New & Final Semester

Here I am. I cannot believe I have made it to the final semester of RN school. It has been a long hard road with many struggles and sleepless nights. I know this semester will not be any less than the previous ones. We actually have 2 classes this semester and 180 clinical hours to do in basically 2 months time. In addition to this, we will have 2 different HESI exams, 1 Exit HESI and 1 NUR 203 HESI. We have to pass both of them or we do not graduate. We do get 3 attempts to pass the exit HESI, but only once to pass the NUR 203 HESI. This time, the NUR 203 HESI is an all or nothing exam. If you do not make at least an 850 on the HESI, you do not get any points. This means that you either make the 850 points on the HESI, or you do not pass the class the way it is set up. This makes me nervous. All the other semesters, you at least got some points for various scores on the HESI. I did well on the NUR 201 HESI, but not so well on the NUR 202 HESI. I do not like the HESI exams. They are meant to predict whether a person will pass the NCLEX test or not, but the questions do not actually seem like they are set up the same to me as the NCLEX questions.

Nonetheless, I am going to study my butt off for both these tests because these 2 tests are what will make or break me as far as graduating.

I Made It Through Another Semester

Well, I made it through another semester, NUR 202. I am now moving on to the final semester of RN school. It will include NUR 203 and NUR 204. I am ecstatic. NUR 202 was a hard semester for me, but if I can do it, anyone can. I am no spring chicken anymore, so everything is double as hard for me this go around in nursing school. I could beat myself up every day for not doing this any sooner than I did, but sometimes life just gets in the way of your dreams. The important thing is that you never give up hope of fulfilling those dreams. Your time will come! When it does, you must seize the moment and go all in to get to where you want to be.

Life Is Like A Camera

Motivation Tuesday: Your Thoughts Become Words

“Watch your thoughts, for they become words – Choose your words, for they become actions – Understand your actions, for they become habits – Study your habits, for they will become your character – Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

                                                            – Unknown

There Is No Elevator To Success

Motivation Tuesday

“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one that has opened for us.”

                                                            – Alexander Graham Bell

End of Another Semester ~ I Made It

Well I made it through another semester. I was a little worried at the mid-way point. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to pull it off. I had to do a lot of praying and change of my study methods. What I was doing just wasn’t working for me. Thank the good Lord, I finally figured out what I was doing wrong in time that it made a difference in passing or failing the entire course.

Finals 8/3/2015: I ended up making an 83

HESI 201 Exam 8/30/2015: I ended up making a 929. This was a shock, because I had never taken a HESI exam in my life. I had no idea what to expect other than going through the questions on the practice information that the instructors sent us this semester. This test was actually harder than the mid-curricular HESI exam that we took on the same day. All together, there were 200 questions + 20 pilot questions.

HESI Mid-Curricular Exam 8/30/2015: I ended up making an 862. For those of you that do not know, this test was based off of the entire 1st year of RN school classes, which has been 20+ years ago for me. However, I still thought that it was the easier test of the two. Somehow, I still ended up doing better on the harder exam. I think that these tests are scored based on difficulty from what I have read, which is probably why I did better on the 201 exam.

Pre-Exam Prayer

I found this prayer that can be used before each exam. I have been experiencing test anxiety in a severe way. I am sure it is because I have so much riding on making it through this program. Basically, everything I have planned to do is riding on my passing or failing this program. If I am unable to make it through the program, everything else STOPS for me. I needed something to calm my nerves before each exam.

 

Father,

I pray that you would help me pass this exam. Thank you for your guidance in leading me to this study and for sustaining me as I have worked for this qualification. I ask now that your spirit would lead me. Come sharpen my thinking and help me to excel in this test of my learning and understanding. May I be able to recall everything I need from my studies and answer each question well.

Amen.

Read more: http://www.living-prayers.com/events/prayer_for_exams.html#ixzz3gFs5YxVL

Motivation Tuesday

“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.”

                                                            – Jim Rohn

New (Summer) Semester

Well, Summer semester began last Tuesday, 5/26/2015. There was not much of a break from last semester, so I am still feeling the effects of that. Once again, I am sure I overloaded myself, but I have a plan, and I am sticking to it. This semester, I am taking Nursing 201, Pre-Calculus, and American Literature I. If you are not already aware, I am trying to complete all of my BSN General Education classes by the time I am finished with my Associate’s degree, so I can go straight into the online BSN Nursing program. I am doing this, because I am not getting any younger. My plan is to be completely through with my Nurse Practitioner’s degree before I turn 50 years old. I am 44 now. Do you think I can do it? I do, and I am going to do it! That is, if it does not kill me 1st. You know the old saying: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” I am definitely experiencing that right now in my life. If that saying is true, I should be one of the strongest people alive by the time I finish all of this.

We had our 1st test today for Nursing 201. It was based on Learning and Teaching concepts, as well as Advanced IV Nursing Calculations. We had a week to study for this test, so I am just praying that I did OK on it. My head started hurting yesterday, while I was studying, and it has been pounding all day today. I was hoping I could get rid of it before the test, but unfortunately that did not happen. I know it is all just stress. I have got to find a way to relax and calm my nerves. I don’t remember being this stressed out during LPN school, but then again, I was in my 20’s at that time. I am a pretty high strung person anyway, and everything has to be a certain way at all times (OCD, mind you). Sometimes, being OCD is not a good trait to have.