MathHatingNurse

Your grades only suffer if you do not study right. I work 55 hours a week on a slow week and my grades have not suffered as a result.

My dad was 51 when he got his GED and went to college. He didn't go to nursing school, but he had to take some chemistry classes and stuff and he did very well. I have some older classmates in nursing school that are kicking butt. We are all graduating in two weeks!

Never memorize. Now, what worked for me may not work for everyone, but I found it a good way to condense information to make reviewing for exams easier. My method: read all of the chapters and take detailed notes. Take detailed notes in class. Take notecards and only put the important info (like stuff that is unique to the condition, procedure, etc.). Read these at least once a day. 48 hours before an exam, read through the chapters again (just read because you already took notes) and read your detailed notes. Then, the morning of the test, just look at your note cards. This sounds like a lot, but I promise it really isn't when you put it into practice. I work full-time, am raising my teen cousin and am providing full care for my gram. I also go to nursing schools full-time. This method has helped me to shave some time off while still getting all of the info and retaining it. I am not a straight-A student, but I am getting As and high Bs.

I want to say that you can be young and have a career. I have one and I am just 29 and have been going strong for nearly eight years. I am a journalist and web developer. It is my business that I created around the time the economy started to turn. I also hold two Bachelor's degrees (my nursing degree will be my third degree). I don't have a mortgage because I paid it off and own my home. However, a mortgage and rent is like apples and oranges. A mortgage is 10 times the responsibility because you just do not pay a mortgage. I have rented too, so I can compare the two. With a mortgage, everything is on you and you are not getting out of a mortgage for a fee like you can get out of a renter's agreement. Your mortgage is your mortgage unless you can sell and pay it off with the housing sale price. And, in today's economy, good luck with finding a buyer in a timely manner. I also pay cash and have zero student loans. As for what I bring to nursing, I bring work ethic and a proven track record of it. I bring leadership skills and the ability to communicate with all types of people (remember that we learned in Fundamentals that communication is key in nursing and previous careers generally build this skill quite a bit). I also bring time management, organization, etc. These are things that all career folks develop as they make their way up the ladder in their chosen profession. These things cannot be taught and, in my opinion, are built solely due to experience. This first paragraph is not to brag (though I am pretty darn proud of myself), but to show that age has no factor on lifestyle. I know tons of folks my age living as I do. I know tons of older folks living as I do. I also know lazy young folks with no direction and lazy older folks with no direction. I personally judge a person based on his or her own merits and I try (I say try because I am human) not to make assumptions. When it comes to who gets the job, this is something we only have partial control over. It is really up to the hiring manager. For example, you could be a rockstar, but if your personality does not click with your interviewer, there is a chance that you will not get a phone call inviting you for a second interview.

I agree completely!

I have to work at least 50 hours a week and will graduate from an accelerated program in 10 weeks. It's not easy, but if you organize your time well it is very possible.

We have one at the beginning of every semester and they get progressively harder. If you do not get at least a 90 percent, you fail the entire class. Nerve-wracking since I hate math, but I passed them all and graduate in about two months. Just keep current with the math by looking at it once a week for a few minutes and you will be good to go.

I think I will talk to my doctor. Years ago back in my early 20s, I did quit using Welbutrin and nicotine-free cigarettes. Since I cannot find that kind of cigarette anymore, I am thinking just some Chantix right after graduation. Again, big congrats!!! That is a huge accomplishment.

I think your best bet is to check hospital websites. You can go to the education section and get internship information, or at least contact information that you can call/email to inquire about internships. My school requires an internship so they help us find placement, thankfully.

Congrats!!!! Quitting smoking is incredibly difficult, so you should definitely be proud. I quit during Med Surg 1 and did well. I started again during the semester break because my job requires long hours, it is from home and smoking kept me awake. I know that is a really lame excuse. I am currently down to half a pack a day from a full pack and hope to quit completely by the time I graduate in August.

I have bought every single book from Amazon. Saved a ton and the shipping is fast and free. I tend to buy new because I feel I would be distracted by someone else's highlighting. School bookstores are just too expensive.

I have gone full-time and worked more than full-time throughout the entire program. I will graduate in August, so I have been doing this for two years now. It is not easy, but you can work and do classes.

