Nursing School Ask Me Anything!

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Hello. Welcome to nursing school. Ask me anything. My name is Christina Rafano.

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We got YouTube.

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Welcome to Wednesday Friends.

Welcome to day. How are you guys doing this morning slash afternoon slash. Whatever time it is, where you are.

Where you live in the world.

What did I see the other day? For your. For the membership community, you do live tutoring calls every Tuesday at whatever time it is on two hours. Two. Right. And we do say 2 Pacific, 5 Eastern. Did I do it right? 2, 3, 4, 5. Yeah, 2, 2 Pacific, 5 Eastern. We usually say that and then someone message back.

How about in Australia, like. Like 3:00am I don't know.

I have no idea. So it's great that we have people watching, listening members, even in Australia. Hello, everyone. But, yeah, that's interesting. So whatever time it is. Hello, good morning, good afternoon, good night, good evening, good day to you, sir.

Good day, sir.

Good day. Good night.

From Nepal. See, that's perfect.

Awesome. That is.

Hello, YouTube. Welcome.

Hi, guys. Well, hopefully everyone is having a wonderful day so far.

Yep.

We are here at the nursing school show. Ask me anything. Ask Christina anything. Ask me other things.

I often have questions, so have questions for you. So it's an. Ask everybody everything.

Ask everyone anything. Let's see how that goes. So we try and answer as many questions as possible, and we will go ahead and start out. You want to go with that one? Yeah. All right. So we actually have a question from a member that asked. So we have our membership community and they can ask questions beforehand, and we want to answer those ones first. And then we'll get to other questions from other AMAs or questions in the comments. So be sure to comment in Instagram, comment on YouTube questions, and we'll see which ones can help the most people, and we'll get to as many as possible. All right, from our member, what's the best way to learn pediatric calculations? Dose, Calc specifically.

I think that that was missed. Okay, so here's what the issue with this question, I think it was mistyped. Okay. It says single range and single dose.

Single range.

Now I'm kind of confused because I have never heard those phrases before. I'm pretty sure it's safe range and safe dose is my thinking. If you are the member that asked this question.

Yes.

Let me know if I am incorrect in assuming what you need. So pediatric dosage calculations. Okay, so this goes for everybody, right? Everybody who is in nursing school going to start nursing school. Just started nursing school. Listen up, friends, listen up. Dosage calculations. You must use a dimensional analysis. Please do not use a formula method. It will not work. It will work. Here's what's deceptive about it. Formula method is like a lie. Let's just call it a lie. A lie lingers around trying to convince you that it will help you through nursing school. Because it looks so it's like deceptively easy. The formula method, however, when you try to use formulas for answering dose calc, you have to use a different formula to answer different dose calc questions. Whereas dimensional analysis, once you get dimensional analysis, you can apply it to pretty much any dose calc question you have. So that's why we recommend it. It's not like you have to look at the question, read the question, figure out what formula you need to use and then hope you got that formula right so that you can get the question right. It's like, oh no, you have a formula or you have a, you know, you have a dose calc question and then you just use it. Answer it using dimensional analysis and you'll get it right. As long as you understand dimensional analysis and set it up for correctly, properly makes it way easier. So that's my tip number one, dimensional analysis. Tip number two. Start with the end in mind. With any dose calc question, you have to start with what you need to end up with. What do you need? What is the question asking for? What do you need to end up with at the end? If you don't figure that out first for your dose problems? If you just try to answer your dose calc problem and not, and not actually have it laid out like, this is the unit that I need to end up with, like this is what they're actually asking me for. Then you might be solving the wrong problem the entire time, which happens like you totally might be solving for something else that they're not asking you for. See what I'm saying? So that's a big issue. So those two things, dimensional analysis. Always use dimensional analysis when you are doing dose calc problems. Please, please, please. And if you need help with dimensional analysis, it's so super easy, friends. It's so easy. I know math. I know math, right? Dimensional analysis. Go to YouTube, type in nursing sos dose calc or nursing sos dosage calculations and I have whole step by step videos on there for you to walk you through dimensional analysis and dosage calculations using dimensional analysis. So easy. So definitely check that out now. So for that dimensional analysis and Then start with the end in mind. Then for pediatrics, what you're going to do. So pediatric kind of has two, I'm going to call it three parts. Oftentimes you're going to have to change pounds to kilograms, right? Pediatric doses, pounds to kilograms. Then you're going to have to calculate the safe range, which is what the question is asking for. Safe range versus safe dose. So safe range, what's the safe range? You have to. So it's three steps. It is calculating pounds, kilograms. It's calculating what the safe range is. You have to figure out what that range is first. And then you have to calculate, okay, what, what did the doctor order? You know, do your dimensional analysis. Here's the dose that you calculated using dimensional analysis. Does that fall within the safe range that you calculated? Those are the three things you need for pediatric calculations in those exact steps. So first, you will always, always the first thing you should do with any pediatric dose calculation. Convert pounds to kilograms. It could be reversed. I mean, kilograms to pounds. If it. I think I had some questions like that in nursing school, like they could try to trick you. So just be cautious about that. Pounds to kilograms, kilograms to pounds, whatever they're asking for. And then calculate the safe range. That's step number two. Calculate the safe range they will give you. Like, you know, here's the, here's the range of the dose, you know, whatever, kilograms, whatever. So you have to calculate that next and then you move on to the actual dimensional analysis part. Here's what the doctor ordered. Then is this safe? And then you can figure that number out. Does it fall within that safe range? And then there you go, three steps. So I hope that was helpful. Wow, Good. Hi, Brittany. Okay, I got a lot of people joining us on Facebook. There is your pediatric dose calculation walkthrough for the day.

Awesome.

