Discussions

Hi !  
I just into the second year Psych nursing program at Brandon University just wondering what to expect. Any student out there willing to share their experience and advice to a rookie/ newbie going into the program? Thank you and looking forward to hearing from you.

Hi there!  
 
I am currently a 3rd year psych student! Overall I found 2nd year interesting. It has a heavier focus on the medical side of things (physical health assessments, how to perform certain clinical skills like wound dressings etc).  
 
1st semester was kind of intense because they cram a lot of info in 10 weeks! For example, we had to know 4-5 chapters a week for the physical health assessment course. I know a lot of people sort of crammed for exams and ended up doing fine in the courses. If you're really worried about passing, I recommend studying 1-2 hours everyday (more if a midterm/final is coming up) and you'll pass easily! Spend your time wisely during lab and make sure you understand the many steps for a procedure to help you remember them.  
 
The program has a heavy emphasis on critical thinking, and I found that practicing nursing type questions online (or from the end of chapter questions in the textbook) helped me develop this skill! Try to really understand what you're learning as well, and avoid straight up regurgitating info. If you're a visual learner, Khan Acadamy and Youtube have many videos to look at!  
 
There aren't many essays in 2nd year (the only course with a lot of writing was the Individual Counseling course in 2nd semester).  
 
2nd semester was definitely more intense as I found the course material harder. In our Med-Surg class we had to know approx 3-6 chapters a week (sometimes less, sometimes more) from that massive 10 pound textbook! Once again, just try to understand why you do a particular nursing intervention and what the symptoms are for each medical condition and you'll be fine! I did spend a bit more time studying this semester than the 1st semester.  
 
Integrated Practicum I and II were mostly at a long term care home (although one group went to CGP in IP2)

Thank you for responding ! I knew the course load was going to be heavy but it is good to know what to look forward to. What about the maths aspect of dosage calculation ? was it hard to pass? I am not very good with doing maths without a calculator

Honestly, looking back I thought Year 2 wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be. Sure there were times I was extremely stressed from all these tests/assignments/lab exams but overall I didn't have a very difficult time throughout the year.  
 
The final exam for Fundamentals 3 is comprised of a math portion. You must get a 90% or above on the math portion in order to pass the course. If you fail the math part of the final you only get one more chance to write it to pass the course. The math was a lot easier than the math you do in statistics, because the math required for nursing is basic math (and really easy equations). Last year we used a Dosage Calculations book (Had a black + blue cover) and I thought that book was very helpful to learn how to do the calculations.

Also, the psychiatric nursing department was trying to arrange a sort of mentor program this year where the Year 3 + 4's can sign up to 'buddy up' with a Year 2 student. I really hope that something like that actually happens because it would be very helpful