Anyone Starting At UPMC Shadyside School of Nursing?

U.S.A. Pennsylvania

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This thread is for anyone who is trying to get into, currently at, or graduated from Shadyside School of Nursing in Pittsburgh!

Specializes in Neuro Critical Care as PCT.
Hello, Shadyside students are encouraged to get jobs as aides at the hospital, provided you can balance work and school (part-time or casual work would be recommended). When you start school a nurse's aide recruiter will come to the school and try to recruit alot of the new class to be aides. You still need to complete an approximately 2 week paid training class at the hosptial, before you are placed on a floor. I have been a student at Shadyside since Aug '06 and an aide at the hospital since Nov '06. If you have any questions about the hospital or the school please feel free to contact me.

ChristineN (class of '08)

Thank you so much for your response ChristineN. That definitely sounds like something I would want to do. I am going to send in the form, to take the PSB Nursing Exam, within the next week. Take care, Sharla

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Specializes in Neuro Critical Care as PCT.
Hi, Sharla! I'm waiting on acceptance to Shadyside. I'm not sure about working as a student, but I think that you can get trained as a CNA while you are in nursing school. Did you apply or take the entrance exam yet? Good luck with your decision.

Hello, I am planning on sending the form in to take the entrance exam within the next week. I don't have much time if the last one is May 12th. Good luck with everything, Sharla

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Good luck on the test, Sharla........I took it in December and did really well on it. If you have any questions about it let me know.

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ChristineN....are you part time or full time at Shadyside? I am waiting anxiously to hear about acceptance into their part time program. I did really well on the entrance exam, but I'm not sure what their criteria is for admission other than that. I sent in the transcripts and the application with the essay in the beginning of March, so I just wait every day now for the mailman, and I don't even know if they even notify you until June!

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.
ChristineN....are you part time or full time at Shadyside? I am waiting anxiously to hear about acceptance into their part time program. I did really well on the entrance exam, but I'm not sure what their criteria is for admission other than that. I sent in the transcripts and the application with the essay in the beginning of March, so I just wait every day now for the mailman, and I don't even know if they even notify you until June!

I'm currently taking N102/N103 with the E/W class, but will be switching to daylight classes come the end of April for my med-surg rotations. I personally did not find out to around the end of June that I had been accepted. However, in every case I've heard of, if you pass the entrance exam, you are pretty much accepted. E/W classes are pretty small, so space will not be an issue at all (that's one thing I'll miss, going from a class of 24 students in E/W to 100+ in daylight). Good luck at Shadyside, there are alot of great instructors in the E/W program.

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I got a 99, 99, 99, and a 94 on my entrance exam. I'm really hoping that they use this, but since I really want to go to Shadyside, I'm really worried about my application.. I just wish that I knew , one way or another. Is it true that half of the class drops out by the middle of the first year?

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.
I got a 99, 99, 99, and a 94 on my entrance exam. I'm really hoping that they use this, but since I really want to go to Shadyside, I'm really worried about my application.. I just wish that I knew , one way or another. Is it true that half of the class drops out by the middle of the first year?

Drop out, fail out, whatever, we do lose alot of students. My E/W class started with approx 50-60 and now has around 24 students, with 2 more years to go. Daylight typically starts with around 100 and graduates around 50. That being said, don't be intimidated, Shadyside has the 9th best NCLEX scores in the country. It is a hard school, they start throwing NCLEX questions at you early in the nursing classes, but study, ask questions, and once you make it through the program you will be a great nurse. Are you signing the loan forgiveness papers?

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Yes...if I get in , I will sign the loan forgiveness papers. Is it like a loan where you have to get approved or is it something between you and the school?

I'm totally up for a tough program. I'm very interested in being a nurse and I think I'll be a great student if they give me a chance:)

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Cardiac.

We lost some in our first couple semesters in the daylight program, but nothing like half. As ChristineN points out we still have 113 day students going into the 200 level classes. I think we started with about 100, a few dropped out and we picked up a few from earlier years who either had to take a semester off or failed a class or whatever.

With your entrance exam scores, I'm sure you can do the work. I wouldn't even think about failing. What may be hard for you might be finding quiet time to study, because study is necessary, at least for me.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Cardiac.

As for the loan forgiveness program, they just give you the paperwork at your orientation and it's up to you if you want to sign it or not. So it's not like a loan that you have to get approval for.

With the loan forgiveness program you're still responsible for your books and uniforms, which isn't trivial. After you've put in your two years at a UPMC hospital after graduation, the loan will be forgiven, but the IRS considers that forgiven loan to be income, so you will be responsible for the income tax on the $15,000 or whatever it works out to be. They said that the hospital actually deducts the tax on the loan from your pay during the two years and then gives it back to you when the tax is due so that you don't get socked with a big tax bill and no money to pay it.

I signed up for forgiveness program. Still seems to be a good deal, especially since the odds are pretty good that we'll end up at some UPMC facility.

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Thanks for the info, danh3190. I am pretty sure that if I get in I will sign the loan forgiveness papers. I would like to work for UPMC when I'm done anyway, so it sounds like a good deal to me. As far as finding time to study, my husband is very supportive of this , so I know he'll take the kids so that I will have time to study. Like I said, I'm up for it. I want to learn about this, so I think that makes it better. I've been out of school for awhile, and going back into nursing is my choice....not just something that is a spur of the moment decision. Anyway, wish me luck. Hopefully I'll get in!

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Specializes in Neuro Critical Care as PCT.

hello everyone! i sent my form in for the pre-entrance exam today! i will be taking the test may 4th. i printed the specimen questions sheet to see how the questions are set up. it doesn't look to bad. i'm going to review as much natural science as i can so it is fresh in my mind. does anyone remember how much time was given for each section?

also, i applied to a nursing assistant job for the summer and clearly stated that i plan on attending nursing school in the fall at shadyside. do any of you know how long the training is to be a nurse assistant? i felt this would help me get acquired to the nursing atmosphere and i could learn by watching.

take care and god bless, sharla ;)

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