It has all come down to now. The day you are to write your LPN licensing exam. The year’s hard work has lead up to this moment. You have spent countless hours reviewing medical terms, diseases, and nursing interventions. You are ready!

How do you study? Do you work best alone or in a group?

I found it easier to study on my own. I found I was able to learn at my own pace and concentrate on the areas I felt I needed more work in.

One thing I found to be very helpful was the LPN exam predictor test. Yes, it does cost you money but it is well worth it! Anything you can do to increase your chance of passing is worth it. Or else you may be paying to take the exam again and missing months of work where you could be making money.

The test gives you a couple hours, and I found it to be plenty of time. Make sure you have the time to yourself and that there are no distractions. For me, I had to make sure NO kids were around.

You want to get as much out of the exam as you can.

Once again, it is structured like the real deal!

I had one trick I used while taking the exam, but it is my secret You will have to comment if you want to know

Besides that, have a pad of paper with you and take down notes on important topics that were covered. This will give you areas to study.

I will never forget the one question that kept popping up on the exam….It was regarding patients who have dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) and how you would teach them to make swallowing easier. SO look that up.

I wrote my exam in May. So, if the times are still the same, best of luck to the upcoming writers.

Today happened to be the last day of my practicum in grade school. I was already feeling sad days ago counting down the end of my three week great learning experience. I will definitely miss the students as well as the staff there. They made my stay so wonderful. To thank them for their generous assistance, I made sure that my leave project would truly reflect how grateful I am for their effort.

I spent hours preparing my projects. We were supposed to do only one but I did two – one is publishing a story book and the other is the calendar board. The plan for publishing a story book was proposed by my practicum monitor. It was a great idea that I would like to do for students that I will be working with in the future. The reaction I got when I gave the book to the student was very touching. I think that in every opportunity, we, as education aide should find ways to make something special of the work that the student made to boost their self-esteem.

It reinforces them to do best in their field of interest. My goal for my second project is to teach the concept of the calendar – to show the students how to identify the name and number of the days and months. With it, the students will also identify what date comes before and after. I made it also possible for them to learn the abbreviation of the name of the months and date as preparation for their next learning level of using the calendar. My second project took most of my time. I almost gave up and thought of doing only one project but the school I worked with deserved much more. So even though I know the second project will certainly take double effort to create, I went ahead with it. When I presented both my leave projects to staff, it was met with praise and positive feedback. Lacking hours of sleep for two days were worth it.

I am off to my second part of practicum next week in a high school setting. I hope the odds of being fortunate again to having a great practicum experience is on my side.

Preparing for the licensing exam (practical nursing) was one of the most nerve wracking experiences of  my life. The length of it alone was enough to make any one sweat! It was comforting to know many of my classmates were writing in the same location….you know, for moral support!

Once you graduate it is easy to put all the work aside, because you just spent the last year working your butts off! But, I tell you it is much easier to continue with studying. If you take too much time off, it really is hard to get your mind in it again. If you make a point to do some reviewing often, your mind will stay fresh and have an easier time remembering things.

Of course, you do deserve some a break, so take time for that too

You achieved something great by making it through the program, because man, it was intense! I never thought my brain could retain SO much information, but it did! So pat yourselves on the back and go out with your classmates for a margarita….or two

The best things I used during studying were the exam prep guides. Yes, I said guides. I know the school provides you with one (the most current one I believe), but there are also other editions. I am not sure if they have made any more now, but at my time there was 3 editions. I was lucky enough to track down the other ones to use!

The exam questions are exactly like that! Next blog post I will talk more about my experience with the exam and share some other useful tips.

Since last week, I’ve felt light and happy. This is because our major exams are over. No more late nights of reviewing, no more stress. Working in Canadian Schools was our last module that has a final exam. But even before the end of the program, I felt that nothing could deter me. I think when you have gone through a lot of tests, nothing surprises you anymore. I guess I gained a lot of confidence in test taking.

So what will keep our class busy in the coming days? Well, we have at least two weeks that include Personal Care as well as Job Search Strategies courses. Aside from the training in Food Safe, Body Mechanics and Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS), we are going to take First Aid again. I said again, because we’ve had level 1 of CPR. Although it was explained that CPR is enough to meet the job requirement of a Special Education Assistant, our class had a consensus that it is vital for us to take the full First Aid training. I think it was a smart move for our class to advocate taking the full training, not just for job purposes but also for our personal benefit. I did not have first aid training before and I can see now how important it is to take this course.

The highly anticipated part of our program is the near approaching practicum. We will have three weeks each in elementary and high school setting. I can’t wait to apply the knowledge I have learned and at the same time, acquire enough practical skills that will gear me up to take the role of Special Education Assistant (SEA) in an actual work setting.

