How I Stay Organized and De-Stressed in Nursing School

This post is about how I keep myself sane and organized during nursing school. However, it may relate to those of you out there studying something else! I just wanted to share some little nuggets of info that I've learned myself or been taught by others. Hope they help!

1. Personal Checklist

Now I know not everyone is like this, but I have to keep a list of "to-do" items that is neat and where I have the ability to check off those items. That way I see all in one spot what I have to do, can allot my time appropriately, and then check off those items when I'm done. This keeps me from forgetting to do any reading or assignments. Below is an example of a template I made and print out every week. The trick for filling this out is to do it when you aren't stressed. Usually on Sunday night I sit down and look at all my syllabi and write down all the stuff for each class. I then carry this sheet with me to school so if a teacher brings up a surprise assignment or whatnot I can just add it in and WON'T forget. I keep everything on this one sheet so I don't have loose sticky notes with reminders or whatnot--it is all consolidated!

2. Plan Ahead

This probably seems like a "duh," but most successful people work ahead of time. This keeps you majorly less stressed. This applied the most to pharmacology for me. Sometimes I'd have to learn over 100 drugs in a short amount of time (meaning their action, contraindications, side effects, and patient education...which is a lot!). Often I knew ahead of time I had to fill out a butt-load of paperwork for clinicals and would be studying for another exam right before my pharmacology exam, so I would at least make sure to do as much ahead of time as possible. Usually this meant at LEAST making my drug cards for all my medications beforehand so that as soon as I finished taking my other exams I was all ready and set to start studying my completed drug cards.

3. Who You Study With 

Our teachers say to study in groups of 4 or less. For me, it's best just me and one other person. But you need to figure out your ideal study group. I really don't learn much from studying with other groups. I usually need to study on my own and make sure I KNOW my material, then afterwards just quiz back and forth with another student. Stay away from unhealthy groups, such as ones that gossip, argue, or aren't willing to explain things/wait for you. It is important to not take the words of another student for truth. If you think they are explaining something wrong always go back and double check on your own. It shouldn't be their fault you miss a question, it is always your responsibility to look it up and know for sure.


4. Reward Yourself

Tell yourself that you'll get your favorite Starbucks drink, go on a date, or go see a movie after your test! This helps you stay motivated to study and gives you something to look forward to!

5. Remove The Clutter

I mean this both literally and figuratively. Literally remove the physical clutter from your room, kitchen, whatever. Staying organized will help you when you have to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to get to clinicals and you need all your stuff! I always try to find as many little things to do ahead of time, like pack my lunch the night before, etc. Also, remove the clutter like phone apps that waste your time (for me it was Snapchat....R.I.P.). When you have friends that whine about never seeing you or who get angry because you can't hang out--you have to let it go. This is a temporary season of your life where yes, you will be a sucky friend. But real friends will be understanding and know they just need to accept your schedule right now. If someone gets mad at you, just be kind, apologize, and tell them you wish you were more available but this is just the way it is. Don't feel guilted into anything--you've worked too hard to get here.

6. Unwind

Take a moment to just stop doing something school related at some point in the day. Could be taking a bath, listening to guided imagery, a little yoga, whatever. But force yourself to do it because you'll come back to studying afterwards and realize how much more focused you are.

A Review of Nursing Schools in the Nashville, Tennessee Area

     Before I even moved to Tennessee, I wanted to get an idea of what my options were as far as nursing school. How much was it going to be? Would I have to drive very far? Does the school have a good nursing program?

     I decided to write this post on my experience with the different nursing schools in the Nashville area. I visited most of them, did extensive online research, or called them frequently with questions--so I feel like I got a pretty good representation of each school.

     Let's start off with the associate's degree programs. First of all, know that getting an associate's degree in nursing still lets you take the NCLEX and become an RN. You may have to take roughly a year of pre-requisites and then two years of the actual nursing coursework. This may be great for some people, but when you are looking for a job, those nurses with a bachelor's degree will be more desirable and you may have more difficulty getting a job. Also, nursing is becoming more and more competitive and demanding. There has been mention of associate nursing programs being done away with--meaning those nurses who have an A.D.N. would have to go back to school and complete their bachelors in order to still be an RN.

