Tarrant County College Fall 2012

caitlyn181603 · May 15, 2012

Thanks ladies for all of your advice! We really appreciate you!

theantichick · May 15, 2012

Congrats to everyone who's gotten in. I just finished my OB/L&D semester, only one more to go - Complex in the fall.

Everyone's experience is different, so if I say something different than txhusker or anyone else, please don't consider it a contradiction, just a different experience.

2 sets of scrubs - I managed to always get the 12 hour 1-day clinicals so I probably could have done with just one set of scrubs, but I'm the kind of person who always keeps an extra set in the car. There will be some available at orientation at the TSNA table for very inexpensive, but sizes are pretty limited, and the popular sizes go quickly. I am a "fluffy" girl, and I found that I can't wear the elastic waist pants, they fall down... I needed a good sturdy drawstring and tied it tight. Different styles fit differently, too. Try on stuff and find what you like. You're best off with color to get the patch from the bookstore and match it. Some instructors are picky about it, and some aren't. But if you match the patch, you're good. Most of the main brands like Dickies, their teal matches.

Lab jacket - the only time I used it was for Foundations & Adult where I had to go up the night before to pick patients and get information, and for some of the hospitals you have the option to wear business casual (no jeans/shorts) and a lab jacket instead of scrubs. But, some hospitals (like Childrens') require you to be in your scrubs. So definitely only buy one.

Textbooks/ebooks - I personally love e-textbooks. The Elsevier (the publisher of our textbooks) Pageburst application is pretty good, it even has a way to highlight sections and put "notes" in your book. If you're familiar with e-textbooks, and like the format, go with the bundle package that gives you e-textbook access or purchase your online access and the e-textbooks separately. Elsevier's online sales is a bit hard to navigate, but once you get the hang of it, you can find your textbooks there. There's not a lot of price break on the e-textbooks, btw, so don't think that it's a cheaper way out. If you're a person who highlights/writes in textbooks a lot, you will NOT like the e-textbook.

Some people used every book on the reading list. I personally rarely cracked my skills text because the info we needed was in our skills CID. I also got an iPod Touch 3rd gen (no camera) and use most of my reference material there, and rarely used my drug book (also electronic version from B&N with the Nook Study program) except for research papers and daily documentation. You *will* need a good book with nursing diagnosis/ care plans - they usually recommend Gulanic or Ackley. Both are good, they're just arranged differently.

One note about the electronics - if you have your e-textbooks on a tablet/phone/computer - you are probably NOT going to be able to use them at clinicals. You are barely going to have a place to put your book bag or purse at clinicals, and it's not going to be secure. Many of the hospitals have issues with phones being accessed on the floors, and prohibit personal computers/tablets. It's changing somewhat, and at my Foundations and Adult, my instructor and the hospital had no issues with my iPod Touch since it wasn't a phone and didn't have a camera. The hospitals for pediatrics and L&D had strict prohibitions.

And while I'm on the subject of clinicals - don't think you're going to have time to study or crack open the textbooks there. You're there to learn skills and documentation. You can put flashcards in your pocket or maybe a few notes to study in your clipboard for a few minutes here and there, but don't drag your textbooks to clinicals - you'll annoy the staff if you get them out, and there's many times no place to leave them.

As for other gear - I personally dislike the Littman stethoscopes and use an UltraScope. You can find a list of UltraScope retailers on their website where you can probably get a chance to listen with one compared to the Littmans (which everyone carries) and see which you like better. They will also have an option for you to get a pretty decent deal on a Littman at orientation through TNSA. You will also need a pen light, and I suggest if you have never taken a blood pressure manually before to get an inexpensive kit and start practicing - you'll do a LOT of vitals in Foundations, and some of my cohorts had real problems getting the hang of it. I also always carry some bandage scissors - but be sure to label them and don't get anything too spendy, it's easy to lose stuff.

Shoes - definitely get as much white as you can. I can only wear New Balance, and they typically have the logo outlined in a color on the shoes. That much color hasn't been an issue at any of my clinicals.

