Applying to LSUHSC-NO CARE Program for Fall 2010

cpkRN · Jan 28, 2010

Not sure what the baseline GPA was, but I had a 3.72 going into the program. I'm guessing only pre reqs are counted because I graduated with a 3.12 the first time around - there's no way they could've counted anything but pre reqs for me to have the incoming GPA that I did.

As for class numbers, we started with 55 and I believe we are down to 42 from a variety of factors, not just failure of a course. Full acceleration is nuts right now. We have 2 exams and a checkoff Thursday and another exam on Saturday on top of 6-12 hour clinicals 2-4 times a week (depends on where you're at/who your instructor is). I haven't had a free Saturday since the 9th on top of a Saturday class and a Saturday clinical. It's going to slow down a bit after this week, thank God.

It's crazy but I'm not complaining. Can't say I wasn't warned! It's just a ton of work right now with zero free time and very little sleep. I was told this would happen, but I definitely had to experience it to "get it."

Okay, web surfing procrastination over!

Tigerlover · Jan 29, 2010

Woweeee. Thanks for replying during this ever-so-busy time.

Next time you feel like procrastinating, let me know the various reasons people left.....please. Sounds like you are on a roll and will make it through!

BeeJayCeeYa · Jan 29, 2010

Tigerlover, I am no longer at LSU so I can't tell you anything current about it other than I miss my ex-fellow students. :)

Tigerlover · Jan 29, 2010

beejaycee,

You seem to have great communication skills and business acumen by the questions you posed prior to the program. Would you mind sharing your opinion of this program? Are you still going to pursue nursing?

I attended LSUHSC when it was a 2 year accelerated A.D. program. I left after one year due to financial reasons after changing my major and schools a few times before getting to LSU. I went into sales, and did really well monetarily. Now, I'm back. I needed two classes and applied in '08, but didn't realize how competitive grades had become. High school education has changed a great deal for the better and has given the younger students an edge. Last year I sold my house after showing it 100 times, and the buyer asked me to move in one week, and I missed some new paperwork requirements. So, I retook a few more prereqs and here I am.

With all of this time I have invested, I would really appreciate knowing why you left and what you think of the program. Thanks beejaycee. I'm sure you do miss your friends after going through such intensity with them. :confused:

Thanks for replying to my post.

BeeJayCeeYa · Jan 29, 2010

Tigerlover,

I am going to try to answer your questions as well as I can but it is a very involve and convoluted discussion. So I’ll try to tackle this in multiple posts, if you don’t mind. :)

Who I am: My decision to go into nursing was almost completely ‘socially’ motivated and had very little ‘financial’ motivation. I am 50, semi-retired, and get a sense of fulfillment from doing volunteer work. My father developed cancer and after watching the missteps around his treatment, I decided to become involved in helping people in the medical profession. If I were 35 years younger, I would have been working towards med school. But being my age and not willing to go >$100k in debt, I decided becoming a nurse practitioner made sense. So that is me in a nutshell.

BeeJayCeeYa · Jan 29, 2010

Why I left LSUHSC:

When my transcripts were reviewed, I was told I was short a microbiology and a ‘hard’ science class needed for admission. I only had about 90 days until the deadline for applying so there was no way I could take these classes in a traditional setting and still make the cutoff date. I asked if I could take these courses online and was told yes. I found a non-degree granting institution (CALCampus) and, after sending all of the information about the institution as well as its certification and accreditations to LSU for review, I was told that I CALCampus would suffice. I then sent course descriptions for a microbiology course and a chemistry course for approval and was again told yes. So, I took 2 12-week courses in 7 ½ weeks to make the deadline. This was while also taking 10 hours at the local community college. Incidentally, all of this back-and-forth communication and approval was in writing.

To anyone who reads this – ALWAYS put everything in writing, even if the other party does not do so. If necessary, send an email with a summary of your understanding of a personal meeting or telephone conversation. You never know when you will need it!

13 months after getting written approval to take these courses, I got a phone call on a Friday afternoon (it was Friday the 13th!) to tell me that the two online courses were now rejected and we would need to have a meeting in 3 days to look at ‘our options.’ I went to this meeting and the only thing I got out of it was a reminder of the fallibility of the people in LSU’s administration. Realistically, their ‘solution’ to the problem they created was non-workable for me. Given the time I was already putting into the program, there was no room to devote additional time to making up any ‘missing’ credits.

