bsugaRN2b

I did all three, ATI, Kaplan, and Saunders - IMO, Kaplan and Saunders is what did the trick... (pass, 1st try, 75 questions)

Interesting question - I was an RN at 22, but I admired the 57 y/o in my class that seemed to have accomplished everything, but as he said, was now going after what he really wanted... It's an accomplishment at any age, IMO... :grad:

I second the Gold Bond vote!!!

Great to hear that i'm not by myself!! I'm type 1 - 18 years - have an insulin pump - the trick for me was cutting the basals and then giving my meal boluses using the dual wave option - so that way, if I got called away to do something and then couldn't eat for a bit, then at least I wouldn't have a massive amount of active insulin - and that way i can still follow the "give 15 minutes before" rule without crashing...

15 days of continuous studying, about 2,000 questions, pass w/75 questions...and one heck of a lot of willpower...

I think it works for some, and others it doesn't... This is my opinion - others feel free to disagree! Saunders = content Kaplan = how to answer the question (to me, definitely lacking in content) I have both the Saunders and Kaplan (and did the Kaplan course) - also did ATI testing through my school - Saunders helped me review the content that Kaplan told me I didn't know... When you go to the Kaplan class you take a test, and then on the last day you take another one to see if you improved - like some of you, I did worse (though not by much)... My study strategy - started July 8th - did Kaplan question trainers, looked at the Saunders for the topics that were scoring low - last question trainer the day before NCLEX scored at 70% (according to Kaplan, if you can pull a 60% on the trainers, you have a 96% chance of passing - heard this through the vine, but don't know if it is true...) Basically, my studying was 2,000 questions between Kaplan and Saunders, took NCLEX on July 23rd and passed with 75 questions... If you are lacking in content, I would NOT reccomend Kaplan - on the other hand, if you're looking for what the NCLEX is looking for in how to answer the question, Saunders doesn't give a good explination for that - the two together to me seem like a better option - if I could only pick one, though, I'd actually pick Saunders...(and I would have started studying a heck of a lot earlier than I did because of the comprehensiveness of the Saunders route, though - due to circumstances I won't go into, though, I could not start studying any earlier than I did) Again, only my experience with the deal...much luck to y'all that are studying!!!

Personally, I LOVE mine, haha!! Let me see if I can get all your questions... I'm type 1, by the way (I know several type 2's that use them too, so I always specify...:)) - I have a Minimed Paradigm 7xx - love it... (Minimed currently makes a Paradigm 522 and a 722 - the only difference b/t the two is the reservoir size - the 5 holds 180 units, and the 7 holds 300 - I have the 7 because when I initially bought it 7 years ago, I was really using a LOT of insulin - 80-90 units/day - and I'm tiny - 5'1" - so that's a LOT - but now, I'm not nearly as insulin resistant as I used to be - now I'm at 40-50 units/day - so definite improvement...) Advantages: There are so, so many - I can eat pretty much what I want (within reason, of course! :)), the flexibility is amazing, good control, always having insulin on you (can't tell you how many times I'd forgotten insulin at home when on shots...oops!...had to get someone to bring it to me - with a pump, I just make sure I have at least 50 units loaded before I leave home, and I'm set for the entire day!), hmmm, what else...very user-friendly (you don't have to be a genius to operate 'em), less stuff to carry around (all I keep on me is basically something to treat a low, a meter - mine is little, and an insulin pen should something go wrong with the pump - granted, if something DOES go wrong, which is not often at ALL - it's usually not the pump, it's usually the infusion set going bad - which can happen if you leave the set in too long, or if the cannula gets blocked - again, doesn't happen often...I may seriously have had 2 sets get blocked in the last 7 years I've been on a pump...) Oh, yes, and being able to adjust doses on the fly is AWESOME - totally can't do that with shots - helps me SO MUCH in 12-hr clinicals, because if I'm running low one day, I can just dial it into the pump to give a smidge less, and I'm set - if I were on Lantus, I'd have to snack all day, which isn't necessarily convienient, hehe...if you're insulin sensitive, pumps can deliver MUCH smaller doses (small as in 0.05 unit) so that is definitely a plus... short acting insulin only, so more reliable (though I find Lantus to be pretty reliable, but I had SO many issues with Lente/NPH/Ultralente...Humalog is my friend, haha!!) Disadvantages: to be truly honest, I'll put it this way - if I went back on shots, I'd be truly and completely lost...it won't happen... Now, disadvantages to the Paradigm specifically, there's only one that I can think of - the infusion sets have a connector on them that makes it so you can only use sets that come from Minimed...which means that if you can't work with the ones that Minimed offers, you might be out of luck (supposedly - there is a way to get around this by purchasing a different type of reservoir - PM me if you want me to explain further) The main thing is to get a pump that works for you - there are several, so do your research - some endos prefer to get one brand over another - forget that - get whatever brand works for YOU!! And get whatever infusion set that works for you, too, that is key - a lot of the time, when you get a lot of blocked cannulas, that may mean that you need to go set shopping, 'cause it might not be the right one for you. And make sure you have a supportive endo/CDE who will take the time to work with you, it's not a task that you want to take on by yourself! As for being connected to something all the time - I felt the same way initially - but I forgot the thing existed after about 2 weeks of wearing it, now it's like a teddy bear, haha!!! Now, I feel weird whenever it's MISSING, haha!! Which is good, because the "missing" feeling has saved me from leaving the house and forgetting my insulin pump in the bathroom when I took it off to take a shower, haha - the weird feeling walking out of the door: "My waist feels so lonely, something's missing...oh, my gosh, MY PUMP!!!" Haha!! But, yeah, I give mine two thumbs up, for sure!! Won't go back! Feel free to PM me if you want to chat!! ~A :)

