Capital Health System Nursing School and work

Dragtail · May 31, 2009

Hello, I will also be attending CHSSON this September. From all the people I talked to from Previous schools and professors, Its a great school, I heard people studying for 3 or 4 hrs a night depending on the person. I was wondering your starting this Fall 09 . Would be awesome to get to know you since ill be attending this Fall also. I currently work in the ED as a Unit Clerk and im debating on how much hours to work, I believe the first year one can work part time like 20hrs a week or less. then the second year i heard it gets more time in the class room .

CarSces · Jun 1, 2009

Thanks for the info. Yes, I am starting this September.

I recently connected w/an alumni who had nothing but

good things to say about the hospital and the school.

Dragtail · Jun 1, 2009

wow awesome, did you already sign up for cpr class? I go next week. kinda excited. if u want you can email me at [email protected] to talk about school. ill probably see you in july when we start that 3 week class :) . Its good to find out someone thats going to be in the school with me

jlb_rn · Jul 8, 2009

i attended that program and i worked full-time (36 hours/wk) my first 2 semesters then cut back to 32 hours/wk for my last 2 semesters and used vacation time as needed (ie. night before an exam). the last semester i found i had to use my vacation time more liberally - i don't know if i was just getting burned out or if the curriculum was just busier that semester.

i was very, very busy but still managed to find time to run a few times a week and visit my family 1-2 times a month on weekends i wasn't working. if you have the ability, i would recommend not working that much. :) if you don't have any other option, it is doable if you are committed. i wasn't extraordinarily social during the semester, but i didn't deprive myself from activities, either.

good luck :) it's a great program.

Dragtail · Jul 8, 2009

hey JLB_RN

Can you tell me how many hours you studied, and when did you graduate from the program? And any other information about the school would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

jlb_rn · Jul 8, 2009

i graduated in 2008

i probably studied 10-15 hours a week and spent 5-10 hours a week reading...maybe more some weeks and less others (depended on the material)...the biggest piece of advice i can give is to keep up with the studying...do a little each day...there are only 3-4 tests each semester so doing poorly on just one can really impact your grade and there is too much information to effectively study only the night before...some things require memorization, but a lot of it requires understanding the nursing process and applying the material to the different disease states...my approach was to focus on the patho because then i was able to deduce the appropriate nursing diagnoses, interventions, etc on the exams and i found that to be the most efficient way to study, also - understand the patho and the rest falls into place

the school gives you the tools and information to succeed as long as you do your part :)

once you start clinical (few weeks in nursing 2, weekly in nursing 3-5) it gets a little more hectic because of care plans - anticipate spending a few hours the night before clinical working on your care plan

Dragtail · Jul 8, 2009

thanks for the information, right now I haven't started yet, we start Nursing 1 in August, and I have been reading the required text for each day and outlining the chapters in the Fundamentals of Nursing textbook. But, it feels that I am reading blindly, because I do not know which information they will cover in their lectures. Also have another question, my adviser told me that the tests are based on NCLEX questions, I was wondering ,other then just studying the information the instructor covers; also use my Comprenhensive NCLEX Review book and go to the section in the book that we are covering and study those questions out of the review book? Some thoughts I had in mind, knowing you been through this program just would love to have feedback and knowledge from a fellow alumini

Thanks again JLB_RN

-Eric

jlb_rn · Jul 9, 2009

you are absolutely on the right track...yes, the test questions are NCLEX style questions (deductive reasoning - very little regurgitation of notes especially once you are past nursing 1)

i used saunders and lippencott in nursing 1, 2, 3 and then lippencott and davis (i think it was davis) for nursing 3 & 4...i would study the individual section of notes, then go to that section of the lippencott book and do questions...if i did well, then i figured i understood the information i had just studied and i moved on from there...if i had trouble, then i would review / re-study my "trouble spots"

the week of the exam, i would read through my notes like a book (usually, by this point, i understood all the information well and just needed to brush up on the more memorization type information - clarify those "little facts") and then i would stop studying, per se, and focus on practice questions only for few days before the exam from wherever i had not already done them including the cd that comes with the texts and the text website...the day before the exam i would read over my notes one last time like a book and relax - go for a run, watch tv, read for pleasure, etc

also, most students did participate in study groups and found those to be helpful...my schedule was pretty hectic between my work and school schedule so i did not have a study group; however, i did have a friend and we would bounce questions and ideas off of each other in lieu of participating in a formal study group...i would recommend either finding a small group of people with your same style of studying / reviewing and/or finding a "buddy" with whom you can trade ideas and information

good luck - though it was a stressful time, it was also fun and you will be amazed at how much you really learn - it seems overwhelming when you get your syllabus at the start of the semester but the way they break down the information and tackle it in sections it all comes together

feel free to post here or pm me if you have any other questions

cheers :)

Dragtail · Jul 9, 2009

hey JLB_RN , I don't know how to pm on this website, lol

jlb_rn · Jul 9, 2009

hrm, can you tell that it's been awhile since i've done more than lurked on here - i don't see PM anymore, either :)

michellendylan · Jul 10, 2009

Hi! I'm also starting CHSSON in the fall, and wanted to know if you knew how many of their nursing students they hire after graduation. I'm hoping we have an in there just in case the economy continues and nursing jobs are still hard to come by for new grads.