Support socks - GET SOME. My Foundations instructor told us this, and I didn't until this semester, and it makes all the difference in the world. You only need light-moderate support and you can get them at the scrub stores or online. I bought mine online at FootSmart because I needed a larger circumference calf.

You're going to also have a ton of paper to sort/organize/keep up with. Whatever works for you is great, but go into this expecting it.

Pens, pens, pens.... never set foot on a floor without at least 3 pens in your pocket. They wander off like nobody's business.

Classtimes - you don't get your choice for Foundations, but there is an allowance for changing schedules if you can find someone to change with. I took the Hybrid course, and LOVED it. Ms. C is fantastic, for the online portion she has powerpoints with her voiceover that she posts, so it's like being in lecture. There's a bit more busy type work, but if you need a more flexible schedule, it's great. There are 4 sections, and you're face to face for 2 of them and online for 2 of them. After foundations, you get to scramble with everyone else at online registration trying to get your preferred classes. Except for Mental Health in the summer, there are *usually* options for theory which are 2 hours 2x a week, or 4 hours 1x week, and clinicals either 6 hrs 2x week, or 12 hours 1x week. There are sometimes online options offered, sometimes not. I have managed to get the 4hr theory/12 hr clinical options every semester and the online when available, and it's worked out for me. It's a tough load. I wish I had enough flexibility with my work to take the 2hr/2x week theory. I do however prefer the 12 hour clinicals.

I think that's everything I can think of.

Again, congrats. Buckle up for a whirlwind. :)

manowhopefulrnsoon · May 15, 2012

Congrats ot everyone who got in!! It feels amazing now that the wait is over.

I apologize for being MIA lately but have been on a week long celebration that my first semester is OVER! I made all A's got a near perfect score on my HESI and couldn't feel happier in the path that I have chosen. (I have never been an A student! Had a 3.25 on my sciences!)

I wish I would have got on here sooner to tell ya'll about Hybrid course. Ms. C is the instructor (red hair). she is phenomenal. You spend the first 4 weeks in lecture (mine was T/TH 10-1150) and the next 4 weeks online. Then you repeat that. Online uses Blackboard where you'll find her powerpoints that have her lectures recorded into them. Then you complete an assignment once a week and turn it in by Sunday night. The cool thing is that the course breaks down into 500 points: Exam1-3 worth 100, 150 for the final and 50 for quizzes. However, since alot of our work is done online, we had no quizzes. Our extra 100 points came from assignments done online and our final only counted for 100 points. So the weighting is different for hybrid also. Another thing I loved was that for the 8 weeks we had online work, I was only on campus one day. This is HUGE to the moms or people that have a further commute than others. Finally, I can't say enough about Ms. C. I was also lucky enough to have her as my clinical instructor as well. What a force!! I had an experience during clinical this semester that really affected me, and her intervention will change my life forever...

I think tx-Husker has answered your questions really well! But I'm also here if ya'll need anything when she has her hands full with the twins!

Oh and I can't stress enough about bargain shopping for your books! I also got my theory book for $8 at HPB. And as far as scrubs, I bought one pair and got one from TNSA for 2$! However, I've lost 34 pounds this semester from the change of schedule, responsibility, etc. So I only wore 1 pair all semester. I had my clinical M/W 1-7 and skills TH 130-330.

Again, congrats to everyone!!

