UALR Nursing Program Applicant 2014

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I plan on applying for the ADN progam at UALR soon. I am a nervous reck. I know there are more people applying than spots available. I have about 96 quality points. I made an 84 on my evolve exam. I have a 3.5 gpa. I have taken most of my Support Courses except Chemistry and Microbiology. I am taking Micro in the spring and have to repeat chemistry b/c I made a D in it about 10 years ago. I'm scared that chemistry will ruin my chances. I have a prior bachelors degree. I was just wondering what shot do I have of getting in the program.

OH MY WORD! Won't you need a watch to take the BP??????? With a 2nd hand? Military time???

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@nutrix94 I suggest you going up there and getting your package so that everything is covered. Lol you don't have to tell me twice I've been on amazon all day! I thought that people would think to drop as soon as they heard those prices. I would prefer not to pay out of pocket for books, or rather let financial aid and loans cover those. However, whatever little I can put towards supplies I will. I'll meet Littman and get real acquainted with him the day they make me an RM, until that day I'll be a broke college student with a off brand stethoscope to the ear. I hope you all just work hard at your jobs for the money this summer and not get discouraged. I know I'm putting in weekend job applications at hospitals now . I have a 7-1130 job now , but I wouldn't want that to conflict with getting up at 5 or 4 to get at 6am clinicals on time in the fall!

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Specializes in Operating Room.

@TiredKitten Thanks for the info. What kind of stethoscope did you get.

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Specializes in psych.
@TiredKitten Thanks for the info. What kind of stethoscope did you get.

I have 2 stethoscopes. One is a pink see through Prestige Medical. It was around $10. The other is a Sprague Rappaport-Type double barrel. I don’t know the brand since it was a hand me down and doesn’t have anything written on it. All I know is it’s the thick rubber style and at least 10 years old. Both work well. I used the double style early on because it has really good sound. But the other is smaller and easier to shove in a side pocket.

@Urmandyjoy, great idea starting a group page. That is what a lot of classes before you have done. You might want to set it to closed unless you want everything everyone says to be public record. My group, UALR Nursing Class of 2013-2014 along with the 2014/2015 group are both closed. I think all the earlier years were as well. We set ours to closed since we were posting peoples personal info in the posts.

A bunch of us also got together and created a group on the GroupMe app. It’s good because you can group text a ton of people as long as they join the group channel. I’ve had several groups over the last couple of years, everything from a group of 4 of us for a project in Health Promotions to the 92 of us in Critical Care.

Yes, you will need a watch that has a second hand or the digital second. Everything is written in military time.

Skills kit. You will need one for each class. You buy the "kit" at the bookstore. But in reality, you simply go to the desk in the back to sign a log and get a slip of paper with several bar codes. Pay for it and turn in the bar code receipt on the first day of class. Very important!!! That slip is your proof that you paid for it. So make sure you take it to class because they will tell you to write your name and T number on every one you turn in for each class. The price changes for each class. As I recall, most were between 40-60.

Evolve test. Yes, you will take a hesi evolve test after every semester class. The hesi will only be over that semester’s content. So OB hesi will only be over OB content. You will take one after adult 1, adult2, mental health, OB, Peds, and then an exit (taken at end of competency). I paid $42 each semester, and that covered all the hesi evolve tests for both classes each semester. So $42 x 4.

When its time to get uniforms, I wanted to drop when I went to pay. It didn’t help that we were the last group to have to buy the pricey embroidered white lab coat. The school does have a used uniform program if needed. They are around $5. I wish I had known about that before I bought mine.

One more piece of advice. Get something to record with. I bought a voice recorder to record all lectures. I also record the lecture on my iPhone just in case I want to listen to it and I don’t have my recorder with me. I record everything, even the pre lecture talks. I like to record it to make sure I had everything they might say about an assignment or date down. When I’m recording the lecture, I tend to start/stop it between each major section. It’s nice to be able to listen to those lectures again. I found I missed a lot (they talk fast) trying to write everything down. So now I record it and can go back and fill in the sections I might miss. It’s really handy when they start talking about signs/symptoms of something. They might rattle off 10 things and you’ll be trying to write the second down when they are moving to the next topic.

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okay so let me get this straight. We don't need the Koizer: Fundamentals of Nursing textbook for the summer? And the chapter layout for class is in the Nusing handbook. So basically, we cant study any information until we have the nursing course handbook which they will email us when it is available?

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Urmandyjoy-it's not just the American heart association-it's the one specified for health care providers.

