Starting Lorain County Community College RN - Fall 2012

Jwarnike · Apr 29, 2012

Yeah, that was a derrrr moment. I'm not originally from the area, so I didn't realize. Thought they were 2 different programs. Almost like an IT-T school.

My situation is tricky. I already have a BA in Child Dev. I'm registered to take Chem & Stats online at LCCC this summer. I have 2 kids, and live in Amherst. No family close by, and a hubs that works over 80 hours a week. LCCC is close, and child care is more than affordable ($2.50/hr) I need to only take my science classes (A&P 1 & II, Micro, and as I mentioned chem &stats) then I'm all done with any pre-req's for both the ADN and the OU online RN-BSN (which I plan to do after my ADN) so I'll finish all the sciences this spring. I really don't want to sit for a year and wait at LCCC, but travel to Cleveland for clinicals would be far (over 40 mins) how many days are your clinicals a week? And I looked online the nurse classes at Tri-C look to be broad and fewer courses, do they just cover multiple areas in a single class? My goal is pediatrics or neonatal (I didn't see either of those in the Tri-c course list like I do at other schools. Then there is the case of Child care. Does Tri-C offer that? And which courses can be taken at west shore? Also I think I read on another post that LCCC chem won't transfer to TrI-C??? Sorry for the million questions. I just wasted a lot of time, and money with my previous degree (received poor advise from my advisor) and don't want to waste anymore time/energy/money:) thanks for your advice!!!! Much appreciated!!

AgentBeast, BSN, RN · Apr 29, 2012

The descriptions on the courses at Tri-C leave a little something to be desired. Basically . . .

First Semester

1300- This is your basic Assessment Course composed of 1 lab and 1 lecture

1450- This is your "Fundamentals Course" where you learn the basics. It is composed of 1 lab, 1 lecture, and 1 clinical

Second Semester

1600- This is Med-Surg I and is composed of 1 Lab, 1 lecture, and 1 clinical.

1701- This is an 8 week Community Health Nursing course.

Third Semester

2300- This is your "speciality nursing" course there is no lab it is composed of 5 weeks per section lecture and clinical in the following areas, Psych Nursing, OB/Newborn nursing, and Pediatric Nursing.

Fourth Semester

2400- This is a 5 week Capstone course in nursing management

2500- This is Med Surg II/ Critical Care and is composed of 1 Lab, 1 Lecture, and 1 Clinical.

All the courses can be taken at Westshore.

Clinicals are two days a week and are located at sites through out the area. You'll probably end up driving to Cleveland for LCCC clinicals too.

As far as the Chem I really don't know.

I know at Tri-C you need either Bio-1100 Intro to Bio Chem or Chem 1010 Intro to Inorganic Chem AND Chem 1020 Intro to Organic and Biological Chem.

They used to have child care I do not believe they offer it anymore.

Basically you can start faster at Tri-C since they start more classes per year. They are currently seating for Spring of 2013. There are some folks that waited two or more years to start at LCCC.

ladylysis · Apr 29, 2012

snickers21: I know what you mean! I already have my BLS but want to get my books, ID, etc already. :)

Since I'm already in a patient care environment, all my shots are up to date. Even two - no, make it three - TB tests in the last year. Hopefully I won't have to deal with any needles, but hey - it's one day of getting poked. No big deal; just think of it as a drop in the bucket compared to what our patients will be going through!

ladylysis · Apr 29, 2012

Tri-C's nursing program is also well-respected. I chose LCCC for a number of reasons - I'm a west-sider, and their clinical sites are more convenient for me. They were also much nicer to me about the application process; I don't know what was wrong with my 3.81 gpa or life experience (I am presently a respiratory therapist with 6 years' experience), but when I called for information about the Tri-C program application they were almost rude. (This is in the nursing program office specifically.) Plenty of nurses that I know attended Tri-C and report that it is fine, and I probably would have gotten over that negative first impression - but it was negative all the same.

I also would have had to repeat BioChem and A&P I due to "expiration dates" for Tri-C. I aced them both the first time, but I was in no hurry to begin the program and would rather have used that time to complete support classes and classes for my eventual BSN.

