Starting nursing school in three weeks, what am I forgetting?

AZBlueBell · May 4, 2015

it was an option when i ordered mine online years ago. i can't remember where i originally ordered the stethoscope tho.

Ok thanks. I already ordered mine from Amazon so I guess I need to find a place to get it engraved then!

gouranga · May 4, 2015

Ok thanks. I already ordered mine from Amazon so I guess I need to find a place to get it engraved then!

sorry, wish i could remember where i ordered from. at work there are at least four pink littmanns on the floor at any given time lol. mine is the only one that has been engraved.

umbdude, MSN, APRN · May 4, 2015

The only thing I would recommend to everyone before nursing school is getting your Nursing Diagnosis handbook early and read the beginning chapters about the nursing process (and browse through some nursing dx, defining characteristics and interventions). Try to understand it as much as possible before school starts and that will save you a lot of time when you work on your care plans. I'm near the end of my 2nd semester and I tell you...some of my classmates still have a hard time grasping care plans. Once I understood them I found them to be tremendously helpful and awesome both for tests and in practice. As for tools. The most important thing is the stethoscope. Everything else you'll probably find in the hospital.

txstudent6, BSN, RN · May 4, 2015

Congrats! I start in a few weeks & on our list we have stethoscope, bandage scissors, pen light with pupil gauge, non programmable calculator(for dose calculations), non digital watch with second hand, clipboard (for clinicals), blood pressure cuff. Hope that helps!

sjalv · May 4, 2015

I'm about to graduate and nothing can really prepare you for nursing school. Everyone says that and when I was first beginning, I didn't want to believe them.. but now that I am finishing, it really is true. You sound very prepared so that's good. Once you have your syllabus, you'll know what you can get a head start on.

Do you have your books yet? I agree with the person who said read up on the nursing process. It can be difficult to know how to do care plans correctly, so learning how nursing diagnoses, interventions, and goals are worded and how specific they should be will help you a lot.

Some people recommend not doing anything and just enjoying the summer, but I personally cannot do that. You will have a lot to read once the semester starts, but if you wanted to get a headstart now, I would definitely recommend the chapters that cover basic nursing assessments and diagnoses. Your program will definitely be teaching that.

Depending on your clinical experience, you should also look up how to do basic nursing schools like taking a manual BP, where to listen to get someone's heartbeat, how to change a bed, etc.

I don't really think there's a "how to survive nursing school" book, because each one is so different. You can certainly Google it though and read about other peoples' experiences. I know there're YouTube videos out there that talk about it as well. It goes by really quickly so hold on tight.

CamillusRN, BSN · May 4, 2015

Congrats OP! Nursing school was one of the most challenging things I've done, and the experience was quite interesting (not all good, not all bad). I would add a couple of things: 1) If you don't already have a solid network of friends/family/significant other, get one together STAT. Nursing school will make you want to cry/laugh/scream/dance/hit things/hug people, sometimes going through the list multiple times in a day. It's important to have someone who can help you decompress. 2) Get whatever equipment you feel justified in spending money on - just recognize that anything the school doesn't require will likely be wasted cash that could have bought several servings of ramen noodles (exaggerating, but not really). I had quite a few pieces of equipment that were hold-overs from my previous career (including a pulse oximeter) that earned me the nickname "Macguyver" at one of the clinical sites. However, I never was put in a position to actually need the majority of them. The basic stuff already mentioned here is a good start. Your clinical sites will furnish the rest (including a pulse oximeter).

Best of luck to you! Expect to do a lot of venting here! Also, we love helping out with homework if the need arises - just keep in mind that the search bar is very handy for finding discussions on issues similar to ones you may come across, and a show of effort if you post a homework question is greatly appreciated!

Mavrick, BSN, RN · May 4, 2015

Where can someone get their stethoscope engraved?

I would ask a jewelry store.

Perhaps a store that engraves sports trophies?

Chelonophile · May 4, 2015

Unfortunately I don't get a summer off, I would have loved that because I would have spent it as you all suggested and studied my butt off, especially since I didn't have a very good A&P I teacher. I really have been wanting to go back and review. But I"m coming straight out of school for my prereqs and get about a week off in between until my nursing course starts. I had to wait until the first of this month to order my books since I'm renting and before that they would have been due back before the end of the semester. As soon as they get here I'll be studying ahead though. One book is assessments, the other is pathology, which is the one I'm worried about retaining information from.

I'm a CNA so I have a lot of the basics down like bed changes, patient interaction, etc. Unfortunately my CNA class was the only time I ever had to do manual BP and that was about 4 years ago. Luckily my mom is a nurse (actually teaches at my nursing school - not my classes tho!) and she is going to be helping me brush up on heart sounds and BP before I start.

I'm also married and my husband is my way to decompress, he keeps me grounded and calm when I start to freak out about not having a plan or get too nervous. He is pretty worried about not getting enough time together, but he knows it's only 2 years so I think we can make it. I will definitely be coming here to rant/vent/get help/talk to/thank everyone, so far the community has been amazingly kind and helpful and I'm so happy to be a part of that. :)

Bumex, DNP, NP · May 4, 2015

Engraving can happen online through several vendors, but I'm unsure as to needing to purchase one of their scopes. What I did was purchase a personalized name tag that wraps around the Y-split of the stethoscope because I learned this after I had already purchased my scope.

Mine resembles something like this:

3M Littmann Stethoscope Identification Tag - 2170 - Black Stethoscope ID Tag | reddingmedical.com

AZBlueBell · May 4, 2015

I would ask a jewelry store.
Perhaps a store that engraves sports trophies?

That's kind of what I was thinking too but didn't know if it needed to be a special type of engraving or not. Thanks!

jamathis · May 4, 2015

To second what has already been said...a reliable printer, or at least access to one, is imperative. I don't think I could have gotten through nursing school without having a printer. Powerpoints, case studies, practice questions...these are all things that I printed out on a near daily basis and they were invaluable in passing.

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · May 4, 2015

As an ophthalmology RN, I'm curious as to what kind of eye chart they are requiring you to have?