Loly82 · May 15, 2012

Congrats to everyone who's gotten in. I just finished my OB/L&D semester, only one more to go - Complex in the fall.
Everyone's experience is different, so if I say something different than txhusker or anyone else, please don't consider it a contradiction, just a different experience.
2 sets of scrubs - I managed to always get the 12 hour 1-day clinicals so I probably could have done with just one set of scrubs, but I'm the kind of person who always keeps an extra set in the car. There will be some available at orientation at the TSNA table for very inexpensive, but sizes are pretty limited, and the popular sizes go quickly. I am a "fluffy" girl, and I found that I can't wear the elastic waist pants, they fall down... I needed a good sturdy drawstring and tied it tight. Different styles fit differently, too. Try on stuff and find what you like. You're best off with color to get the patch from the bookstore and match it. Some instructors are picky about it, and some aren't. But if you match the patch, you're good. Most of the main brands like Dickies, their teal matches.
Lab jacket - the only time I used it was for Foundations & Adult where I had to go up the night before to pick patients and get information, and for some of the hospitals you have the option to wear business casual (no jeans/shorts) and a lab jacket instead of scrubs. But, some hospitals (like Childrens') require you to be in your scrubs. So definitely only buy one.
Textbooks/ebooks - I personally love e-textbooks. The Elsevier (the publisher of our textbooks) Pageburst application is pretty good, it even has a way to highlight sections and put "notes" in your book. If you're familiar with e-textbooks, and like the format, go with the bundle package that gives you e-textbook access or purchase your online access and the e-textbooks separately. Elsevier's online sales is a bit hard to navigate, but once you get the hang of it, you can find your textbooks there. There's not a lot of price break on the e-textbooks, btw, so don't think that it's a cheaper way out. If you're a person who highlights/writes in textbooks a lot, you will NOT like the e-textbook.
Some people used every book on the reading list. I personally rarely cracked my skills text because the info we needed was in our skills CID. I also got an iPod Touch 3rd gen (no camera) and use most of my reference material there, and rarely used my drug book (also electronic version from B&N with the Nook Study program) except for research papers and daily documentation. You *will* need a good book with nursing diagnosis/ care plans - they usually recommend Gulanic or Ackley. Both are good, they're just arranged differently.
One note about the electronics - if you have your e-textbooks on a tablet/phone/computer - you are probably NOT going to be able to use them at clinicals. You are barely going to have a place to put your book bag or purse at clinicals, and it's not going to be secure. Many of the hospitals have issues with phones being accessed on the floors, and prohibit personal computers/tablets. It's changing somewhat, and at my Foundations and Adult, my instructor and the hospital had no issues with my iPod Touch since it wasn't a phone and didn't have a camera. The hospitals for pediatrics and L&D had strict prohibitions.
And while I'm on the subject of clinicals - don't think you're going to have time to study or crack open the textbooks there. You're there to learn skills and documentation. You can put flashcards in your pocket or maybe a few notes to study in your clipboard for a few minutes here and there, but don't drag your textbooks to clinicals - you'll annoy the staff if you get them out, and there's many times no place to leave them.
As for other gear - I personally dislike the Littman stethoscopes and use an UltraScope. You can find a list of UltraScope retailers on their website where you can probably get a chance to listen with one compared to the Littmans (which everyone carries) and see which you like better. They will also have an option for you to get a pretty decent deal on a Littman at orientation through TNSA. You will also need a pen light, and I suggest if you have never taken a blood pressure manually before to get an inexpensive kit and start practicing - you'll do a LOT of vitals in Foundations, and some of my cohorts had real problems getting the hang of it. I also always carry some bandage scissors - but be sure to label them and don't get anything too spendy, it's easy to lose stuff.
Shoes - definitely get as much white as you can. I can only wear New Balance, and they typically have the logo outlined in a color on the shoes. That much color hasn't been an issue at any of my clinicals.
Support socks - GET SOME. My Foundations instructor told us this, and I didn't until this semester, and it makes all the difference in the world. You only need light-moderate support and you can get them at the scrub stores or online. I bought mine online at FootSmart because I needed a larger circumference calf.
You're going to also have a ton of paper to sort/organize/keep up with. Whatever works for you is great, but go into this expecting it.
Pens, pens, pens.... never set foot on a floor without at least 3 pens in your pocket. They wander off like nobody's business.
Classtimes - you don't get your choice for Foundations, but there is an allowance for changing schedules if you can find someone to change with. I took the Hybrid course, and LOVED it. Ms. C is fantastic, for the online portion she has powerpoints with her voiceover that she posts, so it's like being in lecture. There's a bit more busy type work, but if you need a more flexible schedule, it's great. There are 4 sections, and you're face to face for 2 of them and online for 2 of them. After foundations, you get to scramble with everyone else at online registration trying to get your preferred classes. Except for Mental Health in the summer, there are *usually* options for theory which are 2 hours 2x a week, or 4 hours 1x week, and clinicals either 6 hrs 2x week, or 12 hours 1x week. There are sometimes online options offered, sometimes not. I have managed to get the 4hr theory/12 hr clinical options every semester and the online when available, and it's worked out for me. It's a tough load. I wish I had enough flexibility with my work to take the 2hr/2x week theory. I do however prefer the 12 hour clinicals.
I think that's everything I can think of.
Again, congrats. Buckle up for a whirlwind. :)

