it does everything I need to do for school.

Yup...sitting here right now trying to formulate a PICOT question for my paper .

Our school uses the Hogan series "Reviews and Rationales" as supplementary texts. I just finished OB (with an A) and found this book more useful than the actual text. I think these books are available for any nursing class. There are practice tests in each chapter and the material is really condensed to "need to know" information.

I don't really have any particular space in my house set aside for studying. I do have a desk off the kitchen but it's not private. It's more just an area to keep my books, computer, etc. I did need an area that would let me leave books lying out since my books had pretty much taken over the kitchen table. I have a noisy husband and four kids. Last year for Christmas I requested Bose noise canceling headphones from my husband. He gave me ones that aren't noise canceling but are still pretty good for blocking out the sound. I listen to classical or Yanni (no distracting words) and I'm usually parked on the sofa reading or studying. Occasionally I'll go out to the library or the bookstore to study, but I'm usually at home. I also find that I don't function very well past 9:00 pm so I don't even bother trying to study after that time. So...I would say if you have to stay at home, get those headphones, and hopefully your wife is very supportive of what you are doing for your family!

I'm just finishing up a 17 credit semester . I'll have 3 semesters left of my BSN program. Spring looks like this: Med-Surg II (5 cr) Pediatrics (5 cr) Evidence Based Practice (3 cr) Pathopharm II (2 cr) A critical thinking class (1 cr) 2 clinical days

Oh, that stinks! So close! I also missed out on my first birth last week . Mom was most likely headed for a c-section, and my instructor was willing to hang out with me for an hour or so, but by the time the decision would be made, and the prep..who knows how long it would have taken. She was really close though. Oh well, there's still a few weeks left in my rotation. Hopefully we'll both get another chance!

I'm a second-semester BSN student: a back-to-school mom with four kids (16, 12,10, and 4 1/2). The only thing that is saving me is that my three older daughters are with their father for half of the week. I don't know if I could do this with all of them home and all the driving/homework stuff! I don't work, so that also really helps. My husband is able to work from home 2-3 days a week, and my youngest daughter's preschool offers an aftercare program, so we use that 1-2 times a week if I have a late day. I went to school over the summer and my MIL was a big help then. I have six classes this semester (and two clinicals) so I'm going a little but I'm managing somehow. I try and get out of the house to the library or B&N before an exam to review, and fortunately my youngest daughter puts me in line.."do your homework, you need to study!" It's definitely not easy though, and my housework has definitely slipped off..and I have fantasies about cooking a savory pot roast and actually sitting down to enjoy it..but I know it's (apparently) worth it in the end. Oh, and I am so, so, very tired. But I try and get 7-8 hours of sleep because I don't function well on less than that, but the fatigue is really getting to me. I just keep reminding myself why I am doing this and that it really isn't forever!

I'm also in my second semester and feeling like . All I can say is hang in there, but I know it's tough. I'm sort of having issues with my one clinical instructor also, but for different sorts of reasons. Right now I'm in the same boat though..not motivated to study or prepare for anything. Something she said to me during my midterm evaluation sort of got to me and made me wonder if I'm just wasting my time. I too spent *so much energy* to get to where I am, and now I'm like, whatever. I can honestly say that if I don't make it through this semester, I'm finished and I guess I'll be doing Plan B (whatever that is). This is really, really rough. I'm rough on myself, it's rough for my family, and now I'm sitting here wondering if I really belong here .

I would also agree with chem being the better choice, if you had to chose between the two. Bio is good for cell biology and genetics, but what you need to know will be covered again in A&P, but my general bio class was more concerned with the life cycle of a pinecone and mushroom stuff. Chem I covers all the basic element knowledge that's good to know for nursing, as well as conversions (which you will need for med calculations). I also had to take a pre-req for Chem (fundamentals of chemistry) and I'm really glad I did (I didn't have it in high school). I had a great instructor and would have been clueless if I hadn't had that fundamental class--especially because my Chem I instructor was absolutely worthless.

It sounds like they haven't opened registration for November/December yet. When I registered last year, I randomly happened upon an open test date with a couple of seats open. Debating registering, then went back a couple of minutes later and there was only one spot open. If there are openings now, you might want to jump on it or take the chance that you'll catch the next opening. I had a week to study but did really well. Good luck!

I bought this one: Nursing Diagnosis Handbook: An Evidence-Based Guide to Planning Care,9e: Betty J. Ackley,Gail B. Ladwig: 9780323071505: Amazon.com: Books and have used it for two care plans so far. The first one I did was actually used by my clinical instructor as a good example for the rest of my group, so I guess it's a pretty good book!

Widener Universtiy in Chester PA accepts transfers. I started this past summer after completing all my prereqs at the CC. Since freshmen start nursing classes in their first year and transfers haven't had those 100-200 level nursing classes, you take them there as one full semester before you officially start as a junior at the clinical level. During that semester you're still considered a sophomorore. I think they have a spring start and summer start. So this last summer I took those classes, had a short break, and now I'm in the full swing of things and just started clinicals (getting ready to head off to my OB rotation that I love so far). Transfering was very simple and everyone at the school is super helpful and it seems like a very well-organized program with great instructors. I had also applied to La Salle and Drexel and got in, so I know those are two other schools that accept transfers. Good luck!

