Olivet Nazarene University ABSN Program

U.S.A. Illinois

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Iun83

3 Posts

I was going to look into this, I was admitted to the school as a traditional BSN student... Not so sure if I want to take the ABSN route anymore:-$

annalismatta

2 Posts

How has the program gone? Would you recommend this program to me I am planning on January of 2016. you can email me at [email protected] or comment below. I would greatly appreciate it

nstudent123

3 Posts

these comments are scary!!! I got admitted into the ABSN program this fall 15', I have taken the HESI and required Patho, all I have to do now is wait on all my transcripts to be looked at again and I am currently going through finances now. with everyone's comment on this program, is it bad like its more independent where you learn on your own mostly and not teacher dependent or is it teachers that are bad and don't teach? which is it and I sure was researching if anyone completed the program but haven't found any success. I was torn between Olivet or Resurrection....:/ hope Olivet is not bad as it seemssssssssssssss

FNA2181

22 Posts

Hey everyone! It's a little scary that nobody has posted to this thread in over a year? What do all the graduates have to say? I took pathophysiology with Olivet online just to get a feel for it. Loved that class, loved the Dr. I'm starting 8/24/2015 (like, in 17 days) and I'm super excited and nervous. PLEASE could some of the graduates who were posting negative things here 3 years ago (wow, this thread is old) please stand up and tell us how everything ended up? It would be great to have some feedback. On a side note, I work for Presence Healthcare (formerly Resurrection) and had 18 letters of recommendation from MD's, DO's, and other nurses, managers, and staff and Resurrection University denied me 3 times without ever a really good reason. Talk about a runaround! I'm so glad I got into Olivet so I can finally leave ResU in the dust. I cannot recommend that school to anybody! Thanks for listening and again, if anyone could give some 2015 updates that would be great:-)

sbrookea

2 Posts

Can you tell me if you are attending Olivet and your thoughts? I'm hoping to go there in May 2016. Thanks!

Nikknaaak

2 Posts

Hello,

i was just wondering if you could share some of your personal input on the program now since most of the reviews are a few years old... I'm looking to start in Jan.

FNA2181

22 Posts

So far, so good. It is a tough program. You really have to be self-motivated and procrastination is not an option. Finished my first semester HESI's today and everything went great! All of the profs are there for you, whether it be via email, phone calls, in-person, or even texting. There have been only 16 (?) graduating cohorts so it's a very new program. They are still working on perfecting it. But I highly recommend ONU's ABSN. Although it's not required, the best advice I can give is have (or get) some medical background. Phlebotomy, CNA, CMA, anything that will give you a leg up in this extremely fast-paced program.

LadyRNER

8 Posts

WARNING: ANY ABSN program is difficult. You have to put your life on hold and make school your priority. If you really want to do it, you'll do it, but it's not a walk in the park.

Here are my suggestions if you want to attend ONU ABSN.

-Have a good support system, financially and mentally. This school is going to cost you...but so is any other nursing school.

-You have a full-time job? Yeah right, I went from full time, to part-time, to out of work by second semester. Students will drop like flies and sit out or repeat semesters because they did not make this program their priority. Have savings or have someone in your life who will support you, otherwise, you are preparing for a long, dreadful road of failure.

-I hope you had an online class before because this is all in your control. You better get on that computer and read those notes, and listen to those lectures. I loved this program because I hate sitting at lectures...instead I get to learn in my pajamas...hey I even get to participate in an online chat with my teacher and classmates in pajamas! But there are still on-site lectures and labs you have to attend, so don't think that everything is online.

-Take your PATHOPHYSIOLOGY class online.. DO NOT TAKE IT ON CAMPUS!!! The students that took it at Olivet said horrible stories about it. I took it online at some college in nebraska or something, and i loved it. I had a great instructor. Patho is not easy, so if you are struggling, it's ok...many other students are as well. I think it's the hardest course along with the Med Surg classes in your entire nursing program.

