TWU Dallas Spring 2011

zeek1 · Apr 4, 2011

I am applying to the Spring 2012 program. Can any of you guys give me suggestions, tips, advice on getting in? What were your GPAs and TEAS scores???

i received my acceptance today. i have a 4.1 gpa (.4 bump included) with a 78.7 on the teas.

NurseMNE · Apr 5, 2011

txaggie12 - if you search for the TWU applicants Spring 2011 thread many of us posted our stats.

zeek - congrats and welcome!

zeek1 · Apr 6, 2011

thanks bharvey2

fantasydragon · Apr 7, 2011

So quiet in here...
How are things!? Fully in the swing of clinical and (ugh) care plans. I've heard a lot of people have dropped concepts though. Everyone here doing ok? I'm not sure it's turned out to be what I expected but for the most part I'm enjoying it. Who needs sleep anyway, right?

It has been quiet -- I think the combination of the classes and, as you mentioned care plans, has kept us offline. I am lucky enough to get on and check my email each day. There have been a number of people to drop concepts (not sure the number). Sleep is overrated as of now... Hope the rest of the semester goes well for you!

zeek1 · Apr 7, 2011

could some of you guys join this group on facebook and give words of wisdom and advice to students who are just now making it into nursing school. we would greatly appreciate it.

Please and thank you all.

jsippel · Apr 8, 2011

Hi bharvey2, Hope your first semester in the upper level nursing program is going well. Like Zeek, I was accepted into the Fall 2011 program. Any advice/pointers for us neophytes? Jon (from your APII and Texas Government classes)

zeek1 · Apr 8, 2011

twu's fall accepted fall '11 is the name of the group on fb.... we cant send links on here which is something i did not know

NurseMNE · Apr 8, 2011

Hi bharvey2, Hope your first semester in the upper level nursing program is going well. Like Zeek, I was accepted into the Fall 2011 program. Any advice/pointers for us neophytes? Jon (from your APII and Texas Government classes)

JON!!!!!!!! How's it going? How was nutrition? I still wish you had knocked that out last summer so you could be with us! Ah well, you're here now! Congrats.

Advice. Hm. I'd be happy to answer any specific questions anyone has. There's so much info, I don't know where to start.

Books and software programs/online codes for the J1 semester run about $1300. Yeah, $1300. Majors Bookstore will put together a package that you'll have the option to buy at orientation, but honestly I found most to be cheaper on Amazon. You really don't need the Pharm book either, she tests completely off notes. And if you do need to reference a drug, you'll need a Nursing Drug Reference book for clinical anyway that you can just use for Pharm.

You'll need a stethoscope, a decent one. Most of my class have Littmann's. I have the Classic SE II which I like a lot. It's reasonably priced (about $70 I think?) and I can hear great. You can get whatever color you want, try to get your name on it though.

Scrubs are wine/maroon/burgandy pants with white tops and all white or all black shoes. (If you've read on here that you can do a wine top or your shoes can have something on them you're probably reading a Houston thread.) Some of the instructors and the lab managers are VERY particular about shoes and hair. For the girls or long-haired guys, make sure your hair is not just up but all the way up off your collar. This goes for labs too, they expect you to look like you should at clinical. And you must have "nursing nails" - no nail polish and SHORT.

Other than that, don't go crazy and buy every nursing thing you can find. You won't need a lot at first, and most things you do need you pay for in your tuition. At orientation you'll get your supplies.

If you don't have them yet, make sure you get started on your Hep B vax. There are 3 shots over 6 months! You'll also need to be CPR certified for HCPs, but TWU will offer classes before the semester starts. I would just do it at school, it'll give you a chance to meet people and get more oriented with the building.

The new building is nice. It has a gym and cafeteria. And a huge computer lab! Lots of places to relax. Parking is insane, but hopefully they'll demolish the old building soon and have the parking garage built before next semester.

The hardest thing, for me at least, has been getting used to the lack of control over your schedule. You do not get to pick your classes or instructors. You will be told where to go and when to go. And things can change last minute, due to school, hospital or as we had this year - weather!, and you're expected to be there regardless of family/work/etc. This has been hard to do as a single mom.

After the deadline to accept, Dallas will email out the "packet" with a bunch of stuff to sign and send back. So keep watching your email daily, because there's a deadline on those. In that packet will be hospital preferences. You do not get to pick a specific hospital, but you can list your preferences for certain areas (North Dallas, Dallas, HEB, Plano, etc). They will take that, and your location, into consideration when placing you into your clinical classes.

