RN Nursing School Orientation?

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Pretty soon I will be attending my schools rn orientation for new students. It will be 8 hours long and I have no idea what to expect. Is there anyone who has gone through this and would like to give me any tips as to what to expect? Thanks!

Specializes in Hospice.
We have all of the information we need for matriculation. We are update constantly via email. We also have student mentors we can contact to ask questions. And calling the admissions office, you can ask all the questions you can come up with. My program is good about updating us. Our orientation is the beginning of July for 8hrs, where we will be going over expectations, purchasing uniforms and instruments, books and all, meeting other students, taking our id photos, paperwork, etc-- and then we have Welcome day in Sept the day before classes start, another 8hr event to sync our ipads, verify everything is in order (matriculation reqs), find our classes, and REJOICE! Then we're of to the races.

I've got my clearances done already and I'm already registered for my classes! Just a few more detail to finish up, book/uniform/equipment purchasing, and physical completion, and IT'S A GO!!!

Good Luck Everyone! We ROCK!!!!:yes:

That sounds very organized and well managed! We aren't allowed to register for any classes until we are told it's ok, the program head said she had to secure clinical sites and put us into groups first. That's the only email we have received, a "be patient, we're working on it" email! lol

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You've had orientation already, right? Or did you get some kind of packet that told you all that? All I have for information is the ADN student handbook which doesn't tell you any of that. It did give me a list of vaccinations though, I'm glad I looked at it. Our acceptance letter didn't address any of that. The handbook is online for download so I checked that out and it says we need our proof of vaccinations at orientation. Hopefully they will send something out before orientation for the people who haven't looked at the handbook. That is the ONLY reference I could find that says we need anything before orientation.

Yes I already had my orientation on May 29th. But my nursing STAT (boot camp) is August 21st-23rd 9a-12p. So excited for that. That is where we will get some hands on stuff.

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Orientation was about 8 hours for me as well. Nothing really exciting, but important stuff.... photos for student IDs, review of HIPPA, dress code, code of conduct, expectations, test taking strategies.

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Specializes in Neuro Intensive Care.

We have orientation every semester. The first time was just the basics, fill out the millions is papers, and a general overview of the program. We were supposed to have a math test, but that was bumped. Took us about 8 hours. For the remaining semesters, gotta fill out the same paperwork, and the we do simulation lab to brush up and be assessed on our basic skills. That took about 10 hours.

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Same here! I hope that my school will include the stuff but idk.

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I am going CRAZY waiting for news on our orientation. I want to DO something don't know what to do. I have my PPD already, my CPR for Healthcare workers, getting my first Hep B on June 24. Are the other immunizations a series of shots that I should get started on, or is it one shot? Should I be doing those even though we don't even have a list of the rquired immunizations yet? This is driving me crazy waiting. I could be doing my background check and drug screening stuff if I had our school's package code but I don't have any information. They said we should have a date set up for orientation and have our organization on Blackboard by mid June. Well, guess what? It's officially mid-June today! Yeah, yeah....... I know. I need to chill out. :cool:[/quote']

Do you need all your vaccines? Do you have any done? When does your program start cuz the hep B series takes 6mo to complete. Varicella is a set of 2, MMR is a set of 2! If you can show titers you don't need to get any. That sucks your school hasn't sent what they want. Look on their website it should show admission requirements to at least see what IM's you need.

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Specializes in Hospice.
Do you need all your vaccines? Do you have any done? When does your program start cuz the hep B series takes 6mo to complete. Varicella is a set of 2, MMR is a set of 2! If you can show titers you don't need to get any. That sucks your school hasn't sent what they want. Look on their website it should show admission requirements to at least see what IM's you need.

I did find the list of vaccines in the ADN student handbook. The program head told us in an email that we could get started on our Hep B series so I have that scheduled for the 24th. I am going to call my personal doc on Monday to see about titers for the rest, except flu, which I have to have. We just have to show that we are in the process of getting the Hep B, thankfully. The program starts August 26. I have my PPD already. Is a titer a one time blood draw for all the vaccines?

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Okay I was worried for you because of the Hep B series. Our program requires the Hep B to be done, they even tell you how long it is.

Well titers are a blood test, for all vaccines even Hep B to show how immune you are, but some programs want you to redo the hep B series even if your titer is positive.

I don't know how old you are but most schools require meningitis also if you are younger then 30.

Our school had a paper for the doctor to fill out. They wanted to know the results and numbers to the titers.

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We have one every semester. We had one that was a pre-nursing and one that was right before the first semester. I can't remember which ones did what but I'll try to separate them. It is a waste of time in my opinion. The first one was helpful.

Pre-nursing

- Try on uniforms for sizes

- Purchase old ones

- Study tips

- Basic math study guide

- Student handbook

- Requirements like CPR, background check, finger prints, clothes, health requirements

- Basic rules like being on time for clinicals and missing 2 days earns you a failure for the semester

- Grading scale

Then I think the orientation day involved:

- Math test

- Reminder about due dates for health requirements (except I think you'd be kicked out at that point)

- Some kind of ATI test

- Speeches

- Reminder of uniform rules

- Reminder about general rules

Keep a copy of your titers and ppds forever. Your future jobs will want them. Also your immunizations. I had to get the tdap again because I forgot one page.

Also, hep B people under 25 may have already received the series so check with your doctor. I know I didn't but my mom chose not to have it for me.

I don't think I had to get meningitis but I think that's one I got before I went to college.

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I guess a orientation every semester can be helpful. That way you don't get all the info then forget it half way through!

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ebailey1218 How soon after you started school did you start doing clinicals

It was about 6 weeks. We spent the first 6 weeks learning skills in the lab, inserting foley catheters, medication administration, NG tubes etc.

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I had nursing orientation the end of May. It went from 8-2:30PM and goodness it dragged. It was mostly talking about what our schedule would be like, filling out criminal check papers, ordering uniforms and supplies, and lots of words of encouragement. Our immunizations, physicals, and CPR requirements have to be done by July 21st, and classes start in September. We were told that we would be drug tested in about 4 months but weren't given an exact date. There will be hand outs but I suggest taking your own notes as well. :) Don't dread it... it's just a way to prepare you mentally so you know what to expect and it's not a huge shocker on the first day of class.

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