We are again in the midst of completing the three requirements for our current module – Working in Canadian Schools. Our first assignment we completed last week was a bit challenging. Two options were given to us. One, public speaking where our instructor will choose a specific topic after which, the speaker will write a reflection based on the feedback. Second, to write a journal from one of the five topics given. That was the first time we have done a journal during class that is graded. You could imagine our anxieties shooting up, even before the ‘big’ day.

Out of 11 students, two brave classmates of mine preferred public speaking. I was not surprised to find these two gals facing the challenge. I always regarded them as one of the most confident, smart and outspoken people we had in the class.

I remembered how I used to enjoy public speaking when I was in high school and college. However, at that moment, I just didn’t feel comfortable speaking. In short, I chickened out. Actually, there was nothing to be afraid of as the topics are nothing new to us. We have covered it in great deal. I guess the time constraint got the better of us. There was of course no intent from our instructor to make our life difficult at that time. I am aware that whether we work alone or with large numbers of people, eventually we will need to speak in public to get certain tasks accomplished. The task of public speaking is a practice for all of us.

So, I opted to be on the safe side – write a journal. As much as I have countless practice writing journals, it was tough gathering my thoughts. I have all these ideas flowing in my mind but find it difficult to focus on a certain point so that I could begin my writing. I was tied to this idea that it should be concise and at the same time, it needs to be expanded. To come up with one and a half to two pages was pressure. And more pressure when one of my classmates chose me to give her the feedback. It’s not that I didn’t want to do the part but I felt the usual ‘I like the way you present or I thought you’re confident when you deliver…’ would not be sufficient at that time. My concern was that I would not be able to come up with highly thought-out feedback. I felt the responsibility of giving a proper basis for the speaker’s journal.

I had to laugh at myself after the moment my name was about to be called because I kept thinking, ‘not me, not me, please’. Didn’t I learn enough about the law of attraction? The more you keep thinking about it, the more it will come your way. And there you go, I was chosen. But luck was still on my side, my classmate changed her mind. At last, I was free and was able to concentrate on writing my journal.

Our communication and diversity module might be the shortest part of the course but the length of what our minds have traveled is far from brief. From learning how active listening contributes to effective communication, we covered how various cultures influenced us.

This module by the way is the first that we didn’t have a final exam. As you could imagine, we were all ecstatic. I guess everyone’s prayer had been heard. But we were not of course left with nothing to do at the end. The last 2 days were spent on our cultural diversity presentations.

As other programs may be, our class consists mostly of students with multicultural backgrounds. It was very enlightening to learn about the countries where each of us originated, the practices and customs that molded us and especially the people that made an impact to our lives. As everyone might have experienced, I didn’t know that there so much I need to learn about my own culture.

Shared verbally or with visuals, I found myself captivated how my classmates described the places where they came from. I can almost see myself visiting those places and even other parts of my country someday. It was also fun and interesting to know about the usual and unusual things that go with our culture from food to practices. We had a yummy potluck during our presentations. So, we had the chance to sample some of the authentic foods from different countries. And how can I discount learning about ancestry and family histories of my classmates. I know that members of my families both from my parents’ side have grown during the past years. This presentation reminded me to reconnect with them. Stories how one’s ancestor lived during the war or how people in their families instilled positive upbringing from one generation to generation was just inspiring.

It was such a wonderful discovery for me gaining knowledge not only about other cultures but most especially mine.

Times flies so fast when you are so immersed with everything that is going on in your life. And my studies make up the most part of my busyness. It seems like only yesterday we have started our Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) module and now we are geared to take the final exam.

I found our AAC course very engaging. Not only were we set to learn how people with disabilities use different methods to replace or support their communication needs, but also discovered how we can as a Special Education Assistant, implement an effective communication process. One significant point I learned is that we should be 100% responsible for what we convey to others, whether it is an intentional or unplanned message. And in working with special needs, we have to double our efforts for being mindful and respectful of what we communicate.

Our AAC course started with having the class do research about various AAC devices. I was glad that I resorted to field research which was ardently suggested by our instructor rather than researching online. I wouldn’t  have had the chance to experience seeing an actual AAC tool, viewing how it is operated and most importantly, talked to the person who has thorough experience using such resources in their program. Through face-to-face interview and direct observation, I gained a lot of knowledge about communication devices and our subject as a whole. And on top of it, I did acquire various creative ideas that would be useful not only for our case study but also in our future job.

We created social stories, comic strips and communication boards for our case study. It seems easy to do in the beginning but we later realized that it was not. Creating it with specific scenarios in mind required thorough thinking to accomplish our goal. It was also challenging not to do the project as per our preference. It was good we were able to keep our focus intact and that is to put together an AAC aide according to our client’s needs. Thanks to our partners, our work was completed less dauntingly and much faster. Aside from getting additional ideas, someone is there to remind you to concentrate on the purpose of the task. The most enjoyable part in our case study was showing our creativeness. It was actually amazing to see that each group had presented unique material which gave the class more concepts in making such communication devices. As always, our hard efforts were rewarded by well-deserved recognition by our instructor. Our case study was also affirmed by Jandy Sertic, one of the Program Advisors (she was in our class during the later part of our presentation) as ‘remarkable’. We, of course, are all smiles for the compliments received that day. It was indeed a remarkable day for all of us!

