future_RN, CNA

Is your main problem the anxiety? Do you get anxious thinking you have the diseases you are learning about? That happens quite frequently in nursing school lol. Me and all my friends went through a phase in 1st year where we thought we had all these diseases and disorders. It passes with time. It does make you way more health conscious though! A little fear/anxiety is a good thing (key phrase: a little). That being said, most people in nursing school have doubts if they can become a nurse. That goal is up to you to meet. Getting INTO nursing school is hard and competitive, so you've clearly done something right. I've had an increasing amount of anxiety in college, and nursing school exacerbated that, which figures. Nursing school is high stakes, high stakes exams, pass or fail clinical requirements. It is not impossible, but it is by no means easy, and it shouldn't be easy. And don't worry about the "high average" people around you have. They are not going to take your exams for you, and they are not going to use the time you spend worrying about them to study for exams for you. You just have to be the best you can be, try as hard as you can, reach out when you need help, and be professional. Always be on time, in the required uniform, with a good attitude. You really never know who knows the faculty at your school and vice-versa. Some teachers I've gotten along with really well have given me great advice and their experience is worth its weight in gold. If you have anxiety that is bothering you, and/or interfering with your daily life and your quality of life, I do encourage you to seek help. There is NOTHING wrong with seeking help or admitting that you need help. Everyone needs a little help sometimes. Even just to talk to a psychologist or psychiatrist will help. If you have a good support system it is time to reach out to them as well if you're able to or comfortable enough to. All in all, you CAN do this. Anxiety shouldn't get the best of you. I have anxiety so bad sometimes I can't even answer my phone I just need to spend some me time (nap, watch a show, clean the house) and then I bounce back refreshed to do what I need to do. You need to figure out what you can do to ease some of your anxiety and bring your focus back to your studies. You can do this.

Coming from a fellow nursing student, it was your first day. I know you worked hard and did all the prerequisites and have built up that day to be so much, but it is not always going to be exciting. Last semester (Intro to med/surg) my clinical was on a med-surg/tele floor at a community hospital in a bad neighborhood with less than thrilling conditions. My clinical instructor for that semester was working 3 jobs, and that semester was the last for them working at my school, and to say the least, he did not care AT ALL if we were learning or even gaining experience. We were delayed to start clinicals there for 2 weeks. So we started, all but 2 nurses on that floor hated students being there (idc, some like it, some don't), and long story made short, I got to perform 3 head-to-toe assessments that semester and administer medication twice. Those are the only skills I got to practice for the 16 week semester. But I was okay with that. Because there will be more opportunities this semester. In nursing school you have to roll with the punches. Nursing school will have its ups and downs. For all you know, the classmates that got to shadow nurses last time may have only seen a very small segment of what nurses do, and you got to start by shadowing someone who does so much physical work with the patient and the other students may never be able to see what you saw that day. But you have plenty of more time to see what a nurse does and practice your nursing skills. And asking yourself if your busting your butt in nursing school for this, the answer is yes. Some days are disappointing, others are very interesting and you learn a lot. I'm sure nurses have boring days and good days. I understand you wanted to shadow a nurse and got assigned shadowing a CNA, but if you're smart you will learn something new everyday. Who knows, maybe one of the nurses would have wanted to gauge your clinical knowledge and you wouldn't have been prepared and then been upset about it later. I work as a CNA and had students shadowing me one day. They helped which was nice, but they were there to learn and I taught them how to check blood sugars, transport patients, change patients, and apply telemetry leads. I showed them where everything was on the unit and who to ask/where to go if you needed something else. I wasn't showing them how to be a CNA but everything a CNA can do, falls under a nurse's scope of practice, so therefore I don't think learning anything a CNA does would be pointless for an aspiring nurse.

