Needles and a Pen » Knitting, Sewing, and Nursing School

Masthead header
Needles and a Pen bio picture
  • Welcome to my blog!

    Hi! I'm Traci. I'm a Registered Nurse who loves quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and the great outdoors. In my pre-scrubs life, I owned Real Photography, and you can still see my old wedding and portrait photography site here .

    I've created a map that shows links to our camping/hiking/general family fun review posts that you can find here. It's pretty much the coolest thing on this site. Thanks, Google!

    I great big puffy heart *love* comments, so please let me know you visited! I try to always reply!

Category Archives: nursing school

Tips for counting newborn heart rates

When I started as a CNA in postpartum/the transition nursery, I was absolutely horrified by the difficult time I had getting an accurate newborn heart rate.  CNA school prepares you for adult heart sounds, not the twice-as-fast rates you’ll hear on a newborn!  I had absolutely no confidence in the numbers I was getting and […]

View full post »

Anatomy & Physiology Course Tips

If you are a pre-nursing or pre-med student you’re going to hear a lot of horror stories about how A&P is the worst hardest thing ever.  And they’re a lot true.  But if I can get an A in A&P, anyone can!  Here are the things that really helped me ace Anatomy & Physiology and […]

View full post »

TEAS Test Thoughts

The last ‘to do’ list item for my nursing school application was the TEAS Test.  At my school your score is not a factor as long as you ‘pass’ the test with a score above the national average (which hovers around 65%).  Given that a score of 67% and 97% would have the same impact […]

View full post »

Emotionally Surviving Anatomy & Physiology

(warning: cadaver image in this post is likely not work or child friendly) About 30 minutes into Anatomy & Physiology 1 I texted my doctor sister-in-law, “Does this ever get less gross?” and instead of the reassuring “of course!” response I was expecting, she asked “What do you think is gross?” This.  This was what […]

View full post »

ACCUPLACER Biology Placement Test Tips

As I looked at the daunting list of nursing school prereqs four years ago, I discovered that while a basic college biology course was needed to get into Anatomy & Physiology and Microbiology, it wasn’t actually required by the nursing program itself.  Eager to cut out a course and its related expenses, I looked into […]

View full post »