SonOfStBenedict

Maybe for people with fine hair but for us curly haired people it's not

Oh god! Bugs! No as a person of color that has had locks before once they lock at the end you can wash as frequently as you feel is necessary and retwist. Peanut butter people do that? that had to be a joke lol

At my facility which is one of the bigger hospitals in the central Mississippi area you can have your hair locked, one of my friends tried to work here a few years ago as a nurse tech and they told him he'd have to cut it off. Since then a diversity committee was formed and saw it fit that it was ok, if they are well kempt, many staff have dreads but I've yet to see a guy nurse with them and only one female.

Great organization and planning you're def better than me, but nursing school has taught me to be more planned and i attempt to be more organized. 12 hour working days seems a little much for Funds but as long as you know you can handle it you should be fine, just don't let work consume you too much and fall behind in your studies. Now for drama, it all just depends on your class and the people you mesh with, I am too an Extrovert & our Class VP, it seems that the drama ensues regardless of how much you try to avoid it especially in a class of 30 girls and 7 guys but nonetheless easy to avoid. One thing that most Nursing Profs Stress is READ before lecture, and that is one thing I can agree upon, it helps drastically with comprehension of the material and may help you feel more comfortable with anxiety when it comes down to taking test knowing that you have read, listened in lecture and possibly read again after lecture so you have a threefold of knowledge on the chapters you have covered. Good Luck Bro! I'm sure you'll do great

lol 1st semester is the little league... wait until Med-Surg. READ before class or at least skim so you will have some idea of whats going on in lecture and won't be so lost. The reality is that in a lot of programs Funds is the weeder class and many will drop or fail but if you're serious and try to keep you you'll do fine. Just read and try to have fun while they put you through hell then perhaps reality wont check you too hard lol, good luck.

Its logical, I'm my program you can be kicked our for 2 or 4+/-(can't remember) BP error on evals. At least you're acknowledging you were at fault sorry so many people are jumping down your throat. Hope you get everything on track this time, Good luck!

i am guilty of the same, i really don't have any extra advice but to try and start on care plans and paperwork as soon as you leave the hospital the day before and trying to get to sleep by 9:30 or 10. i never met that i always ended up going to bed at 12 or 1 having to be up at 5:15, i would be a little tired at first but by the time pre-conference and a cup of coffee i was alert for the rest of clinical granted i would crash after and sleep for like 5 hours i was fine while in the clinical setting. maybe you could try b12 or a 5 hour energy if you start to feel your energy dwindling. if you are just having trouble sleeping and can get care plans done in a timely manner, then i would exercise after leaving the hospital, take a shower do care plans and by time that's done you will more than likely be well due for a good nights sleep.

Just finished 1st semester....I turned 23 in April I finish in December 2013 and I'll be 24 I finish, there are 8 guys in our class... 3 of us are 23, 2 are 19, and 3 are mid thirties early 40s

there aren't cliques per say but there are subgroups i.e. the guys, the smokers, younger students, students with kids, your clinical group, commuters from louisiana & those of us who took previous courses together. however these overlap so everyone generally ends up talking to one another and being cordial, granted there are 1 or 2 that majority of the class avoids or just tolerates, i dont see it as cliquey as a whole. but with that being said, mild drama will arise from time to time but that's just the norm when you get a group of people from different cohorts, cultures ect. together. for the most part we see it as we're all at in the same race and we need to help each other to the finish line, if need be, so not at least enjoy each other getting there.

same way here we have a dosage cal test every semester, however in my program we have med modules to do which is very tedious and lengthy but it helps tons for the test, we have an iv module that's due when we get back in the fall. i could scan the last few pages from my fundamentals mod and email it to a few of you of that helps but there are practice problem on the internet. you basically solve the problems by implementing conversions which could include gr(grains), mg, ml, units or mcg(micrograms), using methods of dimensional analysis, formula method or ratio-proportion in which 3 sessions per method were offered in the weeks before the test. we had to attend 2 tutoring sessions didn't matter which method, you could even go to the same one twice, i personally went to formula and dimensional analysis. i hate ratios so i knew that wasn't going to even be an option, i found the formula method to be confusing even though you would think just putting values in formulas would be simple it came off as complex and needed too many steps for my liking. now da i love and find it to be the most simple way of doing dosage problems but we all have our different learning styles and you will just have to find the one that is right for you! we had to make a 90 to pass, i made a 100, you only have 2 chances and if you don't make it the 2nd time you are asked to leave the program. at the time of our exam we still have about 45 students and i think 5 or 6 failed the first go-round and they all passed the second test. be careful to double check your work and no trailing zeros [one of my classmates had to take it again solely for this!] i know yall are anxious but this is really the time to relax because the fall is going to be like something you've never experienced before.

sometimes we all have biased thoughts, and i can concur that is one of that i've heard quite a few times. it's like saying there is nothing worse than a nurse that smokes, granted we all have our downfalls, its just in lieu of being in health care giving pt advice on how to get better how are they to take you seriously if, you're telling them they need to lose weight but you are obese also or telling a pt with copd they need to stop smoking but you come back from lunch smelling like a pack of joe's. its doesn't necessarily line up if that makes sense, i think that goes back to pt trust and establishing a good basis with the pt by helping them have more confidence in your abilities if you are "practicing what you preach." however he could have said it in a nicer manner, instead of being an a-wad! kudos to you on the weight loss!:yelclap:

Congrats on getting in! There are about 9 or 10 skills; Handwashing, bed making(occupied & unoccupied), bed bath, vitals, foley catheter(male and female), enema(3 types), meds(PO[oral], IM, ID and SubQ injections), NG Tube insertion and feeding, and wound care.... I think that's all of them the most nerve racking for me was Foley cath being that it is a sterile procedure well any sterile procedure makes me a little nervous.. Alway thinking about breaking the field, but I had very patient and thorough teachers that understood us and took everything step by step. At my school if you don't pass the written skills exam or the Actual skills performance you have one more chance and if you don't pass the second time you are released from the program. Critical errors can cause you to fail Skills Performance like missing BP or pulse +/- 4 points, respirations +/- 2, breaking sterile field and not realizing it, not checking pt armband & asking pt to state their name/dob, not checking NG tube placement by auscultating.... And our Written Skills was 50 questions 78 to pass... Just study and watch the videos on the cd that your book comes with if that's available to you. Good luck with 1st semester!!

I agree with raianna it al just depends on where you live, I'm in an ADN program in south Mississippi and in the class that graduated in the fall more than 3/4th of them have jobs and one even became a charge nurse in February only after working for 2 months. Also my good friend just graduated from the UMCs BSN program and had a job lined up for about a month now, & she just graduated last week, they're paying half of her loans and her NCLEX and giving her a signing bonus. Although she didn't work as a CNa she is really nice and leaves a lasting impression and got a job where she did rotations so just do your best to make a lasting impression and hopefully doors will open for you :).

For K we just say "3.5 to 5 keeps the heart alive"... Sometimes it's harder to remember long sayings when you actually get down to test time, I've found the shorter/less complex is better for memory, just a thought hope it helps

It's a common feeling, don't worry! You have to get used to getting really close in peoples private space. The first time I had to do a cath insertion I had help (our clinical instructors encourage us to help each other as many programs do), most times you use a numbing agent so you're not necessarily hurting the pt, it may be a tad uncomfortable. You'll get used to alot of stuff lord knows, one day a group of us out to eat and somehow we started talking about Catheters and waste... One of my classmates said that's how you know youre in NS when you can sit around and talk about pee and poo and still have an appetite lol