First Year Nursing School Advice

Nursing school was so busy the first year that I didn't get to write anothe

r blog until now!  Obviously it went well because I am now an LVN working towards my RN (which I will have in May 2014).

My advice for your first year in nursing school.

1.  READ everything that you are assigned.  Don't simply sit there and ask the teacher and hold up class with questions that could be answered if you just read the dadgum material!
2. Pre-read before you go into lecture so that you are not completely lost when class starts.
3. Understand that the first two semesters are NOT the hardest.  They are just unfamiliar to you.
4. Buy all of the extra resources that you can find on Amazon.  I bought the clinical guides, Nursing Made Easy books, NCLEX question cd's, Fundamentals Success, etc.  The more exposure you get, the better.
5. IGNORE the comments from scorned, failed nursing students.  They hate everyone and everything just because they didn't make it.  Just because it was impossible for them, doesn't mean it will be impossible for you.
6. Establish the best rapport you can with your instructors.  How, you ask?  Don't hound them.  Show them you have common sense.  Be a smart student who stays after school to study and doesn't bother them with dumb questions.

These are all the tips I have for you today.  I have to study for a Med-Surg exam, so i will post after the test.  Made a 90 on my first test this semester!  Yay me!
 

Snazzy!

Today our official uniforms came in. 

 All crispy white linen with our school patch that says Registered Nurse Student on it!  I feel so nursy now!

Monday is our orientation at the hospital that we will be doing our clinical rounds in.  

Hair up and off the shoulders and back, minimal makeup, small stud earrings, no other jewelry except a watch, all white uniform, all white shoes and socks, nude undergarments.  Wooohoooo!

I'm excited to see where I will be working as a student for the next two years.

Hello Ms. Vice President

Wow!  I have made it through two weeks of nursing school and I feel pretty good.  We had our first test last week and I made an 88%.  That's not my goal grade nor am i satisfied with a B ever but, i will make the A on the next exam.  Over half the class failed the test so, a B is excellent when compared to the rest of the class.

The exam was over about 25 chapters of the book.  I spent the first week doing nothing but reading.

Next order of business....I was elected the VICE PRESIDENT of the Student Nurses Association!  I am very proud of my accomplishments so far.  I am thanking God every single step of the way and praying that he continue to help me to do well.


We have another test next week and I will be spending all free time studying and preparing.

This week we are on Hygiene, Mobility/Immobility, Vital Signs, an Elimination.  I have to be honest and say that i was tickled pink to learn how to use the old fashioned blood pressure cuff.  I had no idea how nurses were reading blood pressure with that thing!  Now i know!  I feel so empowered!!  LOL

The Night Before

It's the night before my official registration day and becoming an official Student Nurse!  I am soooo excited.  I have bought all of my supplies and insanely looking forward to spending $844.15 on books.  We also buy our uniforms tomorrow which run about $300.

I finished up my round of shots and titers for Hep B, MMR, Meningococcal, Influenza, Varicella Zoster, Tetanus, and the TB test.

I loaded up on notecards, pens, paper, pencils, study guides and a NCLEX review book (I heard that was a necessary evil).



The only drawback is that nursing school hasn't even started and backstabbing has already started taking place among coeds.  My suggestion, stay to yourself as far as other students are concerned.  Learn to study alone and not depend on other people.  This is a profession that is mostly women so you know how that can go.  Out with the claws!!!

I pray all day and everyday for success and knowledge in my field.  I am proud to be a nursing student and will be even more proud to be a nurse.  I chose this field because I love to make sick people get better, not just for a paycheck.

This road is going to be a long hard one but well worth the work.

Stay tuned for Orientation Day 1.  Love you all!

The Storm

Right as i get the good news that i have made it into the nursing program, i get the bad news that my grandmother is severely ill.  She has Congestive Heart Failure and Diabetes and has had both for quite some time now.  The bad news is that she had a heart attack three days ago and she is still in ICU.  She started telling us goodbye and that she was going to a better place.  That completely overshadowed any joy i had for getting into the nursing program.  I am so sad right now.

Throughout all the sadness, i still need to go complete the last few titers and shots for entrance into the program.  Please pray for my grandmother and our family.

Let The Nerves Begin

Class hasn't even started yet and I am already a ball of nerves.  I've been googling and researching ways to get prepared for the first semester of nursing school and its all kind of scaring me.  You are expected to know quite a bit but, i will share with you, the information that I have found.

