QUARTER 2 /1ST CLINICAL ROTATION/ MY RANT and all the HYPE!

UPDATE: As you can see, this is the first chance that I have had to write. Quarter 2 started off with a bang…I would say the first 4 to 5 weeks was pretty busy but after that its been just craziness. I forgot to mention this in previous posts but our particular graduating class is the "Guinea Pig" class for the quarters to come. They changed the curriculum around and added in different classes etc..they are also incorporating a lot of the ATI stuff a lot more intensely which has most of us very frustrated. Not because of ATI but because the lack of organization involved. …and let me tell you, you WILL get frustrated with the lack of organization however, just do the best you can and stay focused on your goals and dreams and try to let it get to you.
 RANT BEGINS: I think, and this is my opinion of course, and anyone reading that takes offense well, thats why its called an opinion and thats why its on MY blog. (OK SMILE!)……Now I shall carry on….. I think that since their NCLEX pass rates are in the 80% range, they are scrambling to bump those scores up. Which I don't blame them, however, instead of cramming more of the same thing down our necks, it would be wise to start taking a hard look at what isn't working about their program and find ways to improve it. It is a very un-innovative approach to teaching and handling the situation. I personal think they would benefit from touring other programs that have high pass rates and checking out how they design their programs. For me the problem isn't doing the ATI stuff, its finding the time to actually absorb the information presented. The only was to truly learn is to work with the material and develop a relationship with it and understand it. This creates new neural pathways in our brains and we remember it much better then brute memorization. Nursing isn't about learning something long enough to test on it, its about knowing and growing with the material and retaining it! I have other opinions about how to make the program better, but I'll saw that for now. All in all I am not impressed with the fact that they are not following an evidence-based approach to learning. RANT OVER

CLINICAL LOTTERY!! Now lets talk about the lottery!!! The clinical lottery! Well this is the way we choose our clinical sites. I'm not sure how other schools do it but basically our names go in a hat and the professors draw our names out. As our names are called we go up to the board and write our name under the clinical site of our choice. For those that get last call outs … well…. good luck. LOL. JK, most all of us got the site we wanted, and usually there is someone willing to trade, however, there were still a few people that didn't get their 1st or 2nd choice so pray your name gets called out first.

NURSING HOME AND REHAB CLINICAL ELDERLY CARE: I have to say that in the beginning clinicals was kinda frustrating. Our first clinical is elderly care. Which isn't my cutp of tea, but I think its the best place to start. Not only does it prepare you for gross things and sad things but it allows you to learn at a slower pace. You aren't sure what to do really or where to go, mainly because it's all new (unless you are a CNA or you've working in a hospital setting before)….but for us that are new to the  "human medical world "…things can be a bit intimidating and confusing. You aren't sure what to do… OH AND BTW the way you learn your head-to-toe assessment in lab is how you would learn in a PERFECT world. Well let me tell you…. this isn't a  perfect world. I don't want to go to far into this because I will have more clinical posts but my advice to you is this: Go into clincials with an open mind, its not gonna be like a tv show or anything; this is real world!

So find someone that you like to work with, try to work as a team. HELP EACH OTHER THIS IS NOT A CONTEST!!! I cannot stress that enough. I have found that so many of the students in my class seem to be stuck up and unwilling to help one another and in my opinion is really sad…WHY? I'll tell you why, because these people want to be NURSES and my definition of a nurse is someone who is caring, honest, kind…someone who is willing to be a team and someone who is will to go the extra mile to care for people! SO PLEASE… help one another, don't be selfish. We are all trying to get through the program together. We had to compete to get in the program so all of the "Trophy Winning" should be left at the door when you walk into you first day of orientation!!

I'm gonna leave it at this for now….It's super late and I have lab tomorrow…I have more to share but we will get to that soon. I should be able to post another update in a week or so… thanks for reading. I hope that this will help you with your journey and becoming the nurse that ANYONE or ANY hospital would be proud of and happy to have! Sorry for spelling errors…its late and I was typing fast..lol

Signing off, STUDENT NURSE Mini B

School Calendar/ Breaks and Schedule INFO!

I thought that posting pictures of our school calendar for the BSN program, days we have off for breaks and holidays and also our 2 year term class schedule Quarter by Quarter might be something helpful and cool that will help everyone get an idea of what to expect as far as time frames, days we get to have brain breaks lol and also what kind of class schedule you may have….Although be aware that much of this may change!!! 

Also, to anyone who is attending South University Tampa and would like to share my blog with others, that would be ok with me. I made it public so that hopefully I can help other nursing students who are interested in this program. To be honest I would have LOVEDDDDDD to have had a blog like this to read before I had started the program. So take advantage!!

Below are the pictures: Feel free to ask me any questions…

ACADEMIC CALENDAR 2014

(We just finished Spring 2014 which was April 7th thru June18th: Quarter 1)

(Below is the program outlook for the entire BSN… Quarter 1-Quarter 7) 

Well until next time! 

FINALS ARE OVER FOR QUARTER 1; TIME FOR A BREAK!