At my job we have online training modules due every few months. One of ours last time was regarding linen. We were told only to change linen once per day, unless visibly soiled or requested by patient/family. If it's obvious the previous shift has changed the linen and/or documented that the linen has been changed and there is no visible soiling we are not supposed to change it. They told us how many lbs of laundry our facility used in a year, how much it cost them, and how much linen was lost. It is not smart financially to change the linen when it is not necessary, and fitted sheets are not supplied in the quantity that the other linens (flat sheets, blankets, towels) are. We get maybe 30-40 fitted sheets with our linen cart. If we changed every bed just because, we would have 6 left for "accidents" which isn't smart. Your concerns are in the right place, but your use of resources will take some time to adjust. And keep in mind, as a nursing student you are a guest on that floor who is there to learn. If there is no harm being done to the patient, it's better not to stir the pot. Especially when many hospitals have linen policies and according to what the staff was doing, it sounds like they were following one.

This I should the exact reason I see if any of my coworkers want to sit, and I'll take their assignment for the shift. Mind you my floor is known as the "busy," "crazy," tele floor, and I've willingly switched with people and taken their assignment of 16 patients versus sitting in a room with a quiet, sleeping patient because I cannot stay awake sitting that long. I work day shift, but still. Staying awake in those rooms is so hard for me. And I always feel unprofessional when using a cell phone while sitting, but I'm trying to stay awake and pass time. Especially when sitting, I see how busy everyone else is, and I don't want to ask them for a "quick 5 minute break" to stretch my legs and wake myself up. And (maybe just on my unit) but the rooms with a patient requiring a sitter are usually located far away from the nurse's station, and it can be hard to flag someone down. So I totalllllly get it, but still, there are policies against cell phone use at most places of employment, so if I use my phone I have to know I'm taking that risk of I could get in trouble. TBH, it sounds like said person was either looking for someone to exert their authority on, or maybe they had it out for you. Maybe they just got in trouble because a higher up scolded them for their staff using cell phones and they are trying to now enforce it. Another thing, you mentioned you get floated, and in my experience when you're floated, it's much easier for staff to be a little harsher. Not always, but sometimes. Because they may not work with you often you haven't developed a rapport with them yet.

Also, there is background check, and drug test they require but from a specific company. They will give you more info on that as well as required vaccination records and physical forms. Congratulations everyone and enjoy your summer now before this all starts.

Also yes, at the end of each semester (except 1st semester) you have to take an ATI Exam which is pass/fail and you have two attempts to pass it. You do not have to pay extra for it, and it is not like the TEAS, it is all nursing related relative to which semester you are in. Uniforms for RN program are at Working Class on 95th & Cicero (must buy there to get the CCC RN Program patch sewn on the tops) but the pants you can basically buy whatever navy blue scrub pants you want that match the scrub tops. Per uniform policy you are supposed to have white (leather) shoes. You need a stethoscope. Your ATI books will be supplied to you from the nursing department during the beginning of the semester. Those are not your only books for class, you will still need to buy books for class. If you are overdue for vaccinations, go get them NOW because they require titers and physical forms due before the start of school. Keep the questions coming lol. I wish I would have had someone to answer my questions when I was first starting.

I will always recommend Kipnis and Neal, but idk how the others were because I haven't taken them. Also, the lab section when registering I believe is actually the clinical section. Because it will say lecture is 2 days a week, but one of those days is actually your lab. So your lecture is one day 3 hours long, the other day is your lab. So the part that says lab I believe is who you will be picking for clinical. I am not familiar with those choices for clinical so I can not recommend. But for lecture, Kipnis and Neal were phenomenal, ESPECIALLY Kipnis.

The teachers are gold. The program is disorganized. Very fast paced, but nursing school will feel fast paced anywhere you go. The Nursing classes for the RN program do not go through the summer, unless you are doing LPN-RN Bridge you must take the summer bridge class. You are applying for fall 2017 or fall 2018? Overall I'm very satisfied to be getting a great education and be paying 1/4 the price of most nursing programs. Just finished the first year, and the pace picks up quickly before you know it. Getting a head start is hard, bc idk what books they will require for y'all. If you can find a recent fundamentals of nursing book, that may help you out for first semester and part of second semester.