You must have hard the saying that time is relative – and perhaps the theory of time going faster the older you get holds true in my case. It certainly seems like it’s only been a couple of months since we all started on our journey as neophyte Nursing Unit Clerks – yet here we are almost seven months later, ready to start our final module before practicum.

Everyone passed our surgical order transcription course – yeh for us – we’ve certainly come a long way. Being a bit strange in taking comfort from odd things, I’m a little emotional over having our final abbreviations and definitions for our final module; diagnostic order transcription. It has become so much part of my life to sit down and spend an evening writing out flash cards (just so I can sit up in bed at night memorizing them and teaching them to my husband). It will be strange not doing this again and I’ll miss it (though somehow I don’t think my husband shares this sentiment – I can’t imagine why).

Out of curiosity I put my flash cards on top of each other to see how high they would stack – it is well over two feet high! I take great pride in the fact that at one point or another, I knew what was on each card – not that I know them all now – let’s be serious, no one is that good – but it’s still impressive to see them and to acknowledge that I did that – I learned all that!

I’m wondering if there would be a market for flash cards that are in good condition, already completed by subject, but in truth I’m not ready to part with mine. They are a reminder to me of all my hard work and accomplishments during this time as a student and you know what – there may just be some time in the future when I might need them – you never know! (Aaarh – just got a vision of me in my dotage sitting up in bed going through flash cards and trying to read them to my husband whose snoring beside me while his teeth are smiling at me from the glass on the bedside table….)

What to write…what to write….well, we had our big exam last Friday, so there’s a huge collective sigh of relief from everyone. Of course, now we have to wait to get our results – we know we all passed our theory portion – but it’s the PO section that we all stress over. There are so many emotions tied to taking a test – the angst and anxiety before. You don’t know what will be on the test and wonder if you’ve studied hard enough. The trepidation the day of the test as you wait – your stomach lurching up into your chest as you wait to turn over the page – then that is followed by a sense of relief as it actually is testing on stuff you remember!

Or… that dreadful feeling when you read the question, or see the PO and at first glance can’t figure much of it out…..but following the advice that has been given before, you take it one step at a time and before you know it – you’ve almost finished. That is followed at the end of the exam by the inevitable post mortem of people wanting to go over what was on the test and what did you do.

I don’t like post mortems – while they may be productive in the physical world, in the world of the exam I don’t see their value. Since you’re not getting your results right away and there’s nothing that you can do at that particular point in time to change anything that you’ve done, I don’t see the point in hashing over something that you may or may not have got correct on the test. All this does is fuel feelings of inadequacy and self doubt. Where’s the trust? Believe in yourself – if you did your absolute best, then give yourself a little credit. Why put yourself through the mill again – think positive and look forward to getting that great mark next week. So – no post mortems for me thanks – I’m happy to leave that to Horatio.

This is a bit mushy and I make no excuses – OK, I do give the excuse of maybe OD’ing a little on the cough medicine as I seem to have picked up a cold from somewhere – which got me to thinking how generous little viruses are – they happily go along and share themselves with anyone. It’s good to share. And then another thought popped into my head – how in our class people share of themselves.

Working through some of the material that we are given to study can be daunting to say the least. Nobody learns the same way or at the same pace – but what makes me feel so fortunate is the support everyone in our class gives to one another both during class and after class. I’m not talking grand gestures, just the small things – a phone call, someone listening and sharing thoughts, someone explaining from their perspective. We have a little study group after school and today was fun – we all got something out of it. We have a number of those ‘tick lists’ to put to memory and were having some difficulty with them – so we tried doing something a bit different – today we took turns in adding movement to what we were memorizing and you know – it worked. Taking a dry topic and turning it into a physical thing made the difference and got the other parts of our brains working. Now I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see what we can come up with next.

There is another way to support each other in class, just by showing respect through listening and caring through supporting. A supportive gesture, a phrase or offer of a solution, it all helps! So NUC (Nursing Unit Clerk) 0809’s take a bow and a pat on the back – the work is hard and I think we all do a great job of helping and supporting each other. (….awww love ya man!)

Okay the mushiness is now over……

We are having our exam on Friday, which happens to be Candy Gram day! I hope everyone gets lots of candy – remember to wear pink to support breast cancer donations! We’re also having a potluck to celebrate the end of the module for SOT’s (I really can’t believe we are that point already)…..just four more weeks to practicum….