Pdxstudent

I have been a nurse for 3 years but I worked in an outpatient hematology oncology setting straight out of nursing school and remained there for the past 3 years. I felt confident and loved doing what I was doing but recently moved out of state and had to find a new job. I landed a job in medical-oncology which is basically med-surg. I have one week left of orientation and I feel so completely overwhelmed!! I know it will take time but most of the time I feel like a fish out of water and have no idea what I’m doing. I’m wanting to stick it out for at least a year so I can gain the experience but I hate feeling so incompetent and feel like I lack basic inpatient nursing skills. I would love any advice or suggestions?!

I know there is a lot of anxiety with the essay questions but we are not able to share the questions asked. My biggest tip would be to google nursing school essay questions and just practice as many as you can.

Well this is my last weekend of being the pre-nursing student version of me. My nursing program starts in 2 days and im mostly excited but a part of me is freaking out. I have all of my supplies and books and feel as prepared as I can but of course I can't help but be afraid of the unknown and afraid that I'm going fail. That's normal and part of being human...but I also know that I have to just dive in and take it one day at a time. Even though I'm nervous and scared, I haven't been this excited for a new chapter in my life in a long time! My plan for this weekend is to enjoy my kid's sports games, have a couple drinks with my husband, and finish a couple shows on Netflix since I probably won't have a chance to again until Christmas Break!

That's a crazy amount of student loan debt to have not mention adding to it! I am also a second degree student and I had the option to go to a well known university which would have cost an arm and a leg so I chose a local community college program and then I'll bridge over to the university my last year to get my BSN. That will save me thousands in additional loans. Do you have any cheaper options?? In my opinion I would do some thorough research and go with the cheapest option available given your situation. Or put it off for a couple years and work hard to save up enough money to help you through it.

I just have to say that I haven't even started my program yet but I don't find your story to be funny or "redic" at all. This is a professional program and should be treated as such. Even if you have an inside joke with one professor you shouldn't assume that all the professors hang out and are in on the same joke. You said that you felt like your time was wasted...it sounds like you were wasting your professors time by not taking sim lab seriously.

I was going to add too that you should check with ohsu to be sure in case anything changed since last year.

No, letters of recommendation are not required for the undergrad program. In fact I was told last year that they won't even look at them if you submit them with your application.

As a requirement for my nursing program we were given a list of everything that had to be uploaded to a particular website. This wasn't sprung on us and it didn't catch me by surprise. I was fully aware that we needed to have our vaccination records in order and they had to be uploaded by mid August. I jumped on it right away and had everything submitted well before the due date and it was all accepted with no issues. Now my program starts in 2 weeks. Last week they sent us an email explaining we had to upload everything again, but this time to a different website. I was curious as to why it had to be uploaded again but I did as asked and completed the uploads. Today I received an email that one of my titer results was unreadable and I need to upload different documentation and it has to be done by the 23rd or else they can't place me for clinical. Im just a little frustrated that the exact same documentation was accepted with the first website but not for the second. I called my doctors office to request another form of documentation but of course I have to go through the whole process of filling out a form and sending it to medical records and this takes time. They told me it would probably take up to a week and half. 😕 I'm worried about not getting something "readable" in time. My husband is out of town for work and I just needed to vent! This seemed like a good place, haha...so thank you for letting me vent.

Well it sounds like you have a great shot at getting in! I felt like my proctored essay went well. Once we started the time flew by so fast! I would suggest maybe when the time gets closer to practice typing out some mock essay questions and also really know why you want to go into nursing. If you do a google search you will find tons of practice essay questions. My only other advice I can think of is just try not to stress too much about it! It's a very long process from the time you submit your application until getting selected. It seemed like it all came down to grades and experience...I had the grades but zero experience and I got in. So just do what you can to get those points and hope for the best!

I'm starting the program this Fall. :) I'm excited to get started. I took all of my pre-reqs at PCC too. I hope you're able to get your question answered from OHSU. I feel fortunate that I won't have many other classes to take and can focus on the nursing classes because those will certainly be hard enough as is. I will need 2 terms of a foreign language though and I plan on completing those during summer breaks.

I received the invite on FB for the mentor group page but does anyone know if a group page was started just for the class of 2018? Just curious! Thanks!

Hi there, I would suggest contacting OHSU to find out if there are any restrictions or anything like that for the upper division classes. I actually need to do the same thing. I'm starting at PCC this fall and might also need a few more upper division classes. Do you have a previous degree? I was just told today that OHSU will do a complete transfer credit evaluation for $25 and tell you what classes you would need. I'm going to see if my business classes from my first degree would fulfill that requirement. I think if you know for sure that you will transfer to OHSU for the BSN then knocking out those upper division classes sooner rather than later will make things easier later on.