Hi, Antichick, I'm from the Fall 2011 thread. I'm going to go the electronic way as far as my books for my mental health and fall semester. I hope I have a good experience with them. I had been using the textbooks but I'm truly sick and tired of lugging around those heavy text books. I figured it would actually be easier to read it too. (you can't necessarily lay in bed in a supine position with a text book that weighs 30 lbs). It sounds like you have had a good experience with them. Thank you for the advise. Did you purchase them through the book store or did you just go directly into the elsevier website?

I also wanted to ask you about your PEDI/OB semester. I don't know why, but everyone is freaking out over pedi/ob. I don't know how much truth there is to that since I heard everyone before freaking out over the adult semester and it really wasn't that bad. Anyway, any thoughts, tips, advice? Congratulations on finishing your last semester and here is hoping everything continues to be smooth for your complex semester. Good luck!

Thank you for your help in advance.

theantichick · May 15, 2012

Hi, Antichick, I'm from the Fall 2011 thread. I'm going to go the electronic way as far as my books for my mental health and fall semester. I hope I have a good experience with them. I had been using the textbooks but I'm truly sick and tired of lugging around those heavy text books. I figured it would actually be easier to read it too. (you can't necessarily lay in bed in a supine position with a text book that weighs 30 lbs). It sounds like you have had a good experience with them. Thank you for the advise. Did you purchase them through the book store or did you just go directly into the elsevier website?
I also wanted to ask you about your PEDI/OB semester. I don't know why, but everyone is freaking out over pedi/ob. I don't know how much truth there is to that since I heard everyone before freaking out over the adult semester and it really wasn't that bad. Anyway, any thoughts, tips, advice? Congratulations on finishing your last semester and here is hoping everything continues to be smooth for your complex semester. Good luck!
Thank you for your help in advance.

For the electronic books - the first semster I just got the bundle package with the e-book option so I have a set of hardcover that's barely been cracked if anyone wants to make me an offer. :) After that, I've just bought them through the Elsevier website. I absolutely love them. I am one of thse who doesn't ever mark in my textbooks - if I need to remember something I put it in my notes. So electronic works fantastic for me. Also, the Pageburst app is now available (beta) for Android (I have a tablet which I adore) and the iPad/iPhone app has been out for a while. So you can take the books with you wherever (you can only authorize a certain number of devices, though....) which I love since I work full time as a computer geek (hence the love of electronics) and am rarely in one place long enough to pull out a paper textbook, but this way I always have them with me when waiting at the DMV/doc's office/etc.

Pedi/OB has definitely been the hardest semester so far. I've been told even Complex isn't as tough, but I can't compare that one yet. The biggest thing is all the memorization of information that's different than for normal Adult, and everything is so rushed because you get 1/2 semester for Peds and 1/2 for OB. The biggest advice I can give is if there's a table for it, memorize it. If the information is such that you *can* put it in a table, memorize it. (eg if there are 3 or 4 different hemorrhagic complications of pregnancy, and the s/s are similar except for this, this, and this.... MEMORIZE that.) You won't really be expected to know drug dosages (except for Narcan both pedi and adult) but definitely learn their classes, their antidotes (if they have any), their indications, major side effects and if there's any hard contraindications. For Peds, you really want to dig into the stages (Piaget and Erickson) - not so much for testing, but because so much of the critical thinking is based on what developmental stage the kiddo is at - and teaching is a HUGE deal - if you have situations where the parents don't speak english or aren't available for teaching in Peds, then do up a teaching plan as if you had done it and make sure your instructor knows you *can* do the teaching. Teaching is also huge for L&D, so always read up on what you'd teach the patient and be ready for it. There's a LOT of information, compressed into a VERY short time period, and that probably adds more to the "hard" factor than anything else. Get your books ahead of time, and STAY AHEAD of your reading, there's ZERO time to catch up. Also, see if you can talk to people who have had the different instructors. I had a great instructor for Peds (theory & clinical), and a fantastic instructor for L&D Theory, and a not-so-great one for L&D Clinical. I have some horror stories from L&D clinical and have heard more from other people about other instructors. It's do-able. Heck, I've had health complication after health complication (including a 7 hour ER visit the day of my clinical onboarding for L&D and the entire L&D semester I've been throwing on average 40 PVC's a minute) and I managed to squeak out a B in theory and a solid B in clinical.