It's easier to do. Yeah. The formula dimensional analysis confuses me. I want to. I have heard that a lot from nursing students saying that the formula method is better. And I absolutely understand why you think that. Excuse me. Because it's deceptive. It's deceptively easy, like I said. So the thing with the formula method, it will get you through your first, probably two terms of nursing school. The farther you go in nursing school, it won't work anymore once you get into, like, heparin drips and, you know, just the crazy, like, pediatric calculations, it's very, very difficult to keep using the formula method as you go through nursing school. So, friends, just do yourself a favor. Learn dimensional analysis now and then you'll be fine throughout the whole program. Good. Oh, yeah. Dimensional analysis made it so easy for me, and I have always struggled with math, so.

I know, it's kind of funny. I remember when you started, and I basically, I had to learn dimensional analysis too.

I could not learn it myself. I. Well, I could have, but I did not. I very much struggled with it.

So we both went through it. Yeah, I've been. Okay. I've been good at math. Not a nurse, by the way. Not a nurse. So I don't know what I was doing. I don't know what the things, the drugs and things afterwards that we were talking about, but the math part alone, definitely I learned that as well. And. And I think what Christina said really does make sense is that in the beginning with math in general, you can have formulas, but as you continue on, there's more and more and more formulas. And if you just remember the formulas and not really break down exactly how to do things and understanding this is part of critical thinking, by the way, understanding how you get to where you want to go. Then if you're just memorizing formulas, you'll just get stuck with a whole list of formulas and remembering what formula is what. Whereas dimensional analysis is the same across the board as long as you understand the base blocks. Now, the railroad, or whatever you want to call it, can get longer. So it may look a little more complicated, but as long as you start now with the calculations that are easy and only one or two conversions, then you just keep building on it like building blocks. And yeah, it may look complicated, but start now so that when you get the more complicated problems, you'll know how to do it.

Yeah, your dimensional analysis for dose calc now in, like, early. Well, not now, whatever it is for you, early nursing school will be like this long. Then when you get into the more complicated things. So we had. We got a question from some members. This was a little while ago. We have a whole video in our nursing associates membership media on Pitocin calculations. There are a lot of. Of formulas for Pitocin. So here, this is a really great example because the student, a bunch of students, actually, they're like, so confused how to calculate Pitocin doses. And because it's complicated, there are formulas for it. Sure. But you have to take those formulas in tandem with all the other formulas that you have for all the other, you know, dose calc questions that you have to solve. So what did we do? I took it as dimensional analysis and I was like, here, like, this is it. It Was super long. Super long. But it works. It works every single time. So that's why we recommend it. It's the only way that I recommend that you study dose calc and learn dose calc is through dimensional analysis. So I hope we sold you on that.

I love dimensional analysis. Sounds like it.

Thank you, Kathy.

And fun fact for the people that do like math and do want to dive into it a little bit, just fun side fact, once you do all the dimensional analysis, all the conversions and you look at it as a whole, it kind of back up. You'll actually be able to pick out where the formula is. Yeah, it's like, oh, this was that formula. Or oh, that was that formula. But you don't need to know those formulas if you just do dimensional analysis.

As long as the dimensional analysis is so easy. Friends, here's how this is. If you have no idea what we're talking about right now, you have to know it a. If you're going to nursing school, you absolutely have to know how to calculate medications. Because if you are my nurse, I want you to be able to calculate medications. Medications correctly before you put it in my body. Right. So dimensional analysis is how we do that. That's how we do that. Dimensional analysis is just a way that we can properly and correctly and accurately calculate medication doses. This is math. Yes. We're talking about math on a Wednesday. Heavy topic for a Wednesday. So dimensional analysis, when you lay it out, all it is is like one line and lots of other lines like this, they almost kind of like do boxes. It's like a line. It looks like a railroad track. A railroad track. That's why it's called like railroad track method. Can you visualize this? It's like a line here and then like lines down this way. And then you put your numbers in each of the little box things. As long as you set up your numbers properly and set up your units correctly, you will get it right. Like it's that easy. Like really all you need to do is like look at the problem and be like, oh, this unit, this unit, this unit, this unit, you know, cancels out. Multiply across the top, multiply across the bottom, divide the two. There's my answer. Super easy.

And you have a couple videos and things like that. Like you mentioned earlier. Nursing SOS.

Go to YouTube. Nursing SOS. Dose Cal. Nursing SOS.

Almost like tic tac toe. Yeah, that's another way of thinking.

Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

Yep.

Hey, Barbara, by the way, I saw that you were responding to telly. Thank you. So much. You guys are so helpful.

For real.

Like if you guys have questions in the chat, other students might just comment back to you because we're all so helpful here. That's why.

All right.

My hair look good. I just like shower. Yeah, it feels crazy to me.

Frizzy.

Does my hair look good?

Does my hair look good? Guys.

I hope my hair looks. Yeah, it feels frizzy to me.

Let me see.

You betcha. Barbara, you're the best. Hey, Nia.

Okay. Hi.

Oh, sorry. We had another member question that came in that is not on the list. This was from Emily. Now do we have the form? We don't have the form. That's fine because I remember the question. Emily's question was, Haley, thank you. My hair looks amazing. You're the best, Haley. All right, so Emily's question was, hey Christina, do I have. Basically I'm paraphrasing, hey Christina, do I have to watch all of the live tutoring calls in the membership community before I start nursing school? Because Emily is just starting nursing school in the fall. Yay, Emily, you're the best. The answer is no. And when I say the answer is no, I mean the answer is absolutely not. Do that. No. Was I clear? Yeah. For anybody who is a brand new nursing SMS member buddy, starting nursing school in the fall, one thing that you will need to practice is constraint, which is tough. And I just talked about this on last week's YouTube video, right? It was last week, right, with what to study before nursing school. Okay, it was last week. What to study before nursing school. If you are at all confused about what to study before nursing school. YouTube, Nursing SOS what to study before nursing school. Emily's like, hi Emily. She's like, okay, because there are a lot. Yes, there are.

There are a lot.

