UA Fort Smith??

Tippy-ta-ta · Sep 22, 2008

I live near there and i was considering going there for my RN but I had heard it was a very tough curriculum. Extremley stressful and that the instructors go out of there way to make it tough on you. I don't know how true it is, I never went there, but Ihad nmore than a few people tell me how bad it was when they went there. I will probably be going to indian Capital Vo-tec they have an 11 month LPN program.

best of luck to ya.

licoricelover · Sep 22, 2008

Hello all,

Just a comment on UA Fort Smith, I have my degree from there. It was a good school. It was hard, the reputation was the same when I went 7 years ago! It was hard but doable. My only complaint is that you don't get enough clinic time, as book smarts are what they push. ( high grad %) But you learn about bedside nursing on the floor. I learned a great deal with my first hospital job .... now I work in manhattan NY and feel like I got a great foundation from UAFS. :nurse:

cancergirl24 · Sep 23, 2008

Hello all,
Just a comment on UA Fort Smith, I have my degree from there. It was a good school. It was hard, the reputation was the same when I went 7 years ago! It was hard but doable. My only complaint is that you don't get enough clinic time, as book smarts are what they push. ( high grad %) But you learn about bedside nursing on the floor. I learned a great deal with my first hospital job .... now I work in manhattan NY and feel like I got a great foundation from UAFS.

Hey there licoricelover,would you mind telling me what about it was tough? :no: Did you get your ADN or LPN there? What was the school schedule like and what was were your fellow students like? I have so many questions! Dont we have to have a certain amount of clinic time? And don't we need to get checked off on duties? How do the students learn those things if they don't get enough clinic time? :confused: On a different note how did you end up in N.Y and do you LOVE it?:heartbeatSorry for all the questions I just have my "interview" with Lori Jones next week and I'm a little nervous for the whole thing. We don't even find out if were accepted til the end of next month!? I dont think I can wait that long:nurse:

cancergirl24 · Sep 23, 2008

I live near there and i was considering going there for my RN but I had heard it was a very tough curriculum. Extremley stressful and that the instructors go out of there way to make it tough on you. I don't know how true it is, I never went there, but Ihad nmore than a few people tell me how bad it was when they went there. I will probably be going to indian Capital Vo-tec they have an 11 month LPN program.
best of luck to ya.

Ginza, do you know if those people that told you about the tough curriculum were going for their ADN or LPN?:heartbeat, Kristen

licoricelover · Sep 23, 2008

Hello again,

To be honest , it is hard to quantify how hard something will be, so much depends on how you are as a student. I like to study alone, and spent the better part of those two years getting my RN boring a hole in the couch surrounded by books :) The most stressful part was how the testing was done, at the time ( don't know if it has changed) you had to pass each test with a certain % and if you failed you got one retest and then if you didn't pass that one you were out ...that feels like a lot of pressure for EVERY test! I never failed one, though always felt the pressure going into the class room. I did n't feel the material was to tough, but challenging. UAFS teaches you how to test, in nursing it is critical thinking skills that are most important and that is how you are tested for your boards. So I believe that is why they do well as a whole for the classes passing their boards. I was going through a divorce when I was going to school, and had another classmate who had to repeat because she was hospitalized. Come to think of it , just about everyone had a " story" Our class started out with like 30 , and after each semester we lost a few, I think we graduated with 20? I would say if it is something you think you would enjoy as a career go for it.... you will always have a job! and you can take it ANYWHERE .... even NYC :) Being a nurse is hard, and rewarding.

Oh and about clinic time, yes you have clinic time, but at the bedside is where you will learn the most, and that usually happens after graduation, because in school the amount of hour at the bedside is pitiful! ( I was not an LPN first and thus had no hospital experience.... dealing with pt's, starting IV's working with doc's, learing assessment skills ect. During school there is just not enough time.

Oh and I love NYC, even though it is busier than FS. But the world is an open book for you now.... you can go any where ............... Good luck!

Tippy-ta-ta · Sep 23, 2008

Ginza, do you know if those people that told you about the tough curriculum were going for their ADN or LPN?:heartbeat, Kristen

I belive that most of them went for there RN. a few did there LPN there too.

tk3100 · Sep 23, 2008

I did both the LPN and ADN programs there. Yes, the curriculum is tough. The pass rate is high for nclex as compared to other schools statewide. I don't really know the instructors there now, as I finished my ADN in 1997. I can say that I got much more clinical time in my LPN program, but I think that is commonplace. Probably 90% of clinical practice is learned after graduation at the bedside, but I felt that I had a good foundation to build on. I would definately reccomend those programs. I started the online BSN there, but transferred to Oklahoma Wesleyan University because it was the first year for UAFS to offer the program and the bugs weren't quite worked out yet. Best of luck in whatever you choose!

cancergirl24 · Sep 24, 2008

I did both the LPN and ADN programs there. Yes, the curriculum is tough. The pass rate is high for nclex as compared to other schools statewide. I don't really know the instructors there now, as I finished my ADN in 1997. I can say that I got much more clinical time in my LPN program, but I think that is commonplace. Probably 90% of clinical practice is learned after graduation at the bedside, but I felt that I had a good foundation to build on. I would definately reccomend those programs. I started the online BSN there, but transferred to Oklahoma Wesleyan University because it was the first year for UAFS to offer the program and the bugs weren't quite worked out yet. Best of luck in whatever you choose!

Hey there, could you explain why the curriculum is tough? Isn't it the same anywhere you go? :confused: And also, how long did it take you to get your ADN after you went back? Thank you for your reply:nurse:

tk3100 · Sep 24, 2008

Well, you would think that curriculum would be the same wherever, but I am told by a couple of people I know that started at UAFS and went to another school afterward that they found a difference. One was in the LPN program and failed a test then went to the LPN school at Ozark. The other left the RN program (not sure if she failed a test or what) so ended up at Carl Albert State College in Poteau, OK. I can say that I believe that some of the instructors were unreasonable in their expectations. That was primarily in the ADN program. I personally cannot say that it is more difficult than any other, as I have not attended any other LPN or ADN programs. As far as the length of time it took to get the ADN after LPN, I did 2 semesters full time for prereqs, one summer for the bridge program, then 2 semesters of the ADN program. Essentially, my LPN certificate replaced semesters 1 and 2 of the ADN.