RNMal227

It's 2020, the world is vastly different, and I'm getting my MSN! I know, I know... my journey has taken a turn.... and that's okay! I'll update you guys soon! I hope you all are safe. Much Love, Mal.

Hi! Welcome, Peachmarie! You are entering as undergrad. Click that module and see if your program is there. If, not the Leadership (module 7) might be your baby! I can't remember which I chose! Let me know how your fare please! Best wishes, Mal

Just checking in guys! Things are preettyyy hectic in my part of the woods! I just wanted to pop in and give some encouragement to anyone following this thread. Keep moving. Right now, I'm having a difficult time juggling school, personal, work, kids, health, etc! C'est la vie, oui? It's okay to not be okay... the thing is to keep moving... Even if its crumbs at a time, push it. I'm finding these days I have to do a few paragraphs (writing or reading), and get up and walk and engage in another activity for 15 minutes just to keep up my progression. That's not the usual way I work, but that's okay. It's working. I am accomplishing things and its rewarding to see that completion. I encourage you to do whatever it takes, even if it's unconventional. We've got to make it. I am now currently considering stopping here at Bachelor's (yet, again) and pursue a FNP degree. Time will tell. The original plan was to get this Master's, practice a bit under it, then FNP. I have so much to consider.. I'm just trying to align my life, that's all. I'm not giving myself a tight timeline. I just want to consider everything before my next journey. Thing is, I am however pressed for time when it comes to starting my Master's courses. Ugh, decisions, decisions. When the decision is made, I hope to have considered all options and tracks, and received some Divine direction. Life has a way of turning, does it not?

IIIIITTTT'SSSS JULY! July 4th that is and I'm back with an update. June, Lord JUNE! It was EXTREMELY challenging for me! I lost almost all motivation and bit off tiny pieces of my last two courses. June of last year I lost my grandmother (she was 104 y.o!!), had emergency surgery, and it's also my Mom's birth month and sadly death month. Again, June, Lord...June. So this June was difficult... sometimes too difficult to put in words. I put my energy into other things, subconsciously attempting to escape the memories. I had moments of extremely high energy, and the other end of the spectrum..lows (you know what that is). Nonetheless, I was making progress, but not enough for me. And still, I kept slothing (is that a word?) around. It soon became a few days before the end of the term and I had only done like 3% of the TWOOO courses I had left....prepare fOR THE CRASH...... **RECORD SCRATCH** I prayed. I talked with my mentor. I talked with my husband. I cried. I GOT UP. I STARTED AGAIN. I....FINISHED!!!!!!! I said I FINISHED!! When I tell you guys I took charge of my life... I took my guilt (of wasting time), my sadness, my pain, my anger and morphed it! With God's Grace, I got on that computer and WORKED!! I said, "You want better for yourself. You CAN do better for yourself. Your children are watching. Your family is watching. You ARE CAPABLE! Your Mom told you to keep going ALWAYS. GET UP and GO!" And so I did. I worked when I was tired... I took note of the feeling. I remembered THIS IS NURSING SCHOOL. GO HARD. I wrote those papers. I did those charts. I perfected those papers. I watched those live classes. I talked with that course instructor. I lost sleep, but it DID NOT KILL ME. I was told "Even if you turn those assignments in today, it won't make the end of term date." I said to myself, "I have faith. I know my God." It was literally ONE day before the end of term and I completed one course and finished the mammoth of papers for the second course. I had a goal... to finish what I started..ON TIME. I turned those assignments in and let me tell you... they were returned with..... "PASSED". It was merely minutes before midnight and we were celebrating! Oh what a JOY! I'm here to tell you.. DON'T GIVE UP! FAITH WINS MORE THAN HALF THE BATTLE! We are human, we will fail; but as my Mother used to say, "just because you fall in the mud, it doesn't mean you have to waddle in it." Whatever it is, you CAN get through it. It might hurt- I wont lie- but joy follows I promise. Guys, I hope I've touched someone today...for our battles and testimonies aren't for for ourselves only. I am now working on my field experience, and only have 3 transition courses and your girl will be a Bachelor's degree prepared nurse...and well onto Master's! I leave you with love, renewed spirit, faith, hope, and friendship. Inspirationally Yours, Mal.

Hi there!!! Thank you for your kind words! I don't know how I missed your comment!! Well, you are here now and that's what counts my dear! I hope you have applied to WGU (or a school of your choosing) since this post. Biochemistry is nothing if you pace yourself. The cohorts (bootcamps) can really help if there is chunk of info you don't quite understand. Use that anxiety as fuel and put the petal to the metal! SKKKRRTT! Please update me on your progress! With love, Mal I also updated this thread on my experience in Biochem! Feel free to contact me with any questions you might have!! ?

