2nd year BN (1 Viewer)

[purplemonkey]

Hey guys,

Could anyone who has just finished 2nd or 3rd year please tell me what the go is with the unit "The Family in Health and Illness"? Particularly, what is required for the fieldwork hours? According to the handbook the contact time is 20 theoretical hours and 25 fieldwork hours.

Also, any tips for certain subjects? I remeber someone (georgie?) saying on here to get the paeds assignment started early. So any hints like this would be very much appreciated

 

[lil_georgie_gal]

This subject was a whole load of crap when i did it and from what i heard from some students it still was last yr. It was just alot about pregnancy stuff in the exam and like family circles and shit. But yeah the exam was definately alot about pregnancy, which is ironic as we are not midwives when we register.....

And yes put alot of work into fundamentals of childrens nursing as alot of people get failed on the assignment as it is very big and they expect alot from it. I only got a D and i spent weeks on the "creative" aspect of that assingment as it is based on an essay and a creative piece i.e. a poster or dvd or book that u make to describe the issue you choose.

Anyways you will learn about this when u start back, it may have changed by now.

Goodluck!!

 

[purplemonkey]

Ok, so hopefully that one will be an easy grade! But what does the 'fieldwork' entail?

Thanks for the heads up, I'll be sure to start early (aiming for 4 HDs this semester!)

Oh and Georgie, are there any particular books that will come up on the booklist that aren't really worth it? Or ones we should definitely get? Ta

 

[lil_georgie_gal]

Woah 4 HD's! Thats setting your sights high esp with the childrens nursing, seeing as a very fair few got HD's in that assignment which is worth 50%, i spent like 2 weeks doing the creative aspect and the essay and only managed a D. But i commend you on your motivation

Ummm not sure about books, as in the other post we have established some of the subjects have changed so not sure how this will affect u guys, or if will only mean the new kids will get that layout, which will prob be the case. With books, theres not too many in 2nd yr, i got all of them, esp the childrens one, cause it helped with the assignment and when studying. And mental health too was really good. I think that was bout it.

I will check it out when the coop list comes up later, not released yet. Im trying to sell books so im eagerly waiting for it

With the fieldwork in family health, no idea what thats about. I cant remember if we did it, doesnt ring a bell, sorry.

 

[purplemonkey]

Yeah well I was really disappoined with my marks this semester (a big drop from 1st semester) so I'm going to work hard to get my GPA back up there.

Ok, just occured to me I should start thinking about the books now because of all the new grads selling their copies! I love getting the new books, having a flip through them Just shows me all the cool new stuff I get to learn

Ahh that's ok, seemed a bit of a weird thing to be doing in a nursing degree is all!

Are you excited to be going out into the big, bad, RN world? Haha...what major did you take?

 

[lil_georgie_gal]

Yeps i used to be like that too lol flipping through the books and being all excited and then the work sets in and im like erghhh lol

Yeah im excited yet scared at the same time. Its such a big thing now, like being in control of the well-being of so many people, but im excited i can finally do it and not just have to be like "yeah im a student... ok ill go do all the showers and beds..." lol

I did crit care for my elective, which was an awesome learning experience and mental health for my sub-major, which in essence i might have changed to med-surg as im doing my new grad rotation in the general stream lol But oh well i loved mental health and how different it is to regular ward nursing, so at least it was a good experience.

 

[hardworkingnurs]

Georgie, what "creative activity" u did? what is it about, diabetes or s.th else?

 

[lil_georgie_gal]

They change the issues you choose every year. For all i know they could change the whole assignment and subject structure for this year, seeing as itll be 2yrs since i did the subject.

 

[purplemonkey]

Yeah, must be pretty daunting hey

With Crit Care, it says you focus on ICU, HDU and ED. I'm tossing up between doing Crit Care or Periop for my elective, but I only want to do Crit Care if you can put a preference for the placement as I'm only interested in the ED not ICU or HDU. Is this the case?

Thanks so much for answering all my nOOb questions, it's really helped a lot!

