Registered Nurse (RN)-Former Nursing Student & Current Nurse Blog My Journey of Becoming & Working as a Registered Nurse

Hello Everyone,

So many times nursing students get frustrated when it comes to learning how to do the conversions. At first, I was so overwhelmed and I had a hard time learning.

However, after lots of practice I eventually became very comfortable doing conversions, and from that point on I never struggled with them again. I had a great question regarding conversions:

Hi Sarah. I love your site and your explanation on conversions is fantastic!I was wondering if it’s also important to learn how to convert to grams and grains? Also, if you could tell me what to expect for my first semester and what can I do to help prepare me for that. Thanks a lot.

Tabatha

Thanks so much for the kind words and the great question Tabatha! I will try to cover all of your questions the best I can.

Should Nurses Learn How to Convert Grams and Grains?

I am glad that you enjoyed the conversions page that I placed up. As I said before, I did have trouble at first learning the conversion formulas, and I was really stressed out when the test came.

However, after lots of practice I did eventually learn how to do the conversions. For those who may be interested in practicing those conversion problems, you can find the dosage and calculation conversions page.

As far as your question regarding the grams to grains conversions, no I was not required to learn that specific conversion, and it wasn’t stressed at all on the tests. In fact, I didn’t really bother with studying it much at all.

However, your school curriculum may be different and they may possibly choose to include those with your dosage and calculations problems. If that is the case, then I do recommend learning them. It may help if you can ask some of your fellow nursing students =-).

There are a couple of sites I can recommend which give some basic grains to grams conversion formulas/calculators, if you are interested in seeing how the formula works:

http://www.asknumbers.com/GramsToGrains.aspx

http://www.metric-conversions.org/weight/grams-to-grains.htm

What Should I Expect In My First Semester of Nursing School?

My first two years of college were mostly core non-nursing classes. The actual “nursing school” part was really the last 2 years. So what can you expect during this time? What will your first semester of actual nursing school be like? Great questions! I have written a similar post about nursing clinicals here that you may also be interested in.

Each year of nursing school had its good parts and bad parts. For example, my first year of nursing was more difficult academically, and I had some very difficult classes I had to pass. However, I didn’t have to really worry with clinicals at a real job too much so that was nice. The “clinicals” were mostly just skills tests that were performed in the actual classroom (such as inserting a catheter, applying dressings, and so forth).

The second year was much less difficult academically (the classes were easier), however, I had a much more rigorous work load with clinicals, projects, and so forth. The clinicals were a little more challenging because you deal with real people in an actual hospital setting.

As far as my very first semester of nursing school, it wasn’t too bad at all. Each nursing school may be structured differently, however, mine focused mostly on academic book work and so forth.

So if yours is the same, I would recommend you really just try to remain dedicated to your homework, projects, and studying. If you have trouble doing this, you can always get a study buddy, or form a study group.

I tended to study mostly on my own, and I would simply sit in my apartment bedroom and just study over and over as much as I could (and sometimes listen to music). That has always been my own personal study routine.

You really have nothing to worry about at all, and I think you will really enjoy your first semester. I know you must be very excited, and at the same time anxious and nervous.You will probably make some friends that you may end up partnering with throughout Nursing School on various projects, and you may even work with them once you graduate!

I think you will do great, and you will see that it isn’t bad at all. If you just keep up with your classes and study, it is really like anything else in school. Just remember that practice makes perfect, and studying regularly will not only help you pass your classes, but it will also help prepare you for the HESI and NCLEX tests.

Thanks again, and good luck! =)

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Just getting accepted into Nursing School can be a stressful event for many aspiring nursing students out there. I remember how worried I was about getting accepted. But if you really have a goal to become a nurse, you have nothing to worry about! Most of the time it is a really simple process.

Here is another great question about getting accepted into the Nursing School program.

I messed around my first year of college and now I just finished my second year. My second year I did some of the prerequisites. So I think I should be done with them by Next fall or the following spring.

How long did it take you to get accepted into nursing school and how long were you in there? I feel like this is taking forever! Also i’m going for my BSN how much is the pay for that?

Jade

Thanks so much for the great question Jade, and I wish you the very best of luck getting accepted into your nursing school academic program.

How Long Does It Take To Get Accepted Into Nursing School in College?

Getting accepted into nursing school is usually not that difficult as long as  you meet your college’s requirements. I had always planned on being a nurse, so I was always working as hard as I could to keep my grades up in all of my classes.

What I basically did was this: I first worked with the school advisers (the people who help with your schedule of classes), and had already signed up for the “Pre-nursing” plan. Of course, you don’t officially get counted as a “nursing student” until you get accepted into the program.

For the first 2 years (of my 4 years), I just took the required core classes at my local college. These consisted of really basic classes (such as music appreciation, probability and statistics, etc.). I also had a few prerequisite classes for the nursing program (such as Anatomy and Physiology).

At my college, you had to have a certain GPA, and a certain amount of credit hours completed before you could apply for the nursing program. Each college can be different on this, so I would recommend you check with an advisor or online schedule to see the specifics for your program.

If memory serves, I think it was a minimum GPA of somewhere between 2.0- 2.5 (I have already forgotten!). But again, this will vary from school to school so check with your local college advisor.

Towards the end of my 2nd year, I applied to nursing school. I had to submit a letter of why I wanted to be a nurse, my completed courses, and so forth. Then, I received my letter congratulating me on being accepted! It was that easy.

How Long Was the Actual Nursing School Program?

Once I got my first 2 years of non-nursing university core classes out of the way (with the exception of a couple of nursing prerequisites), I then went full force into the nursing program.

The nursing program was 2 years long, and included courses and clinicals. The entire program was completed in 4 years (which is 8 semesters). I then graduated, took my NCLEX boards, and received my license.

How Much Does a BSN Rn Get Paid?

The exact pay will vary depending on your location. A great thing to do would be to check with your local nursing college program, and they usually have great information on salaries and pay for your local area. Also, you can always check with your local nursing classmates, and recruiters.

In general, nursing can pay anywhere from $25,ooo-70,000 per year depending on where you live, your grades, your experience, and so forth. In general, nursing is a very good field to go into, and they pay is generally very good, although people sometimes feel underpaid anyway don’t they =).

A BSN is a great degree to get, and it will ensure that you have a lot of opportunities to move up in your nursing career over the years. ADN’s are great too, and I think each person should decide their overall career plan to see which path is best for them.

Thanks again for the question, and best of luck to you!

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