-Have a car! All of your clinicals will be all over the place. They try to give you someplace close to your home, but that will not always be the case. Out of all my clinicals every semester, I only had one that was very far for me (45-50 min drive).

-Be ready to jump through hoops! Olivet likes its students to have all their vaccines, etc done ASAP, no excuses. You will also attend workshops or special events which will be reallllllly far, but have to be done, no excuses.

-Make a friend....especially one who is a semester ahead of you. It will be hard since freshmen, juniors, etc all come in on separate days, but open your eyes, maybe you work at a hospital as a PCT or CNA and there might be another PCT/CNA who is a current ONU student and is ahead of you. Happened to me!!!

-Join your secret cohort group on Facebook....yes, they are all closed groups and you have to be invited, so make friends with your classmates. You never know whom one of those classmates knows, and they might help you with advice, study guides, etc. AND DO NOT VENT ABOUT TEACHERS OR THE PROGRAM ONLINE....your little Facebook name is attached to your comment and who knows if one of your classmates shows your angry words to a teacher. Moles. lol.

-Look up QUIZLET. I didn't know about this until semester 3! grrrr. You can find awesome practice questions that other students created form your text book. SOMETIMES....you might find practice questions on there that are very SIMILAR to exam questions...i said SOMETIMES, so don't blame me if you don't read your book and then just read some practice questions and fail your test!!!

-READ...READ...READ. Your text book is your BFF. For some classes during certain semesters ...( MED SURG 1....and 2) it is almost impossible to read every chapter. It depends on the instructor, really. My instructor for those 2 classes did not prepare good study guides...they were all over the place, very vague. Reading 6 chapters a week just for that class alone, and then also reading for other classes is insane. However, I LOVED my instructor for Med Surg 3 because she gave great study guides, specific page numbers, and her lectures and lecture notes were on point.

-Listen to lectures! I used to walk my dog, drive, grocery shop with headphones on while a lecture audio file was playing. Oh, and on power points for your notes, click on tab to see NOTES...one of my professors had all words she said in the lecture typed out word by word which saved me time from taking notes about lectures.

-After making an outline, creating a study guide, or even rereading your own notes you made as you read your book....record your voice reading all that stuff on your phone voice app. Research shows that when you hear your own voice, you tend to remember the info better. I used to listen to myself on my headphones up until the start of the exam. Once a classmate thought I was listening to music to relax before an exam and I said "oh no, i'm actually listening to myself talk about diabetes!"Oh that diabetes exam killed me :( lol.

-One observation that is really funny when i was a student there was that: the first couple of weeks, everyone seemed to be on their own, trying their best to put on a strong face. Finally one student announced how horribly hard the first exam was and all of a sudden, people bonded because everyone was feeling the stress even though they didn't want to admit it at first. During the program, people made friends, clicks, etc, and although they all were concerned with each other's grades and consoled each other, at the same time it was very competitive. Everyone wanted to get the best grade, get the most right, get the best clinical.

-Speaking of clinicals, they are all over the place. First semester is usually a rehab which is nice to get your feet wet, but boring. After that, you will get a hospital setting: Lagrange, Hinsdale, Loyola, Elmhurst, Christ, Alexian, Streamwood (your psych rotation, however other hospitals also have psych) etc. Many are in west suburbs, but alexian are north suburbs, Christ is southside chicago...and i think there were a couple more south side chicago locations as well for students that live in that area. Your clinicals will have about 6-8 classmates with an instructor. Some instructors are AMAZING, others are blah. It seems like they get new ones all the time, so anything is expected.

-PLEASE...DONT WEAR COLORFUL UNDERWEAR because your scrub pants are white (THANKS ONU :/ ) Do you know how unprofessional you will look with pink polka dot underwear at every clinical? Not only does it make you look ..umm..special....it also gives a bad outlook on the school. And yes, we had a "special" classmate who would constantly wear pink polka dot underwear to clinicals and labs and even when she was told by a classmate about the "issue" she continued to try and show off her behind for some reason ? I'm still confused to this day.

