Vanderbilt Fall 2010 ACNP

Published

Roll call!!

mammac-

quick question for you. I seem to recall reading in the student handbook that we are not allowed to wear jeans or athletic wear to class-- is this accurate? If so, how do most students dress?

General question for everybody: have you all been able to activate your VU Net accounts? I have tried multiple times to activate mine with no luck. I emailed IT so I guess we'll see what they say, but I was just curious about the rest of you :-)

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Meredith,

I haven't had any problem activating my accounts. I think there was a specific contact person listed in the original e-mail I received. Do you still have that e-mail?

I have a question about distance block classes versus traditional on campus classes. When I first applied to Vandy, my plan was to do the distance format but DH and I have decided to relocate. I have been placed in the block format classes. I e-mailed the admissions office to ask if I could switch to the on campus option. I still haven't heard anything back.

Do any of you know if this even possible? I didn't think it would be a big deal. Would it be better if I called instead of e-mailing? Or do you think I can just change my classes myself on the registration site?

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mammac-

quick question for you. I seem to recall reading in the student handbook that we are not allowed to wear jeans or athletic wear to class-- is this accurate? If so, how do most students dress?

General question for everybody: have you all been able to activate your VU Net accounts? I have tried multiple times to activate mine with no luck. I emailed IT so I guess we'll see what they say, but I was just curious about the rest of you :-)

Lecture time is pretty casual for the most part. I've seen everything from people in scrubs (who maybe work at one of the area hospitals as techs), business casual, pajamas & slippers (No, I'm not kidding about this and it really bothered me!), shorts/tees/hoodies, etc. Jeans are definitely okay. NOTE: I am almost always cold in class so you may want to bring a light sweater with you even for orientation when it will be approx one million degrees outside!

There will be a few times when you will need to be in business casual/dress clothes when you are presenting, but you'll know about that well ahead of time. You will need business cas/dress clothes for days when you go to the hospital and are not in scrubs, such as when you go over to get your patient assignment for the next day so you can do research. Closed-toe shoes for any time you walk into the hospital; you'll have your spiffy new lab coat, too, for that.

Clinicals will be scrubs, of course.

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Thanks Mammac, that's super helpful. SOOOO glad jeans are ok, I practically live in them :lol2: Related question: when you have to go to the hospital to pick up your case assignments, do you all go as a group with a preceptor or can you just pop in on your own the day before? I'm very curious about all these silly little minutia, as you can see :D

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Thanks Mammac, that's super helpful. SOOOO glad jeans are ok, I practically live in them :lol2: Related question: when you have to go to the hospital to pick up your case assignments, do you all go as a group with a preceptor or can you just pop in on your own the day before? I'm very curious about all these silly little minutia, as you can see :D

Ask away! I wish I had thought to ask all these questions before I got started...might have saved myself some anxiety.

The answer depends on what day(s) you're assigned to do clinicals, which will vary by rotation. For instance on your adult rotation you may do one 12-hour clinical day on Thursdays and have clinical conference for 4 hours on Friday. Or you may be assigned to two 8-hour clinical days which will include the conference time.

Lectures (prespecialty) are generally Monday & Tuesday. If your clinical is Wednesday, you could go over to the hospital Tuesday afternoon/evening to get your patient assignment. Sometimes our group went over in a pack, sometimes we would go individually just depending on what each of us had going on in our "real" lives. Clinical instructor was usually done and out of there prior to our arrival. Having said that, each clinical instructor is a little different and they have a bit of leaway as to how they set things up; you will have orientation time with each instructor you have and at each different institution you are assigned to. :)

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Ask away! I wish I had thought to ask all these questions before I got started...might have saved myself some anxiety.

The answer depends on what day(s) you're assigned to do clinicals, which will vary by rotation. For instance on your adult rotation you may do one 12-hour clinical day on Thursdays and have clinical conference for 4 hours on Friday. Or you may be assigned to two 8-hour clinical days which will include the conference time.

Lectures (prespecialty) are generally Monday & Tuesday. If your clinical is Wednesday, you could go over to the hospital Tuesday afternoon/evening to get your patient assignment. Sometimes our group went over in a pack, sometimes we would go individually just depending on what each of us had going on in our "real" lives. Clinical instructor was usually done and out of there prior to our arrival. Having said that, each clinical instructor is a little different and they have a bit of leaway as to how they set things up; you will have orientation time with each instructor you have and at each different institution you are assigned to. :)

Oh, well in THAT CASE...I'd like a copy of your daily activity logs--meals included please!-- from every single day you've spent in the program :jester: just kidding! I guess I'm most interested to know how hard/easy it was to adjust to the demands of the program, how many hours per day (or week) you spent studying, how you deal with the stress... basically anything you feel would help a newbie out so we don't end up looking like this at the end of the day --> :eek: or :crying2:

Despite my good intentions to review A&P and pharm, I've ended up just taking it easy and have slowly started packing up most of my worldly possessions in preparation for the big move. Very excited, but also a bit nervous too.

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Meredith - your enthusiasm is wonderful! Hang onto that and don't forget for a minute how excited you were when you found out you were "in." Recalling that day (for me) has seen me through the difficult times when I wonder what the heck I'm doing here!

Unless your A&P, pharm, etc. were a long time ago I would say just relax and have a great summer. Do the things you won't have much time for over the next year, such as cooking/baking, spending time with friends, reading trash, doing something artsy/creative, or whatever it is you enjoy most.

Your next year will go by like a speeding bullet - you can't slow it down once it's out of the barrel. I have had to focus on myself in ways I have never done before in my life, frankly, and to really keep the goal in front of me all the time. Friends and family don't always understand that, so you might try and prep them ahead of time not to expect much out of you until the Holidays.

Stress...well, um...I can't say I'm an expert on dealing with that. I have a wacky sense of humor, which helps. I would love to say I've kept up my previously-stellar workout routine and clean-as-a-whistle diet, but I'm not gonna lie. I have made some great friends here and it's great when we can get together for a meal. To quote one of my (nameless!) instructors, "You eat chocolate, you eat more chocolate, then you go to Happy Hour!"

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Thanks mammac :p

I keep thinking of more questions! I'm not real clear on what our Wednesday/Thursday/Friday schedule looks like before clinicals begin-- do we have skills lab stuff going every day until clinicals? Also, have they really sent you guys almost 2 hours away for clinical assignments, and if so, do those rotations begin in the early AM as well? I'm hoping Vandy is everything it has been cracked up to be-- most important to me is having profs that care if I succeed. Having good group dynamics among the students would definitely be a plus too. I've heard so many horror stories of crazy cattiness at other nursing schools, and to be honest it's something I absolutely dread. I've dealt with my fair share of that crap...

I definitely won't forget the day I got in--that date is marked on my calendar, and who knows, there may even be anniversary celebrations to come :lol2: I get the feeling we'll all need a good party sometime in our days there, haha.

Keep the advice coming--I'll take everything you've got to share!

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Meredith, I PM'd you just in case everybody doesn't want to see all this stuff.

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Psych.

I've been reading your responses with GREAT interest! Any chance I could get that PM, too??? You all are making me SO excited to send my application in later this Fall! :)

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I've been reading your responses with GREAT interest! Any chance I could get that PM, too??? You all are making me SO excited to send my application in later this Fall! :)

Ooops! I thought I was probably boring people at this point. I don't have a record of the PM, but perhaps Meredith can copy/paste it to the board? :o

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This has been such great information. Thanks mammac for sharing!!

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