Well I haven't started yet...I start my program next month...but I'm in the same boat. My husband will be working full time and my kids are busy with their schedules and I won't have time to make a fresh hot meal every night. I found some great ideas on Pinterest as far as snacks and lunch to take to school with me. One idea was taking a mason jar filled with noodles, veggies, and spices and just add hot water and you have diy noodle soup. For dinner we have decided that we will plan out meals each week on Sunday. We are going to go with a theme for each week day. For example Monday's might be Italian, Tuesday's might be Mexican. I'll make and freeze what I can on Sunday so it's all ready to go. I'm definitely interested in hearing anyone else's crockpot ideas though!!

I'm going with a rolling backpack for a couple of reasons. First of all I can't study at home when my husband and kids are around so I plan on spending most of my time on campus studying. Secondly, and this is just a personal preference, but I like to have a physical book in front of me that I can highlight in and mark up. I know it will be heavier but that's why I went with the wheels. Plus it does have straps too so I can carry it when I need to.

I recently purchased the Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga 14 and I love it so far. I was debating between that and a MacBook Air but the Lenovo was a little cheaper and came with more storage space. I also love that I can fold it any way I want so it can be used flat like a tablet or folded like a tent. It's also a touchscreen which I think is great as well. Totally depends on your preferences and what you like but I would reccomend the thinkpad!

I also went with a Blue Sky planner from target and I think it's great so far! I actually really wanted an Erin Condren life planner and that was on my wish list of supplies for school but I just couldn't get past the price. The one I found at target will suit me just fine and has everything in it I need without the hefty price tag.

I will be starting my BSN program this fall and this will be my second degree. I already have the majority of the credits needed for my second bachelors except for a foreign language. I plan on fulfilling these credits during the summer months and I'm trying to decide which language to focus on. I'm leaning towards either Spanish or ASL. What second language do you think would be most helpful to have some background in for a career in nursing?

Well I haven't started my program yet but I did buy the High Sierra XBT wheeled backpack. I will be taking a bus and doing some walking to get to campus and I'd rather save my back! I love the size and the number of pockets and the laptop space. It came highly recommended to me!

I'm not sure where you are but im in Oregon and my whole family qualified for the Oregon Health Plan. Maybe you have something similar where you are? It's income based and my husband is only working part time right now and I'm currently not working (starting school in the fall) and it's free healthcare coverage for our family. I know every state is different but might be something worth looking into in your state.

Well I mailed in my deposit yesterday!! I'm confident I can figure out the best way to get there and back. I'll just have to wait and see what kind of aid package they can put together for me. I'm still holding my spot in the other program I got into just in case financially OHSU doesn't work out and then as soon as I can I'll decide which program it will be. Hopefully it won't take long to get the aid info so whichever program I decline they can fill that spot quickly!

I would be coming from Lake Oswego. I think my best route would be taking the #35 bus to the tram and then take the tram up. I was thinking about testing it out one day as well and taking my oldest son with me because he would love it, haha. I haven't received any info yet on a financial aid package so that makes me nervous but I'm calling them tomorrow to see what I can find out. I only have until this week to make a decision!

Thank you for your response! I actually planned it all out on trimet's website and looked at some different routes and I think I have a pretty good idea of what would work for me. Transportation and cost are the only things holding me back but I'm hoping to get it all figured out because I'm pretty sure I am leaning towards OHSU now.

I thought I had my mind made up on another program but I was called off the alternate list for OHSU and am now seriously debating. One of my concerns with OHSU though is the transportation. I don't want to fight for a spot to park up on the hill and pay for parking so I'm thinking that bus transportation and the sky tram would be my best option. For anyone that has attended or is attending OHSU, how did you feel about transportation? What worked for you? Was it difficult having to rely on public transportation to get you on and off the hill and back home? I also have a family and kids and am not sure about not having my own car with me. I'm just trying to sort this all out in my head but any information you would like to share is appreciated!

You might try looking online for students selling their old books for cheap. I was lucky enough to find most of my books on Craigslist for 1/4 of the cost. Just an option. :)

I think it depends on what kind of learner you are and what you would benefit from the most. For me personally I like to have the actual book so I can easily flip around when and where I need to...plus I like to highlight like crazy. Even though it cost more and it's more weight to lug around I would go with the books. That's just me though.