SOUTH UNIVERSITY: TAMPA BAY QUARTER 1

Well, I finished Quarter 1 with a A in Intro to Nursing, and A in Fundamentals 1 and a B in (Pharm 1 with an 86) and Lab with a "P"…there is no A or B in Lab its just Pass/Fail. But if I had to put my own grade on it I'd say I got an A. I know in Pharm I could have made an A had I studied more throughout the week. If I had to put a rate on a scale of 0-10 of my effort level this quarter I'd say I would rate myself a 7 1/2. Could have given more effort to do better in the Pharm class to get that A but I'm pretty happy nonetheless. I made sure to make time for things other than school… Be sure not to forget that! Also, don't focus so much on the grade, focus on the skills and things you are learning thats the important part, because at the end of the day, where ever you get hired isn't going to look and say what grade did you make..? NO! There going to say….did you pass your NCLEX and are you a RN?

So, all in all, it wasn't too bad, the tests were harder than the material in the Intro and the Fundamentals class (in my opinion)….They are huge on critical thinking and I think often times make the questions harder than really need be…But, I guess thats just the name of the game. Pharm class, with the teacher we had, was awesome and super fair. She gave us great reviews and was very helpful without giving away the test. What I will say is know your stuff for Pharm, know your Adverse Effects and Drug Interactions especially… If you need more help in this area, feel free to message me. I have super great summarized and organized notes. Read you chapters, study the ATI book they supply you, use the Pharm Lab manual (which by the way we don't have to do but it's helpful if you do it cause she pulls test questions from the manual and from the ATI online tests). Study you notes and the power points. She will give an online review and an in class review..go to the in class review and RECORD the review so you can go back to and listen to it, very helpful. (This was about Pharm) ^^^^

Also, I would recommend exchanging numbers and finding a few friends that you get along with so that you can study with and share assignments and so that you can split up reviews for tests.

I am on my 1 break from school, we got 10 days off to enjoy some peace and harmony in our souls…lol… and I not gonna lie, I'm enjoy every minute of not being in class or at my desk at home studying all day… I've made time to workout at least 3-4 days per week , study to make the grades I made and spend time with my friends and family. I don't work or have kids so just keep that in mind for your own time management.


Here's a quick glance at what QUARTER 2 is gonna look like for us:

The Quarter 2 is Monday through Friday. We have 1 class each day and Friday is clinical day. 
Monday: Pharm2 9am-12pm
Tuesday: Fundamentals 2 Lab (times vary depending on the lab time you choose) There are 3. Mine is the 12pm-4pm Lab
Wednesday: Fundamentals 2 Lecture 9am-12pm
Thursday: Lab again/ Same as Tuesday
Friday: Clinical Day (elderly care) 6:30am-12:30pm (we draw names from a hat to pick our location btw; good luck, most of us got the location that we wanted)
Off Saturday and Sunday……To Study! ha! 

So there is it peeps…. Quarter 2 which starts this coming Monday. Our nice little break is almost over!

Oh and I although we only got 10 days for our first break, our next 2 breaks are like 3 and 4 weeks off, One in September and the other is in December for our Christmas and New Year holiday so that should be pretty nice…Unless your one of those kind of people who don't like breaks..LOL!

Anyhow, until next post! TTYL :)

MY FIRST MONTH !

SO here is a quick update….its been 4 weeks and I can say…yea, I've had to really organize my calendar/time/sleep/workout/personal time…..Thats pretty much all I have time for currently…I have class Monday through Thursday for my 1st quarter.
Classes are as follows:
* Mondays: Pharmacology 9am-12pm and Principles of Assessment 1pm-4pm
* Tuesday: Principles of Assessment Lab 12pm-3pm (there are 3 lab times to choose from when we start at the beginning but you have to keep you lab time once you choose it. The other choice's
are: 8am-11am; and 4pm-7pm. Also we have an open lab on Wednesdays from 1pm-5pm to make up any labs misses or to practice for assessments.
* Wednesday: Intro to Nursing 8am-12pm.
* Thursday: Principles of Assessment Lab again 12pm-3pm

Friday/Saturday and Sundays off….and of course we all know that these days aren't actually "OFF" days….they are days you get all of your studying done and anything you didn't have time for throughout the week… etc etc…

I have noticed a few things I don't like this 1st quarter is that it has felt like most of the teachers are just reading off of the power points. But the tests are from everything…book, power points, notes, study guides form lab manuals, and the ATI books we get (they supply these)…. anyhow…I feel like I could just study for the tests from my home, these classes could easily be done ONLINE! I feel like I get most of my learning done when I'm home studying this material vs. in classroom teaching…
They do tend to tell some really interesting stories but for teaching purposes, I think I could do just as good reading off of the power points at home myself… So far the teaching style is much like associate level teaching were you could still learn just as much and BE ABLE to SKIP CLASS…
I would like for us to be able to just stay home and study if we wanted to. I liked when we had teachers say: YOU ARE AN ADULT NOW….YOU CAN CHOOSE TO COME TO CLASS OR NOT…THATS UP TO YOU…BUT YOUR GRADES ARE YOU RESPONSIBILITY!  Man, I WISH that applied here!

