Getting Ready for Your First Week of Sophomore Year

Make sure to buy you Physical Assessment textbook AND workbook early

If this year’s syllabus is the same as last year, before your first day of class you will need to read chapters 1-3, 5, 7, & 15 (only pages 474-478) of Mosby’s Guide to Physical Examination and complete the worksheets 1 & 2 in your student workbook to accompany Mosby’s Guide to Physical Examination (please double check your syllabus).

The first day of lecture you will have a quiz due on Black Board. This means that you should have completed it, at the very latest, the day before lecture in order to avoid testing in the “Red Zone” (see your syllabus for details). My syllabus from last year shows that quizzes should be available one week before the due date, so, if you can, complete them before you arrive on campus.

The first day of class you will hand in your two worksheets stapled and in a folder marked with your name, your nursing mail box number, and your NURS 210 section number. If you order your books through the bookstore, be sure to double check that they give you both the textbook and the workbook. The workbook somehow wasn’t included in my order last year, making for a very stressful first day of class.

Another suggestion I have is buy Mosby's Physical Examination Handbook, 7e [Paperback]. I found it very useful to keep it in my lab coat pocket and refer to it during class or during the week when I studied for my “check-offs.” I also used it when I was studying for and writing my script for my clinical final.

Get a Planner

This is probably a very obvious suggestion, but it is, nevertheless, necessary for me to point out. Before you even come to class I strongly encourage you to read your syllabus and write down ALL of the due dates in your planner so that you have a quick reference for all of your classes. Invest in a planner with enough space for you to write down the details. (I found a cute and inexpensive planner at Wal-Mart last year that held up well and helped me stay organized). The key to success often involves organization. Nobody wants to be cared for by a nurse who haphazardly organizes her patients’ care. Learn organizational skills now, and do yourself and your patients a favor.