-DO NOT BE LATE....EVER. Be on time to class and clinical. I would be 15-30 mins early for everything. Once I was 5 mins late to a class, and the instructor made sure that I knew about my tardiness. It only happened once.

-Don't curse or say anything about God in a poor manner. This is a Christian school. Not all teachers are religiously strict, but some are very specific and they will let you know loudly if you said something bad. But don't worry, they are not going to push religion on you, so if you are not christian or don't have a faith, just stay quiet if there is a prayer, be respectful, and move on. We said a little prayer before every exam. I liked it, and many of my classmates liked it to. Trust me....you will pray before every test even if you never prayed before.

-DISCUSSIONS! Every week you will have to post discussions for each of your classes. Each teacher has her/his rules and specifics. Follow those rules or that discussion post you just wasted an hour on will be worth 3 out of 5 points, which is bad. Oh, and use the online library that is connected to the school to find your evidenced-based-research data to back up your discussions because every teacher wants that. And most importantly.....learn to cite properly.

-MATH...ONU, because of you I am now an expert in math. LOL. At the start of every semester, you will sit down for a math quiz. You have to get a 100% on this quiz. If you don't, you have 2 more chances to retake it later that week. If you don't get a 100% on your third attempt, you sit out the semester like a punished child in the corner, and you don't get to participate in the program. Your cohort moves on, but you don't...you are delayed. It sucks. The point of this program is to become a BSN RN ASAP, so why waste time sitting out a semester??? Just learn that darn math! They will give you practice problems online in the documents on one of your classes...go in there and practice,practice, practice. The quiz problems are very similar to the practice ones, or at least the way you are supposed to figure them out. ONU suggests you buy a specific math book that is kinda pricy. Well, you go and you buy it, cuz you will use that sucker for the next 4 semesters. I used it and practiced all those concepts that were on practice quizzes, and I passed my quiz at first try each time. Oh, and don't forget to label ml, oz, etc at the end of the answer....you fail just for forgetting that too!!!! By the 4th semester, you should be able to do that math with your eyes closed for that 4th semester quiz because you already learned all the concepts in the first 3 semesters. Oh, and each teacher will throw at least 2-4 math problems at you on almost every test, so if you don't get it by then....i don't know what to tell you. Face your math fears!

-Dont try to cheat. They have cameras in the back of you. All the exams are done on a computer, which is great because it makes you comfortable for when you sit down for the nclex, which is done on a computer. They have a proctor or two wondering up and down the room, making sure you are not being naughty.

-BUY EAR PLUGS!!!! During exams, you will have multiple choice, truth/false, Select all that apply, and FILL IN THE BLANK/SHORT ANSWER. And when your fellow classmates start pounding all their stress on those keyboard keys, you will not be able to concentrate. I had at least 3 pairs of ear plugs for every exam because I would go crazy when I heard all those keys being pounded at the same time.

-Have a good friend or two and help each other. We had a nice group of classmates and everyone would take a couple questions from the study guide and answer them, and then share the answers with the group. That way you save time. Study guides are very time consuming, especially those med surg 1 & 2 ones. OR, like I said, make a friend who is a semester or two ahead because they will have those study guides completed, and most likely, they will be the same or very similar to the study guide your instructor gave YOU. So you see how your save your time? Now that time can be used for reading your book, listening to lectures, or rereading that study guide about 30 times :)

-Don't forget your watch for labs and clinicals! "Oh but professor, every hospital has a clock on the wall." And their answer will be: "and what if it doesn't? How can you count the heart rate then????" If you don't have one, just get a cheap one...any will do, that has a minute hand.

