They told us basically what I've heard from every other nursing student and read on any nursing forum: that this is a lot of work, that this will consume a lot of time, that we need to prioritize and learn to let go and live with messy houses and delegating chores to other family members. No surprise there...except that I do wish I had someone to delegate chores to. My toddler is not exactly ready to do laundry and cook dinner.
The cost of the books...now THERE was the surprise. Not a great surprise, but sticker shock nonetheless. I ordered through B&N instead of the campus bookstore because a. I can use my B&N membership discount, and b. the campus bookstore quoted the price for all the books that were "required" as just over $1,000. I followed the list handed out in Orientation: the bill was just under $500. That's just for one semester too. I now understand why, when I was in college the first time around, my mom would be outraged every time it was time to hit the bookstore.
Between the books plus tuition for the fall, I dropped $1200 before lunchtime. This does not include the uniforms I've yet to order (another $200 as we have to have two complete sets), plus shoes (whatever they run), plus school supplies (whatever that will run). At least I already have a working PDA. It's old, but it's working. Next year I'll upgrade it...I really need a new cell phone first, as I've now resorted to praying over this one every day so that it'll make it until August.
Students--well, the female ones--have a choice between a white dress and white scrubs. No way in hell am I wearing a dress--I'd feel like I was playing "pretend" nurse for some movie (Carry on Nurse?). I don't think any of the women are going to choose the dresses from what I heard. But we'll see how right I am when clinicals start.
Five semesters of fun--we work through the summer too. Whee.
I did find a graduate of the school's program on a nursing forum and dropped her a note asking if she had any advice/warnings for me about the school and the program. She sent back a fantastic message full of information (especially helpful was which instructors to avoid if possible) and told me if I had more questions to let me know. It's nice to know I have a contact I can go to for info, as getting through to my nursing school's administration office on most days is just short of impossible.
