Preparing for Nursing at Azusa Pacific, CA

I’m a scholarship recipient and am very happy with my placement; I got my first choice dept and am full time. We are paid the going rate, actually a step up on the pay scale because of our BSN. But, not all have been placed in a full time position yet. Some are part time and were told as soon as full time positions open up it will be theirs. If they can snag some OT (what’s considered OT when your part time) they could be sitting pretty. Times have really changed with the economy and yes, even in nursing. There are number of non-Kaiser scholarship recipients still looking for positions, some hospitals are not hiring at all and the positions are not as plentiful as they were 6 months to a year ago. I don’t have any doubts that they will not find positions its just not as easy anymore.

I’m not trying to discourage anyone. I just wanted to clear up the Kaiser info. Nursing is still a great field to be in for a lot of reasons and there are jobs, its just going to take more interviews and applying than it had before the economy took a dive.

Nursing is a great field, so best of luck to you. As I understand it Kaiser is not offering that scholarship program at APU anymore, at least for the time being. You can call and follow up on that, but that was the last I heard. California did have a loan forgiveness program if you worked at certain hospitals but we are bankrupt now so who knows if that program is still going. There are scholarships out there, it just takes some looking and essay writing.

My background was in social work so I think t hat helped me get into the ED. My manager said he liked that I had worked in social work and have dealt with people in crisis before. There is a HUGE learning curve with nursing so there is still a lot I need to learn but I am so glad to be able to start in ED

The program is so fast paced that you will not have time to do an externship. If you want extra experience I would suggest going on a medical mission trip or volunteering in a hospital during the Christmas or summer break. When you are in your clinicals, ask for the difficult/complicated patients, ask for opportunities to start IV’s, pass meds, help with chest tubes, lines, drains, etc. Put yourself out there while you have the mentors and the opportunity. It will be scary but you will be so glad that you did it!

Good luck!