Sarcastikate

All of the clinical sites required students to get flu shots this semester, can't say for sure if they'll require it of your class though, since you'll be starting clinicals at the tail end of flu season.:)

I'm in the face-to-face group so I can answer your schedule questions. In the first 9 weeks, you will generally have lectures starting no earlier than 8am, and you will be done no later than 4pm on Mon, Tues, and Wed. There is quite a bit of variability within that window from day to day though. For example, yesterday I had an exam from 8-8:45, a lecture from 9-12, and another lecture from 1-4; today on the other hand, I had a lecture from 11:30 to 1, and that was it. You will have most Thursdays off until clinicals start, and Fridays are usually off unless you choose to go to optional open lab, (which I highly recommend). Once you start clinicals in week 10, you will have lectures on Mondays, clinical assignment time on Tuesdays, and clinicals on Wednesdays and Thursdays- usually from 7:30 until 2:30-3:30. Take that with a grain of salt though, I don't know that your first semester will be set-up exactly the same as ours. Hope that helps!

The books are definitely pricey- but the good news is that you use mostly the same books throughout the whole program, so you won't have to buy much for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th semester. I did a lot of shopping around and found that the 2 "bundles" are cheapest when bought through the bookstore, but almost everything else is a little cheaper on Amazon, especially if you're willing to take a chance on buying used. I think I saved about $150, or so that way.

AMC is right- your uniform has to be white, but you stethoscope and cuff can be any color you want.

This is the one I bought: http://www.amazon.com/Lumiscope-Purple-Blood-Pressure-Stethoscope/dp/B000U5KKKU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1317565480&sr=8-2

Personally, I'm not very informed yet about which ones are worth spending the extra money, but I can pass along what our instructors have told us, which is not to get an expensive one to start out with. I just went on amazon and bought a $20 set with a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff, picking largely based on reviews from other customers. You are allowed to get what ever color you want- mine is bright purple! And one of my classmates has a really cool pink camoflague (sp?) one. Happy hunting!

Yup, sorry to confirm bad news, but the scrubs do indeed have to be white. You won't need them until week 9, so you have plenty of time to shop. The Nursing Student Association will have a scrub sale, but not until right before clinicals. You can get your uniform items there pretty cheap, but beware- some of them are very thin, and see-throughiness (technical term, lol) is already a big problem with white scrubs. I picked mine up at Gallo Clothing in Pasadena on Mountain Road. They have a really good selection and there are a lot of different brands, (textures, cuts, and levels of thickness too) to choose from. The prices are decent- I think I paid $12 for my tops and $10 for my pants. Personally, I love the fit and built in pocket organizers on the Winks brand scrubs, but they have some cutsy Grey's Anatomy ones, and a bunch of others as well if that matters to you. You can also pick up your stethoscope and blood pressure cuff there for cheap. (Yeesh, I feel like I should be getting paid for this ringing endorsement, lol). Anyhoo, you will also need to pick up the AACC nursing patches at the college bookstore, they're about $4 each, if memory serves. Hope this helps!

I'm afraid so. They will tell you all about it at orientation, but you will be expected to have the software installed and ready to use from the first day of class. We have used it several times during lectures and labs, and from what I understand, it's absolutely essential in clinicals. I've only just finished week 6 of first semester and we've used it quite a bit already. On the bright side, it is actually a really cool study tool and resource to look up all kinds of stuff from different drugs, to lab values, to procedures on anything and everything.

I bought the HTC Evo specifically for nursing school and I absolutely love it. To be honest though, any smartphone with a good sized screen will get the job done. Just a word to the wise though, the only carrier that gets decent reception inside Florestano is Verizon. You do NOT need to have a signal to use the Skyscape app, but if you're like me and want to go online to check your exam scores the second they go up, you'll probably find it incredibly frustrating to have to wait until break so you can go outside to get a signal on your phone. I usually have to bring my laptop the day after exams to get around that little annoyance.

The very best advice I can give you is to pick up the Prentice Hall Nursing Fundamentals: Reviews and Rationales book (ISBN: 978-0-13-224078-9), which is available at the college bookstore and on Amazon, and start reading and doing practice questions. This will really give you a leg up on understanding the basics, plus it's a little easier to read than the other gigantic text books. Focus on what nursing process is and how it is applied to patient care, since that will be the main point of your first couple of weeks when class starts. As for the PDA question; you will be required to carry something that allows you to access the Skyscape Nursing Constellation software. Most of us use a smart phone, some use an Ipod touch, and a few use a palm pilot. You can see a list of supported devices on the software homepage here: http://www.skyscape.com/estore/productdetail.aspx?productid=1044 Other than that, try to be very organized with your class materials. You will be jumping back and forth between NUR 120, 121, and 122; plus labs on a daily basis. So good organization skills are a must. Most importantly, try not to stress out too much in the first couple of weeks- it takes a month or so to really get in the groove as far as knowing what and how to study. Nursing classes are very different from what you're used to in A&P and Micro, so don't be too hard on yourselves if you feel a little lost in the beginning. We all feel that way, lol. It's a lot to take in the at first, but you will all do great, so just try to relax and roll with it. Good luck all, and if there are any other questions I can help with just ask!

Congratulations to all of you Spring 2012 Selectees! I'm in 1st semester now, so it wasn't that long ago that I was jumping up and down with excitement over getting my acceptance letter too. Best of luck to you all! Congratulations again! P.S. If you all have questions about anything, I'd be happy to help- Just let me know. :)

Lili Nurse, As a new nursing student, I'm afraid I can't be much help in the job-hunting department, but I do know that VA hospitals often list their current openings on usajobs.gov. You might want to visit that site to start your search... Good luck!

Every time I click on the course names in myAACC it says the courses will be available on the 19th- so I'm assuming that means everything will be up Friday. At least I hope that's the case, since I've already blocked out half the day to go print everything at the school library. Gotta save money on printer cartridges to help pay for all these books, lol!

Hi Grace, I'm in section 002, but it looks like both sections share a lot of lectures so I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other regardless. I figure I'll give the other ladies a chance to chime in on meeting up and hopefully try and hammer out the details sometime next week. I'm really looking forward to getting to know some of the other students! Kate

Hi everyone- haven't been on for a while and thought I'd check in. I'm glad I did, because it looks like some really good info has gone up in past few posts! Speaking of which, I just want to say thanks to the returning students who are taking time out of your busy schedule to post all of this information. It's super helpful! So, quick question for second semester students; I'm reading Taylor's "Fundamentals of Nursing" and am wondering if there is/are specific section(s) I should be focusing on? There's no way I'm going to make it all the way through this behemoth in the next six weeks, lol. And for my fellow first-semester peeps; would any of you be interested in getting together sometime before the semester starts so we can get to know each other a little better before we take on this crazy adventure? Maybe meet up for dinner and drinks? Kate