klag0915

I wish I had advice......I work nights now, coming up on one year. Only thing that helped me was cutting back to PT. And I realize not everyone can do that. The only other thing that keeps me for the dreaded "it's 4am and I will kill someone else if I don't killed myself first" sage is having a good energetic crew to work with. And usually that's our young 20somethings

Clinicals are interesting - some days are uneventful and others aren't. There have been some issues in various institutions that have caused us to not be able to do a whole lot as students (ie med administration), so there is a lot of observing. At the nursing home, I came home crying each time we were there. It was very depressing. Days are long but they go by quickly. We do 7wk rotations (due to the accelerated nature of my program), have been to 3 hospitals in westchester county so far. My favorite thing so far is.....haha. tough question. I mean its not "fun" by any means. Im married and i never see my husband or my family. Im always exhausted, there is so much reading and so many projects and we have weekly exams.....so much work and stress. But i have made some good friends. And at the end of the day i can see the light at the end of the tunnel - im going to be a nurse in less than 1 year, its a huge accomplishment so that very well be my favorite part. My program is 15mos for 2nd degree BSN - 4 "semesters" but some classes are only 7wks long. so we can take up to 17credits per semester. heavy load. You will be great - good luck, let me know if you have any other questions.

Good luck!! It sounds like you really took the time to decide what you want to do and if you just exude that confidence and enthusiasm you've got it in the bag.. I might be in nursing school, but i never said i was good at quick math ==> In my post I said I am "15 yrs older" but thats just logistically not true lol. Im 32, so 11 years out of college. whups. Best of luck!!

Getting into nursing school is not all about GPA - although it definitely helps. Having some life experience, spending some time working before going back are also areas of interest when it comes to schools accepting you. I graduated with a BA in 2001, with a 2.7 GPA. Worked for 8 years in advertising, went back to school to take prereqs (and re-do some courses) in 2009, and applied with a 3.5 (in pre-reqs) in jan 2011. I applied to 2 schools and I had to explain my undergrad GPA but at the end of the day, I am 15 years older, much more maturity when it comes to what I want from life and my future, I take school a LOT more seriously, and have years of life experience to show for it. I ended up getting accepted to an accelerated 2nd degree program, will be done in less than a year and I worked my a$$ off for it. My point is - you need to show maturity, personality and strength to these schools you are applying to. They test you in nursing school, push you to the limit to see just how much you can take. but it is ALL for a reason. I believe its so that at the end of the day you realize just how far you've come and how good you can be. You will most likely be an amazing nurse, but that person who may not be as book-smart as you is just as able to do so as well. Good Luck!

i know exactly what you are going through! I am in my 2nd semester in a program in Westchester, and i have already had 3 "episodes".... The first time - we were viewing a wound care nurse debriding a stage 4 pressure ulcer - bone muscle etc. We were all (7 + instructor + pt + WC nurse) wearing PPE and it was very claustrophobic in the room. I felt it coming on (sweating, dizzy, clammy, nauseous) and excused myself, unfortunately could not find a chair and passed out cold in the hallway. totally embarassing. Had to go to the ER and everything. 2nd time - watching a PICC line insertion. Again wearing PPE as it was a sterile procedure. So this got me thinking that maybe it was claustrophobia wearing the mask/gown etc. doubtful, but im pulling straws.... 3rd time - 2 weeks ago. A nurse on the floor asked me if i would like to try to insert an IV on him, of course I enthusiastically said yes. We took out supplies and he gave me a short tutorial and i made it about half way through before telling him i needed to sit down. I then felt better, got up and tried to finish the procedure - shortly again felt ill and this time i woke up on the floor. I dont know what my problem is, i know i am a "fainter" but i agree with you that this cannot be the reason why I cant make it as a nurse. I have anxiety so i wonder if that has anything to do with it. But I assure you, you are not alone, I have been second-guessing myself and my ability to give the best care possible when this is all happening. I hope its just something that we will become desensitized to at some point and then these will just be "funny stories" of our time in nursing school. Good luck and if you have any advice please send it my way! Kat

The above link is the exact book we are using for our Fundamentals class. Its VERY helpful. I also went to Borders (before they closed) and bought a Nursing Care Plan book. All the NANDA-I nursing diagnoses are listed and then you look them up and pick interventions, characteristics etc.. good luck!

11hours. Were were taught (Drop factor/time in minutes) x (volume in mL) = drops per minutes --> 11hours

Thank you very much - this is all so helpful. I have taken this all into consideration and its all a lot clearer now! I will post to let you know what my professor said!

I would want to have my diagnosis confirmed first for MS, but that is me. Clearly this patient is having difficulty with the diagnosis since she never had it confirmed in the 8 years that shes known. But my gut tells me that since she came in for hearing loss that that is what I should address first... Thanks for the help! I will check out those links.

HELP! I am a new nursing student, started last week and we have a care plan to write, i know some day this will be a lot easier (also a lot faster) but right now its taking me quite a long time. pt is a 24y/o female, 2 children (3yr, 6wks) reporting hearing loss in left ear. She also is having feelings of fatigue, depression, and clumsiness. Last piece of info she gave me was that she had a diagnosis of MS 8 years ago but did not follow-up with MRI to confirm. What would you address first? her hearing loss or getting a definitive diagnosis of MS??? Thanks!