TN nashville-area educated RN's

NurseDennie, BSN, RN · Jun 17, 2002

Hi SpecFuz -

When I was thinking about going to nursing school, I asked around. There are a lot of good nursing schools in Nashville! I asked some docs I knew what nurses they prefer to work with and they would hire. Most of them liked Aquinas grads.

It's a good school - they are very small, relatively expensive, but very, very supportive. They have the ADN and the RN-BSN bridge.

Belmont is also a very good school, and the nurses I've worked with from Belmont were VERY well prepared. Also expensive.

Love

Dennie

SpecFuz · Jun 17, 2002

Thanks Dennie! I actually had heard Aquinas was great and had called them. Because it's very expensive though, I asked if they could recommend any ADN programs and they had suggested I look into Columbia State C.C. on the Franklin campus. I was just curious if there were any other 'affordable' ADN programs around there b/c I heard Columbia State is very competitive in getting in.

Thanks again!

ChemoRN · Jun 17, 2002

SpecFuz:

I have heard great things about the Columbia State C.C. in Franklin. Work with some RN's who graduated from there and they are awesome.

Vol State C.C and TSU have a joint venture ADN program that is not very expensive. The school is pretty disorganized, but they put out great nurses. Plan to do as much at Vol State as you can and it's not so bad.

Western Kentucky has a good program also. It's in Bowling Green, about 45 minutes north of Nashville. Most of their clinicals used to be done in Nashville - that may have changed.

Good luck!

angelac1978 · Jun 17, 2002

cause thats where I go to school! Western Ky does have a good program, they have a ADN program and also a BSN program (also an RN-BSN program) students in western's program do their clinicals at the Medical Center here in Bowling Green, they do not have to commute to nashville. Instate tuition for WKU for the BSN is about $1400 per semester. The ADN program is offered through the BG Community College (which is under the umbrella of WKU) and I think the tuition for the ADN is around $1200 or $1300 per semester. These figures do not include books, housing, or any supplies. They do include all of the junk fees that the university charges. You can check out both of the programs at http://www.wku.edu. One thing I can say is that they are pretty selective and the cutoff for the ADN program usually falls around 3.0 for GPA. They also take other factors in consideration however. The Med Center's parent company has just given the ADN program more funding so, if they can find a few more profs, the ADN program is supposed to have a daytime and nighttime option. Another good thing about the ADN is you can apply for spring or fall admission. There is also an LPN entry option. If you couldn't tell, the ADN is the way that I am going to go. If you would like more info about the programs or about WKU and Bowling Green, you can pm me or email me ([email protected]) and I will try to get you the info you want!

SpecFuz · Jun 17, 2002

I'm going to look up all these programs - Thanks! I had heard that TSU was affordable but wasn't sure what their pass rates were or if it was a strong program. I appreciate all of your input. :) Will keep you posted on what happens...

eltrip · Jun 17, 2002

I graduated froom TSU with a BSN. Knowledge of theory was strong upon graduation. Clinical skills weren't as strongly emphasized. The attitude at the time was, "You'll get it in your first year of practice." I did, but I was sure scared! They've been making changes to the programs at TSU. Last I heard, they were assisting nursing students in sitting the LPN boards after the first semester of nursing courses. That in itself could help alleviate the deficit in clinical skills that my class suffered with.

The Aquinas grads with whom I was privileged to work at Vanderbilt were very good. They had more than a clue about what they were doing.

In any case, if it is possible to work in a hospital while you are in nursing school, DO IT! It'll help put the pieces of the puzzle together for you!

all the best,

Joy

SpecFuz · Jun 17, 2002

I just wanted to let you all know that I was able to find out the pass rates. Thought it might be interesting to see what I found out...

TSU: 99' = 92.3% pass rate, 00' = 62.5% pass rate, 01' = 72.7% pass rate

Aquinas: 99' = 91%, 00' = 86.5%, 01' = 80%

I was surprised to find out that Univ. of Memphis has had:

99' = 95.8%, 00' = 91.7%, 01' = 97%

I received all these percentages from the TN state board of Nursing and they informed me that when I program drops under 85% it is sent a letter and a sort-of 'warning' or 'probation'. I also saw that Austin Peay had good pass rates.