Sinclair RN Graduates - Advice PLEASE!

Thank you SO MUCH!! I was beginning to think there weren't any SCC on this site!! I am VERY relieved to hear their aren't any shenanigans in the program! As I said, I feel I received a GREAT education in the SUT program, trouble is there weren't (and never were) jobs for everyone and they left the "old" and top of the class students out in the cold....I loved surgery - there just isn't any jobs out there - the major hospitals know there's an endless flow of "free" help (students) and aren't short of surg techs - so whomever SCC decides to put in the open slots that aren't advertised got the jobs - only 4 of them.....I'm hoping the nursing front is better....
Couple of questions....since I graduated from the SUT program, I only need BIO211, ALH219 and the MAT109 (that I can't take until Fall when taking NSG121 and 122......is the ALH219 do-able online? I've heard nightmare stories of Becker (the only prof that teaches it) - just wondered if it's too much to take on-line....I'll be doing that in the summer.....
Also - the ALH120 - the nurses aide training - the couselor told me that if you don't take it at SCC you have to get the actual license STNA - there used to be "speed schools" around here - like being able to get it in a weekend, then go to Columbus and take the test - I work full time at night and it would be very hard to stay awake in a class for 8 hours....it's different when I'm in clinicals - I did it (working full time and clinicals) in the SUT program - but like I said, it's different (at least for me) to sit in a class for 8 hrs vs. actually doing something like clincials....is there a "better way" for this NSG 120? The couselor also said that the class doesn't result in an actual STNA license - which is fine because I don't plan on working as an STNA - don't need another license in my pocket that I'm not going to use...Would LOVE some insight on that ALH120 deal!!

Thanks! And congrats - I know the program isn't easy!! I have alot more questions if you have time.

Thanks again!

Thanks again - I'm sure you know that this type of info is VERY helpful! I really appreciate the time you are taking to advise me....
I'm a "non-traditional" i.e. "older" student, so I'm the "nerd" that always shows up to class ontime and as prepared as I can be - trouble is working nights, it's great for early classes, but if you have a rough night at work and can't review before you go to class - sometimes the "preparedness" lacks a little - I'm not worried about the work, studying or going to class - but advise on professors, classes/alternatives is invaluable...
Taking Pharm online isn't my first choice - aside from a very few (ALH 102/103) I think you miss A LOT if you're not in class....I had to take medical terminology on-line (schedule wouldn't work) - wow - that was a challenge to say the least - I got an A, but worked harder on that than I did any of my other classes....on-line classes certainly aren't for the half-there student - as you said, if you don't have the discipline and dedication you'll flunk quicker than had you taken the class and didn't go.....I agree with you totally - because they are only offering BIO 211 at one time 10-11:40 and the lab isn't until 1:00 - yick! I don't have many options next quarter - the only choice there is is if you take it M-W or T-Th - the times are the same....I really like A&P, but it's been a couple of years - I already bought the books and am trying to brush up - wow - I've forgotten A LOT - so this class is going to be challenging as all the BIO's are/were....but I REALLY like the BIO dept as a whole - the prof's are great - Heckendorn and Currier were not easy by any stretch, but they were REALLY good and VERY helpful - glad to read what you said about Becker.....I did hear one student say he wasn't all that bad, but the majority say the class is a nightmare - scaring me actually because I'm going to have to take it in the summer - summer classes with the shortened schedule are always extra challenging....the nurses aide classes now don't sound as daunting as they look - hopefully I can work a schedule that will work for me - some of the classes are once a week, but they're 8 hrs - that's too long after working all night - this quarter they offered a 5-9 PM class twice a week - that may work out better for me if the clinicals are at the same time - but I feel a lot better about it now that you described it for me....thanks! And no, I've never worked in health care - only the 2.5 yrs I did in clincials with the surg tech thing....

A couple of questions about the job market and the clinicals for NSG if you don't mind...do you get ANY choice of hospitals when you're in clinicals? What are the hours like? Are you at your hospital 8 hrs a day 3 days a week? That's the way they work it in the SUT program...just wondering if the clinicals were flexible at all - I did clinicals a little differently with the SUT program in that I did clincials at almost all the area hospitals to get a feel of the work environment - surprizingly they were VERY different from each other....a lot of the other students stuck with one place....as far as nursing is concerned, is it wise to get a taste so to speak of all the hospitals or is it best to stick with one place?
Last question (for this posting!) - is/was the pay as you expected? The SUT program quoted an average pay rate MUCH higher than was it actually was....they were quoting around $20-23 per hr when in actuality the highest paying hospital in the city for surg techs was $17 - the lowest believe it or not (Children's) is $11.00 an hr! Then you also pay $300 PER MONTH in health care benefits which brings down your hourly rate to about $9-10 an hour - you really can't support youself on that espeically these days! I was considering that because I was a new graduate, but after really thinking about all the job (surg tech) entails, the responsibility plus the liability - one would be crazy not to get some type of malpractice insurance just to protect yourself - well adding all that in ends up being a couple of dollars above minimum wage....even if there were jobs around for surg techs (which there aren't) - it's just not financially smart to take it with all that considered if you have to support yourself.
Talking with a few friends/fellow students in the nursing field, the AVERAGE around Dayton seems to be $21-25 per hr for ADN's...is that correct? I hope once I get through the program to go on for a BSN just to widen the range of opportunity...I'm not really interested in management - I've been in management most of my life, and I'm not a kid, so a "title" doesn't interest me at all - just thought having the BSN provides more flexibility as far as selection of jobs - but I could be way wrong about that - what are your thoughts/experiences?