Nashville State

   When I did look into Nashville State, the one thing that caught my attention was the price. For the two years of the program it was only $10,000 (tuition, books, vaccinations, NCLEX exam, etc)! That is a great price! You do have to go to a mandatory meeting prior to applying to the program, so keep that in mind. The meeting was very informative and I'm glad they make students attend.

Cost: $10,000

Location: 7 miles west of Nashville

Admission: Based on interview, GPA, and TEAS V score

Accepts: 50 students, once a year

Reputation: Good

How Easy to Get Information: Good. The website is pretty organized and clear. Faculty seemed easy to contact

 

Volunteer State Community College

     VSCC is where I did a year of my pre-requisites. The school is very inexpensive, which is great. I never had a problem with staff and my advisors were always very knowledgeable and helpful. This program is linked to Tennessee State University. Most of the classes are taught on the Vol State campus, but about half of the classes are taught by TSU faculty. Just like Nashville State, you must attend an information session before you can apply.

Cost: $20,000 (an estimate for all two years, including books and fees, no aid--not including the year of pre-reqs needed)

Location: 26 miles north of Nashville

Admission: Based on GPA (website says between 3.1 and 4.0 to be competitive) and DN-A2 Assessment (an entrance exam)

Accepts: 24? Could not find a number on their website--this is just what I heard from a fellow student

Reputation: Fair

How Easy to Get Information: Bad. There is hardly any info on the VSCC website. Most info is on TSU's website, which is not user friendly. Could not find a lot of important information


Belmont University

   Moving on to the bachelor's degree! So there are two ways you can get accepted to a four year nursing school. First, you can do your two years of pre-requisites and then apply to the nursing program to complete the final two years of actual nursing specific coursework. The other option is a freshman admission nursing program. You apply to the nursing program at the beginning of starting school and continue to stay in the program as long as you maintain a certain GPA. Belmont is a freshman admission program.
   
     Now, I am going to be kind of opinionated here....I don't really like the freshman admission programs because they are less competitive. They aren't doing an interview to see if you will make a good nurse and they aren't making you take an entrance exam. I'm sure some students love that, but in my opinion nursing students NEED to go through all those hoops to make sure they are competent, personable, and will make good nurses. I think it allows some people who should NOT be nurses become nurses. There needs to be more scrutiny for people wanting to become healthcare professionals!


Cost: $115,120 (estimate for all 4 years, not living on campus and with no aid)

Location: 2.6 miles south of downtown Nashville

Admission: GPA and ACT score (minimum of 22) / SAT score (minimum of 1050)

Accepts: Unknown. I looked all over the internet and their website and couldn't find a number. I have just heard by ear that it is quite a lot since they accept freshman

Reputation: Good

How Easy to get Information: Fair. The website is pretty good. Calling was more difficult and I had such a hard time getting a lot of specific questions answered (mostly about scholarships)

Warning: Belmont might have been an option for me, but they are NOT transfer friendly. They do not offer ANY scholarships to transfer students (written on their website and told to me in person). So unless you get federal aid, you will be paying the full amount for tuition. Belmont is a very freshman oriented school


Lipscomb University 

     I am very biased against Lipscomb because I had a bad experience with them. Initially I was very excited to go to school there--the campus was beautiful, clean, and they have a brand new nursing building! However, I had difficulty getting answers on the phone. I drove down there one day asking to just meet with a random advisor. They would not allow me to see anyone except one specific lady who dealt strictly with transfer nursing students. Now I already knew who this lady was....I had emailed and called her MANY times, and she never responded to me.
 
