HPU

simonsmom · Jul 19, 2011

I am not sure if you got accpeted into the HPU nursing program or the pre-nursing program. Re-read your letter to verify or contact the admissions office. I currently am a nursing student in the nursing program going on Level 2. FYI- administration is WORTHLESS, they change things all the time and you just have to accept it. If you try to complain or say anything about it they shut you down. Many of us moved here for school ( I did from CA since it is impacted all over the state) and I am screwed here. There are five levels that you have to do in order to be done with the nursing program, that is the program itself NOT the pre-reqs. I had a Bachelor's before I applied and had been taking pre-reqs in CA because I wanted to apply to CA schools but was waitlisted like crazy over there. So I chose this school becasue I got accepted right away pretty much. BIG mistake! Now that I am stuck here on this rock I am having a hard time paying for everything because they promised me all this fin aid and did not come through. I am already in the program and want to just finish it and be out. If you get in you will take 8 classes during your first level and you will need to pass with a 2.75 in all classes in order to move on to the next level. They do the worst registration process ever and then say it is becasue they have to firm up the clinicals. Also, a lot of professors are going on leave or doing some other stuff so we are getting screwed on that end currently, they are going through accrediation to get PhD status and so they are screwing us over again with GPA stuff. Just one punch after another and I know by the time I am done it will not end. Oh BTW be prepared to shell out $13K a year just on tution and then books are a whole other thing with clinical stuff to boot. Also, Hawaii is a heck of a lot more than where you are from and you will find sticker shock like crazy here. Also, they are racist here don't let them say different so try to stick to the places in town or Kailua becasue they don't really like "outsiders" to live here, just visit and spend money and go on back to the mainland. Good luck, I would seriously wait if what I knew now I knew then.

TNTD2011 · Jul 31, 2011

Thank you all for the information. It doesn't sound like something that I would want to do. I really appreciate the feedback!

StephanieF · Aug 20, 2011

i just got accepted to the nursing program to start this fall i was also a transfer student. i only had to take two semesters before i applied. that was because i did not have my entire prerequisite done. yes it helps to have more credits through them but it's not the number one factor. they look at your overall gpa that has to be at least 2.5 or higher, you're gpa in your science courses, and the teas test. learn from me and don't go by hear say call a nursing advisor and tell them about your situation and see what possible opportunities you have. ask for [color=#343434]wendy agrusa she has helped from the beginning and has been nothing but helpful and gave me the best advice. if you need any help or have question just let me know =) i was in the same boat as you.

thanks for your post! i am currently an hpu pre-nursing student & am trying to overcome a less-than-stellar g.p.a. from college 16 years ago (2.8, ba communications). i am doing well so far, 2 classes & 2 a's, but i am a little freaked out after reading the posts here about hpu. wendy is my advisor as well, and i have found her to be really helpful. if i try really hard and get mostly "a's" from now on, i can get my overall g.p.a. up to above a 3.1 & all my pre-requisties would be taken here (as well as my teas). do i have a shot at getting in? what was your g.p.a. and teas score, if you don't mind my asking? my admissions counselor assured me that i would have a very good chance if i did well for the next 2 years, but i am a little scared now! i am not the same irresoponsible kid i was when i went to college the first time around, i just hope i get a chance to prove it! thanks in advance!

makawiliwili · Aug 24, 2011

Avoid HPU at all costs. Seriously. I would say why but I would get in trouble. Just believe me. Bad school. Bad.