LCCC's grads are also highly respected and well-employed. Both programs are good choices, and Tri-C's recent expansion plus extremely convenient relocation to Avon has resulted in the much-envied No Waiting Period.

It can't hurt you to look into Tri-C (er, Cuyahoga Community College) if waiting a year-and-a-half to start is a bother for you.

Seems as if there should be an accelerated program somewhere; have you looked at Firelands, maybe?

Regardless - good luck!

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Apr 29, 2012

I would do an accelerated program if you already have a BA...it is a waste to go thru 2 programs to get what you could in 1, and if you want NICU, usually the the big 3 downtown are BSN preferred. We have to maintain a certain number of BSN to keep our Magnet status, so when hiring, we usually look at BSN first. Just my opinion.

Jwarnike · Apr 29, 2012

I would love to do an accelerated program. In fact I called CSUs program 1st. But unfortunately it's 45 minutes away. I was told its 5 days a week. Full time (40 hours) and VERY intense, not sure when I would study with all that time plus 2 hours a day in commute. I have a 9 year old and a 2 year old. And childcare would run me about $200 a week, even more in the summer. Plus gas and mileage on my lease. My husband makes too much money for us to get childcare assistance yet he doesn't make enough to afford $800 plus a month in childcare. Big time bummer for me.

I looked into Firelands. Looks like a good program, but you have to be in Erie County. I'm in Lorain. Frustration is the name of the game I'm playing. I want my BSN and as I said I'll do the online program. If I have to wait until that's done to get a job, it's what I'll do.

And doing a straight BSN doesn't make sense either, by the time I get my ADN and do a 15 month online. I'm looking at the same amount of time (and less money on childcare) than if I did a BSN which would still be 3 years at least.

AgentBeast, BSN, RN · Apr 29, 2012

From what I understand of the whole MAGNET deal is New Grads that have their BSN and "BSN Track" (folks that are RN's and are enrolled in a RN-BSN program) are looked at the same.

You are probably going to end up driving to Cleveland for clinicals at some point no matter which school you choose. I've seen LCCC folks at UH. I have seen them at Lakewood Hospital too. You are also going to end up paying for child care. It's mostly a matter of if you want to start in the Spring of 2013 at Tri-C, or whenever they'll let you start at LCCC.

Jwarnike · Apr 30, 2012

I'm gonna call Tri-C tomorrow and see what my options are. I like having a back up plan. I know I'll have to pay childcare. But at LCCC it's $2.50/hr for students. That's really cheap. Not sure if that's available for clinicals or not. But still it eases the financial burden. Plus the campus is 10-15 mins away.

And I looked online an the accelerated track at tri-c says its offered at metro, I'd need west shore so I'll look into that. I think you can choose from clinical sites, I've heard of people doing them at Mercy in Lorain. So maybe the UH students you've seem have just chosen that location???

Do you know where you want to work? That's exciting to have one semester left. I have a friend that's a male nurse. And he says once you have your BSN it's all the same. And that as long as the school accredited employers (in his experience) don't focus so much on where you went. They look at your volunteer work/experience/references etc.

ladylysis · Apr 30, 2012

In most program you can request certain clinical sites, but there are no guarantees that you will get a spot at that site. It's also not possible - or desirable, really - to do all clinicals at a single location.

That said, LCCC's clinical sites are mostly west side. UH and CCF are included, and really - when you get to your ICU rotation, don't you want a really good one? Your smaller, local hospitals are not going to have complex cases to follow; most of them get shipped out to the University and the Clinic.

Jwarnike · Apr 30, 2012

ScottE. Are you in the generic or accelerated track?

AgentBeast, BSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

ScottE. Are you in the generic or accelerated track?

Generic only because I wanted to start earlier and have summer's off. I started in the Spring of 11 and I'll finish this fall and will have had the summers off. I could have started in the Accelerated in Fall of 11 and I'd finish this Fall going straight through.

NicuGal, MSN, RN · Apr 30, 2012

That isn't necessarily true about the BSN and BSN track, I am on a hiring and retention committee and if we have 5 positions and 20 people apply, and 5 of them already have their BSN then we will hire them. We just had 2 positions and over 40 applicants. Tough to get into NICU right now as most have a high retention rate.