Second hardest thing to adjust to is the critical thinking. Nursing tests will probably be unlike any test you've taken. They are high-level critical thinking questions. And often, all answers are correct; you need to be able to prioritize based on the situation and pick which one is MOST right. Remember that in Nursing school anything less than 72, not 70, is failing. And there are no grading curves. At orientation they'll tell you if you're used to getting A's on everything, prepare yourself for that not to happen in nursing school. They're not kidding.

Assuming the schedule is the same as it has been, on Mondays you will have Patho in the morning. I can't recommend enough to get that out of the way this summer if you can. It REALLY makes a difference. Monday's are also Assessment. It's pretty much online, but she reserves the right to have you face-to-face should the need arise.

Tuesdays you will be at school all day with Pharm 9am-12 and Concepts lecture 1-4pm. Pharm takes A LOT of studying. You really have to understand basic physiology and the pathophysiology of the disease the drug is being used for. If you only study the drug stats (dosage, side effects, etc) you'll never be able to answer the questions. The instructor is great though. It is a hard class but her lectures are interesting and she is very willing to help. There is tutoring from upperclassmen available too. Concepts lecture isn't too intense, but you have to know everything to apply it in lab and clinical.

Depending on your group section, you will have Assessment lab on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. It's not every week - you will get a calender the week before school starts that tells you which weeks you have to be there. This is an all day lab, 8-4. This is the class where you learn basics: vital signs, normal and abnormal signs/symptoms, documentation, etc.

You'll also have Concepts lab/clinical Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, but it won't be the same day as Assessment. You don't have clinical until about the halfway point of the semester. First, you only have lab 8am-2 where you must first learn the fundamental skills to use at clinical like basic care, hygiene, restraints, givings meds, etc. There is a medication math test that you must pass with 100%, so if math is a weakness you want to start practicing problems as soon as you get your drug calculations software.

Then at about mid-term you'll start going to clinical at your hospital instead of lab for Concepts. It's from 6:30am-1. The day before your clinical day, you have to go the hospital to pick a patient. You'll have to get basic info like present illness, history, lab values, medications and then go home and write up the pathophysiology and nursing care for their main diagnosis and look up all their meds. People in hospitals tend to be on A LOT of meds, so this can take a LONG TIME. Especially if your clinical is on Wednesday, like me. So I have to drive like a crazy woman from class to Grapevine, get my patient, run home to get my kid, take care of her and get her to bed, then I'm up half the night writing up meds and headed to the hospital at 5:30am. After clinical, you have to complete a care plan, and that is also time consuming because it needs to be very specific and detailed!

First semester really is time consuming, but not as much as I expected. I sleep more than I thought I would and have more time with my kiddo than I thought I would. But I don't have Patho :) If you keep up, and study continuously instead of trying to cram (not gonna work, you have to retain everything you learn from now on!) it is certainly manageable.

Hope that helps some. I feel like I'm "talking" a lot, so like I said, if anyone has questions I'll try to answer it!

zeek1 · Apr 8, 2011

thanks so much bharv for the info... we appreciate it.

NurseMNE · Apr 11, 2011

thanks so much bharv for the info... we appreciate it.

no problem, hope it helped some. I know I wanted to know everything to prepare!

jsippel · Apr 11, 2011

Wow, thanks Bobbi. You pretty much answered all the questions I had about what to expect at orientation and our first semester. The only question I have now is do they prepare you (practice/provide samples) of the write ups that you have to do when you start your clinicals at a hospital? Hopefully that is a part of what they teach you in the class. It would have been nice to be in the Spring class with you guys, but I didn't want to have to give up my Summer with my boys. It won't be too long before they are to "cool" to do stuff with Dad, so I am going to enjoy my summers with them while I can. Also, now I know some really smart people that are a semester ahead of me and can answer my questions :-) I followed your lead about getting patho out of the way, I am currently taking it in Denton under Dr. Waldo. I also just got all my vaccinations done and go back in June for the second dose of MMR, Varicella, and Twinx (hep A & B). That will leave me with my last hep shot in October, but it is my understanding that they allow you to do the clinicals if you have at least two of the hep shots out of the way. Thanks again for all the info, it was very helpful Jon

nairbyllek · Apr 11, 2011

Thank you very much for the information. It helps to hear from someone who is going through it & it also helps me to know you are a Mom! That makes me most nervous, as I have three kiddos:-)