simonsmom · Sep 8, 2011

To StephanieF- FYI your advisor WILL not be helpful for too much longer. Take it from me. Just a little recap of this new semester so far. I made a schedule (HAHAHA!) that fit what would work for me. Big mistake because they do this screwed up registration system. You pick classes- lectures and then "hold" your place for lab/clinicals. Then you get another round of time tickets to register for clinicals. That is if you have all your health reqs in place then you get to go and register. So if you follow the rules you should be kosher, right? WRONG! If you do your reqs late and don't read the instructions or directions like you are supposed to then you still get choice clinical sites and if you petition to change it, oh, well! You are stuck, even if it means the site is 45 minutes away from you. Also, they changed clinical days on my friend from Thursday to Saturday, the first day of school. My clinical instructor quit last week for "personal reasons" although it was rumored long before that she was going to quit but I was stuck with my clinical so you can't change it! So I just TODAY found out who my instructor would be when I have clinical days beginning tomorrow. The SNA is a joke and will not help you out either. Have gone numerous times to them with valid issues to be shot down. So at this point just gotta trudge thru and pray that I make it out alive and with my sanity. I will be grossly out of funds and owing many thousands but I will have a degree. At what cost I am not sure. The advisor will get frustrated with you once you start asking questions and generally causing a ruckus. She will have another advisor in the office that will be rude to you and tell you that you have to wait and don't bother her anymore, which is wonderful customer service! Have not had to many good things come out of this school except for good friends that I know I will have for years to come. RUN the other way to UH or another school if you have the chance! RUNNNNN!!!!! Don't walk and don't look back, ever at HPU. They really screw you and then tell you Mahalo while they are doing it!

CUHNURSE2015 · Sep 8, 2011

I am a transfer student at Chaminade school of nursing student. Our nursing program is pretty much straight forward. It's a 4-year BSN degree. Accreditation should be achieved by beginning 2012 since the nursing school is still new. I transferred all my credits from KCC and HCC and it did away with all the required pre-requisite courses. Once you get accepted into Chaminade and accepted into the nursing program, you will start the program the first year. Unlike traditional nursing schools, with CUH nursing you don't have to have pre-requisites done beforehand it is combined within the 4-years, you don't need to take entrance exams (NLN,NET, TEAS,GRE's) and what not. Once you get accepted into the program, your in. The only criticism that I have thus far with the program is that you must finish with your cohort of nursing classmates, meaning whoever you get accepted with in the program you will finish with the same people from beginning to the end of the program. Which also means you cannot finish before hand to get done with the program than anyone else.

MCUBED, it seems that you have a lot of knowledge of the nursing schools here in hawaii. Were you aware that Chaminade opened a nursing school? Just wondering because of the resource information you give throughout the threads.

Aloha!

RNfr808 · Oct 7, 2011

Yes the school is expensive, the health records office needs a bit of improvement, and SNA is non-existent. Like someone said in the previous post you need to over prepare to graduate this school. By me over preparing, i got my health records in before due date, got the classess/clinicals that i wanted and got grants/scholarships/loan. My experience is that the advisors were great, professors were a mix of more good than bad and some students had a lot of drama. But overall, my experience at HPU was a positive one and because of it I am well compensated for that degree. My advise is that overprepare and stay away from dramatic students who complain too much. Look at the hawaii BON website and see that the

pass rate is not to shabby. Overall, its a decent school with more positives than negatives.

simonsmom · Oct 21, 2011

RNfr808- There are not dramatic students, just horrible administration and some staff.

The pass rate was so horrible for HPU that they mandated all these extra things that cost way more money. They are now picking clinical sites for us in Level 3 since they don't have enough spots to go around. They just spent almost $100K for the new president's ceremony. While the Hawaii Loa Campus has leaks in the roof, horrible internet access, you can't print sometimes at the computer center because the internet went down, there are never enough writing tutors to look over papers, professors don't want to help look at your paper if you ask them. I think there are a handful of professors that are there to help you be a good nurse. However, be prepared to write about 20+ papers in level 2 and only get less than 10 clinical days. While UH, KCC and other schools go in and start doing all those things right away. HPU is "theory based" which is a lot of BS for writing your bottom off in papers that are worthless. Can't do catheters well? Oh, well! but you can write a wonderful APA style format paper because that is what is important when your patient tells you that they can't breathe! DO NOT GO TO HPU! WASTE OF MONEY AND TIME FOR EVERYONE! They have a good environmental studies program from what I heard. however, that is about it.

