*Disclaimer: You may experience differently than what I experienced!
Syllabus for NR601 – Updated 122020
Practicum logging
This topic would be depending on your instructor. You are expected to see more patients with less time spent per patient. During my NR601, most of my patients were about 50 minutes (about 10 minutes decreased from NR511). Some of the elder female patients came in for an annual physical exam, I filed up to 65 minutes and my instructor didn’t bother about it. If a patent came with simple issues such as cold symptoms or otitis externa, I logged about 30 mins to 40 mins per patient. However, some instructors can be very difficult. I have heard peers posting on FB about 50 mins/patient is too long for NR601. So, contact your instructor and ask for their expectations at the beginning of the class.
Starting from this class, there is a new 0 point assignment (so wonderful…. -_-). It’s called Weekly Clinical Goal. Basically, you are posting your target clinical schedule and what you are trying to achieve and what you may lack. If there is an issue with lacking part, how would you improve it… Yes, you have to post this EVERY week. I posted exactly the same every week. My instructor didn’t care. I don’t see the point of this assignment. At least it’s a short post. I am not sure if this is considered a weekly attendance.
Here is my example.
Weekly schedule
Every Wed/Fri from 8AM to 7PM
Every Sat from 9AM to 3PMClinical goal
I am trying to encounter as much as peds and women’s health as possible. It’s hard to see infant patients as most parents tend to take their infants to the ER rather than a clinic.Anticipated barriers or opportunities
As a male student, it’s hard to see female patients especially their chief complaints are related to genitourinary and/or sexual activities. I had several female patients, especially younger age, specifically ask to be seen by female providers. It’s understandable but it is a barrier from a learning perspective.
Week 1: PFT Quiz
Don’t make yourself more complicated than what it is. I saw the school lecture and it was so horrible, I had to make this.
Here is my version of the lecture. Download it and follow through with the example questions. PFT Lecture
These questions are from the lecture.
The quiz is nothing more than the simple steps of 1, 2, 3. I don’t know why they make it so much more difficult than it is. -_-
If you want to know more about PFT (which we should), I personally like the following YouTube video for the overall review of PFT.
- Understanding Spirometry – Normal, Obstructive vs Restrictive
- Respiratory | Forced Spirometry & Pulmonary Function Test
MedCram is pretty good too.
- Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) Explained Clearly – Procedure, Spirometry, FEV1
- Pulmonary Function Test Interpretation Explained Clearly by MedCram.com
Week 2: Polypharmacy Discussion
Initial post – Due: Wednesday of Week 2
Peer response – 2 or more responses to peer and instructor
Week 2: ACC/AHA Guidelines Discussion
Initial post – Due: Wednesday of Week 2
Peer response – 2 or more responses to peer and instructor
Week 2 Quiz
Pretty straight forward compared to NR511. If you have pretty good knowledge about cardiology, it would be easy to pass. I used work in the ER so I dealt with a lot of CAD, HF, and A.Fib. I felt very comfortable taking the quiz with general nursing knowledge. However, make sure to know in detail about the HF guideline.
Week 3 discussions are the same as week 2 discussions in terms of due dates.
Week 4 Midterm and VICE
Compared to NR511, this class midterm is much more forgiving. It is a lot of content just like any other exams but like Week 2 Quiz, this isn’t that bad at all. Make sure to know the guidelines for HF.
Yes, we do, again, have the VICE assignment. By week 3, your instructor should have given you a time frame for you to schedule the VICE assignment. This is also very dependent on your instructor how difficult or easy it can be. So far, I have been winning the lottery with instructors.
Week 5 Case study
This assignment is such a dragging one. The guide directed to complete the paper with 15 pages without counting the reference and cover page but I ended up passing 15 pages. 16 pages to be exact and I tried to condense. The rubric asked so much in detail and I actually had a hard time shortening it to close to 15 pages.
I started on the case study at the starting of week 2 and worked on it progressively. Some people did complete it within a day, but I couldn’t see myself doing that in one day. I would say start as early as possible and have some breathing room up to week 5.
Be aware that your similarity score from TII would be much higher than usual. Thinks about it. There were 1000s of students who took NR601 and done the same case study using the exact same guideline and same clinical presentation. You will have a high similarity score. My similarity score was 36% and I saw 45% among my cohort. Instructors are aware of the similarity score for this particular assignment. What they do not want to see is the similarity of the main contents. SOAP note and list of clinical presentation of the patient cannot be any different from the assignment. Hence, you will have very high similarity in that section. Do not be alarmed! As long as you know you created your assignment, you don’t need to worry about the similarity score at all.
Remember that you can submit the assignment up to 3 times if you intend to lower the similarity score. My initial post was 37%. I did some fix and uploaded, 36%. I would touch it after the 1st submission. Waste of time trying to lower the score. TII would even highlight “Mrs. Wong”. lol
Week 6 Quiz and 2 discussions
Initial post – Due: Wednesday of Week 2
Peer response – 2 or more responses to peer and instructor
The quiz was not too bad. I cannot say anything about content but just stick with the contents in the reading. You should be solid.
Week 7 Reflection
I honestly don’t know what to say on this… every class, I am trying to squeeze out something for this essay. This is one of the discussions and, yes, you need to have 2 replies on 2 different days.
Week 8 Final Exam
Here is the prefilled study guide.
As the other quizzes and midterm, questions are pretty straight forward.
Overall, NR601 is much more relaxed compared to NR511. Start the Week 5 discussion as early as possible. I started on Week 1 and completed by the end of Week 3. It will make your life whole a lot easier.
Well, on to NR602! 3 more classes!!! I am done!!!
Oh by the way… I have decided not to practice as FNP. I am going to carry on to the next step toward PMHNP. I won’t be taking the board exam for FNP as I will not practice FNP though I technically can in CA. =]
SUPPORT SOL
You can support me by using below Amazon link when you purchase anything from Amazon. I have no clue who bought what. Just a couple of cents fee is paid to me by Amazon for directing you to Amazon site. Thanks for your support! =]
https://amzn.to/2XNHdgL
Sol 