Questions to ask the nursing school academic adviser
We all know nursing school is very competitive these days. It is a good idea to consider applying to more than one nursing school in order to up your chances of getting accepted into a program. Applying to more than one program can be daunting since different schools have different requirements. Some schools want you to have all of your pre-requisite courses completed prior to applying so that they can get a clear picture of your academic ability. Other schools require that you have courses completed by the time you actually start the program, which can be months away from the day you get your acceptance letter. As such, it is important to consult with the academic adviser of the nursing schools you want to attend. You will need to formulate a plan for which pre-requisite classes to take and and what times during the school year.
Here are some questions to ask the adviser:
- What courses do I need to take in order to apply to your program?
- Will your program evaluate my transcript and how much does that cost?
- What is the minimum GPA for your program? (You’ll want to be well above the minimum!)
- If I get a bad grade and retake a course to improve my grade will your school accept the better grade?
- What are the application deadlines?
- Does your school require healthcare job experience or volunteer work?
- Does your school accept letters of recommendation?
- How many students do you accept into the program each year?
- How many applicants do you typically have.
- Does your program have a waiting list? (I got into nursing school from the waiting list. It’s not a bad thing to be on it!)
1. Make a plan. Commit to a certain amount of study time each day. Be realistic about it. If you are also working part-time and have a family it probably isn’t possible for you to study 5 hours a day. Track all of your projects and deadlines and keep a project calendar that is easily accessible in and out of class.
2. Use flashcards. This is one of the best ways to simply memorize content, especially before an exam. Use flashcards to make a file for all of the diseases, conditions and symptoms you must know prior to quiz time. Flashcards can be reviewed almost anywhere. You can get in 5 min of studying while you’re waiting in line at Starbucks!
3. Compare notes with classmates. Use your classmates as resources. They may have picked up on something during a lecture while you went to the restroom or were daydreaming. Create a weekly study group of 4-5 students you get along well with. Studying with others can help you see things from a different perspective.
4. Highlight in your textbook. There is a lot of important information in your nursing textbooks and then there is information that is interesting to read but you won’t be expected to know it on exam day. Spend some time highlighting important content that you are expected to know. Then when you’re preparing for an exam you’ll know what to focus on. Highlighted information can easily be re-written onto flashcards so that you don’t have to drag your heavy textbook everywhere.
5. Ask questions. Use your nursing instructors as resources. If you’re unsure about the content of a lecture but are too afraid to ask a question during class, meet with your instructor after class to clarify the info. Your professor will be impressed that you cared enough about their lecture to stay after class and make sure you’re on the same page. Meeting with your instructors is a surefire way to success come test day!
What’s my motivation? Do you simply want a stable and high paying job? Do you want to help others? It’s important to define your motivation for working in the healthcare industry before forking out cash and jumping into college pre-requisite courses. Sit down and make a list on what it is about healthcare that attracts you. Keep in mind that while helping others can be very personally rewarding and the pay is great, healthcare workers deal with a large amount of stress and unpredictability. Are you able to handle stress well? If not, now is the time to learn some techniques in minimizing stress!
How will a healthcare job impact my family and personal life? Pursuing a career in nursing requires you to spend large amounts of time in school and studying. This is time that you will be totally focused on yourself and the training requirements of your program. You need to take your family’s needs into consideration before hopping on the long road to a career in healthcare. Not to say if you have children and a spouse that it isn’t possible to become a nurse, but you need to plan a juggling act while you pursue your dream of working in healthcare.
My Grey's Anatomy Scrub Top
We all know scrubs have come a long way in recent years, thank goodness! I am a huge fan of Grey’s Anatomy scrubs! The material is well made, soft and has a bit of stretch to it. Their tops come in a variety of sizes and colors. My Grey’s tops have not faded very much after literally hundreds of washes!
My favorite style is the junior mock wrap top with adjustable back tabs. You can cinch in the top in the back with a strap and button on each side of the top, which I love. I think being able to button or tie my top helps to give it some style and a better fit. A lot of tops are cut with straight sides which makes you look like you’re wearing a sack! You can buy this great top right here from this link!