Heeyyyyy girl HEEYYYYY! Hey boy HEEEYYYY! I am FINALLY here to share a quick update! So STATISTICS>>> The best advice I can give you is--->> DON'T BE AFRAID. DON'T HESITATE. GET. IT. DONE. I took entirely too long and information started to dwindle and I found myself revisiting information! Take breaks. Don't let yourself get hypnotized in the reading. I had to say "okay Mal, you need to DO THIS." So I did. I dedicated everyday to getting chunks of it done (with the intent to learn it as well), and KABOOM! I took the PA (again) and passed! I went right on to take the OA and after 30 minutes of technical difficulties (they couldn't hear me), I breezed through it and PASSED! This was 3/15. Im currently in Organizational Systems and Quality Leadership, with 6 weeks left. I'm truckin' right along..... There have definitely been some wonderful and exciting things going on on my life as well. I am thankful for this little world of support we have here. If we keep it up..this faith and encouragement, we will make it... just you wait!!! I pray for strength, love, dedication, understanding and peace for you all. Until next time, Mal

How goes it?

Oh my the dedication! Keep up the great work! I know you are!!

Hello there and welcome! Statistics sailed right on by! LOL I took wayyyyyy longer than I should have in Statistics! Life picked up, and school became a "task" to do. I had to refocus myself and get back on a roll. Once I did, I passed that PA and went on to take the OA and passed the first try! I kind of kicked myself for taking so long, but hey, no time to dwell in the past. I reveled passing the OA and quickly moved on! The OA wasn't difficult at all. You just have to know your stuff! The only thing that got me was the technical difficulties in ProctorU. They couldn't hear me for some reason. After we spent 30 minutes getting that fixed, I was good to go. Are you currently taking it?

Hey everyone! I'm still here! I too am in Statistics lol!! Keep moving guys... we will get there! Will be doing some serious updating soon! Catcha in a few!

Happy New Year everyone!! Will be updating my progress soon! Happy to be able to post again. Wishing you a prosperous 2019 in every way!?

I TURNED BIOCHEMISTY BLUE!!! Thank GOD I finally stopped taking bird bites and went into BEAST MODE! I read and studied EVERY DAY! I watch the cohorts and bootcamps, used the study guides, played the Jeopardy game, and used the extra quiz questions as supplements!! I used the last PA as an indicator of my final readiness before the exam. I re-scheduled my test twice! I thought I didn't have some of the information down, so I rescheduled and studied more! For those of you that think like me---> Sometimes, the modules start off "talking" like you already know the info...KEEP READING! It will explain to you, in-depth, what the information is about. I went back several times trying to figure out if I missed something, and if I had just kept reading, it would have gotten into the meanings and I wouldn't have gotten lost! Everything will be explained. The best way i think to pass Biochem is to not just memorize, YOU WONT PASS from MEMORY. The CONCEPT has to be grasped. I probably got a couple of questions that were knowledge based. The rest was applying what I learned! It's the bonafide point of competency right?? FIRST, read the terms and definitions..this helps later on. If not, the terms are greatly explained in the text. Make sure you watch the videos in the text!! They prove to be valuable for "putting it all together". NEXT, do the quiz attached to the chapter. Write down the concepts you missed based on that feedback, so you'll know what to brush up on. They make that easy by telling just where that info is located just so you can! THEN, do the games, flashcards etc. I watched my cohorts as supplements and did not attend them live. You can sign up, and the video will be sent to you. I always knew if I had a question, there were TONS of support available, so even though I didn't attend them live, ALL questions I had were answered in the text, the live recordings, or the course videos. Now with all of that out of the way... I ENJOYED THIS COURSE! I now know HOW insulin works, HOW medications work, and I am able to apply those concepts in my nursing career. I have explained in depth to nurses and families how medications work and how carbs are broken down. I am MUCH MORE competent and have improved my nursing judgement based on knowing how the body works on a molecular level. Once you jump in there, I mean REALLY jump, you'll find yourself immersed in the wonder of the body. It's truly amazing. Now I know everyone won't share the same sentiment as I, but the more positive your outlook is on a task, the easier it is to tackle it. I dreaded it based on horror stories, as I previous stated....but I now wonder, "WHY DID I?" I leave you with encouragement, positivity, and hopefully, motivation to keep trucking! Just breathe. With love, Mal

It was a breeze at first, but now I'm finding studying a bit challenging since school has started. I let a PRN job go because it required me to work a specified amt of hours monthly, and I found the weekends were a golden time to study. In addition to this, my FT job has a lot going on and I've been doing a lot of planning and conversing after hours. As a result, my concentration dwindled. After I got home, I still cooked for a few days in advance and that took away from study time. In came the chronic headaches that love to rear their ugly head during stress! I considered taking a nap after I got home, like I did in nursing school the 1st two weeks- which was very effective, but thought that as a last resort.. So I had to take a day to re-evaluate what my priorities were! I sat and talked with my husband and talked about my worries balancing it all. I took another day at work to sort through all of the new things going on and develop a plan to complete smaller daily tasks. I still cook in advance, or hubby helps with meals. We tag team, helping with the kids' homework. I take study breaks now to meddle the kids so they won't feel left out. I'm still adjusting, but I was able to identify the problem and studying is coming a bit easier. I might still do that cat nap to wake with a more clear mind for study. Whatever I have to do to not only exceed, but excel, I am willing to do.

