BHSN-Bridgeport Hospital School of Nursing Fall 2011

[BA_anthropology]

Started a new thread, since the other threads on this topic look like they are from last year.

Okay,

I just got my acceptance letter in the mail today!!

I was going totally mental with anxiety, checking this board several times a day to see when people were hearing back, compared to when they had applied and what their stats were. I was also very nervous about how I had done on the TEAS, so I wanted to post my info to help other people a little. Here are my stats:

I applied to the school January 4th, 2010. I took the TEAS January 23rd, 2010.

Previous BA degree in anthropology. I graduate in August of 2009 with a 3.46 cumulative GPA.

I took A&P I last fall, at Gateway: B

Developmental Psych: A

TEAS: 81.2% (mean national was 72.8% and the mean for the program 73.3%)

My adjusted individual scores were as follows:

Reading: 82.5%

Math: 82.2%

Science: 70%

English: 85.5%

In all my nervousness, I called two days ago and was told that I would likely hear back from the in school 4-6 weeks. Then I got my letter today, February 5th. For the record, my admissions essay was based on a CNA training course I took in the fall and I also think that having a previous BA really helped, especially in seeing past that nasty 70% in the science section of the TEAS.

Good luck and I hope this information was helpful, or at least of interest, to some of you!!

[nursstud]

hey just browsing and saw this post. i am currently in nu104 (1st year) at bhsn, and here is a basic rundown on what to expect:

-orientation: is going to be scheduled sometime in late june. here you will get your preliminary schedule, order uniforms, and they have a book representative where you can order the book package from. the orientation is more one on one and you won't meet many other classmates at this time. besides those books you will need to pick up a health assessment guide, drug book, and nursing diagnoses manual before you start in september. total cost of the package comes to $600 and the books will last you till you graduate. to be honest though, i don't even use the books but i know of some students who do. it's really up to you. best book worth getting is the brunner and suddarths med-surg book. tons of useful information and good reading for if you're bored. also will help you on research for your clinical patients.

-nu101: you will be on clinical starting the first week. it's pretty basic and you will just be interviewing the patient and then slowly performing more skills as you use them. you have three tests for this semester spaced every 3 weeks, they are not cumulative. by the end you will be passing out medications. the schedule looks like the following for day students.

mondays: off

tuesdays: lecture from 8.30-3.30 (with 1/2 hour lunch usually around 12.30)

wednesdays: 1-2 hour lab period, based on your lab group number. there are 4 lab groups (a-d) of about 25 students each.

thursdays and fridays: you will have either a thursday or friday for clinical and the other day you will have off. clinical runs from 8-1.30 for nu101. also no lunches during these days. you will be in a group of about 8 students per clinical instructor.

saturdays and sundays: off

-nu102: begins around halloween and runs till christmas. your main focus this semester will be developing nursing diagnoses and big care plans for clinicals. schedule remains the same as nu101. you have 3 tests this semester spaced 2 weeks apart, the final test is cumulative. than you are given a small thanksgiving break and a two week break after christmas, before nu104 starts.

-nu104: begins first week of january and runs till ides of march. schedule changes a bit here and so does the testing. you will have 3 tests spaced three weeks apart and one cumulative final. we also pick up an extra day of clinical.

mondays: off

tuesdays: lecture 8.30-4 (with 1/2 hour lunch usually around 12.30)

wednesdays: 2 hour lab period based on lab group

thursdays: clinical 7.30 - 2.30 (with 1/2 hour lunch usually around 11.30)

fridays: clinical 7.30 - 2.30 (with 1/2 hour lunch usually around 11.30)

saturday and sunday: off

also during this semester you will be given 2 days of clinical off as they schedule you, and also 2 days of jewish home, 1 day at the vna, 1 day of surgery, and 2 days of pediatrics. these will be on a thursday or friday and when scheduled you will simply not go up to the regular floor for clinical and report to that assignment for the day.

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also some tips:

-the lecture hall can be unforgiving. temperature shifts in that room rapidly, so my advice is wear something comfortable but also bring a sweatshirt or something when the temperature drops and be prepared to take it off a half an hour later, lol.

-i saw some mentions of a voice recorder. i personally have a droid and use their voice recorder app. ain't much special but allows me to email it directly to my gmail so i can listen at home. normally though i just record the lectures and listen to them while i drive. ends up being pretty time efficient.

-i have a cardiology iii stethoscope also a gift. let me tell you the difference in quality is pretty amazing. some patients don't have the best peripheral blood flow so it comes in very handy when i can grab a blood pressure that the nurse on the floor can't accurately get.

-instructors are all great. i haven't met a bad one yet. some have reputations but the truth is they are all there to help you to become the best nurse possible. don't forget that. if that means challenging a student some times, than i say let them bring it on.

-clinical will be held primarily at bridgeport hospital although you may also be rotated to either yale or griffin for a semester.

-passing grade is a 75 average for each semester. my advice is you normally have three tests to get that so do as best you can on the first so you allow yourself a buffer. and if your average is a 74.9, sorry no rounding up you will fail. i saw a few kids just miss the mark. the average is based on exams only. clinical doesn't count and is only pass/fail. don't stress yourselves out about this though only about 5 kids dropped out per semester so far. we started out at about 120-130. the weeding process seems pretty much done at this point and those that remain are those that are going to stay. and even if you do poorly you can wait a year and try again, so you may have new students joining your class as the semester's progress.

-you will also have a chance to join the accelerated program. you will apply at the end of nu104. in order to join you need to have all your prerequisites and corequisites done by the time you start the accelerated program in june. you will end up forfeiting your summer but also graduate that december. so i say the trade off is fair. ill let you know more about that once i apply.