     I literally just wanted to talk to any advisor to ask them some simple questions, but they were adamant I could only talk to this one lady. I thought, "Ok, whatever, I'll just talk to that lady, I don't care any more." So I went to her office to find she was not yet there for the day....at 10 a.m. Ok.....I waited about 30 minutes till she arrived only for her to get irritated with me for not making an appointment. She also would not answer any of my questions until she had all my transcripts approved by the school. GEE LADY I JUST WANT TO ASK YOU LIKE 3 QUESTIONS! They weren't even related to anything for which she would need my transcript.

   I emailed her several times after that to make a subsequent appointment--but surprise, she never responded. By then the application deadline had passed, so it was pointless to deal with them. I wrote a strongly worded letter to the school about my horrible experience, for which they apologized...but I doubt they did or said anything to the transfer advisor.


Cost: $112,000 (estimate for 4 years, no aid, not living on campus)

Location: 4.5 miles south of downtown Nashville

Admission:  GPA, Interview, school specific exam, short essay, 3 reference letters

Accepts: For some reason the number 20 something is in my head...But I don't remember and can't find it on their website. I am pretty sure it is a small amount

Reputation: Good

How Easy to get Information: Bad. Website is fair but like I said above, the school did an awful job of helping me

Concession: The school did seem to have a good number of scholarships. Specifically for me, they offered transfer scholarships based on GPA. I have a 4.0, so I would have received an $8,000 merit scholarship as well as a $2,500 scholarship due to transferring from a Tennessee community college


Tennessee Tech University

    I had a very good experience with TTU. The school was very transfer friendly and inexpensive. I drove up there to talk to someone and they were very friendly and helpful. I actually applied here and was accepted to the nursing program. I would have considered it more had it not been so far from Nashville. I was also concerned with where we would do our clinicals since Cookeville is in a more remote location.

     Note, TTU is pretty good about scholarships. They do offer a community college transfer scholarship for $3,000 a semester. The recipient must complete 75 hours of community service a semester.

Cost: $32,068 (estimate for 4 years, no aid, not living on campus)

Location: 80 miles east of Nashville

Admission: Based mainly on GPA, essay, and healthcare-related community service (Note: when I applied all I needed to do was a simple online application where I entered the above information. No test and no interview. An interview may be needed if you are a borderline applicant. This may change at any given time however...I wouldn't be surprised if they start requiring an entrance exam)

Accepts: 50? In the student handbook they said 44 students graduated in 2008, so I'm guessing there are roughly 50 or more spots. I could be horribly wrong though

Reputation: Good

How Easy to get Information: Calling the school itself was great...it was harder to get ahold of the nursing department. The website was great and applying was even easier!

Here is a link to a video of a SON information session. It had information that was helpful to me back when I applied. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C88K6tH26rc


Middle Tennessee State University

     I thought I'd close with the school I'm personally going to! When I first visited MTSU, I was not impressed. My advisor was like most SON advisors...she tried to scare me away and tell me I probably wouldn't get in because so few people who apply get in. That was pretty irritating, but almost EVERY school I've visited has done that to me. Once I got in, it was a totally different ball game. They were very respectful and kind. There is a lady who works there who just handles the applicants and eases the process into the program. She is an angel! I may have to call her 2 or 3 times in a row to get ahold of her, but that is what you have to do with all nursing departments. Keep calling and bugging them! The sad truth is they don't need you...so you need to show them you aren't giving up.

     Although I haven't started the program yet, the transition so far has been great. They are great with transfers (yay!). My amazing advisor was able to substitute some of my courses from Texas to MTSU, saving me from taking two extra summer classes!

     Clinicals are also done at some great hospitals in the Nashville area, including Vanderbilt and St. Thomas (where I did volunteer work). The cost has also turned out to be very cheap for me. I was given the Transfer Promise Scholarship for $3,000 a year. Tuition per year is about $8,000. So the cost of 5 semesters of nursing school is VERY inexpensive! It is about the same as that of a community college.

