What is the first day of an accelerated BSN program like?

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What do you remember about the first day? How stressful/anxiety inducing was it compared to what you were expecting?

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You mean the very first day? No stress - all orientation. The first lecture days were (I thought) very exciting because I discovered I actually knew what they were talking about and I wasn't the dumbest person in the class!

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I am also twiddling my thumbs waiting for my ABSN program to start. I'll be going from having all this free time, to being nonstop busy.

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You mean the very first day? No stress - all orientation. The first lecture days were (I thought) very exciting because I discovered I actually knew what they were talking about and I wasn't the dumbest person in the class!

What sort of things did you cover in the first lectures?

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My first day of our accelerated program was a clinical day! We had to be on the floor at 6:30am, got some orientation, and saw our first patients before lunch.

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My first day of our accelerated program was a clinical day! We had to be on the floor at 6:30am, got some orientation, and saw our first patients before lunch.

:eek: I'm guessing you just did some basic information retrieval from the pts? Or were you inserting catheters?

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I, too, am twiddling my thumbs waiting for my ABSN program to start...August 24th!

Unfortunately, my first day is clinicals. I'd much rather have lecture on day #1, that's for sure. Needless to say, I'm freaking out a bit.

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:eek: I'm guessing you just did some basic information retrieval from the pts? Or were you inserting catheters?

We'd learned to do catheters in our skills blitz but I don't think anyone did one on that first day. Mostly it was shadowing our nurses. Still, it felt like being thrown in the deep end!

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We'd learned to do catheters in our skills blitz but I don't think anyone did one on that first day. Mostly it was shadowing our nurses. Still, it felt like being thrown in the deep end!

Did you go to U of M? That's where I'm going this fall. I have the skills blitz for a week and then the first official day of class is clinicals. Yikes! If indeed you went to UM, I'd love any insight you could provide to me as I'm starting to get nervous.

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I wouldn't think that even an accelerated program would start the first day with clinicals.

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I wouldn't think that even an accelerated program would start the first day with clinicals.

Well, we have lecture on Monday, clinical on Tuesday, lab on Wednesday. Besides our skills blitz the week before, we officially start the day after Labor Day, therefore, on a Tuesday, so yes, we have clinicals on the first day. Not at all intimidating, right?! :uhoh3:

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Starting with clinicals on the first day only will lend emphasis to an overwhelming experience. Who wants to go to the clinical floor without a clue on their first day of nursing school? For each and every clinical class, we had an orientation meeting where expectations were discussed and the syllabus was handed out when the students met their clinical instructor. Then we went to the clinical site for the second meeting. That makes sense. And if the "accelerated" program is in need of that much speed, they could include the clinical orientation meeting on the same day as a full day of lectures. Nothing would be lost.

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