Had I had more time to think about my options, financial as well as legal, I would likely have responded differently. But we were 3 weeks away from finals and I did not see any way to add more to my plate. At this time, my days were starting at 3:30 AM when I would wake up (without an alarm clock) and hit the computer to start studying. I would stop at 8:00 at night only because I made myself. Some nights I would keep going a little longer if I had an exam the next day but never past 10 PM because I knew I would be back up at 3:30. When I first started classes in August, I knew it was going to be hectic so I promised myself that I would use Sundays as a ‘personal day’ for family time and relaxation. That lasted for about 3 weeks. So you can see why I did not believe that I could tackle the ‘missing’ credits.

And so, I withdrew. I still have yet to receive anything in writing about my grades (whatever happened to report cards?), but I finished the semester with a 4.0. Talk about adding insult to injury! :)

BeeJayCeeYa · Jan 29, 2010

Am I still pursuing nursing:

I will start at the Charity School of Nursing in the fall. I was previously accepted to Charity and would already be in that program but I changed my direction when I found out about the CARE program. I erroneously thought CARE would put me closer to my final goal. Instead, it has added about a year to my schooling, as well as several thousand dollars.

To reach my ultimate goal of NP, I will need at least an MSN. The BSN would have put me closer to that but instead I will probably complete my ADN and then take a bridge program for the MS. Like I said, time wise I am a little farther away but as a practical aspect I will be a more competent nurse when I start the MSN. I'll cover my logic for that when I talk/post about my opinion of the CARE program.

God bless the Charity SON program coordinator:redbeathe: she helped me change my original "decline" to "deferred" and saved me from missing another semester.

I'll post more later but I have to go get my day started. (Bet you're sorry you opened the floodgates with me, huh? :eek: )

Tigerlover · Jan 29, 2010

No, not sorry at all. I really appreciate hearing your story, AND I can't believe it. Maybe I should have focused on Charity: I would be graduating this year. I have a good friend who went to Charity and had a semi-quality life while attending. She had a great experience in a supportive atmosphere.

Did the instructors treat you as a mature person? As a professional?

I am amazed at the hours you kept, as I am close to your age. More amazing is the 4.0. Everything I read says that no one makes a 4.0 in the CARE program.

Looking forward to your next post. :yeah:

cpkRN · Jan 29, 2010

We miss you too beejaycee!

A 4.0 is highly possible in the first semester. Keeping that 4.0, however, is another story. I don't believe anyone will make that after the cluster we had this week.

We are treated as mature individuals when we act like mature individuals. That doesn't always happen with some personalities and I will leave it at that. Same goes for professionalism. We are not nursing professionals yet, however, we are mostly treated with respect. We are treated as students - no differently that the traditional students - with a bit of lauding towards the fact that we are supposed to be "mature learners." I think I've said this before, but CARE can get lost in the shuffle. It can feel really frustrating and hurtful at times, but I just have to remind myself of what the outcome will be when I'm finished!

The teaching staff is highly professional and several are highly honored within the nursing profession. I think you would be hard pressed to find a nursing instructor who wouldn't go out of their way to help you. A source of frustration for me in the first semester was that most of the instructors are not actually in the nursing school, they are from the medical school or research divisions so they have higher obligations, but I often vented my frustrations to my intro nursing instructor and they were nothing less than awesome. We only have one class right now that's not taught by either working nurses or nurses who were in the field for years, so that gets better. I tell myself it's a cheap price to pay for being able to learn from these professionals within a major medical center - the same people who teach future doctors.

Not everyone in our class has had a professional career either and I'm sure it will be similar in the next class. Several are fresh from their first degree. We range in age from 22-53 with the majority being between 22-30 (I'm not in the majority ).

You will have that semi quality of life the first semester, but ater holiday break, forget it. I don't believe a single one of us can say we do. Again not complaining, I signed up for it .

