The Truth about Hinds ADN program

i'm graduating in december almost definitely. it really depends on the teacher and whether or not they think you respect them, or whether or not they like you. if you don't communicate with them properly (get scared or don't communicate with the nurse assigned as well) they will practically crawl up your ass when you're doing clinical skills. spend some time with (moderator edit of name) in the learning lab or by yourself as much as possible; no matter how much you think you can do a skill you will almost inevitably mess up something if a teacher is breathing down your neck, so it really helps to practice. i never had a problem with tests, but most everyone else i know has had problems with them. airway, breathing, circulation, safety, and pain in that order are your priorities if all the preceding factors are pertinent on a test question, but only when the problem of airway is there. if the client is breathing fine but has +2 post-tibial edema while sitting in a chair, prop up the feet (circulation). if a client has just had 4 mg of morphine and has a rr of 16, a hr of 76, a normal bp/temp/oxygen saturation but states they feel sedated/dizzy/tired, put side rails up times 2 and hand them the call light and tell them to ask for assistance with ambulation (safety). always think abcsp with priority questions. a big helper is covering up each question, then uncovering the question, then uncovering each answer and writing a "y" for yes, a "m" for maybe, and a "n" for no and then pick the best answer; it helps to decrease confusion and focus on the problem at hand.

Another biggie is don't make derogatory remarks about the teachers; they have feelings, too... I think (j/k). If you feel the need to complain, do it away from everyone else to a trusted friend because you never know who's listening. I haven't had to complain in a while, but it also took me a while to realize it's not the smartest idea to say something mean about a teacher, although I never got in trouble for it. It's kind of like a, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you" sort of thing. Be nice; these teachers know what they're talking about and if you disagree, please pay particular attention to not being rude. I have heard people argue with teachers and these people didn't think they were being rude, but how they said things did sound a little rude.

I was exactly where you are last year. I was so excited to start nursing school, but was scared to death of what I was about to get into all because of the negativity that I had heard. Honestly, it's not as bad as everyone makes it out to be. Relax! Do what you need to do: stay ahead, read, listen in class, study, practice your skills, and don't be afraid to ask for help! Remember your ABC's (airway, breathing, circulation) on tests, take one question at a time, and decide what will cause the patient the most harm when you have a priority test question. Just don't go in hating the instructors and thinking negative! Keep your head up and don't forget...it's only 4 semesters! It will fly by!

Oh, yeah...nursing is not for everyone and the majority of the rumors come from those who aren't prepared and are not taking it seriously! Good luck!

Thanks everyone I appreciate everything you have said. I have now finished my first semester and I did well. I am nervous about second semester. Whats a little advice for second or is it just about the same!

Congrats on finishing 1st! I just finished 2nd and I am so happy to have that behind me! It was TOUGH! We lost so many people this semester! But, IT IS possible to make it through! Here are a few tips!

1. LEARN YOUR LAB VALUES: You will need these for the rest of your nursing career so you might as well learn them now! I put them on notecards and carried them with me everywhere. Every opportunity I had I used to memorize them.

2. LEARN ACID/BASE BALANCE: This too is something you will always need! It's quite confusing at first so study good! You will most likely have a question on every test with some values. There's a book that explains is well...Acid/Base Balance for Dummies.

3. The tests will frustrate you! I thought 1st were bad with there being two possible answers, but it has nothing on this! Every test I thought I did great, but ended up not doing as good as I thought! Study hard for the tests! Its a lot of material to learn!

4. Know your medication contengencies....and when you go to check your meds with your instuctor the morning of clinicals, you better know what lab values to look at before giving the meds and you should know the pts most recent value to tell them!

And lastly BE PREPARED FOR CLINICALS! Go ahead and not plan anything on Tues! After you get your pt, you will need the day to complete the process tool, look up the 15+ meds, and write your diagnoses. Not being prepared will be a sure fire way to get sent home with a big fat U! I've heard the same about 3rd clinicals so I'm freaking out a bit!

Good luck this semester! You can do it!!

Respect your teachers; they don't crawl you and bother you for no reason. I also failed to realize until now that those portfolios are useful if you ever want to go beyond the ADN program; actually, they are a requirement at UMC for their RN to BSN program. Please go to bed by at least 2 am on saturday night, also, and one thing I always did to bond with patients (if the teachers believed in this and encouraged it) was to speak to them on Sunday; it may keep you at the hospital for a few hours, but their stories are amazing and it reduces their stress level so much. Also, take as much learning as you can from every alternate experience and ask questions. Today there was a health student (not hinds CC) at my job and the staff was at an amazing opportunity to ask questions, but she didn't ask any... and if you ask a question and someone is mean to you, so what? It is no big deal. Learn all you can and apply that learning to test questions.