Sac State Fall 2013 Applicants

U.S.A. California

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Hello Everyone,

I am about to send in my application to CSU Sacramento for Fall 13 and was wondering if there are any other people in the same predicament. Would love love to hear your experiences as well.

Thanks michelle. I guess i did send one :) YAy.

Specializes in Neonatal, NICU level IV.

Hey everyone... I am graduating from SacState's nursing program this May and I am willing to answer any questions you might have about the program or admissions. I help with pre-nursing advising so if I am unable to answer something I can find out for you. Good luck to you all! I remember how anxious I was when I was first applying. :dead: Stay positive.! :cheeky:

Thanks, VintageSwagger,

How did it go for your cohort finding jobs? Did people have better luck locally (staying in Sac) than those who went to other areas?

I'm also curious how your clinicals went in the program: pretty smoothly?

It's so nice of your to offer help.

Specializes in Neonatal, NICU level IV.

Those that graduated last spring generally have jobs and most of them are within the state. Some went to other states for various reasons but most stayed.

Last semester (fall 2012 graduates) I personally know of 14 who have jobs out of the 80 who graduated. Now, take that with a grain of salt; I don't know everyone. All but 1 that I know of are working in Sacramento or the Bay area.

My semester (those graduating in 51 days :D) is just now starting to apply for jobs but without a license, it is difficult. Some of us have job prospects because of people we know or based on our preceptorship experience, but nothing is for sure.

Keep in mind that you all will be starting in the fall and graduating 2 years later. The market will be better for you. I know many nurses who are retiring in the next few years. Also there is projected to be a nursing shortage of 800,000 nurses by 2020.

Hope this helps! :nurse:

VintageSwagger- I really hope your right about job prospects being better in a few years. I keep hearing about all the horror stories of new grads not being able to get jobs.

I have a few questions I could ask since your offering lol.

What do you think about working during the program?

How stressful was the program for you?

How are the clinicals? What type of clinicals do you do in the first semester?

I'm also curious about pricing. Not counting tuition how much was the start up cost for your first semester? E.g. Parking permit, scrubs, insurance, books, stethoscope etc

Hi Nurseinthemaking20. I am first semester and I don't know of anyone who is working. I know a bunch of people quit their jobs right before the semester started but if you enjoy an occasional night's rest I wouldn't advise it.

As far as clinicals this semester, I LOVE them. It's crazy how excited I get to take out a catheter or even just flush an NG tube. It's the clinical write up that I HATE! Starting in week 4 of the semester you get to work at whatever hospital your clinical group is assigned to. For my group, we shadowed a nurse either once or twice and then we got our own patient and we are able to do anything that is within our scope of practice at that particular time (which changes weekly according to what you have signed off doing in N15/N16)

Start-up costs are a whole other subject. After talking to a few others in my cohort, average start-up after everything (not including tuition) is about $2500-$3000. It's much cheaper in successive semesters.

Hope this helps!

Specializes in Neonatal, NICU level IV.

Nurseinthemaking20:

What do you think about working during the program?

- It really depends on the person. With that said, I don't recommend it for most since the program is very demanding on your time and they are not very flexible. It is highly discouraged by the faculty as well. There have been some that have worked (

How stressful was the program for you?

- To be honest, it is pretty stressful. Everyone cries at least one point or another. Some points are more difficult than others but usually the stress comes around test times and when multiple things are due at the same time. What you have to understand is that the program is nothing like the classes you are taking now. You will practically live on campus and in the hospital for most of the time. As with anything it has its ups and downs. I suggest having a good support system and making QUALITY friends in the program because they are going to be the only ones who truly understand what you are going through.

How are the clinicals? What type of clinicals do you do in the first semester?

- Clinicals are a lot of fun and it is where the learning comes to life. It is difficult for some at first if they are shy or timid but almost everyone says that clinical is their favorite part. The paperwork that goes along with clinical (write-ups) is extensive and time consuming. In the first semester, clinical is on a medical/surgical floor and what that means is that the patients are pretty stable and the nurse to patient ratio is 3:1 or 4:1. You will give oral medications, preform assessments, do bed baths, change linens, NG tubes, Catheters, and give shots. Many of these things will be done with your professor for your first time so they can check off that skill for you. Some of the skills you will not have the opportunity to do but that is just dependent on which patients you have and/or the hospital you are at.

I'm also curious about pricing. Not counting tuition how much was the start up cost for your first semester? E.g. Parking permit, scrubs, insurance, books, stethoscope etc

- Parking permit: $ 179

- Scrubs: $ 300 (lab coat, 2 tops, and 2 bottoms)

- Insurance $ not sure what you mean (care ins. and health ins. vary widely)

- Books: $ 800ish (they come in a bundle now)

- Stethoscope: $ 100-150

- Background check $100

- ATI Books $100

Hope this helps….

Specializes in Neonatal, NICU level IV.

scwolf:

- Sorry I forgot to answer your question about my clinical experience.... I had an wonderful time in clinical and most of mine went very smoothly. The professors I had were knowledgeable, helpful, and encouraging. I know of some people that had a few rough patches but nothing to be overly concerned about. You really need to understand how each clinical professor thinks and what they expect. They are all different and have different expectations. Ask questions to clarify things you don't understand and have a humble attitude. They are all pretty intolerant of arrogance. Some aspects of clinical are harder than others and you will have to respond to them as they come. beyond the skill you need to learn there is an emotional aspect that you must be ready for. When you see your first patient die or become more critically ill, it is going to affect you. I saw many different situations in the hospital and some affected me more than others. One instance I needed to leave the floor and cry for a min. Then I collected myself and returned to work. This job is not rainbows and unicorns, it takes a toll on you some days but more often than not it is truly rewarding and I can't think of anything I would rather do.

Thanks so much for your feedback jb1979 and VintageSwagger, it is very helpful to hear from actual students.

Could you provide some information about housing and where most students choose to live? I'm not from the Sacramento area, do most students live close to the campus or do they choose to live in surrounding areas that are further away like Rocklin, Folsom, etc? Is it realistic to commute say 12-15 miles one way or is there too much traffic?

EliotPB- sac is a commuter school. I would say that more than half our class commutes at least 20-30 minutes and live in every direction from school. Some students commute is an hour or more. I personally haven't found there to be much traffic because we are usually starting class and clinical fairly early. My commute is 30 min, the longest it's taken was 45 and that was for a 9 am class one time. However I do have to leave at 5:35 am in order to get to clinical on time, so that's something to consider.

VintageSwagger and jb1979,

Yes, thank you both! I'm impressed with your generosity, taking the time to help us 'upstarts.' It makes a HUGE difference!

I have applied to about six schools. The more I hear about Sac State, though, the more it makes me want to go there.

Take care.

I wanted to say thank you to both of you also. You answered all of my questions with very detailed answers. How incredibly nice of you guys to give your time to us even though I'm sure you guys are very busy! There's a reason why you guys are going to be nurses!

Start up costs are so intimidating. Geesh. And not having an income will be so weird for me.

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