Advice on ECPI nursing program.

amelia_sn · Apr 19, 2015

Hi! Which nursing program are you looking into? PN or RN? I go to ECPI northern virginia, and have friends that have graduated from here and from the VA beach campus from both the PN and RN program :)

skgolden · Apr 21, 2015

I am going into the PN program and would really like to get the same info!

amelia_sn · Apr 25, 2015

Skgolden, when do you start? What would you like to know? I'm almost done with first term.

It's a bit disorganized, but I'm beginning to think it's just this campus, as they've basically hired all new people and you can tell that they haven't gotten everything straight yet. For example, it took two weeks to get our badges, over a week for our books and we won't have our scrubs until the end of this term- if we're lucky.

The instructors are the redemption. Although my a&p instructor is a doctor and tends to go off on tangents during lecture, my instructors for dosage and freshman orientation have been absolutely phenomenal- ready to help at every term. My dosage teacher even offered to tutor our cohort in a&p since the majority of the class isn't quite getting the material.

All in all, so far it's been a great term. I'm looking forward to finishing this term and beginning foundations in two weeks!

That's another thing- the classes are 5 weeks long, and its a lot of material to cover in such a short time. Don't get me wrong, I'm still capable of having a life and a few of my fellow classmates work- but it's definitely a lot to take in in such a short time!

Keep me updated on when you start- I'd love to know how your campus handles things!!

apeter · Apr 25, 2015

I'll pipe in with what little info I do have so far. I just got accepted for Newport News and classes start on the 11th. I took 2 pre-reqs with them though, so I got a taste of what it would be like with my situation. I work full-time and also have a toddler at home. My first class was Chemistry and it was a little tough getting adjusted since it was 3 nights a week including a Saturday. I was stretched pretty thin when it came to balancing work, home and school but I managed it well and came out with an A in both lecture and lab. It was a rough 5 weeks because there was so much packed into the lessons though.

My other pre-req was Algebra that I finished a few weeks ago. Boy that was awful. I'm usually pretty good at math, but for whatever reason my class just wasn't grasping the content - we all agreed that it was the teacher and her way of teaching. I kept on with the study plan and managed fine, but I think it was more difficult than my Chemistry class.

Obviously I haven't started the nursing classes yet - but the same concept as far as study time and time management will come into play since these are fast-paced 5 week terms with clinicals soon to be thrown into the mix. Most of the girls in my class also work full-time jobs during the day and though it's a challenge at times, it's completely doable as long as you do have that time management and ability to prioritize what needs to be done.

apeter · Apr 25, 2015

I meant to add that I'm in the night program with classes from 5:30pm - 10:30pm. I asked during my interview what clinicals would be like for us in the night program and the director said they'd fall under that same schedule, with some taking place on Saturdays depending on the clinical site. The only exception to the schedule is the peds rotation since it has to be during daytime/afternoon hours.