Kendal1384

Will you all have front-loaded labs before going straight into the clinical setting? That's when you have lectures and skills lab on campus before being able to practice on actual patients. While the goal is the same, most programs teach different techniques so it's hard to say where you should look until you get books. Once you get your books then I would go from there.

That's awesome that you're wanting to be prepared! I'm a second year (third semester) nursing student, so we've already learned all of the "skills", so this year will be full of lectures and more clinicals. What worked for my classmates and I last semester was a disc that came with one of our MANY nursing textbooks that contained videos of each skill. Anywhere from properly bathing (which I'm sure you've mastered as a CNA), head-to-toe assessment, IV, catheter, etc. On top of this we would actually use videos that were on Youtube(beware, you have to sift through to find one that matches up with the way your instructors have want you to learn). Do you have your books yet? If so, they should have a companion website...USE IT! Those were lifesavers as well, and you can use them to guide you through the educational aspect of your skills. Also, enjoy your freedom while you can! It's good to be on top of the game, but don't go to deep. That could actually cause more harm than good. Maybe just researching the purpose of each skill would help as well. We were also taught, our first semester, our duties as an RN...which are very different than other positions. Our responsibilities are tremendous! We learned about the history of nursing which helped me to have a better understanding of what our mission is. Good luck!!!