I am starting the Nursing program at my local community college in the spring of 2012. I am going to take two semesters of basic courses this year to get ready. I am 28 years old and I have never been to college. I joined the Marine Corps right after high school and after I got out I started working for a government contract company. I decided last year to use my GI Bill and get my degree in nursing. I took the PAX-RN and scored in the 82nd percentile, which I was quite pleased with considering I have had no school for the past 10 years.
So my question is, what should I study for ahead of time to make the program go as smooth as possible? I bought a pharmacology book this weekend and a health calculations book as well. My goal is to self teach these things over the next year, so when I go to school it will be a little easier on me. I am also a single mother so I need to make this go well. Once I quit my job that's it. I don't have the option of failing.
Which nursing classes are proving difficult for you? Please give me suggestions for how to prepare myself. I am aware this is going to be challenging.
If you have a problem with procrastination or time management, start working on that now.
If you are not an assertive person, start trying to become more assertive - and learn the difference between aggressive, assertive, and passive.
When you take Anatomy and Physiology and Micro, don't study for the tests and then promptly forget everything once the test is over. The more you know about A&P and Micro, the better you are going to do in nursing school.
A&P in particular is going to be your bread and butter. Review it often.
Get a list together of commonly prescribed medications in the hospital setting. You might want to contact the nursing program or speak to a current student, and ask what medications they will specifically want you to know about.
Start studying the therapeutic effects, actions, side effects, adverse effects, cautions, drug interactions, nursing implications, patient and family teaching considerations and dosage information for those drugs.
Look at some NCLEX review books. You won't know the information, so don't worry about that, but become familiar with the type of question - the type that requires critical thinking - because it will be the kind of question you will see on your tests in nursing school.
In short, give yourself as much of a head start as you can.
I've just started nursing school. Only in my 3rd week. I wondered the same thing when I got my acceptance letter last year. What should I do to prepare. Over the holidays, I did some reading. I'm not sure that helped much. What I think helped me to prepare somewhat more than anything else was I took a pre nursing class prior to being accepted that exposed me to nursing critical thinking questions. You can do that on your own. We had our first exam this week and quite a few people said they were thrown off by these types of questions. Very different from the way we were tested while doing pre-reqs. Not saying I'm a pro at these types of questions yet, but I think that was the best thing i did to prepare for nursing school.
I would invest in a few NCLEX books, I swear by them! In addition to practice questions and a chance to see how your Nursing exams will be, they also explain pertinent topics and break them down so they're easy to read. I'm in my final semester and these books have helped me the most. A lot of the NCLEX books are expensive but you can always go to a Barnes&Noble and study them - that's what I do. Your first semester will focus on basic skills/fundamentals so start with that. You'll need a good foundation before you dig deep into disease processes, etc. Also, it would be a good idea to start reading and becoming familiar with drug classes and names just so they aren't foreign to you when you begin pharm. Action of the drug, nursing teaching and considerations are very important. Another important component are lab values...potassium, sodium, etc. For me, it was kinda hard to keep all those normal values straight! I had to look over them several times.
Nursing is unlike anything you will ever undertake and you're smart to start now! Everything builds on your first semester. Try to relax and absorb as much as you can! Since you'll be starting classes soon, pay close attention to how you learn best and which study habits help you the most. One of my closest friends rewrites everything several times in order to study. Some have to read things over and over. Best of luck to you! :)
Well because I have already been out for 6 years, I have a home and a child and a life in which I am happy. I only did 4 years so that would mean 16 years to retire, not 10. The Marine Corps is very difficult life and extremely unforgiving and stressful. Sorry that was not a good suggestion.
christyness, BSN
65 Posts
If you have a problem with procrastination or time management, start working on that now.
If you are not an assertive person, start trying to become more assertive - and learn the difference between aggressive, assertive, and passive.
When you take Anatomy and Physiology and Micro, don't study for the tests and then promptly forget everything once the test is over. The more you know about A&P and Micro, the better you are going to do in nursing school.
A&P in particular is going to be your bread and butter. Review it often.
Get a list together of commonly prescribed medications in the hospital setting. You might want to contact the nursing program or speak to a current student, and ask what medications they will specifically want you to know about.
Start studying the therapeutic effects, actions, side effects, adverse effects, cautions, drug interactions, nursing implications, patient and family teaching considerations and dosage information for those drugs.
Look at some NCLEX review books. You won't know the information, so don't worry about that, but become familiar with the type of question - the type that requires critical thinking - because it will be the kind of question you will see on your tests in nursing school.
In short, give yourself as much of a head start as you can.