I don't want everything to sound like it's coming up roses because it's not, but I can't speak ill of the program either because it's a good program overall. Does it have flaws? Yes, but my friend at Charity complains about their flaws too and they sound very similar. We just have those flaws pelting us in the face at an accelerated pace instead of seeing them develop over a bit of time! It's difficult, tiring, and frustrating but my clinical patients are helping me see why it's going to be worth it. I'm sure anybody at any nursing school could say the same thing.

Gotta get to studying for my Saturday morning exam. Yay!

cpkRN · Jan 30, 2010

Forgot to answer your question.

Out of the classmates we lost, we lost the most to physiology after the fall semester ended. Some left the day after we started, another couple people left after our first set of exams, you heard beejaycee's situation (which is not the norm at all and I'm still heartsick on that one :crying2: ), and some decided acceleration was not going to be their kind of thing and petitioned to join the traditional class. Something cool is that every last one of those who missed the grade in physiology are actually back to try again, but they'll have to join the traditional program that just started in January when they start Foundations in the fall. You can fail a class once but you don't stay in the accelerated program. Failing is anything less than a 'C' no matter what class, but that's pretty standard for any nursing program.

Weigh your pros and cons. Decide on a school via what you want. There is nothing wrong with any route you take in the area unless the program isn't certified :). There are times when I think I should've gone to Charity but I know myself and had I been there, I would've been thinking I should've gone to LSU. It's an "ultimate goal" kind of thing and, while an ASN education is different from a BSN education in some ways, in the end, we all take the same exam for the same license and will have the same initials after our names: RN.

BeeJayCeeYa · Jan 30, 2010

My opinion of the CARE program:

LSU is trying very hard to fill a need. There are budget constraints, space constraints, and mind-set constraints that they are fighting in order to do what they are trying to accomplish (and mostly succeeding). The nursing program has ballooned in the last several years but the state has a hiring freeze. There are instructors who not being properly compensated, in hopes of landing a permanent job when the freeze is lifted. Other instructors saw their class size double, without any extra help with the resulting workload. LSUHSC switched off of Blackboard (a proprietary subscription service) to Moodle (a less friendly but free open source service) to save money. Unfortunately, these things sometimes make both the students and the educational experience suffer. Still, I have to respect the struggle to meet the need.

There are some incredible instructors at LSU and sometimes the important stuff you’ll take away is not always what the class was about. And you WILL hate some of the instructors. I can think of two right off the top of my head and can make a cogent case for why their lectures should be taught differently. But they are brilliant and I took away some of that brilliance, if not as much as I wanted or the way I wanted it.

CARE is boot camp. Write it down. Repeat it. It is grueling but you will form bonds with the people in your class that will come back to help you in the future. I did it for only 4 months and the people are what I miss. I sat by 2 military guys (one Army, one Marine) who gave me my new mantra: SITFU! (Google the acronym; CARE students need it! During the toughest days at the end of the semester, I kept a straw in my pocket to remind me.)

I know a bunch of nurses, lots of administrators, and a few nursing directors. What I am going to say next is based on conversations that I’ve had with them (and is ONLY my opinion). You can say what you want about diploma programs but their graduates hit the floor running, ready to take on whatever is thrown at them. On the other hand, ADN graduates take about 6 months, on average, to get up to full speed. Finally, BSN nurses bring up the rear, at about a full year until they are adept at handling their workload. (These differences in times are because of the differing amounts of practical experience vs. theories that the programs afford their students. Diploma = lots of practice, little theory. BSN = exact opposite. ADN falls in between the two.) I think that a CARE nurse would fall close to the ADN in the amount of time before full competence due to the flexibility/adaptability needed to survive the program.

So, my opinion of the CARE program? It has its place but it is not for everybody. It is not a shortcut any more that running a race is a shortcut for walking one; you will do the same amount of work, just in a shorter time. If you are wondering would I do it again, knowing what I know now, I honestly don’t know. But that is not because of anything that happened in the program or shortcomings of the program but I now question whether it was actually the best way to accomplish my goals. I DO know that had the screw-up not been made with my transcripts, I WOULD still be in the program and I WOULD be a licensed RN in another 16 months. I have no regrets about the time I spent in the program. I’d love to have my money back but if that was what I had to pay to meet the people I got to know (co-students and instructors), it was still worth it.

cpkRN · Jan 30, 2010

You're awesome. I miss you. 99% of us have forgotten to SITFU. I needed the reminder.