KAT NC

The program I'm in you'd better have a high "C" 78 or better, a 77.5 shows you the door.

First choice would be Psych. close second L&D!!

I wait a year so I could get both A&P's and Micro out of the way. I really don't think you'll regret waiting once you are in the program. I was in A&P II with 6 nursing students and they all were really stressed out, out of the 6 only 2 passed, 2 passed nursing but because they did not pass A&P they were not admitted back into the program. I know one girl, it was her second time in A&P (you can only take it 2x) so she'll have to go else where to take it and then hope they admit her back into the program plus she has to work as a CNA I for a year in order to get back in. It just creates a can of worms.

Is there another school close to you that you can take A&P? I wouldn't dream of going into the program without having A&P I & II out of the way actually I would finish all my prereqs. first make life much easier on you when your in the program. Good luck

The BSN program students here are in class/in house lab the first part of the semester then actually in the hospital the second half of the semester (roughly 8 weeks out of 16 week semester). The ADN program at the local CC they have labs in house the first 6 weeks and then they have labs in house 5hours worth and two days a week they are in the hospital. It just a different way of intergrating clinicals they are probably close to being in the hospital the same number of hours.

That is true no one will ask you your gpa after you graduate and are licensed and I don't share mine face to face. Frankly, it's call self-pride, satisfaction,(whatever one wants to call it) to know you've done your best and have been rewarded for it or have it acknowledged. I don't make A's for anyone else other than myself.

I actually took it (A'ers aren't necessarily good clinicians) as a challenge. The only goal I have is to learn the material as thoroughly as I can, so I can serve my pt. to the best of my ability and then some.

I look at it this way, I'm going to continue working like I have in all my classes that I've made A's in, that way I know I've done my best and the grade I get is the grade I get. But at least I know I've done all that I could possibly do to retain the information given to me. Unless, I am not understanding the material I don't see why the outcome would not be the same.

I was told by an instructor not to expect to keep my 4.0 in nursing school. also was told that the 4.0ers are not necessarily their best clinical students. We will see!

I agree kidneys very important also fluid and electrolyte and Acid/Base (goes along with kidneys) you will definitely see this alot in nursing and they might not "reteach" this, might expect you to review (get it) on your own. I believe they cover this the 3rd semester.

I think what he meant by "remember you are smarter than the test" is that you know more than what is reflected in your grade at that given time and on the particular day you were tested. In other words don't take your grade hard or blame yourself if you have prepared yourself for the test. I know a majority of people who did not make it out of the class (A&P II) did not read the material, did not do the extra credit questions (50+ ? for a pt.), which could make the difference by 5pts on a test. You need to know and I mean KNOW the material backwards and forwards especially in A&P. And part of it is test taking skills, knowing what is being asked and being able to pick the best answer out of two correct answers, this comes in handy when taking the RN license exam. It is all in the preparation and what works for one won't necessarily work for another. One guy hardly came to class and didn't even buy the book (he bought the accompanying resource manual) and made it out with a high B, go figure! Knowing how you learn best (kinesthetic, auditory, verbal or combination of any) is the key. Good luck

I live in a large medical community and I have heard many times from nurses and doctors that they prefer to work with and hire the nurses coming from our C.C. as ADN's then the nurses with BSN's from the local university. Apparently we our lucky to have a strong ADN program and the RN's coming out of it are well prepared.

I have found that if I treat school as if it were my job I have a lot more time to study and spend with my family. I have two teenagers and my husband's business sends him out of the country weeks at a time, my day ends when the kids get out of school. I have taken it slow, only taking one full time semester and all my pre-reqs. out of the way before I start the RN program this fall. I had a great instructor that gave good advice "remember you are smarter than the test!" I found that to be too true. :) Best of luck to all. :)