anathema

I work in LTC, and we have medication cards with our residents pills in them. If I do drop a pill, I waste it, and pop out another one. Same with narcs. If the patient drops it, I tell them I will go grab a new one, but usually they insist on taking it anyway. If they drop it on the floor I insist on getting a new one (ew!!!) but if it's on their bed/clothes/tray I don't make a fuss. Super easy to get a new pill, and no gross factor!

I worked at my SNF for 4.5 years as a CNA before I became a RN, and frequently work as a CNA (for my per diem RN wages, and usually at time and a half). I do it to pick up hours, and because I really don't mind. It can be a nice break from the responsibility of the RN (34-44 patients per RN on nights) and I still can do "nurse stuff". The RN on duty loves it, as I can pass PRN meds for my patients, do assessments, etc, if I have the time, and during the night, they can take a break without worrying about their patients. I obviously don't want to do it all the time, as you do have to "switch" between RN mode (I am the nurse) vs. CNA mode (I'll have to go ask the nurse), but it isn't "beneath me". CNA tasks are part of the RN scope of practice/job description. Acute care nurses "float" and do the CNA work at the hospital here quite often.

Are online classes an option for you? The only way I was able to get my generals and pre-reqs done while working/watching my kids was to take online courses. The only classes I've physically taken at the school were A&P I&II, and my nursing classes. Your courses would certainly be "doable" for me, but I would be taking them online. Learning through lecture is not my forte, so it will also depend on how you learn. In the end you have to assess how you learn best, wether or not these are somewhat "easy" courses for you (The C's in Math and Chem are not helping your GPA), and what you are able to handle with school/work/personal life. Good luck!

I am currently pregnant in my sophomore year (hubby had a vasectomy after baby #3 was almost a year, Doctor tested him at two months, gave us the all clear, and I got pregnant the next month). I am due one month before graduation. I was freaking out quite a bit, as my school only allows us to miss one clinical (and you have to make it up) and two class days per semester. My previous pregnancies have been difficult in that I am exhausted and have had morning sickness the entire pregnancy. I did speak to my instructors, and they said they would work with me in my last semester (have me do my heavy clinicals early in the semester, possibly do some make ups after graduation), so that was a little comforting. I think it really depends on you, your current family situation, and your school. If I don't push through this pregnancy and keep going to school, then I will be pushed back 2 years, and I refuse to let that be an option for me! My family has made too many sacrifices for me to give up now! So far, the pregnancy hasn't been too horrible, and I haven't missed any days this semester, so I am hopeful for the future. As long as you don't have a high risk pregnancy, I think you will be okay!

It would be helpful to know which part of the problem you are having trouble with. Conversions? Infusion rate?

We were taught IV insertion during second semester on a dummy. We will have to show how to do an IV, d/c an IV, prime tubing, insert a Foley catheter, and insert a NG tube during the beginning of third semester. Our instructors have told us that we may not insert an IV in the field, but we are taught how to do them. I think that's it is pretty odd to not even teach IV insertion. :/

Run the calculation both ways. What is the difference? What is the infusion rate if you run 251.6 mL over 90 minutes vs if you run 250 mL over 90 minutes? Will it make a difference to the patient?

It is definitly not 167.7 mL/min. You are supposed to administer the fluids/med over 90 minutes, not 1.5 minutes (I think you did the calc based off of hours, not minutes). 1.6 mL is the patient dose, not the safe dosage range.

What exactly are you having trouble with?

In my nursing program, the math portion of the TEAS was very important. The math in the TEAS is pretty basic, and you have to use math a lot in nursing. My program (and quite a few others) give a math test at the beginning of each semester of nursing school. You have to pass with a certain percentage (85% first semester, 90% second and third semester, and 95% fourth semester in my program) or you cannot continue in the program. I would suggest finding a tutor, and using the TEAS study guide to get better with your math before retaking the TEAS. I do think you should retake it. We you in the 54 Percentile? Or did you get 54% of the questions right?

Our first day was as the previous poster indicated - we really just went over the syllabus. It was basically an extended orientation, with Q & A. We had tests for pharmacology every week, and tests for fundamentals every week. Our teachers did this so we wouldn't be testing over excessive amounts of material. They would incorporate some material from earlier in the semester, but the tests covered mainly the material we went over for the previous week. Every program is different, every teacher is different! Good luck! It really isn't that bad :)

How many prerequisite classes do you have to take? I'm assuming you are talking about a BSN program? For my ADN program our prerequisites were Psych, Sociology, A & P I, and meeting the minimum compass math requirements. This is easily accomplished in one semester (11 credits). Looking at the BSN program offered by the university in my state, their "prereqs" (general classes) are taken 17-17-14 credits over 3 semesters (48 credits total). I can see splitting this into 12 credit semesters if one were not able to keep up with a heavier workload, but this would only take 2 years. To spend 4.5-5 years (9-10 semesters) taking 48 credits, one would average 1-2 classes a semester. If that's all one can handle mentally, there's no way they'd survive nursing school!

Have you looked into taking a class from a different school online? I'm taking my microbiology class online during the summer through a different school because my school only offers it on campus, and I definitely did not want to take it with my nursing courses. (The credits have to transfer - you should talk to your advisor before signing up!) It cost me about $500 for the class (4 credits), book, and online lab program. I realize not everyone can pay out of pocket like that, but it's another option. Chemistry would probably be more expensive - in my school it's a 5 credit class.

