NurslingNicole

Hello! At the clinic where I work, we (RNs, LPNs and MAs) all do pretty much the same thing. Of course there are some things that I can do that the LPNs and MAs can't unless they're certified, like starting IVs, but we all room patients, do vitals, give immunizations, answer questions, report to our doctors, etc. We do have a couple of CNAs as well, who are there to help us get patients in rooms and do vitals, but it isn't just up to them to get our patients roomed and ready for the doctor.

Thank you for writing this article! I am about to graduate from nursing school and have a good shot at being an office nurse very soon. :) Great read!

Hey there! I am graduating from an ADN program in about 2 weeks, so I will attempt to answer your questions the best that I can and hopefully be of some use to you! 1. Do you believe it is useful to bring your laptop to class? I never once brought a laptop or tablet to class. Our theory lectures came with PowerPoint slides that we had to print out and bring to class. I find that writing notes while listening worked best for me, which sounds like you also prefer. However, try it out and see what works best for you. It's probably just a matter of preference, unless your instructors specifically state one way or the other. 2. I rented the Kaplan NCLEX 2017 review as well as the Saunders NCLEX 7th edition from my library. Should I review these books to see how NCLEX questions are asked, or do you believe it is better for me to see how my professors explain how to answer them? I don't want to be caught off guard on my first test! NCLEX style questions are a different beast than what you've encountered thus far. However, your instructors know this and are not going to throw you overly-challenging questions from the start. I say overly-challenging because you might think that any NCLEX-style question is challenging at first. But don't fret. Learning how to read an NCLEX-style question and figure out what it is asking you takes time and experience. This is because it's a different way of thinking than what you currently know. As you lay down your nursing knowledge foundation and then later expand and build on that knowledge, the questions will get more technical and difficult. Right now, it won't hurt anything to check them out to get an idea of what they look like and maybe even practice a few, but I wouldn't worry too much about trying to figure them out just yet. You will literally learn how to think differently once you start nursing school. 3. What is the best advice you could recommend for new nursing students? I don't have any experience in the medical field so I believe this might put me at a slight disadvantage than my peers. Also best study tips? Don't worry that you don't have medical experience yet. I only had a few months working as a CNA before I went to nursing school, which I hardly count as experience. Even though it helped with basic patient care, being a CNA is not the same as being a nurse. You and your peers will all learn together. Starting second year, some students may be LPNs, but in my graduating class of 50, only 5-6 of my classmates either were already LPNs that joined us during the start of second year or had completed the summer LPN quarter prior to 2nd year. Nobody in my 1st year class had any more experience than a CNA or MA. Study tips: Buy lots of highlighters and take good notes in class. Get yourself a planner or calendar to write down important dates, like skills labs, due dates for assignments, test dates, etc. Don't skip lecture unless absolutely necessary. Listen up when instructors tell you to pay attention to a specific topic. Skim the readings covering what you went through in class to further your understanding, paying close attention to tables, charts and boxes in the text. Study buddies can be helpful if you can stay on task and not get distracted, but they didn't work for me, so I opted to study by myself. Memorize lab values! Don't cram for a test - Study a little bit every day until you feel like you truly comprehend the material. Khan Academy has excellent YouTube videos for pathophysiology and body systems. Feel free to message me with questions or if you need other advice. 4. Do you have any healthy tips for reducing stress? I'm trying to incorporate some over the summer so I don't go crazy in the fall! Nursing school is stressful. Period. You can't do anything about that. It's even worse if you have kids, a job, or other priorities in your life that take away from dedicating 100% of your time to school. However, taking care of your physical and mental health is important. Take a walk. Drink a glass of wine. Get a massage. Have a night out with friends. Whatever it is you do to reduce stress in your life now, don't stop doing during school. It's so important to stay healthy during school so that you can take good care of your patients as well as yourself! 5. Do you believe volunteering at a hospital would be beneficial in the future - career wise? Even if it isn't I would still like to do some good. Part of being a nurse is giving of yourself to others. Volunteering to help the people in your community is never a bad idea, especially for a future nurse. Career-wise, yes, it could be a foot in the door in the hospital if that's where you're wanting to work. But, volunteering is also a way of serving the community which is what nurses do. Volunteering is a competency requirement of my ADN program (I'm willing to bet yours as well), so figuring out different volunteer opportunities now might be a good idea. For our program, we found opportunities for ourselves and then had to have them approved by faculty. If you already have opportunities in mind, all the better for you. Just make sure they are nursing related or are approved by your instructors. :) Anyway, sorry this is long but I hope it's helpful! I remember being terrified my first day of school. My heart was racing and I nearly fell out of my chair... and we were only going over the syllabus! I was so worked up and had no idea what was about to happen but I knew the gravity of it and it was scary! HAHA! Looking back over my last 2 years, there have been ups and downs, stress galore and lots of juggling of schedules with kids and a husband working nights, but I made it! You can do this crazy nursing school thing too!!! Just remember, it's ok to not know everything. It's ok to ask questions. And it's also ok to admit your mistakes. But it is NOT ok to give up! Give it your best effort, try to figure things out for yourself (obviously keeping yourself and your patient's safety at the forefront of your mind at all times), show up and stay optimistic! Before you know it, you'll be looking at graduation and NCLEX dates coming up in your near future! Best of luck to you!!!!

Do you suggest U World? I was thinking about buying it now and getting a jump on my studying. And good luck today!

Thank you for the response!

It will probably be late June or early July for me! I graduate June 9th. How long did you plan to study?

I graduate from nursing school in less than a month and I am currently precepting in an OR at a local hospital. I know that this is what I want to do. What I am hesitant about is my obvious lack of any nursing experience at all, other than what I've done in clinicals. Do my roughly 100 hours spent precepting in the OR count as experience? I try to jump in and be as helpful as I can and do any nursing skills that I can in an effort to show that I am interested and am a hard worker and that I want to be there. The nurses say that I am doing well, I like the work environment and the people in it, and I happen to know that they have open positions and need a couple more nurses... Should I talk to the director about my interest in working there?

So now that you're a month in, how's it going? :)

Hey! Passed my first year of nursing school and I am sooooo enjoying having a break. This time next year, I will be graduated and taking the NCLEX. :) With as quickly as this first year flew by, it will be here in no time. Congrats to everyone else moving on to the next year!

Hey! My second quarter is wrapping up this week with all kinds of testing. Final is next Monday, then Spring Break for about a week and a half. Last quarter was awesome. This quarter was... difficult. But I am going to pass and then relax for a week and then roll right on into Spring quarter. :)

Congrats!

Listen, it sounds like this guy put a negative thought in your head and now you're starting to believe it. Don't. Your kids are worth you pursuing your goal of becoming a nurse. Do not ever let anyone plant that seed of doubt in your head. That is partially why I am just now going to nursing school at the age of 29 with a 1- and 3-year-old, but they are also the reason I worked my butt off in my prerequisites and got accepted to the RN program. If you want it bad enough, you'll figure out the best way to make it work for you! I'm rooting for you!

Thank you! I'm really eager to get started.

Last night was our "family night" that the nursing school/2nd year nursing students put on. I got to meet my instructors and they gave us a tour and talked about the program and what to expect. The 2nd year students pretty much led the entire thing which was neat to see. It helped reassure me and put my worries at ease a little bit. Everyone seems very nice and willing to help. I'm looking forward to starting in just a handful of days now. :)

You could send a thank you card and let her know you appreciated the opportunity to interview and reiterate your interest in the position. :)