JNClems · Oct 22, 2011

Ok HPU has moved away from the credit thing. Entrance is now based on nursing GPA, TEAS test score, I'm sure some other things but it is no longer based on HPU credits. My friend got in with me in 2009 with 6 credits. So the credit thing doesn't matter anymore.

As for HPU, it is unorganized and can be very painful to handle at times. Some teachers are nut cases and some are amazing. If you choose HPU do your research and ask around about teachers before you decide on classes. I had asked around before I registered each semester and I can honestly say I only had two horrible teachers for my entire time there.

The nursing course is difficult but you get out what you put in. If you get the good teachers you can do very well. Many offer a lot when it comes to helping students. Others, well it's better to find the nice teacher and ask. During my course I found it to be more of the students responsiblity to learn as much as they wanted. The teachers gave a good building foundation however it was the students responsibility to go back and study and make the connections. However that doesn't mean they wont help you. They just want you to make the effort.

The school is very expensive and the cost only seems to be going up. However, I am a new HPU grad and just got a position in the ER, and I can honestly say that I was very well prepared for both my NCLEX and my current position as an ER nurse. My graduating class had approximately 120 students and only 1 or 2 failed the NCLEX. When you look at numbers compared to other schools that is an extremely high passing rate.

I hope I have helped you answer some of your questions. If you have anymore please feel free to ask. I have heard that UH is much better but there program is 3 years regardless. There is no speeding it up. I finished HPU nursing program in a year and half. To me it was well worth the money to get it over with and start working.

JNClems · Oct 22, 2011

Simonsmom

I worked at the trauma center in Hawaii for three years and I can honestly say that due to HPU's theory based learning those students were more prepared to clinically think then any other nursing school student. I say this because being in the ER I had many nursing students from ALL of the schools in Hawaii. Now, granted the other nursing schools had more technical skills, they could not tell me WHY we were doing what we were doing. Nor could they tell me what things I would expect to see if my patient's status were to deteroriate. So all that time in your theory class PAYS off in real practice. I hated getting students from other schools because they couldn't think! Your job as a nurse is to PREVENT things from going bad....correct?!?!?! So why should it be more valuable for you to perform technical skill over being able to think ahead? It shouldn't!!! I can teach you technical skills on the floor what I can't teach you is to critically think!

Not to be rude but you should be a little more thankful for your school because, while they do have their problems and there isn't one school that doesn't, you are a more well rounded prepaired nurse because you can think ahead. You can take my advise as you want but this is coming from a very experience ER person!

simonsmom · Dec 3, 2011

JNClems-

I currently work in the ED at a well respected hospital on the island and I can tell you that many of the HPU grads tell me the same thing. They hated HPU and couldn't wait to get out. I agree and the more entrenched I get into the program the same holds true day in and day out. Professors bail on us at the last minute all the time. I saw one actually last week and she said she left because she couldn't handle the treatment of the students and the staff anymore. The standards are substandard according to the teacher. So I am not ungrateful for getting my BSN, I just wish it would have been a different school now.

mcubed45 · Dec 3, 2011

JNClems-
I currently work in the ED at a well respected hospital on the island and I can tell you that many of the HPU grads tell me the same thing. They hated HPU and couldn't wait to get out. I agree and the more entrenched I get into the program the same holds true day in and day out. Professors bail on us at the last minute all the time. I saw one actually last week and she said she left because she couldn't handle the treatment of the students and the staff anymore. The standards are substandard according to the teacher. So I am not ungrateful for getting my BSN, I just wish it would have been a different school now.

I know it's not much consolation now, but your education really doesn't make that big a difference a couple years down the line. What really matters is what you do after school. I know amazing nurses from ALL the different schools. I also know some not so great nurses from the same schools. Your nursing school experience may give you a few advantages/disadvantages when you hit the floor as a new grad, but that begins to matter very little as you continue your career. How much you continue to push yourself and learn independently is what will determines how far you will go. I know it seems like a huge deal now, but do what you have to to get through the bane that is nursing school.