Priaz

hello. i am a current nursing student planning to take the CNA test so it will help me get a job in the nursing field. By being a nursing student, i am exempt from having to take the CNA classes, but i'm a little worried about the skills portion of the test. There are some things on the list of skills to be tested that i have not learned, and I am worried about what will happen if they select the skills that i do not know how to perform. Can anyone give me some advice? Thank you!

okay. thank you for all your advice. I just thought the nurse was being really mean. Hopefully, nothing happens.

i thought i had a pretty good day at clinical today, until i found out that my instructor, another student, and I had been reported. It was not by my nurse for my patient, but from another nurse. My instructor wanted me to hang vancomycin for a patient receiving chemotherapy. we got the vancomycin from the med room and made our way to the patient room. We did not enter the patient room an was observing the patient for a while. The nurse then approached us. We told her what we planned on doing, and she said that the patient was still receiving chemotherapy and told us to wait 15 minutes before administering the vancomycin. We waited, and after a while, the nurse approached us and told us that the patient was not happy with us because she felt that we barged into her room and did not introduce ourselves. My instructor then asked the nurse if she wanted to give the vancomycin instead, but the nurse said it was okay for us to give the medication, so we reentered the patient room. This time we introduced ourselves to the patient, and then i proceeded with hand hygiene (sanitized hand and put on gloves) and hung the IV piggyback with my instructor. My instructor conversed with the patient, who also is an RN, because they discovered that they used to work at the same hospital on the same unit. After that, we said goodbye and left. looking back, i realize that i should have performed hand hygiene upon entering the patient's room before introducing myself. That was my fault. I was thinking i would introduce myself to the patient first (because she was upset that we did not do so when we were observing her), then perform hand hygiene.The nurse had reported that we did not check the patient's chart before giving the vancomycin, so we did not know that the chemo was still running. But it was not my patient. We received the okay from the charge nurse to administer the vancomycin to prepare us for our practicum. The hand hygiene was reported, which i understand. She also reported that we did not introduce ourselves to the patient. I am also wondering if she reported me for not doing well with administering the vancomycin. She was sitting in the patient's room watching me as i was administering it, which made me even more nervous, because i felt like she was looking for another reason to report me. My question is what is going to happen to me. My university was also notified, so I am wondering if i am going to be kicked out of the program, and if my instructor is going to get in trouble because of it. I feel terrible! Any advice would be appreciated! Thank you!

@lwang13: I wouldn't worry about the drug screening. I havent even done it yet. As long as you get your immunizations done, you should be good to go. No sweat! I look forward to meeting you. Enjoy the summer

yes, the BLS is the CPR license.

@Lwang13: you've done your research. good for you. Indeed those are the classes offered for your first quarter. I recommend you enjoy your summer, because once fall rolls around, you're gonna wish it was summer again. Im not sure if they are changing the books, so i would recommend waiting until they put out the textbook list. When the list comes out, then purchase them. You will have a good month or so to start reviewing. As for what you can do over the summer, I recommend getting your titers and immunizations squared away. Get your MMR, Varicella, Hepatitis B titers done, and if you are not immune (like I was), get the vaccines as soon as possible to save headache when you start the program. The Hep B series takes 6 months to complete, so it adds to the already heavy workload you have. I just finished my 3rd shot and have to have my titers done again. It's a real pain in the butt to do, so get as much out of the way as possible. If you are not BLS certified yet, I recommend finding a class and taking it, to get it out of the way, or you could wait and take it at school. It's cheaper to take it at school, I believe. You will most likely not get the nursing packet until August. The nursing schedule is set, but the other university classes are not. If you are a transfer, good luck getting the classes you want. Relax. I know you're stressing, but you shouldn't be. Yes, the first quarter is the toughest I would say, but the next quarters are similar, you just adapt and get used to it so it doesn't feel as overwhelming as the first quarter. You've made it this far, you'll make it through nursing school. If I can, you will!

@Lwang: 1st quarter starts heavy and gets heavier as you progress throughout school. My first quarter i had one lecture wednesday night and 2 lectures on thursday. The units and times are a little different than it is for the rest of the school. Most lectures are 3 units. Labs are 1-2 units. Being that the lecture classes are only 3 units, you might want to consider taking some additional 1 unit classes on the side, because you need 12 units to be considered a full time student, and even with all the nursing classes, the units don't add up to 12. Plus, most likely your GPA will start plummeting, so the 1 unit classes will help boost your gpa. Fees are standard for undergraduates, 2000 something a quarter. I don't have financial aid either, so i know how you feel. Since CSULA is on the quarter system, it'll take about 10 quarters to finish. You get next summer off, but no more summers after that. @anxiousantsy: No, unfortunately. You cannot take nursing classes at another school and then transfer over. The program is 3 years. But if you are a transfer, i would recommend you use one of your summers (this summer or next summer) to get your upper division classes out of the way. Those are required for transfers and current students. It won't be as easy to get the classes because of the nursing school class times being different than the university class times. hope this helped. I know it's a lot, but i hope this eased your anxiety a bit.

anytime! Let me know if you have any more questions!

if you do get accepted, i would recommend moving to LA. I cannot imagine how bad the commute would be from SD to LA. Maybe i should rephrase what i meant by classes being only once a week. If that caused some confusion, what i meant to say is that each lecture only meets once a week, but because class only meets once a week, the class will be longer, which is why it ranges from 2-4 hours. Sometimes you will have multiple lectures in one day, other times it is more spaced out. Lecture times are not negotiable, but you get to pick when you would like to have lab. Clinicals begin during your second quarter of nursing school. The dean will come into your class and have you pick your top 3 choices from the list of clinical locations available for the following quarter. Each quarter's schedule will be different. Some like having all classes on one day, because they commute, others like having a more spaced out schedule. I hope that helped clarify it for you.

absolutely! :) First of all, congratulations to all that have been accepted! It is a magnificent feat that deserves celebration! For those that are still waiting, don't count yourselves out yet! Hang in there. You all will receive news eventually. My advice to you is to make the most of the summer you have off, because when the nursing program starts, you will be swamped. I remember the first week, we had about 15 chapters to read. If you think prereqs and general ed courses are hard... wait until you start nursing school. Good news: hardly any hw assignments and class is only once a week. Bad news: LOTS, and i mean LOTS of reading and studying, plus 3-4 hour classes, sometimes even more than one in a day. Those with jobs, you might want to consider quitting, because it'll be difficult balancing schoolwork with a job. It's possible, yes, but it will be difficult. but hey, you've made it this far already. You'll make it through nursing school. have i scared you off yet? Feel free to let me know if you have any more questions i can answer. :) Once again, congrats to you all! I look forward to meeting you next year!

hello all hopefuls! I am currently a basic BSN student at CSULA. I remember being in your shoes last year. Waiting was horrible, but be patient. They will get to you all eventually. I totally understand you guys are all freaking out. Check your spam mail. It could be in there. It was for me last year. Best of luck to you all! -Azhan

wow... that's incredibly helpful! Thank you so much Esme12 and CT pixie!

can someone help explain the cardiovascular system to me? i dont mean the basics, because i have that down. I know the anatomy and physiology, like structure, conduction pathway, flow of blood through the heart. It's the other stuff i'm having a hard time with, like ECG, CO, SNS stimulation, Receptor stimulation (alpha and beta adrenergic), diastole, systole, preload, afterload. The cardiovascular system is one of the hardest systems for me. If anyone can help me out, i would greatly appreciate it. Thank you!

thank you all! this is very helpful!

what about vital signs? My professors answer choices have BP, temperature, etc... How do you know when those are the right answers?