I think we should make the group a closed group on Facebook just for security and privacy. If we post where we are meeting for study groups or something, it's out in the open online for anyone to see-and it might make some people uncomfortable :)

my my clinical day is Friday this summer...did anyone else get Friday too?

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Abennett-we DO have to have the fundamentals book-but I'd wait to order until you read the course manual-it's available in the bookstore and will tell us in detail which book we will need and what the specified reading is for the summer.

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Also-the course manual and policy and procedure handbook are different things-the course manual just became available last week

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Thank you everyone for your input here. That's what it's about-helping each other. Yes, I will go ahead and change the group setting to "closed." If you want to be apart of the group, then give me your e-mail address and I will add you. If you don't feel comfortable putting your e-mail here then you can "friend" me on facebook and send me a facebook message and I will then add you to the group. My name on facebook is Mandy Endris-Gates. I have same profile picture as I do here.

I will definitely take your advice @tiredkitten and buy a recorder! I will also add that to my list of "Nice to have" on facebook.

I will be adding a watch with 2nd hand to the group list of "need to have" on facebook.

If we think of more things as time goes on, we can edit the post and add them. That is another reason why I like facebook. You can go back right away and change it. On here, you have to contact an admin in order to edit your comment (even if you made a spelling error). I only have the free version so it might give you more options in editing if you pay a subscription to allnurses but I'm not trying to pay for anything else! :)

One more question @tiredkitten, would it be helpful if we studied a medical terminology/medical calulations book before we enter nurs 1300? Any suggestions?

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Specializes in psych.

One more question @tiredkitten, would it be helpful if we studied a medical terminology/medical calulations book before we enter nurs 1300? Any suggestions?

I personally didn't. Others took the medical terminology class during the summer so they could get enough hours to get aid. They said it helped. Intro was a very basic class. I had just finished taking a 4 week CNA class, and a lot of 1300 was learning just about everything I had learned for my CNA license. Things like how to physically move a patient in bed so you don't shear the skin. Then you learn things like delegation, nurse scope of practice, how to assess a patient, etc. You skim a lot of topics, then go into detail in later classes.

It sounds scary, but you start with very basic math. Stuff like "Doctor orders 200mg ibuprofen, it comes in 100mg tablets. How many tabs do you administer?" or "Ordered Lasix 40 mg IV push now. Available: 80 mg in 1 mL. How much will the nurse draw up?"

There are only a few basic ones to start with, and they give you the formula and lots of examples. Each semester you learn a few more. Even with the hard ones, its just learning to plug the numbers in to the formula. They will also hold math study sessions if you need it.

You also have to convert between units. They will give you a list of the ones they want to to know. Stuff like 1 tsp = 5 mL, 3 tsp = 15 mL, 1 tbsp = 15 mL, 2tbsp = 30 mL, and basic cup, pint, quart conversions. Plus converting between things like mL to L and mcg to mg.

If you want to see some examples of med math and get a head start, you can check out DosageHelp. That site really helped me with getting the harder ones down. Its nice because it has tutorials with explanations, full examples, and practice questions. testandcalc is another good one. Click the quiz link and it takes you to a page where you can take a quiz or click help and it shows examples.

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okay thanks! I was aware the Nursing policy and Procedure Manual was available but I havent gotten it yet. Okay i think im cleared up now. I see a very confusing semester ahead.lol. The course manual isnt available on the bookstore's website. Ill keep checking everyday to see or I may try to find it on amazon for cheaper.

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Specializes in psych.
okay thanks! I was aware the Nursing policy and Procedure Manual was available but I havent gotten it yet. Okay i think im cleared up now. I see a very confusing semester ahead.lol. The course manual isnt available on the bookstore's website. Ill keep checking everyday to see or I may try to find it on amazon for cheaper.

The "course handbook" can only be bought at the campus bookstore or the used bookstore on University. Along with the Policy manuel, both are loose paper files that are 3 hole punched. They are all designed to be put in a binder. The course handbook consists of tons of info, such as the teacher info, a calendar, grading scale, etc. Most of us learned to tab our handbooks out to make the various sections easier to find. All the tests are broke down into units. Each unit is broke down into specific chapters/pages, and all the things they want you to learn for that unit like specific meds. It also has all the clinical section that is broke down with everything you need for it. The clinical section will get very detailed once you start 1505 in the fall.

Another piece of advise. Keep all the course handbooks. At least the unit sections. You will need it to help study during the competency class. Several students couldn't find all their unit pages for all the classes and had to ask for copies from other students so they would know what to review. Its also good to keep all your notes. I bought a spiral notebook for each class, so that way everything was in one place.

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