Do not watch all of the tutoring call replays inside the membership community. So what you're going to want to do well, okay, go to YouTube tab in nursing SOS what to study before nursing school because that's there for you. But because you're a nursing SO member, Emily, what you will want to do is go through which I actually think you emailed me about study success course, the time management course. And then you want to look at those dose calc workbooks. They're in the bonus section of the membership. So go through those dose calc workbooks. Make sure you understand does calculate before you start nursing school. And then there's also a bonus video in there too. It's called how to get nursing school exam questions. Right. So Four things. Study success course, time management course, then the dose calc workbooks, the practice problems, and then of course, in the dose calc workbook, I give you the answers too, and how to solve it. So just try to solve it yourself first, but then you can see how I solve it too. And then also in the bonus section, there's a video on how to get nursing exam questions right. So go through those four things. But I'm pretty sure Emily. So, friend, you're gonna do great. Don't worry. I think a lot of these things, when we start nursing school, we want to do all the things because we don't know. You don't know what you don't know. It's scary to start something new, to try something new. And so I get it. Like, we want to be prepared as much as possible, but at the same time, you don't want to cause yourself frustration or stress or anxiety. I know, Emily, you did all that. I'm going to do scalp this week.

Awesome.

Emily, you're a rock star. Seriously, you're going to do so good, especially because you're a nursing Ancestors member. Like, I know nursing school is hard. It's hard, especially now with it being online. But with our membership community, it's like, even if your instructor is not teaching you in class or online or whatever, you can just come home and watch a video and I will explain it to you. So it just makes it so much easier, friends, so much easier.

So, yeah, I like to think about it because we do get this question. As soon as people join the membership, a lot of times they log in, say, wow, there's a lot of content. There's a lot of content. Where do I start? Where do I. What do I watch? Do I have to watch everything? Yeah, because I have all my nursing school work too, and watching all these and really, it's really to help you. So we have a lot of members now in the community and we want to make sure that we help everyone or as many people as we can, as best as we can. So we want to provide all that content. Whether you use it all or not, that's totally up to you. Use the things that are helpful for you. So if you already know something, then you don't need to go and watch it. Just watch it. We want you to save time, not spend more time.

Right?

So just because it's there doesn't mean that you have to watch it. You, you use the things that you need and the other things is for other people as well. So with the Tutoring calls as well. We do tutoring calls once every week, so. And we've been doing that for over a year now. Yeah, so that's. There's a lot there. And each tutoring call we go through multiple topics people that. Things that people ask about. So. Yeah. Are there gems in there that you might find helpful? Yeah, but if you don't really need to, then you don't have to do that. It's not a requirement. We do try and title them with all the main topics of the. Of the videos. So one thing that I like using is control F or command F. If you're on a. If you're a Mackie person, an I person, an I person. So you can basically search for words or whatever. So just go ahead and do that and type in words that you might find interesting in the tutoring call section, that bonus section, and they may pop.

Up like for example, if you are struggling with fluid and electrolytes. So fluid electrolytes. Fluids and electrolytes. If you go in the membership community under those tutoring calls, we've got a lot where I talk about fluids and electrolytes. This is a big question students have. So we've talked about it a lot on our tutoring calls. So you can just go into the tutoring call page, control F. Or would.

You say command F?

Command F and then type in, you know, fluids or electrolytes. Fluids and electrolyte, what have you, and then it'll pop up there. ABGS is another one. We've done a lot of tutoring calls over ABGs. Dose cow, another one. Tons of tutoring calls on dose count. So all of that to say that when you get inside the nursing membership community. No, don't watch everything. That would be crazy land. That would be crazy land. Do not watch everything. What you're going to want to do is as you're going through nursing school in your program, when you are studying something in class, like say you're studying cardiac, then if you go to a lecture in school and you are studying cardiac, like I don't know, heart failure. You know, if you're studying like sepsis, things like that, I mean sepsis could be cardiac, it could be other topics to immunological, but depending on whatever you're studying in school, then you come home and you watch those videos. Like if you're just studying cardiac in school, you don't have to go and watch our renal GU course on glomerulonephritis. That's not going to help you. Right. So Just stick with the cardiac stuff. And then when you get to kidney stuff, I can help you with that. But you don't have to watch all the videos all at once. That would be crazy. That would be like nursing school in a day. You don't want to do that. So. No, the nursing SMS membership community is here as you go through nursing school. So just use it, you know, as you, you know, don't understand something in school or like just, you know, as you, as you're learning those topics.

And for those that don't know, we're talking about our nursing SOS membership community. It's our easy we guide you through. Yep, we. I say we loosely. We, me and Christina guide you through nursing and nursing school. So definitely take a look at that. It is closed right now. We have a question from Urban Sunflower. I like that.

Oh, I like that. Hello, Urban Sunflower.

When does the next enrollment open? So we only open a couple times a year to make sure that we have time to dedicate to improving the membership and also doing these AMAs and everything like that as well. So we do open just a couple of times a year. We are currently closed, but join the wait list.

Yep.

I will throw the link down in YouTube. Go ahead and join the wait list and you will be the first to know when it does open up again. Yeah.

Okay. I got a question from Instagram.

All right, Haley.

And I'm gonna answer this because people are answering it. Where can we get more dose Calc practice problems? Love your dose Calc videos, but I still feel like I need more practice. I love that question. And then I know that was answered. Natalie, Nat Attack. Love it. So you replied, your school gives out worksheets, so that's an option if you need more those calculus problems. A lot of schools do give out like practice workbook or practice problems, what have you. That's great. If you are a nursing SOS member, you do we give you workbooks for that with more practice problems. That's cool. But if you are not a nursing SS member, you can probably just like Google dose calc problems. I'm assuming that that's a thing. I would be very surprised if like a Google search didn't turn up anything for you because I'm sure there's like a bunch out there. Like someone go to Google right now. Can someone go to Google right now and like type in like dose calc practice problems and tell me what you find? Because I'm sure there's a gazillion. That's my Best advice, Just practice. Practice that way, and then. Yeah, ask your school if they have any practice stuff for you too.

It's all about practice. It's all about practice. Getting that down and getting comfortable with it for sure. All right, hold on. I have a question. Okay, ready for the next one?

