Hi aspiring nurses - I know how overwhelming nursing programs can be even when school is all you have to worry about.
When I was in nursing school I also worked full time, I also provided paliative care for my mother in law who was at home with end stage brain cancer, I was pregnant and then a new mother - combine that with the demands of nursing school and I was truely overwhelmed at times. Ultimately I became so exhausted that I took a semester off to regroup and then came back for a strong finish. One of the things I highly suggest is that you lock into some good resources that were very helpful to me ..I found some resources that were truely life savers and I am passing this info over to you all.
There are numerous drug guides and you most likely have one as a textbook. I didn't like the one the school wanted me to use and I purchased the one published by Nursing Magazine. The current edition is called the Nursing 2010 Drug Guide - you can get it at www.Amazon.com I like it because it comes with access to an internet data base which I still use today 8 years after nursing school.
Second life saving resource
Nurse's Pocket Guide: Diagnoses, Interventions, and Rationales (Nurse's Pocket Guide: Diagnoses, Interventions & Rationales)
It's also available from WWW.amazon.com
new it's about $13.00 but you can also get a used copy for less than a dollar. This book literally fits in your pocket and makes care planning a breeze.
Last but not least get a copy of Nurses Now Notes : This pocket sized guide has everything from drug calculations, ekg interp, essential lab values, blood gasses etc... It's great to carry around with you at clinicals and only costs $9.00. If you get a bunch of people together and order 35 copies they are a buck a piece. Our whole class got one and it really is a great resource. you can get it at
www.nursingnownotes.com
When it comes to preparing for the NCLEX I would suggest the guides by Kaplan and also Lippincott and Williams. I hear both also have guides for the HESI test which thank God I didn't have to take.
Try to destress any time you can, farm the kids out to friends or reletives once in a while. Have sex with your significant other. Get sleep whenever you can and don't forget to eat right. Nothing replaces a good nights sleep before an exam.
If you haven't already done so take a class in criticle thinking and test taking - It will really help!
Peace and Namaste
Hppy
When I was in nursing school I also worked full time, I also provided paliative care for my mother in law who was at home with end stage brain cancer, I was pregnant and then a new mother - combine that with the demands of nursing school and I was truely overwhelmed at times. Ultimately I became so exhausted that I took a semester off to regroup and then came back for a strong finish. One of the things I highly suggest is that you lock into some good resources that were very helpful to me ..I found some resources that were truely life savers and I am passing this info over to you all.
There are numerous drug guides and you most likely have one as a textbook. I didn't like the one the school wanted me to use and I purchased the one published by Nursing Magazine. The current edition is called the Nursing 2010 Drug Guide - you can get it at www.Amazon.com I like it because it comes with access to an internet data base which I still use today 8 years after nursing school.
Second life saving resource
Nurse's Pocket Guide: Diagnoses, Interventions, and Rationales (Nurse's Pocket Guide: Diagnoses, Interventions & Rationales)
It's also available from WWW.amazon.com
new it's about $13.00 but you can also get a used copy for less than a dollar. This book literally fits in your pocket and makes care planning a breeze.
Last but not least get a copy of Nurses Now Notes : This pocket sized guide has everything from drug calculations, ekg interp, essential lab values, blood gasses etc... It's great to carry around with you at clinicals and only costs $9.00. If you get a bunch of people together and order 35 copies they are a buck a piece. Our whole class got one and it really is a great resource. you can get it at
www.nursingnownotes.com
When it comes to preparing for the NCLEX I would suggest the guides by Kaplan and also Lippincott and Williams. I hear both also have guides for the HESI test which thank God I didn't have to take.
Try to destress any time you can, farm the kids out to friends or reletives once in a while. Have sex with your significant other. Get sleep whenever you can and don't forget to eat right. Nothing replaces a good nights sleep before an exam.
If you haven't already done so take a class in criticle thinking and test taking - It will really help!
Peace and Namaste
Hppy