merlinsbeard

Passing is 77% at my school. Anytime you fail an exam you have to have a meeting with your advisor. If you fail a specified number of exams you are dismissed from school.

How many of you will be living off student loans while in nursing school? I think I am going to have to take out a bunch of loans to make end's meet. I've been trying to find a prn job at a hospital, but haven't even been called for an interview. My husband and I have a mortgage, two car payments, and daycare expenses to keep up with I was just curious how many are in the same boat. Any tips to make the money stretch?

I'll be doing Fundamentals of Nursing, Dosage Calc., and Diagnostic Testing.

As somebody who has lived in the South for my entire life, this is one of the most ignorant statements I've ever read.

I'm taking four classes this semester, and two of those are A&P2 and Micro. It's definitely tough, but doable. I also work full time and have a 3-year-old to care for. My husband helps me at home, but some nights, like last night, I have to do bath and bedtime when I should be studying. Oh well. I figure that I am just getting practice for when nursing school starts full time, because that will be a bigger load than this! You can do it!

This very topic is what kept me from pursuing nursing school for so long. Now I'm about 6 weeks away from my first clinical and getting increasingly more worried about it. My instructors have given us tips such as the Vick's or strong Altoids and mouth breathing, however I'm still terrified I'm going to gag in front of a patient.

I'm 99% sure that I want to specialize in L&D when I graduate. I've always had a fascination with pregnancy and birth and after witnessing my sister's birth that was it for me. I knew it's what I wanted. I guess my question would be how do you best manage your study time? I'm in my second "pre-professional" semester before the full on nursing school starts, and already this term is more challenging than last. I have Intro to Nursing this semester and clinicals starting in April. So...how have you studied all this time?

Just for informative purposes, I'm in a diploma program and our required pre-requisites are A&P I&II, Microbiology, Chemistry, Psychology, Sociology, Comp. I, and Nutrition. I hated Chemistry with a white hot passion!

This is my second semester and I can tell that there are a lot of people in my class that aren't really "into" nursing. Maybe the paycheck nurses will find a passion for nursing in just the right job, or maybe they will have their butts handed to them one day because they don't give a rip. Just keep on keeping on! Oh, and our instructors let us know up front that in the hospital the nursing student is low man on the totem pole. Nothing should be beneath us. The same goes for when we are nurses as well. Shame.

My A&P and Micro classes are both hybrids this semester. I took A&P1 as a hybrid and love the setup! I go to lab once a week for two hours and then the rest is online. I have powerpoints for both classes so I download them to my iPad and take them to work to read during breaks and lunch. I love online classes, but none of the colleges around here offer exclusively online science courses. I don't think I would enjoy doing labs at home by myself.

I'm glad I found this thread! I need to get one too!

If they aren't passionate about their patients that's their problem. You also have to remember they are human beings with human emotions and it's so hard to be enthusiastic when you've been at it for half your life. They don't have all the new nursing student gusto that you have! Your career will be what you make it! If you love being at the hospital and helping your patients then you will be fine.

I'm in an RN program and planning to get my BSN after that. There's a university where I live that has an online RN-BSN program and you do clinicals at the local hospitals. Most of the hospitals in my area do tuition reimbursement so I think my best option is to get my RN first so they can help me pay for the rest.

I'm planning on working as are many people in my program. I think the only ones in my class not working are the kids that just graduated high school and have the luxury to still live at home and be supported by family. Lucky dogs!

Good advice! There are currently 180 in my class but we are first year out of three so I know many will not make it. I'm trying now to get a tech job to increase my chances of employment after graduation.

Hey, I'm in the 3 year program, second semester. I like it so far! How was your ACT score? Admission wasn't bad at all for me. Just a charade of mailing this, signing that, fill out this. Not bad at all. I did have a friend that didn't get in, but she already had a Master's degree and didn't do great on the ACT, so I think both of those things factored into that decision. Good luck! I bet you'll get in!

My best friend went to UAMS and was very happy with the program! I wish I could relate, but I'm in the Baptist program :)

I have a three year old son and I'm a pre-nursing student and will be starting the full time nursing program in July. I'm super nervous, but so far it has been okay. I took four classes and worked full time last semester and my husband and our family helped us a lot. However, I know when nursing hits full time it will be way more difficult. Lots of moms have done it before us, so it's definitely possible. Good luck!

I got an Anatomy coloring book at Barnes and Noble and it has helped so much! You might also try watching some YouTube videos.

I'll preface by saying that I'm a pre-nursing student and I'm pretty certain I want to work in L&D after graduation. However, I have a personal question relating to the care I received when my son was born three years ago. Here's my story: I had been put on bedrest at 28 weeks due to pregnancy induced HTN. I was sent to L&D by my OB a few times for monitoring during that time and was even hospitalized once for three days around 32 weeks. I went to the hospital the night before I turned 37 weeks due to painful heart palpitations...BP was dangerously high, 182/112 so they kept me overnight to monitor me. They tried magnesium sulfate and Stadol to relax me and lower the pressure but that didn't work so my doctor elected to start Pitocin to induce labor. At 11 a.m. the next morning the Pitocin was started and I was dilated 2 cm 25% effaced so I was very hopeful for a lady partsl delivery. At about 3:15 my BP spiked to 232/?..I forgot the bottom number because the top one was so high. My doctor arrived at 3:45 and informed me that she was going to prepare me for surgery. I wasn't really sure what to think at the time. I was in shock by how high my BP got so I didn't really say anything. I'll spare you all the section details except to say it was a terrible experience. My son was in the NICU for two weeks because of the c-section. He was delivered feet first and his head got stuck inside and they had to vacuum extract it and he aspirated amniotic fluid and developed pneumonia and an infection. I was on magnesium (I think) for 24 hours to prevent a stroke, I was told. It was an awful experience. I didn't get to go see my baby for 27 hours and I had the worst recovery, including an incision infection. I just cannot get over feeling like maybe I didn't really need the c-section and I should have fought to labor longer. The problem is that I have always dreamed of having a lady partsl birth. When I found out I was pregnant I couldn't believe it and I was so excited that I would FINALLY experience childbirth, only to have it taken away. I've seen a therapist about this but I just can't get over it. Everything was so traumatic, before I was even discharged my husband decided that we were not going through this again and he was (is) unwilling to have another baby. So in your professional opinions...was my c-section truly necessary?

I am in the same boat. My chemistry class is making me want to cry too. This weekend I spent some time watching YouTube videos on the current topics we are covering, and I am feeling more confident now. I really recommend utilizing YouTube as an addition to your lecture and taking notes on what you watch. It sucks to spend spare time watching chemistry videos, but it would be worth it to go to class and not want to dive off the roof.