No the more experienced nurses don't do this as much. There is an art to delegation for sure, and like most things, it probably comes with time.

I don't understand why this was commented.

All very good points. People always tell me I'm so "blunt." I should have already reasoned this lol.

I make it a point to leave the unit for my break, as I had learned that if I wanted to eat my food in peace that is how I can do it. As far as the phone thing when I was trained everyone brought their phones on their break and answers them while on break, but I'm gonna look into policy and see if I can maybe hand over my phone for break.

No i totally get it they are constantly prioritizing. And have much higher priority things to do than things that I can do. Also, I always notify the charge nurse when I'm going on my break and make it a point to let the other CNAs know when I'm going on break.

I am a CNA with a few years of experience, and am also in Nursing School right now. I have followed the advice of many and left my comfortable job as a tech in a freestanding, acute psych facility and am now working in a hospital that I've been trying to get into for awhile to better network and hopefully open doors for me when I finish school. I say my job in psych was comfortable because it was a relatively small (180+/- bed) facility, I knew all my coworkers, loved the patient population and constant new faces, and the physical labor was not as tough as other CNA jobs I have had. I love being a CNA. Many people always say "how can you do that job?" and "Do you have to wipe people's butts? eww." But as all of us know, though 9/10 times it is a part of our day, wiping butts is about the easiest thing I do during the shift. I work on a VERY busy tele floor (as most are), and I love the patients and my coworkers are fine. My manager is the kindest, professional, structured, and fair boss I've ever had. However, one thing I do notice is that a lot of the male nurses seem to call my phone and ask me to do things a lot more than the female nurses do. Maybe it is just my unit, maybe it is just the ones I work with. (Not all of the ones I work with of course). I get many calls while I'm in the middle of changing patients, feeding them, taking them to dialysis or downstairs to wait for their ride, etc. "Can you go give room ___ a cup of water." "Can you give ______ a blanket." "Can you take the stool specimen I already collected in the room and send it to the lab." "Did you check the blood sugar on room ___?" When I'm on my break and the blood sugars aren't due for another hour I understand delegation and am always compliant. I am not the type to ruffle feathers, I'm not scared of confrontation but I never want an uncomfortable work situation, and I'll do anything to help someone out. But some things are easy fixes. If my linen cart is right outside the room that so and so needs a blanket in...... Meanwhile I'm rolling a 250lb isolation patient and doing a complete bed change by myself (not complaining, it comes with the job). Don't take this to heart, I am also a male, so as to say I'm not gender-bashing or whatever. Maybe its just my unit, maybe not. Has anyone any input on this?

I'm in an ADN program, and the only thing I wish was included in it was this class that another local BSN program includes is "role transition," at the end of their program. In that class they have essentially 3-12 hour shifts of clinicals where they work side-by-side with nurses. I feel like that prepares them so much for working on the floor and I wish my program had that. Other than that, our classes have been pretty similar minus the non-nursing classes and leadership classes for the BSN.

Better late than never!

I was working the second 8-hour shift of my double yesterday, and the second shift was on a different floor than my first was. I am a CNA. I received report from the outgoing CNA which was filled with "She is a nice lady" and "he is okay." (Not what I needed to know, but thank you). I find the supply room and all other rooms I will be needing, and start in on patient care for my section (was very heavy, 15 pts which most of were not independent). As I'm coming down the hall, a nurse who I met briefly 20 minutes prior, asks me "Can I give you report?" In my mind my first reaction was "huh?" But of course I responded with a proper "Yes absolutely." The nurse tells me which patients of mine are hers also, lays out their needs and all that needs to be done for them by me, important conditions and considerations, and exactly what she needed from me if out of the usual "routine." This may sound strange to some of you that I've dedicated an entire post to something that only took this nurse She was a seasoned nurse, very professional, serious yet kind, and a team player. I have had very great experiences with most of the nurses I have worked with, but none thus far have ever pulled me aside for a quick collaboration. I'm more used to getting called on my pager/phone throughout the day with piece by piece information or requests on patients. I understand nurses are very busy, I'm in nursing school and see more and more each day all of the things nurses need to do, to know, to see, to assess, to advocate for, to teach, to document, etc; But this really made for a smooth shift and facilitated great communication between the nurse and I. Thank you for listening. (PS, I know if you're not a nurse yet your username is not supposed to contain nursing credentials in any fashion, but did not know this when I originally signed up and don't know how to change it).