Best of luck!!!

Student213 · May 15, 2012

Wow, sounds like you guys are getting a lot of good advise!! My biggest advice would be - don't sweat the small stuff. If you are on a budget I would just like to warn everyone that you might be getting your financial aide late. In our semester we couldn't register until we took our drug test and had to wait for tcc to clear us which was just a couple of days before school started. It don't get enough FA to matter but it really stressed out a bunch of people in my class. Most of the stuff like steths, scrubs, shoes you won't be using until a few weeks in so don't stress out about it. Get your foundations book (an edition back is fine, most of us didn't have time to read it all anyways and still got A's) and be sure to have money to pay for drug test, background checks, CPR and you skills pack. I bought a rolling backpack but by the end of the semester I just started showing up with my pen and notebook. As far as what was said about the drug book, they are expensive, I also used the micromedex app that just was talking about. Free is good and it had all the info I needed. Good luck everyone!!

theantichick · May 15, 2012

Yeah, what Student213 said - don't sweat the small stuff. :) There's going to be a lot of information coming at you really fast. Learn to focus on the absolute necessities, and let the optional or "nice to have" stuff go by if you have to.

For drug references, you will have access to Lexicomp through the TCC nursing online library for when you're at home (if you have internet access), and frankly there's references either on the computer or in hard copy at most of the hospitals. If you are sweating having references at clinicals, I suggest to coordinate with your clinical group so that one or two of you bring the references and share, so not everyone has to buy/lug them. And there are free/inexpensive apps for phones, too. (but see my note above about not being able to use them on the floor)

caitlyn181603 · May 15, 2012

Hope everyone is having a great day!! I just wanted to tell you that I compared the 5th edition of Pharmacology and the Nursing Process to the 6th edition TCC listed and it looks as if ALL that they changed was the color scheme and the illustrated pill characters. I bought the 5th and a friend of mine had the 6th so I thought I would just take a look. You'll definitely be safe to buy the 5th ed. on that one if you find it.

manowhopefulrnsoon · May 15, 2012

Wow theantichick! I am only going into my adult/mental health semester but I will bookmark this page thanks to your awesome advice!!

hope122 · May 16, 2012

manow, CONGRATULATIONS on your amazing grades! You certainly deserve the week long celebration.

I have been feeling so overwhelmed with all that we need to be on top of and with what we should expect this next semester.

I'm sure you go to school with others who have also done very well, but It's good to hear about your success. It makes me feel like this may actually be possible =)

kate0226 · May 16, 2012

Has anyone looked at the fall schedule that came out on Webadvisor?? The clinical times listed on there are totally different than this past springs. Lots of 12 hr shifts on a single day during the week. I wonder if those are in fact the times that they will be offered. I will be in big trouble if I get a 12 hr clinical on Monday.. any other day is fine but that is the one day my husband cannot be off work and with the kids..I am already stressing about that!! Any veterens know if those are probably the correct clinical times that will be offered or do they just put whatever up there until they get actual clinicals finalized closer to the school start?

Student213 · May 16, 2012

I'm thinking it might be right, but don't worry. If by chance you do get Monday you will have the chance to trade with someone.