maracuya

Thank you Very much!

No, sorry, I attend a school in Texas.

Thank you!

Hello everyone! Nursing student in need of help here, I'm studying congenital heart defects for a pediatrics exam that I have on Monday and as I am reading the chapter I came across a couple of things that I don't understand and I'm hoping someone out there will be kind enough to clear this up for me. I could just memorize the stuff, but I find that if I really understand the reason behind the intervention it will be easier for me to remember, not just for the exam but for good. So the first thing is, in teratology of fallot, one of the interventions for a tet spell is to administer morphine, because it decreases right ventricular infundibulum spasm.... what and where is that "infundibulum", I can't find it anywhere and the textbook doesn't really go into much detail. Can someone please explain how that works? The second thing is... for catherization, book says that the child is kept NPO prior to the procedure, but that if there is polycythemia then IV fluids are required to prevent dehydration and hypoglycemia... can someone please tell me how being NPO and having polycythemia can lead to dehydration and hypoglycemia? Thank you very much :-)

Yes, exactly! I shouldn't need to, the school should provide opportunities for skills practice.

I'm sorry but I also disagree with this. A CNA does a lot of things, but CNA's are not licensed to perform a lot of the skills that an RN would do, such as setting up an IV or a foley cath, just to mention a couple. I do not believe that not having had the opportunity of working as a CNA prior to entering nursing school or during nursing will make me a less competent RN than one that has. If this were true, perhaps nursing schools should make CNA experience part of the pre-requisites for entering into a nursing program, otherwise, it is the school's responsibility to ensure that the students have plenty of opportunities to learn and practice all the necessary skills. My passion for nursing, my love of nursing, and the reason I decided to enter this field are not the question here. Having obtained skills prior to nursing school is not the question either. The question is... are all nursing schools like this or is my particular program lacking.

Now that I am on my second semester I understand what the problem is... my school has no open lab to practice skills. I wonder if this is a problem everywhere or only in my school.

Great advice, thank you

Ha ha yes they do... but not pleasant to be in a public place when you have sort of ibs.

Yeah, when it comes to sitting down to read and study I'm afraid you may be right, not sure what to do.

I know, we didn't have whole days to study last semester either. I guess that's a good thing. I've thought about going to the library but at school there's too much people and noise, and at the public library I guess I'm just concerned of what I'll do if I suddenly need to rush to the bathroom :-(

Hi! I'm on my second semester of nursing school which is divided into 2 eight week sessions. This session I'm taking mental health and next session I have med-surg. Just had my first clinical at a mental health hospital this week and it was both interesting and disturbing, but I like it. All things mental health are fascinating to me, I think it's very interesting how the brain works and how we are affected by our environment. Problem is... I can relate to the anxiety. I'm off on Mondays, clinical all day Tuesdays, lecture (all day same topic) Wednesdays, I'm off every Thursday, and we have an exam every Friday. As you might imagine, everything covered on Wednesdays is game for the Friday exam, so that doesn't leave much time to study. When you consider that after 8 hours of lecture one is already burnt-out well... that leaves just one day... today... to study. Of course, it's not just one chapter, it's aprox 5-6 chapters and all corresponding meds and therapeautic communication, psychotherapies that apply, etc... My problem is... I drop off the kids at school in the morning and come home, start the coffee pot and say to myself I will start to study by 8 am. I then end up having pain everywhere and diarrhea... shoulders, back, stomach, head... everything hurts. I can't seem to pull myself together. I start looking for lectures on youtube, practicing nclex questions on the subject, or just simply "getting organized" to study . Well... it's already 10 am and I haven't done anything. Don't get me wrong, I have my notes all nice and neat, and started re-reading and reviewing last night. But I feel I have wasted so much time already. Then I start feeling anxious and guilty about not having started earlier. I can't seem to get comfortable anywhere. I need help! Is it just me, is something wrong with me or is this normal? Does anyone have any advice? I was never like this at work (totally different field) and my grades are up there, the old "I was a 4.0 student until I started nursing school", still I usually get As and Bs but I end up having to stay up all night to study and make up for lost time, then I nap an hour or two, and then get up to go to school and it's driving me nuts, I will go insane before I finish nursing school. Please share your comments and advice with me, it will really help this anxious newby nursing student. Oh... and I can't do study groups, because... I don't know... I just can't. I feel that nothing gets accomplished. I don't know, maybe I've been with the wrong crowd. Half my classmates last semester didn't make it to second semester :-(

I hope you're right and I do hope I get the hang of this soon. I did get 90+ on my first two exams, but it was rush rush rush, seems they just want us to learn enough to pass the NCLEX and the exams, and then figure it out when we start working, which is probably why the seasoned nurses hate the new nurses... its not our fault! :-) ha ha ha

Well, you all must be something else, because I'm on my fourth week of a 2 year ADN program and I've never been through anything like this before. The amount of reading and homework is ridiculous! the stress for skills is horrible when they haven't really showed us how to do anything, and I have my first clinical on Friday and I'm a nervous wreck. There literally are nights when I only get a few hours of sleep (2 or 3 hours) in order to catch up with all the work, and I was so tired this weekend that I crashed all saturday and was unable to get up from bed. And no, there is no way I could have a job, for one thing, the school owns me (apparently) and they make up schedules at will, so I have to be there if they say "we have skills lab practice this afternoon". Maybe I'm not as efficient as the rest of you, or maybe you've forgotten because everywhere I go I read posts about people complaining that nursing school is hell. I was a 4.0 student all they up to all my pre-reqs, then we got our first pharmacology quiz, it was nothing like the material on the chapters and I scored a 58, I was devastated and it sucked my self-confidence sort of like a dementor sucks the happiness from Harry Potter. Anyway... I'm hanging in here. Taking a break from school work but I must now go back to reading. Good luck to you. Don't want to scare you, but don't believe everything you read either, everyone is different I guess. Me... I have no life since I started nursing school. Live long and prosper!

So very true. From now on I'll only share with my family. :-)