 

[lil_georgie_gal]

With crit care unfortunately you cannot choose whether you do ED or ICU for your prac. However, you can change with people, and there is a big mix of ppl that go to both, so you have a good chance. And you never know you might end up enjoying ICU, i did ICU and at first i thought i prefered that to ED, but from the stories i heard and my own experience i think i might like ED better, but i guess i wont know until i go there.

But the subject itself is just really useful and interesting, as you learn about all the emergency drugs in details, intubation, cardiac rhythms and irregular ones etc Theres also things like taking blood from an arterial line, interpretation of results etc. Hmmm thinking back i really did enjoy the content of this subject

When picking perio-op consider whether you want to be constantly doing things or are you interested in standing there for hours at a time sometimes and handing the surgeon utensils etc, or being a scout nurse. Have you been to surgery before during any of your pracs?

And your welcome, i am happy to help

 

[purplemonkey]

That's good to hear, I think I would really enjoy critical care - I like a fast pace Hopefully I can get into an ED for that prac!

All the things you mentioned sound as if they'd be helpful no matter what area of nursing I ended up in...

I understand what you mean about periop, I'm not sure exactly what I was attracted to in that specialty...I think the set procedures and being in control (somewhat) was a part of it...but someone once said to me I'd be 'wasted' in theatres, I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not!

No, never been to surgery on prac before! The most exciting thing I've done so far is prep a deceased on the 2nd day of my 1st ever prac

 

[lil_georgie_gal]

Yeah thats a compliment lol i feel i would be wasted in theatres, the whole standing around watching the same things day after day would kill me, cause the anaethestists do all the meds and fluids monitoring and you are eithering scouting things or standing there with the surgeons.

However having said this i do enjoy watching surgery's as it is interesting seeing anatomy in the flesh. On one of your pracs maybe ask your facilitator if he/she can organise for you to go to theatres to see an op. This happened on one of my pracs and i got to see a cool bowel resection and then again on another instance in 3rd yr the CNE on my ward let me see a CABG (coronary artery bypass) so that was awesome! Maybe this would help you decide.

And yes like you said, another reason why i chose crit care is that the things that i learnt built on things i had previously study in class or on prac i.e. cardiac wards etc. In other subjects your not taught or experience things like intubation, arterial lines, monitoring arterial and intracranial pressure via specialised devices, hence its a good experience.

Anyways goodluck with getting through 2nd yr first

 

[purplemonkey]

Yeah i really want to watch a surgery! Was on arvo shift last time so the pts weren't going anywhere

When you go to theatres with a pt, do you scrub and watch from next to the pt or do you watch from the gallery? Are you allowed to ask the drs questions?

Thanks, good luck with your new grad program!

 

[lil_georgie_gal]

You dont have to scrub in as you arent allowed to touch anything for obvious reasons that you are just observing. But yeah im sure if you asked the dr's something they wouldnt just ignore you, during both the times ive gone to watch the head surgeons have explained things to me i.e. the section of the bowel that was resected i was shown the polyps i think it was that the person had as a result of ulcerative colitis throughout their colon.

The cardiac surgery i watched i was standing right above the head of the patient on a small step so i had the best view of what was going on in the heart. Otherwise they give you a small step and you stand just a bit back behind the dr's, but you can still see things.

 

[hardworkingnurs]

lil_georgie_gal, come to "92236 & 92238 clinical".:mad1:

 

[purplemonkey]

lil_georgie_gal, come to "92236 & 92238 clinical".:mad1:

If you want to know what sort of activities are covered in the 2nd year prac units, email the course coordinator from last year. I'm sure if you tell them you're keen to get started early they'll help you out. You can find out who teaches a particular unit from going to UTSOnline --> Courses -->and type in the unit number into 'Course Search'. Otherwise if you don't get a reply, go to the Library website and check if the units have any supplementary readings available online. Even if we don't end up doing the same assessments as last years cohort, the information will still be relevant.

But enjoy the holidays! We go on a lot more prac this year and the coursework will be heavier, so learn to pace yourself so you don't burnout.

Hope this answer satisfies you somewhat

 

[purplemonkey]

Hey Georgie, let me know how much you are selling your books for ok?

 

[kuringgai]

be careful in 2nd yr as lots of students fail.

 

[purplemonkey]

kuringgai are you a 3rd year?