Hope I'm not being too personal - just don't want to kill myself again working full time and keeping up with a very agressive full time program to end up with either no job, or one that I can't take without having a second job to live....I'm not expecting to be a millionaire nor get something for nothing - and it's not ALL about the money, but you have to support yourself - at least I do, so my asking about money is strictly for weighing the options thats all....

Enough for now - once again, THANK YOU!! I REALLY appreicate your advise and time.

Wow! You are a motivated individual!!! And A LOT smarter than me - statistics ON-LINE?!?!?!?

Thanks for the insight - as I said - I'm the "nerd" that likes the classroom - I've taken quite a few on-line, mostly because I couldn't make full time work and full time school work all the time - and I still say on-line classes are typically harder - I think because you miss a lot from not having the face to face lecture.....well you two have convinced me - I will take it in class - unfortunately I'll HAVE to take it in the summer, which by the sound of it I better make that my only class - I don't mind studying and working hard - just don't like the prof's that insult and denigrate just for the sake of doing so....I've found that the weakest prof's tend to do that....as long as we can ask questions I won't have a problem....

Hopefully this "endevour" will turn out to be more fruitful than my last "plan".....always was going to get the RN, but in the meantime since I was laid off, I thought I'd get the surg tech because I really like it - good idea, bad program (not educationally, stupid childish shenanigans by the dept)....HOWEVER - they can't take away the experience and the little knowledge I have left from it!! It's HELL getting old!!!!!

Thanks again - are you working locally or in Cincy?

I'm with you on the motivation - I did it too - looking back at the SUT program - don't know how I worked 10-12 hrs a night and immediately went and stood for 8 hrs in surgery for 2.5 yrs....but as you say, motivation is the key....too bad I poured all that effort and work into a program that was never going to pan out....that's really my only regret, is that I fooled myself into thinking that I was too cynical when the writing was in my face - I should have dropped in the beginning of the 2nd yr and went to the NSG program - I had both programs prereq's done before I started the SUT - I WAS a dual major - so now I'm a dual major with a year inbetween! Should have trusted my intincts - woulda shoulda coulda!
Oh well....I haven't got that many more bad decisions to make - 50 is going to be here for me next year....that's why I'm picking as many brains as I can - like yours!
Oh I'm all about sarcasim - have that tendency myself - -just getting crankier as I get older I guess - I have WAY less tolerance for BS with each passing year...I don't need to be spoon fed, but sometimes it takes me a while to figure out the prof's "style" so to speak....the way I see it, of the 4 classes I have to take before Fall, the MAT109 and the Nurses Aide ALH120 are the only ones that are kinda unecessary - I don't plan on being a STNA (nothing wrong with it, just not my "path") and because it's worth 6 credits, it's kinda obvious to me what's going on there - but NSG isn't the only program that requires unecessary classes - and don't get me wrong, I think you should have to have more than one math class for nursing - just don't think SCC's "nursing" math has hit the mark....I had a GREAT prof a couple of quarters ago in MAT102 and he is the third prof in a year to tell me that they were trying to talk him into teaching the NSG MAT....apparently the 2 they have are less than "amiable" to math as a "science" for nurses.....that's the prof's I hate - the holier than thou - hey I have a Masters or a PhD in MAAATTHHHH....big deal - if you can't break it down far enough for your students to do well then what good is it??? I've already bought the million dollar Physiology book - geez - didn't think I'd forget as much as I have about A&P....so I'm glad to have that class actually and the Pharm - those are a couple of subjects that if you don't have down you can get yourself into REAL trouble....

Since you're doing the BEACON, and are in the B of the BSN - what do you think about the RN-BSN online stuff? I'm scared of that I think - how much more is it that A LOT of programs don't deem it necessary to be in an actual classroom? I know they're trying to accommodate a zillion schedules, but I would think if it's considered higher skilled nursing that you'd have to be in a class or higher zoot clinical setting....what's the deal with that?

What kind of pay rates are you finding in the Dayton-Cincy area? I'm not asking what you're making - I don't do that - just wondering what the typical range is - I have no idea, and now that I've been burned by the SUT program, I don't know that I'm going to have much faith in what the NSG program tells me.....

Funny you mentioned UC - that's my dream that I fear is going to be unrealized - that's what I went into all this for - to eventually get to UC and do the CRNA program - I LOVE anesthesia - always did.....I've done A LOT of research on it, particularly the program at UC - I think I could do it, it's a function of time....by the time I'd have the degrees and experience to apply realistically I'd be closer to 60 than not....but that's not really the deterent - it's the after it's all over to I want to just be BEGINNING my career at over 60-something?? Who knows - I have to get by this one first!

Thanks again for the advise - ANYTHING you feel you want to impart - PLEASE PLEASE do!