In the next few posts we’ll will be talking about how you can become a competitive nursing school candidate. We’ve all heard how hard it is to get into nursing school. In fact, in 2010 over 50,000 applicants applying to 550 baccalaureate programs were turned down! That is insane! We’d like to give our readers some tips on how to make themselves more qualified and stand out from other candidates. When the nursing school board is sifting through all those applications you need something on your resume that will make you stand out in the crowd. You can start with these two tips that helped me get into nursing school:
- Get good grades. I know this goes without saying but you’d be surprised how many people are sending in applications to nursing schools with a C+ on their transcript. These days that just won’t cut it. Good news is you can always re-take a course and improve your grade, yay! To be honest I did this myself. I struggled through my second anatomy course and came out with a B-. I knew the school I was applying to would be full of straight A students so I took the course again, studied harder and came out with a solid A.
- Volunteer. All nursing schools want to know that you enjoy helping others. What better way to do that than volunteering? If you know you want to work with kids, volunteer in a youth program or a children’s hospital. If you are interested in women’s health, volunteer at a local women’s shelter. If you want to stand out from the rest when you apply to nursing school volunteering is a great way to do that! My volunteer work consisted of donating my time to my local Red Cross and spending six months as a volunteer in a preschool in Africa. I realize most people don’t have the means to drop everything and head overseas but if you can you should! If you can’t there are plenty of ways to volunteer locally. And the schools you apply to in your area will be happy to know you are the kind of person that gives back to your community.
When I studied for the exam I studied all day for a week straight. I treated it like a full time job. I’d make my coffee in the morning, have some breakfast and sit down with my note cards and do a 10 minute review and then delve in to new material. After 2 hours I would take a 15min break and then get back to studying. I would also take a half hour lunch break and 2 breaks in the afternoon. By 5pm I was spent! The day before the exam I didn’t study at all. The morning of the exam I went over my flashcards one time and then took a walk to clear my head.
After my previous post I held a survey on Twitter.com asking nurses to tell me which book they recommend (Kaplan vs Saunders) in preparing for the NCLEX-RN exam. Here are the results:
40% Saunders
55% Kaplan
5% Other methods
Like I said before, I prefer Kaplan and taking a NCLEX prep course. I did not purchase the Kaplan prep course but took one taught by a local RN who specializes in teaching students on preparing for the board exams. This is what worked for me!
So you made it through Nursing School, congratulations! You should pat yourself on the back, you deserve it. You probably have plans to spend time with family and friends for a couples weeks before you sit down and really start studying for your nursing board exam. But I know you can’t get it out of your mind either! You’ve probably heard several horror stories of students who sulked out of the testing room in tears just KNOWING they failed. Well I’m hear to tell you one more time…. I too walked out of the testing room in tears just knowing I’d failed. I was in a state of total shock when after answering the 86th question my computer shut off and the screen went completely black. I sat there thinking, “86 questions, that’s it!? After all the blood, sweat and tears of that come with foraging through nursing school it all comes down to 86 questions!?” I grabbed my things and walked to my car shaking in my shoes. Fast forward a day and that’s when I found out I had actually passed the boards! I was a Registered Nurse, and I couldn’t believe it! I’m writing this blog post today because I want you be successful and pass the boards on the first try, just like I did. In the following blog posts I will tell you what worked for me and can work for you too. Good luck!
- Take a break. After graduation you will need a break away from anything nursing-school-related. You have just finished your final exams and clinical rotations and your brain needs to rest! Believe me, you won’t forget everything you learned. Once you sit down and start studying again all of the little lightbulbs will start coming back on. You have to give your brain time to process and your body time to relax.
- First of all you need a time line. Think about how long you think you’ll need to study. Are there subjects you need to review in your textbooks? Did you barely make it through psych and need a bit of a refresher? If so make a list of subjects you want to review and take a few days to sit down and soak up the material. Once you think you’re ready to crack open the NCLEX-RN review book I’d go ahead and schedule your exam. Give yourself at least 1 week to prepare. Once your exam is scheduled you can schedule your study time on your calendar. Decide how many hours a day you want to spend studying and pick out some free days as well. You’ll need breaks here and there.
- Purchase the Kaplan NCLEX-RN Exam 2010 (or newer version if available) book if you haven’t already. Make sure you buy one comes with the CD of questions. You can buy it from Amazon by clicking the link below.