Hold the phone. Yes, ready.

Okay, do it. I like this one. Christina, what's an easy way to pass hematology? Is the nursing interventions and tests about the same on most of the anemias. Most anemias. Any ideas?

What's an easy way to pass hematology? I'm not. I don't know if I really understand. The question is, are the nursing interventions and tests about the same on most of the anemias? Oh, do you mean, like. Oh, I see. Yes. Okay, so like, like different anemias. Are you saying, like, are the nursing interventions and the tests, like, very, like, similar for the anemias? Yeah. Okay, so here. Here's. Yeah, there's a bunch. Okay. Not attack. Yes, there's a bunch of anemias. Let's be real. So I just did it. What was it, a tutoring call or something? I just did a tutoring call on all the anemia. So if you're a nursing outsys member, go into the tutoring call because I talk about, like, all the different, like, you know, iron deficiency anemia, pernicious anemia. There's like, a bunch. Yes. A lot of the labs will be the same. What was the other one? Nursing interventions. All the nursing interventions will be the same. However, you have to solve the underlying problem. So. So, okay. Yeah, I'm not. This would actually be a really great YouTube video. This will actually be a really. Can you mark this down for a YouTube video? Yeah, because we don't get a bunch of questions on anemia, but I want to. I want to cover it because it is. It is very. It can be tough to remember. Okay, so here's where. Here's where what you will want to do anytime you have a med surge disorder like this, like, anemia, or anything that is super, super closely related with very. Some very specific differences. Compare, contrast, chart. That's what you will want to do. So when you have, like, list out your anemias. List out your anemias, and then, you know, write out, you know, the nursing interventions for it, the nursing assessment, the signs and symptoms to look for, and then draw it out for each one of them and then have compare and contrast between the two of them. You could use different colors, things like that. Because this is a Great. This is a fantastic example. I'm so glad you asked this question. Anemia is such a great example because they're so similar, but the underlying cause can be very, very different. That's what we want to solve. So when you list them out, that's how to do it. Compare and contrast. Does that make sense? I feel like that was probably the most helpful for the most people. Anything that you are comparing and contrasting, anything that you find in nursing school that's very, very similar but has some very stark differences. Anemia is a great example. Infectious disease for pediatrics is another one. And then mental health is another one. All those mental health disorders, skip, compare, contrast. That's what I did for those.

Okay.

I think that was the most helpful for the most. I would really like to do a YouTube video on anemia.

Yeah, it's interesting. That's why I found this question pretty interesting, because I don't think we've really talked about it that much, so.

No, yeah, I want to. I know that I just did a tutoring call on it, but we'll have to maybe send that out to members. If you're a nursing US member and want that tutoring call, you can go to.

It's bonus.

It's under bonuses, tutoring calls, and then just search like anemia.

I think I. The one from yesterday. I still have to post up, so I'll be posting up a couple new tutoring calls. Wait, today, so more things that. If it's helpful for you, go ahead and watch it. If it's not, don't watch it.

I tried Googling, so we're talking about dose cog now. I've done the workbooks and nursing sos. Perfect. All right, great.

For those just joining, welcome to the Nursing School show.

This is Christina. I'm Christina.

This is Matthew.

Hello.

We're here answering many questions and I'm.

Like, scrolling through Instagram because I know I missed questions.

A few. All right. Did you want to try and find a couple questions?

Yeah. Why don't you go YouTube? Because. Ooh. Yeah, that's. We've got so many questions, you guys.

Yeah. So I want to do people starting out. So lots of people starting or getting ready to start. Best tips on passing the teas test. I know that you have someone that you want to direct people to.

So if you were in teas. We don't teach. Teach to the T's because I didn't have to take it. I don't really know anything about it, to be honest. The ATIT test, like the Entrance exam to get into nursing school. So who I send you to is. Her name is Kate and she's over at Pre Nursing Smarter on instagram or pre nursingsmarter.com and so maybe you could put that in there. It's Pre Nursing Smarter. Okay dot com. Or at Pre Nursing Smarter over on Instagram. And so she's there and you know, Pre Nursing smarter dot com. Yeah, that's correct. Pre Nursing smarter dot com. And her name is Kate. We're friends. We mastermind together. She's awesome. So she will help you with the teas because that's what she does. That is her forte. It's not mine. So I don't really know much about it. It's a lot of, like, general. It's kind of like the GRE or something. Or that from my understanding at least, I mean, I could be way off base. But it's. It's kind of. It's just like a general. It's not like nursing specific. It's like a. You know, I don't. Just basic. Like not basic. I mean, it's kind of tough, but I think. I think it would be pretty. A little bit challenging because I kind of forget. Your basic.

Oh, yes, for sure.

Like your basic algebra. Basic. Like geometry. I don't know if geometry is on there, but, you know, like the sat, right? I kind of equate it to the sat. Like, I don't know if I could pass the SAT nowadays. Yeah, sure.

Depends what you study and what you use on a regular basis. We were just talking about dimensional analysis and at that point in time in our lives when I was actually doing it too, then. Yeah, I remember it kind of came back. But now you asked me what two plus two is and I'm grabbing my calculator.

Nobody does math in their heads anymore. Yep. That's so funny. Okay, so Instagram. Sorry, Instagram. We had a lot of comments right when we started. Like, a lot of questions. And then they just rolled into, like, comments and people chatting back and forth, which is super fun, by the way. But I need to scroll up to find your comments. How can you calm your nerves? Hey, Alexis, friend. How can you calm your nerves? Oh, there's a follow up. I start nursing school soon and I am so nervous. Okay, so let's talk. Nursing school has this reputation of being just the worst.

Why?

Why does it have this reputation of just being the worst thing in the world? And if we go into nursing school thinking that it's the worst, I keep thinking of Connie from Adventure. That do you guys listen to Adventures and Odyssey.

Is that still a saying?

