Reply With Quote=)Thanks for your helpful Tips hppy!!!
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
=)Thanks for your helpful Tips hppy!!!
No problem
Hey Hppy, Thank You for taking time and serving up Your tips on the forum.
If You or another would care to tell, is there something I should be reading
to become informed and aware, as a pre-student. Jargon's overwhelming.
I'm taking pre-reqs, biology, psychology; would You recommend Your above
suggestions for general reading to become acclimated, or "Nursing Mag." other?
You obviously valued and cherished Your time, I'd like to be a good steward
of the little time I spend not in prepping for the pre-entrance exam.
The NCLEX is Years away but as I perused a study guide, I knew only 1 of 35
questions.
I'm not throwing rocks but it's a shame ianursestudent15 has been the sole
repy here. I'm certain many have used Your info though. Thank You again.
Posting Permissions