This is the one and only book I used to prepare for the board exam and I passed on the first try.
- Create a study space. You need somewhere that you can sit down for hours on end and delve into your studies. I’m sure you found what works for you while you were in nursing school preparing for exams and writing papers. If not, now is the time! If you live with roommates or children you may want to find a quiet corner in the local library or a nearby cafe. You need to find a space you can really spread out with books, note cards, flash cards, etc.
In my next blog post I’ll share the results of a survey where we asked nurses how they prepared for the NCLEX-RN exam – stay tuned!
Photo courtesy of nuchylee
According to a recent article by Health.com, nursing ranks in the top 10 careers with high rates of depression. It’s no joke that being a nurse has it’s ups and downs. Helping people in need and during high stress times in their lives can take it’s toll on a nurse’s emotions. That’s why it’s so important for nurses to take care of themselves! Here’s a list of the top 10 job fields where people are most likely to report an episode of major depression.
1. Nursing home/childcare workers
2. Food service workers
3. Social workers
4. Health-care workers (doctors, nurses, therapists)
5. Artists, entertainers, writers
6. Teachers
7. Administrative support staff
8. Maintenance and grounds workers
9. Financial advisors and accountants
10. Salespeople
Click here to view the article and slideshow.
If you’ve ever found yourself downplaying to your doctor how much you drink or smoke, you’re not alone! Believe it or not there are many subjects that people find too uncomfortable to talk about with their healthcare providers. It can be embarrassing to admit how much we drink or smoke and how little we’re actually sleeping, that’s for sure. But did you know that withholding information from your healthcare provider can lead to misdiagnosis and treatment for what might be ailing you? It’s so important to be proactive about you’re health and fess up to your provider! They are there to help you stay healthy and feel better. Some providers may judge you, some may not. But the fact of the matter is, it’s your health that’s at stake, and what’s more important than that? According to an article on WebMD these are the most common topics we sugar-coat or hide altogether from healthcare providers.
1. Use of over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, herbal supplements, and vitamins.
2. Your sexual history.
3. How much you smoke, drink, or use illegal substances.
4. Whether or not you feel depressed, stressed or abused.
5. Defying doctor’s orders.
6. You can’t sleep.
7. You’re often low on energy.
8. Your hobbies.
To read the article in full click here.
- Edie Falco – Actress best known for her role on The Sopranos, diagnosed in 2003
- Melissa Etheridge – Singer, diagnosed in 2004
- Gloria Steinem – Co-founder of Ms. Magazine, activist, feminest. Diagnosed in 1986
- K ate Jackson – Actress and Charlie’s Angel, diagnosed in 1987
- Rue McClanahan – Actress, diagnosed 1997
- Cheryl Crow – Singer, diagnosed 2006
- Nancy Reagan – Former First Lady, diagnosed in 1987
- Kylie Minogue – Pop star, diagnosed 2003
- Betty Ford – Former First Lady, diagnosed 1974, survived more than 30 years
- Suzanne Somers – Actress best know for playing her role on Three’s Company, diagnosed in 2001
- Christina Applegate – Actress, diagnosed in 2008
- Robin Roberts – Good Morning America co-host, diagnosed in 2007
- Hodo Kotb – News co-host, diagnosed in 2007
- Cynthia Nixon – Actress best known for role as Miranda on Sex and the City, diagnosed in 2006
- Lynn Redgrave – Actress, diagnosed in 2002
- Carly Simon – Singer, diagnosed in 1997
- Jaclyn Smith – Actress and Charlie’s Angel, diagnosed in 2002
- Sandra Day O’Connor – Former US Supreme Court Justice, diagnosed in 1988
- Peggy Flemming – Olympic ice-skating champ, diagnosed in 1998
- Cokie Roberts – TV news journalist, diagnosed in 2002
- Martina Navratilova – Tennis champ, diagnosed in 2010
- Maura Tierney – Actress, diagnosed in 2009
- Betsey Johnson – Fashion designer, diagnosed in 2002
- Diahann Carroll – Actress/Singer, diagnosed in 1998
- Marianne Faithfull – British singer/actress, diagnosed in 2006
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