We love Adventures and Odyssey. It's the best. Oh, man. But if we go into nursing school thinking that it's just gonna be the worst thing in the world, that is not helpful for you. Right? Like, that's not gonna help. So I always tell students, do not listen to the rumor mill, please. And just do your, you know, you know, follow our tips. Go back to that YouTube video from last week. Study dopes calc. Figure out what to study before you go to nursing school so you can succeed in nursing school. Seriously. That's what we do. We help you succeed in nursing school. So definitely watch the YouTube videos. If you're a nursing SOS member. Let me help you through nursing school with a membership community. You know, you will be fine. Just, you'll be fine. Don't think that you can't do it because you can do it. Don't let anybody tell you that you cannot do it. That is up to you. There's my soapbox for the morning.

I think that it goes back to something that we talk about on a regular basis. It starts with M and ends in I'm set.

It starts with M and ends in I'm set mindset.

It's all about. It's all about your mindset. So do the mind work? Dig down deep. Really? What is causing you the stress or what is getting anxiety getting on your nerves? That's not like that. But not getting on your nerves, but what is triggering those nervous feelings and really dive into that. And the other thing is understanding the clear delineation on what you can control and what you cannot control.

We were just talking about anxiety on Monday. So if you have any questions about anxiety. We did a very deep dive into the topic around nursing school anxiety on our AMA on Monday. So go back through YouTube. Monday.

Monday, check it out.

You got hearts for that? Good job.

Hooray. That's what I go for. I go for the hearts.

I like him, right? We'll keep him. I love you.

Thank you. Love you too.

For me, the scary part is being told you study non stop. I start thinking, I am I capable of studying? Studying that much. Let's have a minute, friends. Okay. Soapbox. Christina.

Another.

Let me step up here.

You guys are getting another.

Let me step up here. Yeah, let's do it. Christina ran to the day. Everyone's going to tell you that. And when I say everyone, I mean literally almost everyone. Instructors, students, past students, students who have never been in nursing school, who just hear about It. This is the rumor mill. It is alive and well. Everyone will tell you that you cannot have a life. You cannot work. You cannot have a break. You have to study constantly in nursing school. That's what we hear, right? Everyone tells you it is impossible and that no one passes. Everyone tells you that you cannot have a life, that you have to study nonstop and that you're going to be miserable. That's not true. I. Okay, yes, I have anxiety and have had it for my entire life, but would you say that I was miserable in nursing school?

No. No. Definitely not.

Definitely not. Every single Saturday off. Every single Saturday, and I got a 4.0. I got a 4.0 in nursing school, and I took every single Saturday off. True story. True story. So if you're telling me that it's impossible, I'm gonna push back on you. I'm gonna push back on that, and I want you to challenge that in your mind. It is not impossible to do that in nursing school. I know because I did it. Was it tough? Of course. But I did it, and you can do it, too, so I forgot what the question was. That was just my soapbox.

That's a soapbox.

Do not. Do not let anybody tell you that you can't do it. Why do we let people tell us that we can't? Like what? Like, are you really going to let Joe Schmo. That's funny. I never say that, but that was really fun to say.

Apologies to all the actual Joe Schmoes in the crowd.

By the way, Joe Schmo from down the street come over and knock on your door and be like, hey, by the way, did you know that you're not going to be a good nurse and you can't pass nursing school? No. Like, no, you're not gonna listen to that Joe Schmo down the street, man.

The only opinion that matters is your own and God's.

God's. But amen.

So, yeah, Joe Schmo.

Hey, let's just talk about the email I got the other night that I showed you with lots of curse words and lots of hate toward me. And they were like, christina, basically, you suck at everything. And I did an Instagram story about it. I was like, you guys. Like, this happens. People are going to tell you that you suck. People are going to tell you that they hate your guts. People are going to tell you that you cannot do it and that you have to do this in life and you have to. They are going to put you in a box. People are going to put you in a box and tell you that you can only do this much. Is that what God thinks about you? You tell me. Is that what God thinks about you? That is absolutely not what God thinks about you. I'm just going to answer that for you. God has an amazing, incredible plan for you, and it has nothing to do with what the world says. Nothing to do with what the world says. So no matter what people tell you, no matter what people say, like, you can't do it, you can't pass nursing school, you can't have a break, you can't work, you can't have kids in nursing school. Are you kidding me? All the things the world is going to tell you, all the things. Do not listen to that.

A lot of people.

Thank you.

Have a lot of ideas and a lot of opinions about a lot of things that are none of their business.

Yes. Amen to that. So let's just keep to ourselves. Let's just so focus on our own lives.

I'll even go a step further. And, yeah, we want to be cognizant of who's providing that feedback and where it's coming from. A lot of times it's coming from a place of love and understand that too. But it's also coming from people that might not have the whole picture or have never gone to nursing school or just have heard the rumor mill, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Right?

So, yes, there are opinions out there, and there are some outspoken people that will let you know what their opinions are all about, mindset, all about how you take it in. Everything is neutral, right?

Yeah. Brooke Castillo, the life coach, she says everything is neutral. She's my life coach. She's awesome. Check her out.

So it's all how you take it, internalize it, and how you want to deal with that information. So really, God's opinion, that's what matters, is what matters.