Anyways, I think thats about it for now, I've missed out on some nights of sleep, and/or gotten very little a few nights before tests but other than that I think once you get the hang of managing your time then you will have more time to workout and/or do the things you want to do. If you have kids or family, its probably a lot more difficult. So far, I am lucky enough not to have to worry about a job, family or kids to worry about so I think that also helps in my time management and having more flexibility. Although tons of people have jobs, kids and families in my class and they are doing just fine…

Well until next post!

Mandi

New Nursing Student Checklist

SO here is the student checklist for the program..sorry its so messy, I actually used my checklist lol….But this gives everyone an idea of what they ask of you BEFORE the program start date. They typically give you this TO DO LIST about 2 month approximately before the start day of the program to complete.

My previous post had all of the prices and info about this..

Before I started the program the costs for all the tests/health physcials /uniforms/books etc etc etc cost me about $2000. Hope this post has been helpful..

See you guys Monday for FIRST DAY OF CLASSES !

Mandi

Nursing Orientation at South University! Class of 2015!

Soooo….today was orientation. Everything went as expected..probably similar to many other programs I would assume.
Here is pretty much what we did: (not in any particular order)

Introductions (faculty and students), we got out photo ID's, payed for our parking stickers for the year if you didn't already have one, went over handouts such a Lab groups (which we were assigned to) and had first choice preference between the 8-11am lab, 12-3pm lab or the 4-7pm lab. We also went over the ATI website we are going to be using, the nursing central that they are asking us to purchase (which btw comes with access for the entire time you are a student at South University for $171.00). You can find it on other sites for cheaper but you only get 1 year access, then have to pay for the yearly renewal however, other people are by-passing this app and going for the free apps like Medscape etc… so the choice is up to you. (BTW….I went ahead and just purchased it from the school) Save myself the hassles of a yearly renewal fee or any other issues that may come with the free apps….
We went over the Student Handbook/Policies/Dress code (if you have tattoos or piercing they have to be covered and only piercing you can have are earrings and you can only wear studs)…They said no hoops or rings other than a wedding BAND..no big diamond rings etc..We took a group picture at the end, so we had to be in uniform with our lab coats during orientation.

I think I covered everything… be sure to say hi to everyone and get to know people during orientation. We are starting a closed Facebook group so that all of our class can help each other stay up to date on assignments and so that we can all have a connection to each other in case of emergencies, extra help and really just for a good start to the 1st quarter with a good support system.

So thats pretty much all I have for today, I think it went well and I am looking forward to getting started. Feel free to comment below if you have any questions!

Let the "fun" begin! LOL

Mandi

My Very First Post

Today I decide to start a blog about my journey through nursing school and beyond… Lets just say I have been through so many ups and down to get to nursing school it's not even funny… from pre-req's at several community colleges to pre-req's at my new school. Counting on to my second degree...I started this journey in Texas and now I'm in Florida about to start the nursing program at South University in Tampa in less than 2 weeks.

 I had so many questions about nursing and this program that I felt like maybe by starting a blog this would help future student interesting in this program as well as just nursing/nursing school in general…

The Teas V test I studied pretty hard for, probably about 3-4 weeks worth….def wanna get the ATI book because thats pretty much a perfect temple as to how the test will be. The Reading, Math and the English part are pretty much just like the book. The questions weren't the same but how they are asked are, and many of the questions are the exact same EXCEPT they are just not the same (numbers/ or for example paragraphs as the ATI practice book). The science section was a little more broad and you will have to study more than just the ATI book to do well on the science section IMO…..
 I got a 74% on my first try. The MAIN REASON I didn't do better I know for a fact was the TIMING!!! I ran out of time on 2 out of 4 sections. My advise to you is take the Practice Tests they have on the ATI site….This will realllllly help you get an idea of how to keep up with the time as being rushed makes a big difference on your thought process…. If you need any help on the TEAS V test feel free to email me. I have lots of tips on what to study. Also allnurses.com has a bunch of good info on teas test info and how to prepare.

I got accepted into the program for APRIL 2014 so I start in less than 2 weeks. I just got my books in the mail, ordered them from rental and used book sites and saved a lot of money. I would not recommend buying from the school unless absolutely necessary.

They ask that you get a health physical done (cost about $150-200) depending on vaccines/tests needed. The require the PPD test/ MMR series(rubella titer/rubeola titer/varicella titer)/ Tdap-Tetanus/ and the Hepatitis Series (this is however OPTIONAL) and last but not least regarding heath assessments is the INFLUENZA (FLU) VACCINE…which however is MANDATORY!!!

I have a WHOLE other topic to cover regarding MANDATORY VACCINES… so for now I will skip that topic and go into that on another post……..

Other things we need for he program are a valid CPR ($50)/ Certified Background check/fingerprints and drug testing ($160). Uniforms are about $25 each. (I bought 3 for now). Copy of Health Insurance and then they give you quite a few forms to sign..

I'm sure I have more but for now this is all I have, I'll make another post soon.

Thanks!