I don't think so. I took Patho, Micro, A&P 2 and Nursing Fundamentals in a single semester while working 60 hour weeks. I was exhausted, but got it done.

Fiction. Once you start school, textbooks will be the only books you have time for, so read a few fun books you have been meaning to read :) And, as others have stated, just get things in order. Take a little time to relax a bit before your classes start.

I'm not sure about specific brands, but I found a really lightweight pair that had good support. The arch on my left foot is collapsing, so I needed something that would get me through those 13-hour clinicals. I found a pair of Nikes for $40 that fit just what I needed. I found the best thing you can do is go to the store and try them on. I probably tried on 20 different shoes the day I bought these and of the 20, this was the only one that really "felt right" to me.

I had substance abuse stuff as part of psych, but my main thing was to not just know it, but actually understand it. For example, we know what heroin can cause, but why does it cause it? Or, we know cocaine causes increased BP, but why? If this stuff is not in your book, look it up on the web. I often found the Internet to give me easier-to-understand answers than many books. I also am a big fan of flashcards.

First, you can work full-time, take care of housing stuff, dependents, etc. and successfully complete nursing school full-time. I graduate in 13 weeks and this was my reality the entire time and will continue to be until the day I am pinned. Is it easy? No. Do I get sleep every night? No. Do I get days off? Absolutely not, but it was a sacrifice I was more than willing to make. I also get no financial aid due to income. If you can get it, get it. It is one less bill to worry about at this time, but you will have it in the future. Fill out the FAFSA and see what they offer you. You may get a few grants that do not have to be paid back. You can also look into scholarships. There are thousands of them all over the web, many geared toward those pursuing healthcare. You can also choose to do school part-time so the tuition is less per semester and you have more time to work, study, etc.

Depends on what you want. Where I live, all of the major hospitals hire ADNs (Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, the level one trauma city hospital, charity hospital, etc.). A lot of folks here grab their ADN in less than two years, get to work and then bridge to BSN. A lot of the employers here offer tuition assistance, so it makes good financial sense.

I want to add that it never hurts to re-review a lot of basic stuff like the angiotensin system, cranial nerves, how blood flows through the heart, the math, acidosis/alkalosis, ABGs, etc.

I'm not sure how your school structures Med Surg II. In my school, Med Surg II is focused on critical care. Our clinicals are all critical care and our lecture looks at everything from a critical care perspective.

lol, no problem. I should have been more clear. And, thank you! Looking forward to finally being done :)

I absolutely cannot cook. Cannot even boil and egg lol. So, these ideas are from someone who uses her stove as extra counter space :) I always have a fresh apple and banana around, as well as some peanut butter in one of those little, plastic souffle cups Tons of Kashi granola bars Crackers of all kinds Cheese Frozen meals that can be microwaved Hot Pockets Jello cups (a mild addition of mine) Grapes Sliced veggies (I always have carrots and broccoli ready to go with a little ranch) Soups that can be microwaved Pre-cooked veggie burgers (can be microwaved) Bread and butter for toast Cereal and milk A bucket of chopped fruit (about 10 different types made into a giant fruit salad) Coffee and espresso (you will need this more than food lol) Wine (again, probably needed more than food for intense study sessions and it is made from grapes, so I justify it as being a fruit)

I love cardiac, so while it is not easy, I tend to do really well because I actually enjoy studying it. Renal can be rough and neuro is not easy. However, none are impossible. I found that of the three, renal was what I had to study the hardest for. I tend to be a Googler to supplement my textbooks and you can find tons of interactive study guides, more notes, etc. all online that explain things in different ways so you can find the explanation that you understand best. Quizlet has some really nice stuff, but you have to dig through it all and keep in mind it is made by students, so be sure to fact check it, though in my experience, 99 percent of the stuff I have used on there is completely accurate.

I agree with this, though I had a full semester to get through the material. I made a lot of flashcards and carried them with me so I could go through them when I had a few minutes to spare.

I wish! No, I graduate in 13 weeks. We are two weeks into the final semester. I graduate in mid-August, will do an NCLEX-RN review and then take the test. I had six semesters to complete, so I have been going strong for two years in nursing school (went during the summers). I plan to take the NXLEX at some point in the fall, like October or November.