Could you imagine? Let's think for a minute. Do you guys realize. Probably not. We get the. The more that our platform has grown, the more audience we reach, the more students we help, the more pushback we get. Like, the more emails we get, the more YouTube hate comments we get, the more, you know, Facebook hate comments we get. Whatever. Like, it's. It's. The more you do things in life that challenge other people's perceptions of you that they don't think is okay or that is outside maybe their comfort zone, they have an opinion about it and they're going to tell you about it. So when you go to nursing school and you maybe have. I've heard This a lot. When you go to nursing school and you have a relative who wanted to but never did, guess what they're going to do? Maybe, I mean, sometimes, maybe they're cool and are not like this, but oftentimes what we hear from students is that they will attack you. They will say that you cannot do it, that it is too hard, and that you're just going to be miserable the whole time. Because, of course, everyone's miserable in nursing school, right? Coming from Aunt Becky, you know, who wanted to go to nursing school and never did. Like, that's not. That's not the voice you want to listen to. So, like, yeah, I just. I really want you guys to know. I really want you guys to realize that you're not alone. When I started nursing sos, it was very isolating for a long time because I didn't realize how normal I was. And so now looking back, like, all the man, like, the more that we have grown as a company, the more, like, just people attacking us, attacking me, you know, emails, all the stuff. What would have happened if I had quit? Like, the first email that I got, I still remember it, by the way. What would I have had? What would have happened with this? Like, would we even be here if I would have quit? No, of course not. I would not be helping you right now. Would not be helping you. So for you in nursing school, people are going to tell you that you suck. People are going to tell you, like, you're going to get on the floor and nurses are going to tell you all the things you did wrong, and your instructors are going to tell you that you can't pass nursing school. It's impossible. And no, you cannot work and no, you cannot have kids and all these things. What would happen if you quit? If you listen to them, what would happen? Well, you're not going to become a nurse, right? That's your lifelong dream. Are you really going to let someone else's opinion of you dictate your life? I hope the answer is no.

Yeah, I really like that.

And I think the soapbox.

Okay, are you.

I'm stepping down from my soapbox.

I think that it is just really important to understand that it is up to you to internalize those things and to use it and also to be understanding, too. Again, what I was saying is that people don't know. People don't know also where they're coming from. A lot of this stuff is from a place of love or a place that they might be even unconsciously thinking about. But I don't know, for some reason, humans, we like comfort. We like being comfortable. Not only that, but we see someone that is not comfortable and we want them to be comfortable too. So their perspective is, oh, that's too hard. Or that that could be too hard or we don't want you to try too hard. Just be comfortable. Well, you can either be comfortable or you can grow, because that growth there is that uncomfortable area. So you can either be comfortable or you can grow. And you pushing past that, that's you growing. And I think that that's, that's by far the better thing to do. Then you can grow, you become a nurse, then you can help more people and everyone benefits. So it might not. It might be coming from a genuine place and their heart, but it's also not something that you need to dwell on.

Don't take that on.

Yeah. And then backing up just to kind of put a cap on this, kind of the base of this question was, am I capable of studying that much? There's so much studying. Am I capable of doing this? And I think just one thing that I just wanted to recap on that is slightly a new topic is that life is about seasons. A lot of people are touting nowadays, oh, work life balance. You need to have work and live a life and live it to your best and have a great life and do both at the same time. And there's a work life balance. And I don't really subscribe to that. I think really more of seasons. So this is your nursing season. Is it going to be hard? Is it going to be a lot of work? Yes. But what happens after the season? There's. There's a harvest, there's bountifulness afterwards, but you need to put in the work. You just need to put in the work. You can be comfortable or you can grow, grow, choose to grow. Choose to put in the work now. Work this season, and then you'll have a season of.

Being a nurse. Being a nurse, you know, living your lifelong dream.

And it's also up to you too kind of determine what those seasons are. And to control those a little bit, you can decide when to go full bore into something. Christina said that she got 4.0, not working any Saturdays. That's just one of our beliefs, is that she will not work on Saturdays. We will not work on Saturdays. But what does that mean? That means the other six days she's going to work and she's going to work hard. So it's up to you to determine what those seasons are. But recognize that Overall, work, life balance means that there are seasons on one side, seasons on the other, and overall, it will balance out. But that doesn't mean that you have to be 50%. 50% every single day, and you need to make sure that it all lines up every time.

Yeah. That's such a lie. It's such a lie. Barbara, I love you. Barbara, I'm so glad you're here. You're the best. Yeah. Satan would have won. And, Barbara, I love that you just answer everyone's questions on YouTube. It makes me so happy. Thank you, Barbara. You're the best. Yes. Discipline, for sure. Absolutely.

T shirt, by the way.

Yes, I've got your bag. Yes, he does. He's got your back. Love it.

Fun fact. This shirt I think I got as a Christmas present from your parents. The first Christmas were together together or married? Well, there was only one Christmas in between, so I don't really remember. Oh, I'm pretty sure it was. It was the first Christmas we were together, so that. The next month.

Okay, let's go back to our marriage story. If you guys were ever curious about how we got together. We were friends in college, and then we were, like, best friends for, like, ever. How many years?

A long time. Because I was in college for forever.

So we were friends. We were really good friends for, like, four years. And then we both graduated college and I think the year after you. We always hung out in, like, groups together. Like groups together. And then I invited you over to see. I got a new puppy.

A new puppy.

A new puppy. And I invited him over to come meet the new puppy. And that was the first time that we actually, I think, hung out, like, probably alone together. And then it was like that day or the day later, we were like, just start dating slash get married. So we really. I mean, it was like. It was. It was how many months?

Like, 11.

11.

11.

11 months between, like, starting dating and marriage and getting married.

Talk about people having opinions, by the way. Talk about people having opinions about that one. Yeah.

People were very upset with us.

I'm glad we didn't listen to them.

I'm glad we didn't listen to them.

I'm glad we were able to listen to them with open hearts, open minds and understand where they're coming from.

Yeah, for sure.

And go ahead and do what we wanted to do anyway.

But if anyone that knew us back then had anything to say about it, everyone was like, no, you obviously don't understand. You're supposed to date for two years, be engaged for two years, and then get married. And we're like, why? We don't understand. We're just like rebels. So, yeah, yeah. Eleven months. So married.

It works.

It works.

It worked for us. So again, that's another real life example.

I love it.

People being genuine, being genuinely concerned, but also being genuinely wrong. So it's okay. It's all right.

I would say that we have. Would you say we have a great marriage? I think so. I think so, too.

I think so.

Marriage is the best. If you're not married, you should get married. I'm just kidding. That's my advice for you. But, you know, don't take my advice. All right, what do I know?

Anyone just joining?

Hello.

