opal86

Yes! Only do the first assignment ahead that would've been due for the first class, you will thank yourself later for being ahead because it is so easy to get behind. And enjoy your last week of vacation.

Are you going to NVCC?

Hi GamerGirl, I am going into my last year of my nursing program, and I had many of the concerns that you have now. I don't think nursing school material itself is hard, there's just a lot of it, so read your texts and study your butt off. You can do it. The one thing you will keep hearing from everyone is that the learning never stops. And practice your skills in your school's lab so when you're in your clinical setting you know what you are doing, you will impress your teacher and show confidence and competence to the patient. I wish I had done more of that last year. I am a bit socially awkward as well, I am not "outgoing" by any means, but I am a real, genuine, and kind person, and a lot of my patients appreciated that. Listening is most important and you will learn ways to "therapeutically" communicate with them, which basically means the conversations are all about them, their problems, and their needs. As far as your social life goes... that's just part of the sacrifice,as well as less hours at your job, but hopefully it's all well worth it. I also hate studying in groups because it confuses me and sometimes it becomes a social hour, which can be annoying when you want to get down to business, so if that's your style , stick with it. I have studied by myself and have done well. They definitely kept encouraging certain study habits that I didn't think worked for me, such as flash cards, studying in groups, etc. it is worth trying once, just to see how in depth other people are studying so that you can feel more prepared. If you're sitting there and you are thinking "omg I should study way more" then do it. Also, don't let any of the instructors discourage you, some of them can be really mean. I wish you the best of luck this year :)

I will be done with my ADN May 2012 and it took me four years. I have a previous Bachelors degree so I was also expecting my ADN to take only 2 but that was just for the nursing program itself, not including all the pre-reqs. Even though I was able to transfer a lot of credits over there was still many more classes to take, of course, and a few of them seemed downright unnecessary and just a way to take more money from the students. It is a very good idea to get all of the pre-reqs and even co-reqs out of the way before starting the program. I know a few classmates that struggled with the main nursing class because they were working and taking a couple classes on the side, and about 1/4 of my class failed or dropped out. A lot of my classmates have had to cut their hours and even quit their jobs entirely because nursing school is so time consuming. So even though you may want to get school over with asap, think about what you honestly can handle, because nursing school is a lot tougher than one would expect.