-after nu104 you get a 2 week spring break. nu105 follows which is maternity, which runs through april. nu201 runs through may. than you either have summer off starting in june to come back in september and graduate in following may or class through the summer to graduate that december.

-along with clinical and exams you will need to pass a few competencies per semester. examples of these are health assessment, injections, wound dressings, catheter insertion, and a few math exams for drug administration. math exams are basic calculations and algebra, not too difficult if you're good with math. you need to get an 80% on the math exam to pass. and if you fail any of these you will be given one more chance to complete it.

-you will need to research your patients the day before clinical. this usually involves going to the hospital the day before anytime after 2 pm and logging into the computer to get lab data, checking the patients chart, and going to introduce yourself to the patient for the following day.

-as far as patient load. you will start with one patient a day and eventually work your way up to dealing with more. they normally don't want to always overload you so expect about 2 patients once you hit nu104.

-uniforms are maroon scrub top and white pants. grab the white cargo pants if they are quite nice. not sure if they offer them for girls.

-pda/smartphone use: they dont allow it on the floor. although i dont find it useful anyways. with researching the patient and always being on the floor i have quickly memorized many of the common drugs and actions without even realizing it. if you really need to look up something quick no ones stopping you from drifting into a corner and doing fast research.

-other supplies you will need are light pen for neurological checks, a watch, and a white pair of leather shoes.

that's all i can think of for now. hope it was informative. if you've got anymore questions either post or pm me. im usually on once a week.

hi, what is the accelerated program like? how many semesters are they? do you just instead go to school the entire year instead of spring and fall? what book did you use to better help you for the teas exam? when did you apply for the program, how long did it take for you to get accepted? what are your study habits like? is there any kind of way that you can pm me the syllabus? the things that you guys do on a daily basis. i wanted to pm you but i don't know how:) please help!!!! i want to know so much but i will wait until i get a response, thank you in advance.

[benedicth2]

Hi! i have also applied for BHSN fall 2010 and im so nervous. I called today and they said my application was under reivew. My friend also called and they told her that they had a smaller number of applicants than normal. (like 550 instead of 700) making our chances almost 1 out of every 4! I also applied at SCSU, st.vincents, and goodwin college. SCSU is my first choice obviously because i would have a BSN and im already there, but BHSN is my second choice and ive heard so many great things about the program. I hope I get in!!!

[Ladybug15]

Good luck Benedicth! You were smart in applying to a lot of programs. You should get into at least one of those. Let us know when you hear back from Bridgeport, or Southern for that matter. I just found out that another person received their acceptance letter today, so they are definitely working on getting them out. When do you expect to hear from Southern? Did they give you a timeframe? I missed the first deadline for them, so I wasn't able to apply. A BSN is definitely a plus! However, I heard from someone on this forum that they were really unhappy with the program and looking to transfer. I have yet to hear any negative feedback regarding BHSN.

[jdoll]

Was anyone put on the waiting list to get in to bridgeport?

[YMBX]

OMG!!! WHY ARE THEY TAKING SO LONG? I'm driving everyone crazy at home. My hubby and kids try to beat me to the mailbox everyday:) but we get nothing but bills and junk!! Please let it come this week!! :redbeathe

[Ladybug15]

Lol...You make me laugh. Here's hoping for something more exciting than junk and bills this week! :heartbeat Have you tried calling the secretary again to see if they are still reviewing your file?? Perhaps they may tell you they just mailed it out!

[SaraStrong]

Oh my god, I understand the nerves of everyone waiting for a letter! I just received my acceptance yesterday. :yeah:Hopefully I will be seeing every one of you this Fall. For those of you who are still waiting, I did call a few times. I didn't wanna bug them but I couldn't restrain myself. They are very nice, but basically say that you just have to be patient.

[benedicth2]

Southern said they will send out leters the week after spring break so like 3 weeks from now....and yea ive heard ppl that arent happy with the program at all and then ppl that really like it. So i dunno if i get in ill give it a try and let u know lol

[SaraStrong]

What I'm really curious about is who out of you guys has taken public speaking?? My worst fear in the world is public speaking, even something as small as introductions. It's what I'm worried about most in nursing school, which is ridiculous. Any advice/information?

[Ladybug15]

I took a public speaking course in high school... but I don't know if that will count. I also took COMS 101, but it wasn't specifically public speaking... more of a general understanding of communications course. I hope they accept that and I won't have to take it! I've done so much public speaking at work and I'm not very fond of it, either. I took a negotiations course through my job and it was brutal! Perhaps I can get some kind of credit for that too... but who knows.

It can be very nerve wracking the first few times you have to get up to give a presentation, but after a while it becomes much easier. The thing I found that helped is to try not to overanalyze what you are going to do when you get up there, else it can make you really nervous. I found preparing for things makes it worse for me. If you gave me a topic with no notice I could easily get up there and rattle off some things with ease because I didn't have enough time to build up any anxiety over it. If it is something you have to prepare for however, repetition always helps; slipping up the words would be one less thing to worry about.

[Ladybug15]

jdoll - I have't heard from anyone who has receive a waiting letter yet. For some reason I think they send out all the acceptance letters first before mailing out letters for those on the waiting list.

benedicth - 3 weeks isn't too terrible. You'll probably hear back from BHSN before that. Good luck!! :)

[benedicth2]

i have taken 2 public speaking classes (intro to com and professional presentations) They really arent bad at all. Im not a fan of public speaking and I did fine. All you have to do is try and as long as youve let ur professor know that it makes you really uncomfortable they will work with you to make it so ur presentations are as painfree as possible. Plus there really arent that many presentations. In inro we did 3 real presentations and 2 kinda stupid just stand up and introduce yourself/ talk about something you like to do sort of deals and into professional presentations I think we did 4 the whole semester.