-When you write your paper for one class, write about several ideas or a bigger concept. That way, when you have to write a paper for another class, you can use some of your research or ever parts of your previous paper and save time and use if for your new paper. Except....watch out for those teachers who make you submit your paper through this paper-checker thing...it will pop out your previous paper and then it's like you plagiarized your own paper. Not all teachers use that paper-checker system, just some, but you have to submit it yourself so you will know if you can use that paper in the future.

-Oh it's Care Plan time! When an instructor is telling you what she wants in your care plan and gives you examples, don't just sit there and stare at her. Get your blank Care Plan that you printed out before-hand, and start writing all over it, whatever the teacher says. Later on, when you are creating your own care plan, you will give the instructor what she wants instead of leaving a bunch of blank spaces and getting a bad grade. And this program moves fast...these teachers are not going to baby-sit you and hold your hand and repeat themselves. They go with the wind...and you better blow that way too or you will get lost.

-Order your books as cheap as you can. Rent them if its a book for only one semester like mental health, peds, or OB. Med-surg you will need to buy the book. Look at the bulletin board in the student lounge...someone from a semester ahead of you is always selling their books, so if the price is right, buy them. Oh, and once I got a brand new book with the newest edition that just came out, but the instructor decided to use the previous, old edition, therefore, her reading assignments, which were basically page numbers, did not make any sense with my new edition, and I had to hunt down students with the book from old edition and compare page numbers. (An example of a disorganized instructor whom you might run into, ahem peds, ahem.)

-The school is constantly changing. The cohorts before my cohort complained a lot. My cohort wasn't that bad. I just didn't like how the school always made us get titers and other medical things "just in case a clinical site might want them." It was ridiculous because you had to do it on your own time and spend your own money if you didn't have insurance or had bad insurance. This school doesnt sell insurance so if you're broke, get on medicaid...no shame in that. You are a poor nursing student and when you are done, you will pay it all back with the care you will provide to others, and the good amount of taxes you will pay from your paychecks. Medicaid doesn't mean food stamps...you just get help with your medical care, like vaccines for nursing school.

-During your med-surg classes, get ***Med Surg SUCCESS**** question book. This will especially help you with your Med-Surg 3 (hint hint) I always found 2-3 questions on the exam from that book! I also used DAVIS NCLEX questions book (It's white) for that class because the exam questions were often similar to the practice questions, and so when you read the rationale in the question book, you will get the main concept of the question and this will help you answer your exam questions.

-LABS...well..when I was there, there was a lab instructor that was not very friendly. Once she lied to my face about something really dumb. When I asked her a question to help me, she tried to shame me as to why i forgot how to do something. GET OVER YOURSELF. I'm a student and Im here to learn, you are a teacher here to teach me, so TEACH ME! lol. As far as I heard from later cohort, she is no longer there, but I hear they got another "winner" in her place...oh God. Like I said, they try to improve this program with every cohort, so hopefully your new lab teacher will be awesome.

-Girls and guys with long hair...have hair ties in your back pack, purse, whatever, because if your hair is not tied up during labs or clinicals, you will hear about it.

-Talk to your instructors. When you find one you like, keep talking to them. They will help you in the future. The ones that are not on-site, call them and email them with questions. When they see how hard you are trying, they might have some mercy on your soul later on.

-Med-surg 3...the class everyone dreads and worries about failing. Here is the thing...it was one of my favorite classes, you know why? Because I didn't cut corners during med-surg 1 &2. I actually studied, read, researched, listened, and learned. Med-surg 3 introduces you to new concepts (fun stuff like emergency, shocks, etc) but....it also brings back some of the stuff you learned in the other 2 med-surg classes. Therefore, 3 builds upon 1 and 2. Also, one of my favorite instructors, Piper, taught it, and she was specific in her lectures and study guides. I got a better grade in 3 than 1 and 2!!!! Ofcourse, the lazy students who cut corners did not pass 3, and it was obvious what they were doing...which is not what you should be doing because...you will not pass the nclex like those two as a result of being a BAD NURSING STUDENT.