Hello. We've been talking about marriage and other things, but this is the nursing school.

Show where we also talk about life.

We talk about whatever. Whatever comes by our way. So whatever.

Instagram is so delayed. I'm sorry, you guys. I've noticed today that Instagram, for some reason, the delay is a lot longer than it normally is. So we're not getting your comments in real time.

But we're not yellow this time.

But we're not yellow this time on Instagram.

We do not look like the Simpsons, but we are delayed.

So I've never watched that show, but I do like. I see the memes and stuff. That's funny. I like that. My husband and I dated less than a year, and We've been married 18 years. Congratulations.

I love it.

Hey, by the way, Christina, turn your phone off so people don't hear your. Your mom calling. That's always going to be my example, because I was on live. This is just a few weeks ago, I was on live video, and my mom starts calling, and I'm like, should I answer? Let's answer. Yeah, it was great. So, anyway, all right, that happened.

I think we answered this last time. We answer it every so often, but I think it's a good thing to keep answering. Advice for select all that Apply questions. I know that, Barbara.

Thank you for answering, Barbara.

But we'll just recap that.

How do you answer static questions? Select all that apply. Okay, so here's the deal. Select all that apply questions are more tough. They're a little tricky because you have to select all the apply. Oh, wonder where that comes from. So, I don't know. I'm being ridiculous this morning. I'm sorry, you guys. Christina's a little too caffeinated right now. SATA questions. Read the question. You have to select all of the answers that are correct. There is no partial credit multiple Choice questions. That's a pity. And so in contrast to multiple choice questions where you just select one, right. And then it's, of course, again, all or nothing. But septic questions, all or nothing. No partial credit. So here's what you're going to do. If you are answering questions, read the question and then look at the first answer and then decide, is that true or false? As it relates to the question. Then you'll do that for the next answer. And the next answer, read the question, read the second answer, is it true or false as it relates to the question? Read the question, read the third answer. Is it true or false? See what I'm doing? Go on and on. Usually there's like five. Usually there's five. So you'll do that five times, then not then. Because this is like all in tandem together. You have to take every answer and treat it individually. This is where a lot of nursing students get stuck. I say, like, I talk to you like, you know, you know about nursing. You're the best. Oh, man. So take every single answer individually. Don't group them together or think they have something to do with each other. They do not. The answers do not have anything to do with each other. Like, take them individually based on their own merit. So take every single answer individually treated individually. So my example the other day was, what did I say? Like, vital signs. Like, what's a vital sign? Like, if you just. This is a ridiculous question, but it's. It gets the point across. So if you had a static question that the question is like, hey, what's a vital sign? And then they have, like, heart rate, you know? Yeah. Heart rate, respiratory rate and heart rate, blood pressure, you would select all of those. But the thing is, is that, like, some students get caught up because heart rate is in two answers, it's totally fine. If the same answer is in two different answers, it's totally fine. On static questions, select both of them. If they are both true, select them. You have to treat them individually on their own merit. I like that. On your own.

They're all unique snowflakes.

They're all unique snowflakes. That's going in a YouTube video. That's the best.

All right, let's see. I had. I saw another one here that I'd like to answer.

You would like to answer?

No, I would not like it. I would like you to answer. I could answer it, but I don't think Elizabeth would like that.

Oh, that's hilarious.

Elizabeth, any advice for critical care clinicals? That's. That's A mouthful. Critical click. Care, clinicals, ER and icu. Thanks. And also thanks for getting a planner.

Woohoo. Nursing school planner. It's up.

It is.

It is there. I suggest you get it because it's amazing. Go to nursingschooluccess.com planner.

Planner.

All right, so let's talk ICU and ER clinicals. Yes, I did that in nursing school. I'm not going to talk about it. I'm not going to talk about my experience. If you. Which one was that? Where I talked about my ICU experience and the trauma that ensued. My ICU experience and the trauma that ensued.

Do not remember with that ICU experience.

It was on another a. I'm not going to talk about it now, but maybe you can go back and find it.

Okay.

Yeah, we can go back and find it. You can go back and find it. It's on another AMA where I talked about it. I'm not going to cry on today's show. So do I have really, the biggest advice is because it's such a different environment than like a med search floor. I see you as totally different. You've just got to suck it all up, man. Not suck it all up. That's probably not the right word. Soak it all up. Soak it all up. Like, ask so many questions to those nurses because, man, do they know a thing or two. I see nurses, they definitely know a thing or two. So make sure that you're asking a lot of questions. Now, this really goes for any. Stay out of the way and watch. Right? Yeah. You have to ask all of the questions. Ask my mom. And really. Yeah, it is almost that. Just make sure. Because it's critical care.

Right.

You really. You cannot get in the way between the nurse and their patient. They're usually very aggressive about that. You know, they don't want their patient to get hurt, obviously. So, you know, just make sure that you are learning as much as possible, asking as many questions as you can at the appropriate times. When they're not, you know, doing CPR on a patient, obviously. So, you know, ask. Ask all the questions, volunteer to do as much as possible. You know, if you could do blood draws or glucose tests or tube feedings or, you know, anything, you know, at, you know, whatever your. You've checked off on in school, whatever your scope of practice is as a nursing student at that time, do it. Like raise your hand, do it. Yeah, that's. I mean, that goes for everything. That goes for all clinicals. Not just critical care. Yep. Not just critical care. All clinicals okay.

Sally had a follow up to our previous one. Would you select all the answers? A heart rate by itself and then.

Oh, yeah. So back to static questions. This is just a follow up to that. Are you saying you would select all the answers? The heart rate by itself and then the other with both answers? Yes. So in the example that I gave. Yes, I would. Because the question. It's a really. It's not a very well written question, Christina. My question was what are vital signs? Which ones are vital signs? So, and I think. What did I say?

Heart rate and then heart rate as one answer. And then heart rate and something.

Respiratory rate.

Something.

Yeah, something like that.

So, yeah, both of those you'd select.

