Nursing School - Week 5
This Monday marks the start of week 5 of nursing school. Already, the week is starting off with a great deal of excitement. Today, we had to take a medication dimensional analysis math test that we had to pass with a 90% or above. Otherwise...it's remediation and if you don't pass with a 90 the second time, say goodbye to nursing school. While some may think that's harsh, our school has no fear of weeding out the academically weak or undedicated. If you refuse to work to make yourself safe to work with patients, why should the school want you there to endanger the instructors' nursing licenses? Also, our focus on academic achievement has lead to an NCLEX-RN (test that must be passed to gain state RN licensure) passage rate that is remarkably high. The state publishes a list of nursing schools in Texas and the percentage of passing students. My school actually had a higher NCLEX passage rate than the majority of the 4-year school in the metroplex where the tuition in one semester costs 5-20 times my tuition in a year. And yes, we associate degree RNs take the same NCLEX as 4-year BSN students. :-)
Today was also the first day I got to pick, study, and meet a patient. Federal law (HIPAA) prevents me from really going into detail (as it should!), but I will say I got along well with the patient and the family. I was happy because I wasn't nervous, and the exposure to medical terminology from my mom's health care job (not nursing) helped me get oriented faster to the environment faster than some of the other newbies. In a lot of ways, my retail background and job experience has really helped me in dealing with people I don't know gracefully and I'm really glad I chose to do that to earn some extra cash rather than a computer job. Classes are really fun for me, and I think I've found the career I'm meant to do.
My graduation date for school has been set for December 2007. Already, the recruiters from the hospitals are swarming like flies upon my school, even talking to the still "wet behind the ears" ones like me. They are always visiting the school or our classes in the hospital to feed us huge meals, and I'm already accruing quite a collection of trinkets like bags and pens branded with hospital logos. My average day starts at 4:30am and ends around 10:30 pm with very little time for meals, so the food is actually very much appreciated. In addition to the hospitals, our nursing school also has frequent visits from the recruiters at 4-year BSN schools like TWU, TCU, UTA, and Baylor. Since our school has such a good reputation in the area for nursing, it's also opened a lot of doors as far as hospital staff being friendly to us. I'm really grateful for this experience and I'm doing my best to make the most of it.
Today was also the first day I got to pick, study, and meet a patient. Federal law (HIPAA) prevents me from really going into detail (as it should!), but I will say I got along well with the patient and the family. I was happy because I wasn't nervous, and the exposure to medical terminology from my mom's health care job (not nursing) helped me get oriented faster to the environment faster than some of the other newbies. In a lot of ways, my retail background and job experience has really helped me in dealing with people I don't know gracefully and I'm really glad I chose to do that to earn some extra cash rather than a computer job. Classes are really fun for me, and I think I've found the career I'm meant to do.
My graduation date for school has been set for December 2007. Already, the recruiters from the hospitals are swarming like flies upon my school, even talking to the still "wet behind the ears" ones like me. They are always visiting the school or our classes in the hospital to feed us huge meals, and I'm already accruing quite a collection of trinkets like bags and pens branded with hospital logos. My average day starts at 4:30am and ends around 10:30 pm with very little time for meals, so the food is actually very much appreciated. In addition to the hospitals, our nursing school also has frequent visits from the recruiters at 4-year BSN schools like TWU, TCU, UTA, and Baylor. Since our school has such a good reputation in the area for nursing, it's also opened a lot of doors as far as hospital staff being friendly to us. I'm really grateful for this experience and I'm doing my best to make the most of it.