Hi guys!! Just a quick update! I have finished the Leadership & Comms (L&C) class and have been pounding Biochem! I hope to have it completed by the end of the month. We had a paper to write for the final for the L&C class. I had to be at least 4 pages or 2500 words, I believe. We had to turn in 2 prior papers and this was the first time I had my paper returned to me. I sweated it a little bit, because I felt I explained it thoroughly. I then thought about one of the things I learned in the class- accountability. I perused my paper again and found I indeed did not fulfill that part of the rubric clearly. You see, they give you a written explanation of why your paper didn't meet the requirements and that eliminates any guesswork on our part!! I sat down, took a deep breath, and began to type! I read it yet again, and re-submitted it! It took about a day to get my results... I think I was #141 in the queue. But who cares.. I passed!! So happy to report 2 classes down and ready to add more to that quota! I hope you guys are having a great day. Talk soon, Mal

Nothing wrong with that! If you're able to get all of your requirements squared away before the 15th of August, then you should be good to go! It is so rewarding see that status change as you go! I wanted a June 1 start date, but I made my decision to attend a bit late, so I missed the date. The beginning of June was extremely challenging for me and my family as we had a death at the beginning and I had surgery towards the end. There's definitely a silver lining. and bittersweetness to that. Go with your gut/heart!

Nothing wrong with that! If you're able to get all of your requirements squared away before the 15th of August, then you should be good to go! It is so rewarding see that status change as you go! I wanted a June 1 start date, but I made my decision to attend a bit late, so I missed the date. The beginning of June was extremely challenging for me and my family as we had a death at the beginning and I had surgery towards the end. There's definitely a silver lining. and bittersweetness to that. Go with your gut/heart!

The practice test is a few questions and takes time because you have to download the proctor program, the proctor introduces themselves and asks to take over your mouse and computer, and the time between you and them lags (i'm guessing D/T location). I never took the practice test, but it did show me how much they can do on their end! THE TEST! I logged in with the proctor program and they assigned my proctor. She was nice, but her expressions let you know that THIS IS NOT A GAME. lol!! She took over my computer and started changing privacy settings, closing open windows, closing apps...EVERYTHING. I have an iMAC computer so she went to all three of my desktops and closed all of my programs, AND she had the courtesy to ask if there was any information I wanted to save! The only thing she didn't do was change my voice reminders. My computer notifies in a selected English accent of the time every hour, and when she spoke during the test ("it's 8 o'clock"), my soul almost left my body! It scared me half to death! Then the fear that they were going to kill my test came, but soon went away after she said nothing, and I continued. So after all the "checks" are done, she asked me to pick up my WGU camera, and told me to show my whole desk SLOWLY, ALL corners of the room, under your desk, your desk top...EVERYTHING. She also asked to see my cellphone too! I told her I left it in the bedroom. I told her I didn't see a need for it during a test and she said "good". The questions were NCLEX style, easy to read and comprehend, but challenging. BE sure to thoroughly read your questions! A couple times I thought I had repeat questions and they were NOT. They were asking for something else, using the same example!! This test is NOT a test of memory. It truly is competency. You get your results immediately! It felt so good to see PASS! A few days before the test, I got an email from my program mentor stating she was moving to another area and I would be getting another mentor. IT hurt..so bad. We had our last appt and she said she's available until the official "changeover" date. I met my new mentor and she immediately started giving me tons of career advice and educated me on my possible NP goal and the conflict of getting a MSN before that. I LOVE her for that! It gave a topic of discussion for my husband and I but I am staying the course people!! I think I'm on the right career path, for now. I now have 2 classes left in my Leadership and Communication class (WHICH I LOVE)!! We have a paper to write at the end. I will give more info on that course in my next update for those that want me to share. I was taking Health & Wellness, but my new mentor told me to stop! lol She said you should take BIOchem first, because it's the foundation for that course. I wanted to slap myself. DUH!! TBH, I was skating around Biochem because I was intimidated. I love science, but I heard the course is a beast! lol! That was a bit out of character for me as I usually like to tackle beasts first!! So it was an eye opener.. so I went and found my guts and started the course. She gave me resources and told me to sign up for the bootcamp to help me on my way. I'm telling you, I LOVE MY MENTOR. I don't feel alone AT ALL! Until next time.. Take care of yourself, keep it positive, and BREATHE. Much love, Mal