-ATI exams. I dont know if they use those since i heard it's going towards HESI now. I have no knowledge about HESI. But ATI exams were always scary. But don't be scared, just do your best. Read the ATI books they give you at start of the program. That stuff is so dry sometimes, but it gets to the point. I read half of all my ATI books and passed the ATI exams with level 2 each time, except for pharm- that was hard for me ( u just need level 1 to pass on all of them)

-Will ONU prepare you for the NCLEX? The only person responsible to prepare you for the NCLEX is YOU. You have to gain those critical thinking skills as you progress in the program. You also have to gain knowledge through the program, but no one is going to pound that info into that brain of yours, so you have to make it your priority. There are no excuses in this program. You are responsible for yourself. One thing that helped with the nclex, in my opinion, is that the school had an ATI NCLEX REVIEW COURSE on the last week of the final semester. It's 4 days, and it's actually really good. At the end of the course, the lady gave us a code that you put in your ATI website and basically you will get the entire review session again, for free. It's a video she did with another school but it was exactly the same thing. It's only good for 30 days, so I advise you to not do it right away unless you are taking the nclex right away.

-Other advice: buy the saunder's nclex review book. I know you might not have the time to read all the topics in that book as you go through the program, but if you have time, take a peek in there on topics you are confused about, because it does a great job at explaining things in a concise and easy manner. Also, ONU made us ACLS certified. I heard that they didn't want to do that for a later cohort, so if they don't do it for yours, voice your concerns and say you want it. It will really help you with your cardiac exam. Heart rhythms were a breeze after my ACLS course because we also had a specific EKG course. As a result, my first job as a RN actually liked that I was ACLS certified, so it's a plus.

-Don't get entangled in other people's issues. Don't be in anyone's business. Your education is your priority. Make friends, but keep in mind that your friends will also be your competitors, whether you like to hear that or not. If you find a good friend or a couple good classmates, help each other out. *HINT OB TEACHING PLANS*, study guides, etc.

-DONT WORRY ABOUT THE NCLEX WHILE YOU ARE IN SCHOOL!!!! The countless times I heard classmates worry about, oh I did so bad on this exam, how will I pass the NCLEX. lol. NCLEX is based on knowledge, which you will gain since you are reading your books, listening to lectures, and actually paying attention at clinicals. The other part of NCLEX is: can you think analytically? For me, that part was easy. I analyze everything and I must have been born with critical thinking skills lol. But others have to learn those skills, and it will come, just give it time. Think safety...always safety. Focus on your upcoming exam. Don't be late with your discussion posts...make sure you do all of your posts otherwise you might be held back a semester! Write your papers....once student didn't write a paper for a class and guess what... had to repeat the entire class!!!! (I really don't know what he/she was thinking). Eat whatever you need to eat to survive the stress. Many people, including myself, gained weight. Lack of sleep, constant stress, eating fast, comfort food so that when you get home you don't waste time on cooking cuz you still have 2 chapters to read before tomorrow's test, is awaiting you.

*****This long advice essay is not to scare you, or to be negative about this program. It's to help you and prepare you for what is coming. I also would like to point out that I have several nursing friends in many different schools, some in other states as well. When talking to them about their ABSN programs, it pretty much sounds as painful as the ONU program. The only difference that I found is that other schools do not care about these math quizzes like Olivet does. So that's the biggest negative I would have about ONU. However, there will be 1-3 NCLEX math problems....but they will be super easy, so this program will have you pass them for sure.

Good luck. If you are staring this or any other ABSN...welcome to the gates of hell lol...but don't worry....as time goes by, you will see the light of heaven getting wider and wider and you will be ok. Good luck future RNs! Study well. Only you can make yourself a great nurse!

