Any Prairie State college hopefuls for fall 2012

U.S.A. Illinois

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I was just wondering are there any prairie state hopefuls for 2012 out there?

St. James hospital, hmm my bf called HR at St James hospital in chicago heights and asked if they hire RNs at all, and they said no only BSNs. I don't know if it's their way of upping their criteria or they just didn't want to be bothered.

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It seems to me that i've been getting a lot of WRONG information,lmao! sorry.lol

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OOO OOO!! Where??lol I don't want uncomfortable uniforms. I don't know any uniform shops around here, I'm in chicago heights :(lol

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Thats awesome! That gives me hope!!!Lol Nursebetie are you already in the program at psc? or did you just get accepted into the program? I'm trying to get things together before I get to the orientation and get freaked out again.lol

Im just getting in for fall

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Maybe you can get Medicaid

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Specializes in Emergency Room.
do you know where to get health insurance? physical taken? titiers? i got my tb ad titers done at work months ago..can i use that? i also have a cpr card. i do not have health insurance, and if i don't work.......then...is there any other way of getting health insurance for clinicals?

prairie state offers health insurance although it's pretty crappy it at least covers you. there should be info on their website. if you have insurance now through work i'd recommend keeping that for as long as you can and then using that as proof of insurance when you turn in all your required paperwork. all they'll want is to copy your card. they'll expect you to be insured while in the program but once you provide proof at the beginning of the year they don't ask about it again and i'm pretty sure they don't even check after that. they just need something on record. i'm sure they know a lot of people can't work, be in this program and pay for insurance at the same time.

tb is good for one year and required to be allowed in clinical sites. you can use the one you already have but if it lapses during your 2nd semester next year you might have to get another one anyway. i'd recommend getting another one in june/july/august so you're covered for the full first year of the program and don't have to worry about it. i don't know what your money situation is like but they usually aren't too expensive (think you can get them done at walgreens too).

physicals and titers i got done at a doctors office (but i had insurance at the time). i also had a 6-panel drug test (prairie state required a 5-panel drug test when i got accepted) done at st. james olympia fields but i kind of wish i had asked my doctor if i could have one done through his office, it was expensive at st. james. same goes for titers at st. james. once you get your titers though i believe those are good through the entire program so don't lose the paperwork, hold onto it. you don't have to do it again after a year like tb/drug test/physical.

also don't be afraid to call/email some of the instructors in the nursing program to ask about where to get some of these things done cheaper. i'd recommend camille willoughby whose an administrative assistant in the program. her contact info is on the site in the nursing section. we had to turn in most of our required paper work to her anyway. but i'm sure some of the other instructors (malic, bultheis, eberhardt) would know too.

jasel, there is no grady for nurs 111 this summer:( aww :(lol theres only green and

schwartz, do you know these instructors? did you get randomly picked during orientation? when will they tell you clinical times? and did you have clinicals in the nursing home?

i'm not sure if mrs. grady is teaching 111 this summer. sister ida green is very nice but i only had her in lab (where you demonstrate skills you learn in discussion every week). mrs. schwartz i've never had but i think i met her a couple of times at st. james because she was the clinical instructor there for 2nd year students. sometimes she would stop by and chat with our teacher and us early in the morning. if that's her she seemed nice too.

as for class selection you can choose your section but we entered a gymnasium or something like that and there was a box full of key chains with numbers on the end. you got to register for classes in the order of the number you chose. i'm assuming people who had higher numbers had less options by the time they were called up to pick their section. i think i had #37 or something so i didn't have any problems.

clinicals you won't find out about probably until the week you start them (we started going to clinicals our 3rd week). a lot of clinical sites are hard to come by even for prairie state and they usually can't even tell our teachers when a good time for them right up until we start going. and you can wind up having clinical on any day from wed - sat depending on the site (although our 1st semester i think we just had wed or thurs, 2nd could have been wed or thurs or fri). yes first semester you will be in a nursing home, 2nd semester a hospital.

also do not buy a uniform before orientation. you'll have to wear prairie state uniforms which you will order at orientation. nursing uniforms are so expensive, including theirs. i only bought one scrub top and one set of scrub pants which has worked for me the past year. you'll need to wear white *nursing* shoes (gym shoes not allowed unless it's the nursing kind with the little heart on them, i forgot the brand), and you'll also get an id which is required at clinical and observation sites.

one last thing, and i just remembered this: make sure you pay the $100 deposit at the cashiers office before orientation. the orientation letter had many of us thinking we were supposed to pay the deposit during orientation and a bunch of us were running to the cashier's office trying to pay it while they were calling numbers to register for classes because they told us it was already supposed to have been done.

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Jasel:

In the letter it says that you don't have to purchase right away.. you can get them from a uniform store at a later date, however, you have to purchase the patch and have them put it on.. but of course same color

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Specializes in Emergency Room.
Jasel:

In the letter it says that you don't have to purchase right away.. you can get them from a uniform store at a later date, however, you have to purchase the patch and have them put it on.. but of course same color

Hmm not sure what to tell you. The uniforms they had us buy in the fall don't have the patch anymore. I know the class before us had patches though and the ones before them.

