drdonna

I'm currently an ABSN student at Mason. We have a wide variety of students, all kinds of backgrounds. If you're prepared to work for it, you will succeed. For those who are looking to apply for 2017, I would suggest getting some experience either through clin tech/CNA job or volunteering. I've been a volunteer in a post partum unit for 1 1/2 years and it's been a great experience. Getting the experience now will also help you feel more comfortable once you get to your clinicals. A word of warning-we have had 8 people either not pass or drop out due to the courseload. One was admitted to the Honor's society, but she was trying to work, take care of her family and keep up in class. That's just too much for anyone. I only know one person in our class that has worked throughout this program and that is only because they were allowed to switch from a tech position to a unit secretary. Don't not expect to hold down a job. If you have a family, start thinking now about how you can get everyone to work together now to make life easier, i.e. older kids and hubbies can help make dinners, everyone can help keep the house clean. One thing that surprised me was the amount of writing we have in this program. You will be writing weekly journals-many of the instructors require article references to be included. You will also have papers, care plans and discussion board posts. This semester 1 of the 3 classes has 16 writing assignments-14 of which require a minimum of 3 journal references. Good luck! It's a little crazy at times but well worth it.

RescueNinjaKy One of the challenges of posting online is that attitudes can be misconstrued, making it easy to jump to conclusions and make assumptions. I am a non-traditional nursing student in my 40s and have great respect for wisdom gained from experience. I like all of my instructor-some older than me and some younger; they're great. In my initial post I referenced 2 instructors-one classroom and one clinical, so maybe that is where some of the confusion lies as well. I have absolutely no problem learning from experienced nurses and am friends with 2 OB RNs that have more than 30 years experience each. I've learned and continue to learn a lot from them and they've been incredibly supportive of my learning and going back to school. I'm also consider myself an autodidactic and frequently search out answers from the best sources I can find. I asked my clinical instructor and RNs that I know through volunteering, searched other textbooks, multiple websites and the INS site (couldn't find the guidelines there but they were mentioned on one dressing change protocol online). I asked the question here because I want to get a feel for what's happening in clinical settings compared to what I read online and from CDC guidelines, since our textbook does not included CVC dressing changes and the information available is contradictory. But my concern is that she has been out of the clinical setting too long and is teaching from older edition textbooks. Also, she writes her own test questions and on many questions her word choice tends to be, let's say, open to interpretation- which is where the sterile mask reference came in. I can't give an exact quote of the entire question and answers but here's my best shot. A nurse caring for a patient receiving total parenteral nutrition would do this to reduce the chance of sepsis: A. Replace TNP that has been hanging for 36 hours. B. Replace lipids that have been hanging for 24 hours. C. A sterile mask is worn while changing a CVC dressing. D. Clean gloves are worn while changing a CVC dressing. I asked because I want to go into the clinical setting with the best available information for keeping my patients safe, while following evidence-based practice. I'm well aware that there is a difference between textbook knowledge and real world experience. I'm also aware that procedures change as evidence is shown that one way is better/safer than another. So, to all of the nurses out there, please forgive me if the wording of my post has offended you. It was never my intention.

Here.I.Stand, To put my statement of her methods possibly being outdated- She is my Fundamentals professor and has made a number of statements throughout the semester that included outdated language or outdated methods, some have been corrected by students other things have slide by. The school I'm attending apparently made the choice to only provide the instructors with electronic copies of the current books. (I do not know if she purchased her own hard copy.) Some of the mistakes are things she swears are in the textbook but are not in our editions. The problem is, as a student, it's hard for me to know if what she's saying is based off of what she remembers/ used to do or older edition textbook versus current, evidence-based practice. My question was based off of a test question where her correct answer was using a sterile mask for CVC dressing change (only other viable option was clean gloves). CVC dressing change was not in book and in her lecture she said just a mask and sterile gloves and just expected us to know that there are dressing kits with a sterile mask included-never mentioned in class. Thank you to all of you for letting me know what is actually happening in practice. I'm hoping to go into ICU and I know I'll be seeing this on the floor.

I'm a student nurse and I'm wondering if my class instructor's practice might be out dated. (She's been an RN for more than 40 years but I don't know when she was last in a clinical setting.) A similar question has been asked a couple of times but the threads are at leas 4 years old, so.... In your experience, when CVC dressings are changed, do you use clean gloves or sterile gloves and do you use a face mask? CDC guidelines for evidence-based practice says you can use clean or sterile gloves and makes no mention of a mask. My clinical instructor said masks are not used but as far as she knows, in this area, sterile gloves are used over clean. My textbook doesn't say one way or the other. I know policies can vary by facility, but I just want to get an idea of what's actually happening in practice. Thanks.

srbreeze-"Thanks for the information Deej394! Were the classes from 7:30-1:30 or 10:30-4:30?" I just checked GMU schedule of classes for Fall-aside from clinical and the lab day at Fairfax that don't have days or times yet, the first set of classes are from 10:30-4:15 Mondays and Wednesdays. Here's the run down-305 and 310's times aren't listed, 309 W 10:30-1:10, 334 W 1:30-4:15, 419 M 10:30-1:10 and 425 M 1:30-4:15. I'm pretty sure that these are the classes we have to take first semester.

I just checked my email. I got in! Yippy! Congrats to everyone that got in! I do have a problem though. I can't see the attachment with the admissions agreement form. I know that there's one; it just isn't showing up once I open the email. Weird!

Hey everyone, I've also applied to GMU's ABSN. Since biograd asked-I had a 95.2% cum. HESI and my prereq. GPA is 3.875. It's late and I can't remember/don't want to calculate my overall GPA but I'd say somewhere around 3.6ish. I only applied to Mason. I'm a mom of 5 so I'm limited in by ability to travel to other schools. I can't believe that they're not sending out letters until the end of April. I was really hoping I'd find out soon. Also, in reference to where classes are held. They alternate semesters between Fairfax and Prince William. I just checked Mason's schedule of classes for Fall 2015 and it looks like most classes will be at Prince William.