Cost: $32,000 (estimate for all 4 years tuition, no aid, not living on campus)

Location: 38 miles south of Nashville

Admission: Point system of GPA, interview, and HESI entrance exam

Accepts: 64 per semester

Reputation: Good

How Easy to get Information: Overall had a great experience. Website makes it very clear on how to apply to the program and what you need to do and who to contact

The Perpetuation of College Pressure on High Schoolers

     As college acceptances are rolling in around this time, I have been reflecting on schools in general as well as how it was for me applying to schools back in high school. My little brother is a senior and is in the process of deciding on schools and I am also trying to decide where to go in the fall to complete my nursing education.

     The main topic that is on my mind, however, is about the competition and the pressure you feel as a senior. I do not know if everyone experienced this, but I definitely see the way teens are pressured by trying to decide where to go to college. All your friends are getting into great schools and you feel the need to equal them. You don't want to be the "dumb, community college kid," or even worse, not go to college at all.

     For me, this was tough....

     I felt like just because I got accepted to UT Austin and Texas A&M I was obligated to go there....but I really didn't want to. I felt like because I was homeschooled I had to prove something. I wanted to feel important and I wanted people to be impressed with me--even if I would be miserable.

     Graduation was coming up and I was worried about what others would think when they saw my college choice printed in the graduation bulletin. I really wanted to go to Concordia University--but almost no one had heard of it. Looking back on that time of decision, I can't believe I would have gone to a school just because I thought people would respect me more. Not to mention UT would have cost 5 times more than Concordia.

     College is so much more than reputation. I hate seeing people spend tons of money going to one school while they could get the same degree for far less cost. And you know what? Colleges love it. Every year schools get more and more expensive and increasingly competitive. Nursing programs have always been hard to get into, but every year the requirements/tests/paperwork/interviews become even more rigorous and cut throat.

     Americans are perpetuating this idea that we "have to go to the best school!" But this just drives costs and competition even more and limits those who can get into college.

    So yes, where I went to school used to be a huge deal to me. But after I got married, my perspective totally changed. I wasn't living with my parents anymore. I had to move. I had to pay bills. I had a husband to take care of. And you know what I realized? It doesn't matter.


     Yes, you want to go to a good school. But there are far, far more important things in life. No one wants to have years of school debt to pay off. I have met a bunch of people at Volunteer State Community College who used to go to nice schools in Tennessee but hated them. They regret feeling the need to impress and thus wasted so much time and money.

     There should be nothing shameful about going to community college. I could go to UT for $10,000 a semester, or I could go to Austin Community College for $1,000 a semester. Why do we give community college such a negative connotation? Not to mention the caliber of teaching you can receive rivals other schools. Half of my teachers at ACC used to teach at UT! They just hated classes of 200 and wanted to teach a class of 30. Or they hated research and wanted to actually TEACH.

     My takeaway from all of this is it really doesn't matter...When I am a nurse no one is going to care where I went to school--I am going to be a nurse like every other nurse. Yes, the pressure from parents and friends is hard...but life is so much more than that and there are so many more important things than college bragging rights.


     You earn respect from working hard. Ralph Waldo Emerson explained this best when he said, “Knowledge comes by eyes always open and working hands; and there is no knowledge that is not power.” Show your kindness through your actions towards others and do not let others define your worth.
 

Essential oils + School + Latin

Howdy folks. This post will be somewhat of a mash-up. But all the topics lead to the subject of school--so that seems like a good place to start!

As most of y'all probably know, I am a college student. I am taking microbiology and anatomy and physiology 2 this semester, and if you know anything about those classes, you know you're not supposed to take them at the same time. Oh well, some have called me crazy but those are the only two classes left that I need.

Point is, I have been having to study like crazy...like 5-7 hours a day just to keep up. I was getting AWFUL head aches where I couldn't stay awake and had no energy.

Now I HATE taking medicine. I just prefer to let my body work off whatever is going on instead of putting synthetic material in my body. My head aches, however, were getting so bad I had to take way more ibuprofen than I was comfortable with.

My friend April let me try her essential oil called Past Tense by doTerra, and oh my goodness, my headache went away almost immediately! So this week I bought my own bottle and it has been doing wonders. It has a mint/cilantro aroma and can be rolled directly onto the forehead and base of the neck.