Surviving Clinical—Strategies You Should Know Ahead of Time

by Angela S., Sponsored Elsevier Ambassador

As a senior nursing student, I can say that the fear that you feel in the very beginning eases very quickly because of the nature of the workplace. You are submerged in patient care that requires so much of your attention that you tend to forget that you were nervous. On the other hand, nerves can be worsened by being unprepared, and can cause your instructor to think less of your ability.

I am going to offer some advice based on what I have learned to be prepared for clinical that has gotten me through so far.


The following is a note on how to prepare for your first clinical.

1. As nursing students, and nurses in general, our duty is to carry out each and every doctor’s order.

It is important to know the orders inside and out and not disregard them. If a patient has neuro checks ordered every four hours, be sure to perform them on time. Although this procedure can seem tedious and unnecessary in certain cases, it is crucial in others.

2. In carrying out orders, it is important to know a patient’s first and last names.

A way to really get to remember to the patient’s names, because as an RN you will be caring for 4 or 5 at a time, is addressing your patient by their name each time you encounter them. It will help you in not mixing up orders or medications, which is something an RN is liable for. Also, your instructor will expect that you know your patient’s first and last names, and will ask you to recall them while pulling medications. This is very important, but an easy thing to disregard. I was caught off guard a few times, and all I knew were the patient's initials.

3. Know your patients’ diagnosis and everything it entails.

If you go to the facility in which you are working the night before clinical, it will give you the whole evening to do your research. Things to focus on that your instructor will be looking for include the diagnosis, the pathology, diagnostic tests and treatments, medications, and associated laboratory values. Knowing your lab values and how they pertain to your patient will really impress your instructor. An example of lab values that pertain to a patient’s diagnosis would be a person having dysrhythmias related to hypokalemia. In this situation, the instructor may ask what their potassium level was, and you would be expected to know.

4. Medication administration tends to be a very stressful part of the day during clinical.

My advice is to know the class of the medication, whether your patient is on an appropriate dose, any adverse effects you should be watching for, what YOUR patient is on it for (not just what the medication does), and any baseline assessments you should be doing for your patient.

For example, if your patient is on digoxin, you want to assess their heart rate 15 minutes or less before you administer the medication. Another example would be a blood pressure medication, such as an ACE Inhibitor. You need to measure your patients’ blood pressure 15 minutes or less before administering the medication. In fact, some facilities document these measurements on the medication administration record (MAR) or elsewhere before the medication is even pulled. In addition, the physician may prescribe certain parameters in which to hold a medication. An example would be systolic blood pressure below 100, hold the patients’ order for lisinopril or other antihypertensive.

5. An area that seems simple but is easily overlooked by students is the patient’s diet and activity orders.

It is important to know these areas in case, for example, a patient on bed rest tries to get up to go to the bathroom (which could result in a fall or other events that could complicate the patient’s condition), or if a patient has a tray delivered who is NPO awaiting surgery. In addition, a patient may be on a dysphagia diet with thickened liquids who could potentially aspirate if given the wrong meal order.

6. Getting your patient cleaned up and out of bed if orders permit is very important.

Instructors look for this. It is a good idea to try to get started as early as possible, especially if you have more than one patient. Gather all of your supplies ahead of time and bring them in the room so you don’t have to go back out, particularly if your patient is on precautions.

7. A few other tidbits include always carrying tape, alcohol wipes, and saline flushes.

These things commonly used and will be very annoying if you realize you forgot to grab some in the beginning of your shift.

The most important thing is to have confidence in your abilities. You learn all of the material by reading the textbook, and clinical is the arena in which you apply your knowledge. Instructors can sense it when you are confident in yourself, and so can patients and their families. This will help you be a better student and become a better future RN!

I Got Accepted!

Today at approximately 10:38am, i woke up from a pain pill stupor and checked my cellphone.  I saw a text from my friend and classmate that said the list had been posted of the students who had been accepted into the nursing program. 

Honestly, i already had in my mind that i had been accepted but, i got up and looked anyway. I searched the list for my student id number and didn't see it.  I searched again, more slowly and i saw it!  Thank God!  I made it!  After having absolutely no life at all the previous semesters, it has finally paid off.

See, last semester, my two friends and I took Microbiology and Anatomy/Physiology at the same time.  The woman over the nursing program said that it could not be done and that i would start failing one of the classes but......the witch was WRONG!  It was a lot of hard work, no life, tears, and panic attacks but, i completed the semester with a 4.0!

Now that i am actually in the program, the headache will continue but, at least i am actually doing work that pertains to my career this time.  Notecards and all-nighters, here i come!