You can apply for scholarships and fill out a FAFSA to help fund your school bill. That is how I am able to fund my schooling, but I am going to a community college that doesn't cost much. What is the price of tuition where you are wanting to go to school? With the way my school has the nursing program set up it takes 3 years to graduate with your ADN. It costs about $15,000 total, and I have had to pay very little towards that. My husband is able to support our family on his income for the most part, so I only have to work per diem. If you have to work, you can always go the loan route.

Wow! You have a full plate! I took A&P II (in class) and chemistry (online) in one semester. I ended up taking a total of 12 credits that semester, and with both those classes together (I was also pregnant and working 24 hours a week) it was a bit much. I don't exactly have a affinity with chemistry and although I usually do really well in online classes, chemistry was an exception!. I got a B in my A&P II class, and a C in my Chemistry class (I usually get A's and a few B+'s). I would recommend (from my experience) A&P I and chemistry. It can all depend on the professor, but A&P II is more in-depth, and requires more studying (again, in my experience).

I have 3 kids, the youngest one with health problems. I will be starting my second year of nursing school next month (only two semesters left, yay!). I will admit - it is difficult to juggle school and kids. My husband and his family are very supportive of me which helps tremendously. I am only doing nursing classes which also helps. I think that it really does depend on how you study, and in what environment you can study in, to be successful with a family. None of my kids are in school, so I go and get them immediately after class/clinicals. My husband is working overtime (family business) so I really do have them every single minute that I'm not in class. All of my studying is done piecemeal - in between house chores, playing with the kids, refereeing the kids, meals, after kids are in bed, etc. Going into the program everyone here said "You need to use groups!" They made the concession that you don't have to, but I think the general view is that you need to use a group to study. I do not use study groups - I don't have the time, and I don't have anyone to watch the kids. I was home-schooled, and I learned how to figure stuff out on my own - that is what works best for me and my family. I have gotten A's and one B+ (Pharmacology) in all of my nursing classes to date. Every nursing program is different, instructors are different, each student is different. Can it be done? Yes! Absolutely! But you do have to be committed and your family needs to be committed. All of my nursing friends who have gone through the program (ADN) with kids say the same thing, "It's two years. You just have to stick it out for two years." It sounds easier than it is, but it will be super rewarding once you finish!

I don't take it as criticism, more like constructive feedback :) Thank you, I can see what you mean, and that is what my instructor told me also. I suppose I was looking at it from the viewpoint of whether or not I had a good experience - the form does provide a rating system on whether or not you felt you had good opportunities to learn, and I put in the comments section of the entire evaluation about the drip rate issue. I did say that the CRNA was awesome, she was super helpful and a great teacher, but the RN not so much. I would just have appreciated the RN telling me she wasn't really interested/didn't have time to teach, so I wouldn't have had that expectation.

I would be very impressed if a nurse could eyeball a drip rate! The nurse didn't say she has done this so many times she knows this fluid/drug needs to be so many drops/sec etc. She just said she eyeballed it. I am a by-the-book person, but I am willing to learn, and I know that the real world isn't close to nursing school. I have accepted this. As a student though, I need to learn what is acceptable, even in the real world nursing. Calculating a drip rate of 5 drops/15 seconds = 20 drops/minute with 10 drops/mL tubing and the doc ordered 120 mL/hour, makes sense, even if it's not "by the book". I get that. It wasn't about the lack of pumps, it was about the lack of any indication that they were controlling the amount and rate of fluids entering the client. I don't panic about things that have rational explanations.

I appreciate your input. It sounds as if you do count drip rates though, even if it's over a 10 second time period. I don't have an issue with that. The nurse told me that she doesn't do drip calculations. Maybe she really meant that she counts them over a 10 second period, but that wasn't the impression I came away with. She was not looking at a watch or a clock while she was eyeballing it, and while it is possible, I doubt she was counting both seconds and drip rate in her head. I understand the real world isn't the same as what we are taught in school, but my original statement still stands, I'm not impressed. :/

I can understand no pumps, but no drip rates either? The nurses specifically said they don't calculate anything, they just "eyeball it...and yep, that looks okay" and go on their merry way. I can't understand that.

During my clinical rotation at the OR in the small town I live in, the preop and operating room nurses did not use a pump for the IV, and "eyeballed" the drip rates (their words). Our school has a Facility Evaluation Form that we fill out for each clinical rotation, and we rate the facility and leave comments about what we did, or did not like about the facility. In my evaluation I put that "I was not impressed" with the fact that no pumps were used, and no drip rate calculations were performed. I got called aside by one of clinical instructors after I submitted my paperwork, and was told that it was facility policy not to calculate drip rates in the OR. I work at the LTCC attached to this facility, and I will be looking the policy up the next time I work, but has anyone else heard of this? is this standard nursing practice? I know in the LTCC they use pumps, and in the ACU and ICU they use pumps, so why not the OR? and if no pumps, why not drip rates? This goes against everything we learned about medication administration!

My program requires a basic math test during orientation for freshmen, and a more advanced math test for sophmores. If you can't pass, you are dismissed from the program. That being said, it is basically multiplying decimals & fractions, and converting fractions - percents -decimals and back again. My school sent a "Dosage Calculation" packet with my supplies list for practice.

I took medical terminology last summer, and because the course was so fast paced and I'm not actively using what I learned, I've forgotten most of it already. Unless you need extra credits or have extra money laying around burning holes in your pocket, I wouldn't take the course. The only reason I took it was because it was a pre-req for a college I was looking at transfering to. I didn't end up doing that, so I really didn't need to take it. My nursing degree does not require it in any capacity (even though the school offers it?). I would suggest buying a medical terminology book and just do the quizes yourself. That's all we ended up doing in the class anyways.

My school allows you to sign a declination form for the flu and Hep B shots; the caveat being you might have to wear a mask at some clinical facilities.