DON"T GO TO MCON

Granted I currently hold a 4.0 GPA at MCON, but I will tell you. . . go anywhere else!

Fall Semester

This semester we are only taking three classes; Complex Med Surg, Mental Health, and Quantitative Research.  We now have two clinical days so we get to be in the hospital much more which is good.  Now that I am beginning to acquire some skills nursing is starting to become much more enjoyable.  On Saturday mornings I am on the lock down mental health unit (which is a lot of fun)  then on Sundays I am on the Oncology floor.
This Saturday we have a big Cardiac test in Complex, it will be our first grade for the semester and actually accounts for a total of 13% of our total course grade.  I have been working really hard (my wife tells me to cut back on my study time) and it has paid off, I was able to squeak by the first two semesters with a 4.0 GPA.  The program is front loaded so if I can pull off another decent GPA this semester I will really be in the clear.
I need to add some study tips on here eventually because I have found several things that really seem to help out a lot with learning the material.

Summer Almost Over

This has been a VERY busy summer.  We moved, my wife started a new job, I took 16 credits, my son had surgery. .. . It has been a bit stressful.  I have enjoyed clinical much more this semester as we are now able to give shots, starts IVs etc. . . I started my first IV a couple weeks ago.  That was a bit stressful as the patient was 88 years old and I had only ever done it on a rubber arm or on the young arm of one of my classmates.  I am proud to say I started it on my first try and it went very smooth.

Summer is almost over so I am beginning to prep for finals.  Then Fall starts right away. . . No rest for the nursing student!

Second Degree BSN

Second Degree BSN semester two. So first semester is finally over.  I managed to squeak by with a 4.0 at the end and more than anything I am just happy that it is over with.  This semester will be BUSY!  We are studying Med-Surg which is a six credit class and 5 other courses on top of that.  Oh, and since it is a summer semester it is only 12 weeks long.

How to prepare for your first day of nursing school.

First of all RELAX! Yes, nursing school is hard and it will beat you up a bit but you will not survive if you are stressed out. You will hear horror stories from friends, family, other nursing students about how rough it will be, but don't listen to all of this.

Take sometime to think about your life and how to keep it in order, set your priorities (nursing school should be up toward the top), make sure you are balanced and you will be fine.

As far as being prepared for the first day, I would suggest taking a crash course in critical thinking. If you plan to pass the NCLEX you must learn how to think critically. Buy a book off of Amazon.com or from Barnes and Nobel that talks about basic test taking strategies and critical thinking steps and work though it. One book in particular that I study almost more than my text books is: Test Success for beginning nursing students. It provides some test taking tips and strategies as well as critical thinking basics.

Seriously, relax. Get a gym membership or find out if your school has a free gym (mine does). If you are not taking care of yourself you won't make it. Take a speed reading course or learn how to improve reading comprehension. There is a lot of reading in nursing school, and if you are like me you don't really learn by reading. Learn how to comprehend more of your reading.

Go to the VARK website and find out what your preferred learning style is. Take the simple test on that site and then spend sometime researching ways to enhance your learning through that method. I am a kinesthetic learner, which means I learn by doing so I take TONS of practice tests per each chapter. I also draw pictures and go to the lab a lot. This is how I learn but it is different for everyone. I can't read my text word for word, for me that is just a waste of time.

Websites Heart & Lung Health Assessment Study

I found some websites that are pretty helpful with Heart and Lung Study:

http://www.lawrencegaltman.com/Naugbio/CADAVER/GALLERY.htm

This website has some cadaver dissection videos. . . do not click if you are not comfortable seeing human dissection. They are very informative and provide excellent visual instruction.

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/hhw/hhw_electrical.html

Very simple animation depicting the electrical conduction of the heart.

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072495855/student_view0/chapter22/animation__the_cardiac_cycle__quiz_1_.html

Simple animation with narration and quizes, covering electrical conduction and diastole and systole.

http://depts.washington.edu/physdx/heart/demo.html

Heart sounds.

Second Degree BSN

So the second degree BSN is a beast all its own. Most people stress about nursing school. In the Second Degree programs, also called Accelerated BSN (ABSN) programs we complete nursing school in under two years. Yep! A BSN in about a year and a half.

Some schools have their ABSN programs last only about 13 months. It is crazy stuff. You really have to dedicate yourself pretty much to reading 24/7. It does all pay off though, my class is 19 people and we will have our BSN in about 18 months.

I don't plan to stop there. I don't think that you really can. While nursing provides a lot of benefits as far as a career you really should go on and get an MSN or DNP. I plan to become a CRNA right now. That is a Nurse Anesthetist for many reasons the top two being; I want to be around surgery and I want to make money. The nursing community is really pushing for advanced degrees for nurses anyway so it will be great to be ahead of the curve.

The above picture is an image from the MCON.edu website which is the school I attend and it is an actual picture from the SIM lab connected to the hospital that students use on a very regular basis.

This is the MCON building where I spend all my time. From about 7 or 8 am until the evening and ALL day on weekends.