Oh...and the hoops you have to jump through to get into this nursing program...well...do you want to be an RN bad enough? Then jump those hoops!!!! Cuz you will be jumping through ones with fire when you finally get inside this program...and you will have to stay alive. But like i said, all ABSN programs are difficult and all will either make you or brake you. So fight for what you want, and don't let anyone or anything pull you back if You truly want to be an RN.

LadyRNER

8 Posts

I don't agree with this suggestion. You are a nursing student that means you are expected to know ZERO about nursing...that is the point of nursing school. Don't waste time pursuing those smaller careers when your eye is on nursing. If you are admitted and this is what you want to do, then don't delay starting nursing school because you have to "get experince" as a CNA or phlebotomist. You won't even touch blood products in clinicals until your last one. And CNA??? Oh please, you will learn everything a CNA will know in your Fundamentals class. The program is faced paced and you will not have time to work in order to "get experince." It will not help you, it will only take away time from studying which is what YOU NEED.

nursinggoal

3 Posts

Hey all!

Looking into this program for the Aug '16 start date. Overall, I read a lot of mixed reviews. Don't want to make a mistake by choosing the wrong program. A lot of reviews are older, but what do current or just recently graduated students say? By biggest concern is employment after graduation...hard to find, easy to find? Did where you graduated from really matter?

Thank you in advance!

LadyRNER

8 Posts

Hi nursinggoal. I don't think it depends where you graduated from in order to find a job. It took me 3 months after passing the nclex to find a job. You can always find a job right away at those long term facilities, but I would suggest to stay away unless you really can't find something, or at least do it until you get experience and then it will be easier to find a job. Many of my classmates also had a hard time finding a job but I think that was due to it being the holiday season because once the new year started, everyone was getting interviews and jobs. It also depends who you know, but can also depend heavily on your experience, which as a new grad, you won't have any. Certain hospitals in the area are very stuck up and will not hire new grads even if you have connections (ahem! Loyola, ahem!University of Chicago) but then again, you might be pleasantly surprised at the interesting hospitals that might give you a chance and want newbies so that they can MOLD them into the perfect employees. Most of your offers will be for night shift as a newbie, but you can surely find a couple day shifts here and there in the smaller hospitals, especially if you find a job as a OR nurse....those only work day shifts. However, nights have their benefits because you get paid extra each hour at night, and also, usually there are no procedures conducted at night unless they are emergency procedures, and so you don't have to deal with the craziness of prepping the patient and then monitoring him/her post procedure, dealing with all the doctors, attendings, and residents. You still work at night, but it's more paced and that's good especially for a newbie so that you can gain skills and learn new stuff everyday. My suggestion is: find the least expensive program and try to get in there and do whatever it takes to finish it on time so that you don't lose money by failing and repeating classes. That means quit your job, rely on others for support, etc. And if you can't find a nice hospital, you can always work at places like KINDRED, which always have openings...but don't plan to stay there too long....just get your med-surg experience and get out of there. :) I am pretty happy with the money I'm making as a new nurse, but as any new nurse under a year of employment will tell you......the job is overwhelming. No matter where my former classmates are....we all feel overwhelmed. Nursing school does not fully prepare you for the job as an RN. You pretty much learn it on the job, which is frustrating and scary at times, depending on the unit you will work. There are times where I dislike my job a lot. But then there are times when I feel like I am making a difference in someone's life and am amazed by the end result of what came into my unit, and what came out after a period of time. Just go to any school that will take you that is the cheapest. Getting into a nursing school is half the battle...finishing it is the other half. Read my earlier post about what to expect at Olivet. I feel like none of the other previous reviewers ever said anything about what to expect. It gives you a clear picture of what to look forward to. Good luck.

nursinggoal

3 Posts

LadyRNER, BSN

Thank you so much for your response and for the earlier post! I can't thank you enough, because it is literally impossible to find the information that you provided. What hospital did you get hired at if you don' t mind me asking and on what kind of unit? I am glad you found a job and are liking it for the most part!

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