Starting LPN What should I do to get ahead before I start

Nursing Students LPN/LVN Students

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I am starting my LPN in 24 more days and I was wondering what I should do to get ahead of the curve I am working and going to school full-time so I don't want to start fresh I want to know a few thing before I start or memorize things or know where to look before I start. Any suggestions on references that I should learn or turn to?

Thank You : )

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Congrats on starting LPN school! Those 24 days will fly by!

I would brush up on your medical terminology, a&p and maybe even the math for dosage calculations if you'll be doing pharmacology anytime soon. It's always good to have a bit of a leg up!

Keep us posted on your journey!

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Thank You so much can't wait to start! I will keep posting!

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Good luck on starting soon I am also starting soon September 4. I am gonna brush on abbreviations and med term, read some a&p and talk to friends about dosage calculations.

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As for math you should know things like converting units (grams, mg), converting temperatures from Celsius to Farenheit (F=1.8C+32), converting inches to centimeters (2.5 cm per inch). You need to learn conversions between standard and military time. It would probably be in your best interest to understand ratio and proportion to help with the math. You will need to learn basic medical terms. Suffixes, root words, prefixes, abbreviations to common people (DDS-dentist, NP-nurse practitioner etc), places (ICU, CCU, PACU etc), blood tests (CBC-complete blood count, Hct-hematocrit etc), diagnostics (EKG, EEG, CTScan, MRI, BE etc), diseases and conditions (MI, CHF, URI, BPH, PID etc).

I have a program to help with the math if you'd like a copy. Offers a lot of questions for each subject to practice those different areas.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.
As for math you should know things like converting units (grams, mg), converting temperatures from Celsius to Farenheit (F=1.8C+32), converting inches to centimeters (2.5 cm per inch). You need to learn conversions between standard and military time. It would probably be in your best interest to understand ratio and proportion to help with the math. You will need to learn basic medical terms. Suffixes, root words, prefixes, abbreviations to common people (DDS-dentist, NP-nurse practitioner etc), places (ICU, CCU, PACU etc), blood tests (CBC-complete blood count, Hct-hematocrit etc), diagnostics (EKG, EEG, CTScan, MRI, BE etc), diseases and conditions (MI, CHF, URI, BPH, PID etc).

I have a program to help with the math if you'd like a copy. Offers a lot of questions for each subject to practice those different areas.

Hello what's the name of the program? Is it something I can purchase myself?

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I say relax, enjoy life, travel, hang out with friends. Once you start you won't have that availability anymore.

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Congrats everyone . I start September 3rd.

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Congrats all! I start Sept. 9th and I'm actually brushing up on some A&P like respiratory, heart, blood, blood vessels, immune systems and nervous system. I plan to start looking at my notes from start to finish and testing myself on dosage calculations so I'm on point as far as calculating medications and patient info. I'm also watching basic nursing videos and practicing some basic stuff on my kids like patient communication, vitals, bed making and transporting them just to have a leg up at least in the beginning. I have also practice hand washing in relation to nursing. I'm also planning to look at nursing test questions cause I'm aware that their test can be worded in a way that may seem confusing to some and I know it's to prepare us for the NClex. Good luck all!

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Oh and my med term notes.

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Congrats all! I start Sept. 9th and I'm actually brushing up on some A&P like respiratory, heart, blood, blood vessels, immune systems and nervous system. I plan to start looking at my notes from start to finish and testing myself on dosage calculations so I'm on point as far as calculating medications and patient info. I'm also watching basic nursing videos and practicing some basic stuff on my kids like patient communication, vitals, bed making and transporting them just to have a leg up at least in the beginning. I have also practice hand washing in relation to nursing. I'm also planning to look at nursing test questions cause I'm aware that their test can be worded in a way that may seem confusing to some and I know it's to prepare us for the NClex. Good luck all!

I just finished my first week of LPN school. If you don't do anything else, do the bolded. I have a test on Monday. There are some practice questions at the end of the chapter of my Fundamentals book, and I get all of them right except the Select All That Apply. Those are a pain.

But yeah. Get a NCLEX-PN book and start learning some test taking strategies.

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Thanks for the head up. I'll definitely be getting the book. Can't see what's bolded on my phone though.

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