Kikikins

I use Study Blue, Quizlet, also the ATI books (if your program uses them) are invaluable. See if your textbooks have practice exams online. Mine do and the questions are very similar to the ones in class.

I miss gardening and taking care of my barnyard friends. I can't wait for spring maybe I can take an hour or two on clinical days to spend time out in the fields, digging my hands in the soil. I had no time in the fall to set anything for winter harvest because I had a hard time making the shift from spending hours and hours out and about to just doing what I could. I miss hanging out with my friends, since my program is in the opposite direction of my social life it would take three hours roundtrip just go hang out. Still I have gained a lot of good things so it's not all bad.

If you have a copy of the syllabus from your program, go through it, read the book, take notes as if you were still in and if you are inclined do drug cards. There are a plethora of posted syllabi and course supplements all over the Internet so I would use them. Get as much A&P and pathophysiology mastered now while you have the time for it. Good luck! You can always message me if you have any questions, I'm nearing the end of the A&P cycle of my fast track program.

Get the digital books if you are tech savvy. I love strolling into class with just my kindle or being able to read textbooks on my iPhone no matter where I am. Plus making study reviews is a snap when you can integrate text or make diagrams using the text material. I second the travel tea brewer, there's a tight group of tea drinkers in my class and we were even allowed a kettle in the back of the class. The twistable coloring pencils are awesome! I started with flash cards but found them tedious and useless so I went with an online flash card maker that allows me to load them on any device as well as print them out in sheets. Good luck!

You are not alone! I am in month 5 of 10 and my average is a 96 without much effort or sacrifice on the home front. I am thinking about picking up a job to get my foot in the door at a local hospital that hires LPNs. I am already looking at the next step because I would like to roll right into it rather than 'take a break' as many of my classmates are already discussing. Most of the time I make extra work for myself and discuss it with the instructor privately, that way I am learning without derailing the lesson. I help flagging students wherever I can I as I find teaching others helps me learn -- anyone else experience this? Glad there's more of us out there!

Congratulations! I hope to be in that other forum by midsummer!

Get your books early. Read read read. I can't stress this enough. Get on Khan Academy and brush up on your mathematics (the have a great video on nursing calculations). If you start now you can get through a lot of material without being confined to the class' pace. I am almost at the halfway point in my program and I have an A in every unit. You can do it!

I am in month 4 of a 10 month program. After sticking it out without working for the first phase I am going to seek employment after the holidays because it is just not as hard as I was told. About half of my class is working at least part time, and those that are encountering the subject matter for the first time are understandably having the toughest go of it. The 2011-2012 class in my PN program has a 100% board pass rate. So far no one has quit my program but we have lost a student. If you: - are diligent with studying on your own - are self-aware enough to know when you need to eliminate distractions, delegate responsibilities and see something through to the end - have a job that allows some downtime to squeeze in study sessions when there's important exams coming up. Then do it! Also there's nothing wrong with picking up the books early and getting familiar with the material. With the luxury of time on your side you can read ahead and learn what you will need extra time on, honing your study techniques and getting a jump on phamacology, nursing math, physiology etc.

PookyP - there's a great video for drug dosages from Khan Academy, they don't have much yet but it's a solid start. http://www.khanacademy.org/math/algebra/ratios-proportions/v/unit-conversion-example--drug-dosage Also if anyone needs PN math help just message me.

This is the way I did it... I just passed my Pharmacology Mathematics exam last week 100%. Atropine is a gr 1 = 60mg (the 64.8 standard has been phased out it seems and gr 1 = 65mg only applies to Acetaminophen and Iron -- as per my instructor). gr 1/300 = 0.00333 x 60mg = 0.2mg Using Order / Available (aka Desired / Have)... 0.2mg / 0.4mg x 1ml = 0.5ml Answer = 0.5ml

I wear undershirts under my whites so there's no undergarments visible -and- extends the life of your whites. Now if only I could keep my clogs white!

I cannot agree with the OP enough! I take a few hours every Sunday to make meals ahead for the week for the household. I find soups are great for packed adult lunches so I make two batches of soup (this week featured Potato Leek & Roasted Corn with Ham), one large pasta dish, bake muffins and/or a quiche and I prep freezer meals for all of the dinners if I have time. I have DH bake bread every other night since people love toast around here. Another breakfast tip is making Slow Cooker Oatmeal with Irish (aka Steel Cut) Oats - two cups of oats, eight cups of water, nuts, spices and dried fruit and it makes enough to nutritiously feed five easy -- and they can add a little dairy if they want in the morning. if you pre-measure all of the dry ingredients (one day vanilla almond, another banana chocolate chip, apple cinnamon etc) and set them aside you can make it someone's evening chore. HTH

Friday was my first day and it was not overwhelming at all. My instructor is very keen on combating the perception that nurses 'eat their young' which is really inspiring IMHO. We had photos taken, started with our time-clock login/logout (the program is very fastidious about punctuality and missed time). We covered Chapter 1 of Christensen (Nursing History) and Chapter 6 (Nursing Process) including a little group work. It was an OK day considering the dry material. My biggest problem so far is curbing my desire to participate. I am a verbal learner so participation is integral to my learning process. Unfortunately it means I have to sit on my hands once in awhile and mouth the answers out. I certainly don't want to be disruptive to the class, there's 42 of us!

This was so unlike my experience. My BOCES orientation was pretty much going over the handbook, signing paperwork, turning in our homework, and the same material that was covered in the information session / acceptance packet. No games, icebreakers or even introductions save for the staff. First Day Assessment: Prosaic -- I hope it will change come next week.

I start tomorrow too! I haven't been able to sleep for days. I am pretty sure I will not be sleeping tonight either. Today I went in to make sure all my ducks were in a row -- talk about being anxious! On the plus side all this nocturnal wakefulness means I've been studying ahead so I stay engaged. This owl certainly envies the larks right now! Good luck everyone!