Married with 4 kids here..it's impossible to let anything go! Life goes on and I physically and mentally cannot sit on my toosh with my nose constantly in a book. I need my kids to have some semblance of a mother while I'm home! I will say though, that laundry has definitely been put on the back burner. I have four baskets of wrinkly unfolded, unsorted laundry upstairs right now that hopefully will get taken care of tonight. When I had classes over the summer, my laundry was literally collecting dust. I did start to develop a system where everyone had their own basket and that was working...I don't know what happened. I'm going to try to get that back again. I have six classes this semester and two clinical days that just started. Kids are back at school so we have that craziness now too.

I took it last November and scored a 144 (98%) after studying for a week. I used the red NLN exam review guide and found it to be a huge help. The only area that I felt was lacking in the study guide was basic physics. There was a little bit in there, but I've never had a physics class so it wasn't enough--there were a lot of physics questions on the exam! I would recommend if you have time, is to review a Physics Made Easy book or similar. The other science that was covered was mostly biology, and some pretty basic chemistry. I think that this test is designed to be able to be taken out of high school, so there really isn't much A&P or Micro (if I remember correctly). I also recommend that when you review, if you are crunched for time, is to spend less time reviewing the reading comprehension section. At this point, you either know it or you don't. Of course you should review to get a feel for the types of questions, but it's not like the vocabulary in the review book is going to be the same as on the test. That was for me personally, obviously if you feel that you need to spend time on it, then that's what you will do. For the math section, I had to relearn how to do basic math without a calculator. Math is definitely not my strong subject. If you really spend time doing those problems over and over, and getting the steps down without a calculator, then you'll be okay. There are a lot of percentiles, decimals, and fraction questions. The study guide was great for showing how to work out these types of problems. There was not a lot of algebra. Definitely time yourself when you do the practice tests. Since you'll have to work out these problems by hand, it adds time. It seems a lot of people run out of time near the end of the math section. They'll give you scratch paper. If your exam is computerized (I think it usually is), then you'll be able to flag questions to go back to at the end. I had about 10 math problems flagged and when I went back to them, I was able to answer them easily because I was looking at them fresh. You'll get your score at the end, and a brief explanation of the raw score and ranking percentile. Oh, and the exam is three hours, with a break in between each section. The best thing to do, is the day before, don't try and cram all this stuff in. Relax, sleep well, and leave plenty early the day of the exam. I had loads of traffic the day of my exam, couldn't find the building, and showed up late :uhoh21:, but maybe the adreneline actually helped me out! Good luck to you!!!

I did go for it! I'm so happy I did, I'm really in love with it. I don't think most of my classmates pay me much attention anyway...we were waiting to go into class the other day, and one of the younger girls says "I'm going to get a wheelie bag and start a trend!" (as I was standing right near her with my bag ). Shows what people actually notice! I got a boring black one though, I didn't want to be too obvious :).

Thank you everyone for your advice! I decided to go for it, and boy am I glad I did! I was able to pick up a LL Bean deluxe roller at their b&m store and I've used it twice now. What a load off my shoulders! And the funny thing is, similar to how when you buy a car you suddenly see that same car everywhere..I've seen a handful of roller bags so I'm feeling better about it now. I just have to be careful when we switch between two buildings that no one trips :)--it gets pretty crowded. Thanks again everyone!

I start my OB rotation next week and I'm really looking forward to it . I'd love to work in L&D one day. I have four kids so I can't wait to experience it now from the other side. The only thing is, this will be my first semester of clinicals (I also have a LTC facility), so what I was looking forward to the most will be over first .

I need to be convinced. I had my second day of my second semester and I physically cannot afford to carry around this backpack much longer. I have a LL Bean bag that I splurged on because I thought it would be comfortable. All it does in jab in my sides and give me the look of kyphosis! I had classes during the summer and I dealt with it because I really only needed one textbook. I have six classes now over three days, and I have to bring my laptop everyday. I know I don't need to bring all my books, and really I will only bring books for two of my classes (Patho and Med-Surg), which we were told we'd need to bring. I have to walk about 1/4 mile from the parking lot (I think that's a good estimate) and I don't really have much time (or the inclination) to switch books between classes. I guess what's stopping me, is that I have classes with 80+ people and I haven't seen one wheelie bag. 95% of my classmates are young, and I'm 35. I already feel a touch out of place and I know it doesn't matter what they think...but how in the world are they carrying this stuff around without walking all hunched over? Is it just me being "older" and out of shape? All I had today was two notebooks, laptop, and my fundamental text and it's killing my back. I guess I could arrange to trade bringing in books with a classmate, but I'd still be stuck bringing them sometimes. So should I just risk being the oddball for my comfort and to save my back? Maybe I'll start a trend at my school .

That's my way of thinking..everyone asks what area I'd like to work in, and I say L&D or NICU, but then I usually add that I'm waiting to see where the road takes me. I may hate it (my OB clinical is this fall). I'm also drawn towards geriatics (the other end of the spectrum!). I am also realistic in thinking that I most likely will not end up where I envisioned myself, at least in the beginning. I keep telling my husband that I'll just be happy to find a job as a new grad--I can't be picky.

My school commute is about 25-30 minutes and my clinicals will be about 15-20 minutes away. I actually enjoy the drive to/from school except for the traffic near my house. It gives me some time to turn up the music and decompress. I don't get much alone time, so maybe that's why I enjoy it :). Edited to add: The only think that stinks is the $5 bridge toll!