So both of those you select because all three of them are vital signs. Heart rate, blood pressure, heart rate, heart rate, heart rate, heart rate, blood pressure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jamie, open communication with your instructors on day one. Thank you, Barbara. You're amazing.

All right. And. Oh, man, a couple questions that all surround this one topic. So this is good. How to do well in pharmacology. Are there methods that I can memorize all the drugs and better.

There absolutely are.

Yep.

Yes, yes, yes.

Is that. Is that.

Are you asking which. Which one?

What are those?

What are those?

Or did you just want to know.

If there was how to do well in pharmacology? So.

Have it.

May I have the drug guide, please? I tell you, we do this like every.

We should just, like, leave it somewhere.

Else because he has to get it every time. The drug guide. Let's go for a real quick. This is drug guide, if you want to be more specific. But I will never call it the Davis's drug guide, because that is too long. And that's never.

What I've been calling it is Davis's. It is.

I know. It's Davis. Yeah, Davis Drug. Guys get it. So here's how it's divided up. In the first section here, there is a red tab section. You see those red tabs? They're different than all these other pages. These are what I mean by red tab section. So this is your drug classifications, your pharmacologic classes and therapeutic classes. This is what you want to do first. So did you know that medications are broken up by a pharmacologic class and. Or therapeutic class? So classes, drug classes and medications that group medications. So therapeutic class groups, medications mostly by, like, the issue that it solves. So like, you know, anti diabetic, anti hypertensives, things like that. So then the pharmacologic class breaks up. Drugs, groups, Drugs together based on the chemical structure of the medication, the mechanism of action, they have to act the same way. So that's the preferred method is the pharmacologic class. But sometimes like this one is anti anxiety agents. That is not. Not pharmacologic class, that is the therapeutic class. So when you go through this, anticholinergics, when you go through this, you will see. So this is an anti asthmatics. Where is the. So general action and information. So when you get the drug guide, where's. Make sure I'm pointing to the right thing. General action and information. Do you see that? Do you see that? YouTube, Instagram. General action and information. That is what you're looking for. That is the mechanism of action of the drug class. That is what you're going to want to know. Because medications are grouped by drug class and so they will act. Medications that are grouped specifically by pharmacologic class act the same way in the body. So if you just remember the mechanism of action and all the things for the drug class and you also know which medications fall in that drug class, then you automatically know all the stuff about those individual medications because you already learned it. For the mechanism or for that drug class. That makes sense. Oh no, Instagram, we're losing you.

Seconds left.

I bought my drug ad after watching your YouTube. Glad I did it. Perfect. Thanks for sharing. Okay, Instagram, we're going to continue this discussion a little bit on YouTube. So Instagram, sorry, we only can do this an hour and Instagram gives us like a timer. So 10 seconds remaining. Okay, go over to YouTube, Instagram, because we're going to finish this conversation. Bye bye guys. 3, 2, 1. See you later. All right, so YouTube, let's go. So that is the mechanism of action. That's what you're going to want to do for the. That first section here, red tab section there is all your drug classification. And then so look up the mechanism of action for that you have to understand the mechanism of action for the drug class first. Then you will understand the mechanism of action for the medications that fall within that pharmacologic class. Makes sense, right? Makes sense. So then what you're gonna do. That's a good one. So let's do that one. So, so for carvedilol beta blocker action you have and then as you go down, because you have to also know the side effects, you also have to know like the nursing assessment and nursing considerations, patient teaching for it. But the best news is it all stems from that mechanism of action. So let's just do this blocks stimulation of beta 1 and beta 2 receptor sites. Okay, how can I break this down? So, basically, what beta blockers are going to do is they're going to relax the heart, slow it down a little bit, let the heart just have a break. Those are your beta blockers. They're going to let the heart just take a breath, slow down. So decrease heart rate, decreased blood pressure. Now, knowing that, knowing that mechanism of action, what do you think you will assess for if a beta blocker causes the heart to breathe and take a break? Well, of course we're going to want to assess for heart rate. And of course, we're going to want to assess for blood pressure. Right? Right. So once you know the mechanism of action, learning these things are going to be so much easier for you. Now, let's go through the common adverse effects or side effects of Carvedilol beta blocker. Remember, it relaxes the heart. What happens when we relax the heart and the heart rate slows down? Friends, what happens to our brains? Do we get as much blood flow?

No.

Does the body get as much blood flow? No. So I really like this. This is from another nurse on our team, and she was talking about, we have to consider what happens when a medication works too well. What happens when a medication works too well. So if Carvedilol, if a beta blocker like Carvedilol works too well, what will happen if we slow the heart rate down too much? What's going to happen? That's when you get into your side effects. This is dizziness, fatigue, and weakness. Whoa. Dizziness, fatigue, and weakness. I say if you're slowing the heart down too much, what happens if the medication works too well? That's your side effects. Boom. So much easier to remember. Right. When we know the mechanism of action, we know beta blockers slow down the heart rate, decrease blood pressure. What happens when you slow down the heart rate, decrease blood pressure too? Well, dizziness, fatigue, weakness, slowed heart rate, decreased blood pressure. So then we're going to bradycardia and low bp. Thank you, Barbara. Then nursing assessment. We're obviously going to want to check for those things. Mental status, level of consciousness, blood pressure, heart rate, pulse, all those things. There you go. That's what you do. You do that for all your medications. So those are really the steps, friends. Those are really the steps. Come over here. Classifications, classifications. Mechanism of action is under general action and information. And then you'll go down, go down the list. Look at all your meds in that class. That's it.

Awesome.

I feel a sneeze coming on.

No, no.

I'm back.

All right, guys.

You guys are the best. I hope that breakdown was helpful for you.

Thank you guys, for joining. We will see you on Monday.

Monday, fun day.

Monday, fun day. All right, you guys have a great rest of your day slash afternoon slash evening slash night, depending on where you are. All right?

All righty. We will see you next week.

Next week.

Monday, 9aM Pacific Standard Time, AMA.

Bye. Bye.