Hello!!!! I am truly happy to see some newcomers here! So July 1st was the last update and sooooo (insert more o's) much has happened- and its only the 21! When I think about the fact that my start date was just the 1st, I can take a breath! I feel like time is zipping by and it really isn't. I have a tendency to race against God knows what! lol I've completed my Care of the Older Adult and it felt PHENOMENAL to see it turn blue! Blue means completion. What I love about WGU is, I could have really delved ONLY into the areas my coaching report told me I need improvement, BUT in my reading, I found some information that I was wayyy out of date on!! It blew my mind! That made me keep reading, and I am so PROUD to say that I am glad I did. My confidence level in my knowledge has grown exponentially! I feel like I am a better nurse because of it, and I've found myself teaching my cohorts and nursing students I come in contact with at my job fluently. Now academically, I am glad I did that because the material on the OA (objective assessment) covered everything and I was well prepared! The OA PROCESS! DONT DO WHAT I DID lol!!! When you are ready to take your assessment, you have to set an appointment. I set mine to be really close to encourage my progress. So 10 minutes before the test, I decided to do the practice test! *face palm* I thought they were just going to take me through the beginning of the test, i.e. camera set up, getting you acclimated to the "test environment", etc. NOOO! She was about to do a WHOLE test! LOL She was understanding when I told her I had to jet and laughed at me when I came clean! So if you're going to the do the testrun, do it the day before or something! DON"T DO LIKE ME> It gave me unnecessary test anxiety. SEE NEXT POST

You're welcome! I wanted to be the help I was seeking when I began my journey. So app & eval? It's only up from here! I had so many butterflies at that point in my enrollment process. I'm hoping your transfer eval zips you forward like mine. It feels great not having to repeat information you've already been credited for. Keep us updated! I am also happy to hear others journey as well!

Are you also taking the Leadership & Communication class? I am taking that along with Biochem!

Hi Bryan! Thank you so much. I love positive energy! It's been good so far! I've put the work in that's for sure. October 1st?? That's wonderful! You'll be able to get some great insight before you start. Happy Saturday!

Today is July 1!! Happy beginnings!! Before I get into my update, I want to encourage those of you who are watching my progress and reading my posts to interact! I would love to converse with you. Now crack open that shell and let's get it! í ½í¸ƒ So after meeting with my mentor a few times (we have scheduled all of out meetings for the semester), we set my courses for this term (6 months). She told me to approve my classes today before REALLY starting. So once, you finish orientation, which is 3-4 hours..longer for some, there's an email that outlines your next steps..one is meeting your mentor and the sending of your Student Success Kit. I was sent a tracking a number and my kit arrived earlier that projected. It includes a webcam (which looks like a stethoscope haha), a car decal, a dry erase board, a gorgeous WGU cobalt blue mug. My mentor, who I LOVE, went over the courses with me and helped me decide which ones to take right now. She listened to what goals I wanted for myself, and positively encouraged me on my progress. "But you haven't started yet, so what progress?" Well, you are allowed to study course material, and take the pre-assessment before your start date! I have read mounds of material of Care of the Older Adult and have taken the pre-assessment(PA) (which I took 1st). I passed and discussed the two areas i needed improvement in with my mentor. She told me she was impressed by my score and opened another PA to retake after reading the material. Now after you take the PA, you receive a coaching report that tell you what areas you did well on, or needs a little work. There's no guesswork here! I hope I've covered everything since my last post!! I am sooo excited and blessed to have begun this journey and am truly dedicated. I had a medical emergency last week, and was studying in the hospital. LOL (I'm okay now.) God is good and I am keeping the momentum strong and steady. Happy 1st day of school everyone!

Heyyyyy!! Just checking in! Today is the 15th, so you know what that means! I can start orientation!! I am about to start now and will update this thread after! For any of you that are also starting July 1st, good luck! It's a happy day!í ¾í´©

Hi guys!! I am checking in to give an update. I had satisfied my financial requirements, paid for my background check, received my results, talked with my enrollment counselor, completed my Commitment to Success and Intake interview. I got "Cleared To Start" email on June 7!! As soon as as I got the okay to sign up for the cohort for Live Workshops in Professional Communication and Leadership in Healthcare, I signed up! This is the only class that is "scheduled", but you can choose from a range of dates to attend based on your own schedule. After you're cleared to start, you can resume to orientation starting on the 15th in the month prior to your start date. This means I can start orientation in 3 days! I will then be given an introductory email and a link to set up a time to be introduced to my mentor in a 30 minute phone call. After I have done this, I will be waiting to officially start my classes on the 1st! I am nervous, but extremely excited!!

*competency