Now I can't tell you what is happening on a cellular level (I have been trying to find a Pub Med study to no avail) but I do know my head aches have been much better since using Past Tense. Myles HATES the smell (it is strong) but most people have told me they like it.

Now to completely change the subject, let's talk about Latin!

So for my microbiology class we have a quiz every week on vocab. This week we had 85 words to know (we only get tested on 10). It's a pain--but it's good for us to be doing it. Many of the words, however, have Latin roots or prefixes.

My mom taught us Latin for about 3 years in middle/high school. My 9th grade Biology teacher also made us learn Latin as part of the class. Now let me tell you, folks, I may have hated it back then, but I am SO glad I got that Latin back ground! Even though that was 6 years ago, the Latin I learned then is definitely helping me with some of my microbiology vocab. It also helped my with learning all the bones and muscles in the body last semester and when I took Spanish 1 and 2.

I would DEFINITELY recommend teaching your kids Latin, if you have the chance. It's just one of those things I don't think you could ever regret doing. So many words in the English language and any language for that matter have some Latin ties. So yeah, Latin for the win.


I hope you all have a great day! Ciao.

7 Steps to Keep from Falling into the Expensive Wedding Trap

How to Plan an Inexpensive Wedding...

We all have dreams of planning a grand, huge, Pinterest-worthy wedding.But after the sparkles settle and you go back to reality, having a huge, wedding-induced debt is not a great start to a new marriage. The average spent on weddings in America today is between 25 and 30 thousand dollars....oy! I believe you can have an amazing wedding with a few tricks here and there, and this is my advice on how to do so! 

Step 1: Size

If you have food at your wedding, the average price per plate can range anywhere from 7 to 20 dollars (based on what I saw). Basically, each person counts. Those 5 friends from college who you barely speak to anyways could be an extra $100 that you could use on your honeymoon for a fancy dinner! Don't let people bully you into getting an invitation.

Step 2: Friends Love to Help

My mother and I asked a close friend to design our wedding programs. We asked family to help with food serving instead of hiring people to do it. Seriously, people LOVE to be asked to help at weddings. Just ask them!

Step 3: Bargain Hunt

My mom is a super bargain hunting machine (a trait/curse which she passed on to me). She bought tablecloths wholesale online, I made little decorations for the tables, I got my flowers at HEB (a local grocery store), my mom made my veil, I chose a cheaper alternative for invitations, etc. All these little things add up to you saving a LOT! We thought we were going to have to spend over $100 just for rose petals for people to throw on us but a sweet man at Costco gave us an older bag for free! 

Take home note: if you are patient and search for deals you can find some good stuff!

Step 4: Pick the Important Things

What is most important to you? The dress? The venue? What ever you know is the biggest deal to you is what you can allow yourself to spend more money on. However, if you do that you are going to have to make sacrifices in other areas. For me I wanted to have great pictures, but I just got a little cake for Myles and me and got pies from Costco for the guests. This in turn saved a bucket load of money!

Step 5: Ask Venues about Furnishings

When you visit venues, ask them if they have their own tables, decorations, lights, etc. Myles and I got married at a rustic, ranch-style house, so we needed very little decor as it was already very ready-to-go, if you will. Some churches we looked at would have required a lot of decorating to get the vibe I was looking for--so see if you can find a pre-made environment and it will save you work and money! 

Step 6: Makeup much?

Unless there is a specific look you want or you just want to make sure your makeup is ultra super mega perfect, then I would just recommend doing it yourself. Personally, I think makeup artists charge WAY too much. If you like the way you do your makeup, just do it! Or ask a friend or family member. Boom, $100 just saved. 

Step 7: Reuse

I just used some of my old, favorite jewelry for my wedding. My sisters wore their cowboy boots instead of buying new shoes. If you have the mentality that you have to buy all-new, special things for you wedding, you're wrong! Borrow or just use your favorites if they work! An old, loved necklace is more precious than a brand new one.