Mrs. Bulthuis told us the patch raised the prices of the uniform a lot and because of the patch you can't use the uniforms outside of the program on top of that so they dropped them. Maybe they brought it back and changed it around, but we all ordered our uniforms during orientation. It was the first thing they had us do when we walked through the door.

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Hmm not sure what to tell you. The uniforms they had us buy in the fall don't have the patch anymore. I know the class before us had patches though and the ones before them.

Mrs. Bulthuis told us the patch raised the prices of the uniform a lot and because of the patch you can't use the uniforms outside of the program on top of that so they dropped them. Maybe they brought it back and changed it around, but we all ordered our uniforms during orientation. It was the first thing they had us do when we walked through the door.

Ok I see what your saying! My friend thats currently in the program I went with her to the uniform store last year and she brought a uniform there for clinicals. She went to life uniform on Harlem. I guess I'm saying lol that you don't have to buy them at orientation that's what the acceptance letter is stating. Am I making any sense? Lol

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Thank you soooooooooooo much!Lolll Wow that's some awesome information. Let me take a minute to digest everything.lolll I'll be back soon.

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What color are the uniforms for fall 2012? Did you have to get a stethescope or eye pens or anything?

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Prairie State offers health insurance although it's pretty crappy it at least covers you. There should be info on their website. If you have insurance now through work I'd recommend keeping that for as long as you can and then using that as proof of insurance when you turn in all your required paperwork. All they'll want is to copy your card. They'll expect you to be insured while in the program but once you provide proof at the beginning of the year they don't ask about it again and I'm pretty sure they don't even check after that. They just need something on record. I'm sure they know a lot of people can't work, be in this program and pay for insurance at the same time.

TB is good for one year and required to be allowed in clinical sites. You can use the one you already have but if it lapses during your 2nd semester next year you might have to get another one anyway. I'd recommend getting another one in June/July/August so you're covered for the full first year of the program and don't have to worry about it. I don't know what your money situation is like but they usually aren't too expensive (think you can get them done at Walgreens too).

Physicals and Titers I got done at a doctors office (but I had insurance at the time). I also had a 6-panel drug test (Prairie State required a 5-panel drug test when I got accepted) done at St. James Olympia Fields but I kind of wish I had asked my doctor if I could have one done through his office, it was expensive at St. James. Same goes for Titers at St. James. Once you get your titers though I believe those are good through the entire program so don't lose the paperwork, hold onto it. You don't have to do it again after a year like TB/drug test/Physical.

Also don't be afraid to call/email some of the instructors in the nursing program to ask about where to get some of these things done cheaper. I'd recommend Camille Willoughby whose an administrative assistant in the program. Her contact info is on the site in the Nursing section. We had to turn in most of our required paper work to her anyway. But I'm sure some of the other instructors (Malic, Bultheis, Eberhardt) would know too.

I'm not sure if Mrs. Grady is teaching 111 this summer. Sister Ida Green is very nice but I only had her in lab (where you demonstrate skills you learn in discussion every week). Mrs. Schwartz I've never had but I think I met her a couple of times at St. James because she was the clinical instructor there for 2nd year students. Sometimes she would stop by and chat with our teacher and us early in the morning. If that's her she seemed nice too.

As for class selection you can choose your section but we entered a gymnasium or something like that and there was a box full of key chains with numbers on the end. You got to register for classes in the order of the number you chose. I'm assuming people who had higher numbers had less options by the time they were called up to pick their section. I think I had #37 or something so I didn't have any problems.

Clinicals you won't find out about probably until the week you start them (we started going to clinicals our 3rd week). A lot of clinical sites are hard to come by even for Prairie State and they usually can't even tell our teachers when a good time for them right up until we start going. And you can wind up having clinical on any day from Wed - Sat depending on the site (although our 1st semester I think we just had Wed or Thurs, 2nd could have been Wed or Thurs or Fri). Yes first semester you will be in a nursing home, 2nd semester a hospital.

Also DO NOT BUY A UNIFORM BEFORE ORIENTATION. You'll have to wear Prairie State uniforms which you will order at orientation. Nursing uniforms are so expensive, including theirs. I only bought one scrub top and one set of scrub pants which has worked for me the past year. You'll need to wear white *nursing* shoes (gym shoes not allowed unless it's the nursing kind with the little heart on them, I forgot the brand), and you'll also get an ID which is required at clinical and observation sites.

One last thing, and I just remembered this: Make sure you pay the $100 deposit at the cashiers office BEFORE ORIENTATION. The orientation letter had many of us thinking we were supposed to pay the deposit DURING orientation and a bunch of us were running to the cashier's office trying to pay it while they were calling numbers to register for classes because they told us it was already supposed to have been done.

By the way your awesome! You give great info! Just a FYI

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