I second the Nike Shox!!! I LOVE mine - feet never complain! :)

My vote is in for the Littmann Classic II SE - I have one, and I have yet NOT to hear something, haha - great stethoscope - people borrowed mine all the time in skills lab - and it comes in different colors! :) Definitely agree w/the person who said don't get a cheap stethoscope - definite no-no - especially when you're learning... My one word of advice: whatever you get (especially if it's a Littmann) - PUT YOUR NAME ON IT!!! Haha - it'll grow a pair of legs if you don't... Good luck!

As others have said, good luck to you. I'm at a different school, but I just wanted to say to make a long story short, two of the GPC teachers left there and came to teach at the school I'm at now, at which point the students that had these two teachers were reduced to tears more than once, and the rest of the teachers are now seriously questioning their ability to teach here. We also have a student who left GPC who had the same complaints about GPC, so I'm presuming he was telling the truth... GPC would have been a heck of a lot cheaper for me to attend, but if my money's going in the trash, then not really - which is why I took out a loan and went somewhere else. Personally, I'd leave, but that's not really for me to decide... Good luck!

I think that if the edition # is the same, the material is the same - either the page numbers will be different, or the pictures may be in black and white (cheaper to print)... Hope that helps!! :)

that's the cutest new year's resolution ever - congratulations!! by the way, your avatar is hilarious, i love it!!!

I just got into this, as a friend got me started, and I'm hooked and grab every opportunity I get - it's my nursing school stress reliever...the only other hobby I put this much effort into is my violin, haha!! There was a place around my house that had a ballroom that charged $10/person...tried it out for the heck of it as I had nothing better to do...best $10 I ever spent...am seriously considering taking private lessons in the summer between school at a dance studio... try looking to see if it's offered at the Y, mine offers a class so you get a general overview of all the dances... Oh, it's so NOT just for "old fogies", as you put it...unless of course, you consider my age - 20 - being old, lol!! ~Adria :)

Congrats to everyone!!! To the Emory people - are they still being indecisive about when they're sending out letters, haha? Last year, they had told me APRIL for when they'd send mine, and they ended up sending it 3 months early - I opened it thinking it was something pointless about financial aid, but lo and behold, it was the acceptance letter. Totally almost passed out when I read that, haha!! I just finished my first semester here, by the way - LOVED it - I don't think any school is perfect, mind you, but in no way do I regret coming here!!! You all can PM (private message) me if you have any questions! ~Adria :)

LOL - trust me, it FLIES!!!!! Time flies, I couldn't believe it when I finished my first semester, I'm almost still in shock, haha...