Get your car fixed. I know you would like the experience and all, but honestly, you won't make significantly more money as a CNA than a minimum wage job. Unless you get hired into a hospital right away, which if your region is anything like mine most hospitals want previous experience as a CNA unless you are applying for a CNA position after your first or second semester of nursing school (another option for you). But getting to clinicals is a MUST, and you don't want to fail a class or have to make up clinicals (time-consuming and extremely inconvenient) because of your transportation. Do everything you can to prepare for nursing school, and that includes taking care of your car and/or living situation. Trust me, it is much easier to take care of things like that before nursing school versus during. Best of luck!

My schedule for the first semester was this: Monday: Lecture for 1.5 hours, then 1.5 hours skills lab following. Tuesday: 0600-1230 Clinical Wednesday: Lecture 1.5 hours. This was for Nursing Fundamentals. The upcoming semesters are all more hours than that. But essentially, for my school, the first two semesters, you can only schedule three days a week. In the 3rd and 4th semesters, I am unsure if that is the case. As far as hours studying, that does depend on you, as a previous poster has said. If you take school seriously (which I'm sure you do, as you have been accepted into a nursing program), school is like a full-time job with MANDATORY overtime every week. The most critical adjustment is the NCLEX-style questions ("Which is the BEST statement?"; "What is the nurse's FIRST action?"). The questions at the end of the chapters and in the back of the book are beneficial. Read the rationale when you get a question wrong (and even when you get it right). Those rationales are what help you think about the answers and learn.

Different things work better for different people. If I knew now what I knew then, I would have just started out at community college. I started at a big university, did 2 semesters there, and have been going to community college ever since. I'm currently in an ADN (associates degree of Nursing) program and despite the fact I love my school, the program is great and upon completion I will be able to sit for the NCLEX-RN, the same exam BSN students sit for. The difference is an Associate's vs. Bachelor's (many threads on that). Not hating on anyone who went the BSN route right from the beginning, but I'm saving a ton of money on my education and that's also important to me. As far as the independence, that is a common desire for someone your age. Keep in mind once you are out of school and working, you will have more independence than you want lol. Best of luck!

Thank you so much for sharing. I'm hand writing mine but wanted to see the format of drug cards, and these are phenomenal!

Okay so if we've been put through all this that and the other, are we still expected to follow all uniform rules and everything? Why are we held to such high standards and the other side is not? I've shelled out hundreds of dollars thus far and with all the employees in the nursing dept none of them can email back?

I didn't get an email from Green but also my PCP doesn't give flu shots out yet until the new one comes out..

Just called working class and they said "you are counting weekends in your days"... regardless, 10-14 business days from ordering and my uniform should be arriving by the wend of the week. I don't get it. And of all scrub uniforms stores why did we have to go there? Instead of my favorite Chicago Scrubs right down the street from the school...

So can we get a 10-14% discount on our orders? This is starting to feel like a hidden-camera tv show. Why is everyone playing with us?? Still very thankful for this opportunity, but we are going to show up to class out of uniform, not knowing if our registration went through, completely unprepared, and the clinical coordinator won't return any of my messages to verify that I properly gave her all my forms. I think this is our initial "test."