Any other UCF students here?

Annabelle57 · Apr 26, 2006

anyone? :mad:

sunsky778 · May 3, 2006

Hi I am a current Nursing Pending student at UCF. I would love to chat with you while you study at UCF. Maybe you can give me some advice on the program to.

Jessica

Annabelle57 · May 3, 2006

hi jessica ~

are you doing the basic bsn or accelerated? :specs:

sunsky778 · May 3, 2006

I am going to take BSN basic

madelyn18 · May 4, 2006

I will be finishing the accel program at UCF in August. Let me just say, good luck. On the down side, virtually every one of the 50 people in the accel class would agree, the program is extremely frustrating. The teachers with the exception of about 3 leave much to be desired. The program is also community based, so you do not even get into the hospital until 3rd semester. (That will be changing in one more year, when they go back to an Acute focus.) The Director of the school is fantastic, but unfortuantely, that is not reflected in the nursing program itself.

On the plus side, I am 28, already had one degree, and was anxious to get on with my life. So a 15 month BS is great, and I would not have wanted to spend 2 years working on it. And as they say, you learn most of what you need to know on the job. I am counting on it! The program is pretty small, and it is very benficial to get notes from previous students etc....

Although the program was rough, I feel like I just started, and I am on the home stretch now, so it goes pretty fast!

Best wishes.

sunsky778 · May 4, 2006

Thanks so much for this reply. I found it helpful. What did you mean by acute focus. I am hoping to be accepted Fall of 07, but I won't get into the accelerated program because I don't have a degree in nursing already. I will have to do the basic program it will take about 2 years. Which I am dreading. Did you not enjoy the classes or were they really hard? When you say community based exactly what do you mean. Only in the class no hands on? Sorry for so many questions I am just trying to make sure that I am in the right program especially because there are not many other programs here in Central Florida.

Thanks

Annabelle57 · May 4, 2006

madelyn18:

thanks for the reply!

how exactly is the program frustrating? i knew that it was mostly community-oriented, but i'm already working as a pct, so i'm getting in my hospital experience that way.

thanks for your response...

a

madelyn18 · May 4, 2006

By community based.....I mean that UCF believed that nursing was shifting out of the hospitals, and more into community based care. So the first semester, we basically took BP's at the local grocery stores. We also have to do a family case study each semester, and go into a families home to interview them and follow-up. Second semester we were at long-term care facilities doing mostly patient care such as bathing, linens, changing diapers, and some medication administration. Finally, third semester, we started working in the hospitals and did a adult, peds, and mental health rotation. But again, we were only in each rotation about 8 days. So not a lot of experience. Fourth and final semester, we have to do 90 hours in the community (I am doing Hospice), and 180 hours with a preceptor in the hospital.

The shift to acute focus after next year is occuring b/c they realized nursing is not shifting out of the hospital to the community, but is still staying in the hospital. They had a lot of complaints about UCF grads not having enough clinical experience compared to SCC and VCC graduates. So after next year, I think the program will be better, and there will be more hospital based clinicals.

As for the classes, the other students are great. When you do the accel program, everyone already has had a previous "life." So it is great learning from others, and everyone is coming to the program with various experiences. The teachers are okay. As I said, there were about 3 teachers that were great. The rest should have retired long ago. The classes are challenging, but definitely manageable. A LOT of people worked, and had children, and were able to make A's and B's. I did not work until this semester, and I did well without too much effort. Third semester is the hardest, with clinicals and classes, but it goes by fast.

We lost about 8 students in the past two semesters, but some were due to language barriers (they had just moved here from other countries), and a couple realized it wasn't for them.

Again, it is completely do-able. It goes by quickly, and it is a career where you will ALWAYS have a job. UCF campus is nice, the nursing classes are usually in the morning, so parking was never a problem. Also, there is a computer lab in the student union, where you can print out notes for free. I took full advantage of that!

It feels therapeutic to help others get through the program after the challenges!

cursinnursin · Jun 5, 2006

Hello, I attend the UCF School of Nursing in Cocoa, set to graduate in August of '07. I have heard of many problems with the program in Orlando, but I understand that it is a much larger class than ours. We have 36 students and haven't lost anyone yet. From reading this forum many nursing programs leave a lot to be desired. My only complaint is the level of patient contact. We actually won't be in a hospital until our fourth semester but we ARE learning. I have maintained all A's, have two young children and currently work part-time. My best piece of advice is to find a group that you can work with, rely on and share information with.

Best of luck.

ONMELD · Jun 14, 2006

Hi Annabelle,

I just came accross this board and wanted to ask you how you are doing at UCF acc BSN. I am taking my prereqs this fall (Chem, microbio and nutrition) at Brevard CC and hope to apply for the following year's program. I wanted to know if you have any males in the program and if you know what the job prospects are for your program's graduates?

Annabelle57 · Jun 14, 2006

Hi Annabelle,
I just came accross this board and wanted to ask you how you are doing at UCF acc BSN. I am taking my prereqs this fall (Chem, microbio and nutrition) at Brevard CC and hope to apply for the following year's program. I wanted to know if you have any males in the program and if you know what the job prospects are for your program's graduates?

Hi! :welcome:

So far, we're all doing okay. The program has its ups and downs, but generally, I feel good about it. We do have some awesome, super-organized professors who are passionate about what they teach and have contagious enthusiasm. So far, the workload has not been more than any of us can handle, though I think there are some students who thought they could coast through and are finding out that they can't. Just to let you know: there is a lot of community nursing. A lot. They told us next year's class (class of '08) will be the last group to do community nursing, and then they are going into an acute-care focus with more time in the hospital, I hope. But for now, it's a lot of time in health clinics, LTCs, developmental centers, etc. It's not as bad as some say - I'm actually enjoying working with the general public, so it's just fine for me. It also depends on which CNC (community nursing center) you choose - this year's choices were Winter Park, Sanford, Casselberry, Bithlo, and Pine Hills. There's a different instructor at each one, and each one does things a little differently, though there are certain assignments and experiences that are universal to all the CNCs.

There are about 5 guys in the program (out of 50 or so students), and I know they want to encourage more males to apply, though their admission criteria do not bias by gender (meaning you gotta have the GPA) no matter how many guys they want to have in the program.

Hope this helps! My best advice would be to keep the grades way up, and when you start the program, be super-organized and on top of things, and you should be just fine. Like I mentioned, it has its ups and downs like every program out there, but you get in and out in 14 months, so even if you didn't like it too much, it's not that long!

Good luck!