Saddleback students - a few questions about your program...

They really do have supportive & encouraging instructors

Congrats again & you'll do just fine....the first 3 weeks of skills lab can be tough but be patient...going into the hospital is fun!!!

Good luck

Ok..........back to my studying!!!

Hey everyone! For some reason I stopped getting the email alerts about this thread so I thought it had died again....it was a nice surprise to see all your new posts! Thank you SO much for sharing all the helpful info (and also the encouragment, AAnderson- it was much appreciated ). You guys are getting me way too excited about Saddleback's program- it's really nice to hear that the faculty is supportive and focused on creating great nurses, not just pumping a bunch of people through the program. Now I'm going to be totally bummed if I don't get in!

AAnderson, if you don't mind sharing, how much are you planning to work during the program? I'd like to work too but I don't want to compromise my grades/sanity.

Soon2BNurse3, before starting the program had you finished every possible nursing curriculum course that they allow you to take in advance (like pharmacology, the two lifecycle classes, psychology, etc.)? All I have left are the two lifecycles classes but I just found out that you can't take them anywhere but Saddleback. Unfortunately I live 8 hours away so it's just not going to happen. Will I go totally insane if I take these first semester with the nursing core?

Thanks so much you guys and good luck!

Since I also didn't get in right away, I was able to get all those classes done before starting the nursing program. You should definitely try to do pharm before 1st semester.....you get a lot thrown at you in 1st & it's just added pressure to do pharm on top of everything else. Trust me, take pharm & make it easier on yourself!! It's ok if you don't take it the semester before you get in.....you end up re-learning the meds as you go along anyway. Gero is easy enough to take during the semester and the Growth & Dev. class should be easy enough to squeeze in also but you need that before you go into 3rd semester.

You can of course take pharm & gero in 1st sem......a lot of students do it....it's just easier to get it out of the way before

Cool, thanks Soon2BNurse3! Luckily, I took pharm a few semesters ago so I won't have to worry about it (man, I'm happy that class is over!). Glad to hear the rest is pretty manageable. I appreciate all the help!

I'm planning on working about 15-16 hours/week, maybe more, maybe less. I'm an office manager & my job isn't really that stressful. I can study at work if I need to, but it's not ideal, because I do get a lot of interruptions.

Next summer, depending on the economy, I'm planning on trying to get a second job or at least volunteer at one of the local hospitals, just to get extra experience (and to start networking.)

Soon2Be: What hospitals were you at for your first semester? I'll be at Western Med & College (for my mental health rotation.)

I'm really excited about starting the program, but at the same time, I have massive anxiety about it!

I was at Orange Coast & College for 1st semester. I know people that were at Western Med & had good experiences. College Hospital is fun . I loved mental health.

Just curious, what are the typical clinical hours and what hospitals do you go guys go to? Saddleback is my top choice but I'm still in the prereq stage.

Hmmm....well things have changed a bit. I don't think we go to UCI anymore and I think Kaiser is now on the list. There's Orange Coast, Western Med, Hoag, Saddleback, Mission, CHOC, Millers, Fountain Valley, Kaiser....maybe more. You can go to the class schedules on the school website & they should be there (under Nursing).

Clinical hours vary depending on the semester. We always start about 0630. 1st semester clinicals end at 1500 or 1600 I believe but they have 2 clinical days. 2nd semester is there until 1900 & only have one clinical day. 3rd semester (peds) clinical ends at 1915 & I don't know about L&D or 4th semester but I imagine it's probably the same.....12 hour days.

Hope that helps

AAnderson, thanks for the info! I know it's impossible not to be nervous about starting, but from what you've shared about your background I bet you'll have a bit of a head start compared to many people in your class. I'm sure you will do great!

Yikes, 12 hour clincials must be exhausting...