Comparing UPMC Mercy SON and Shadyside SON

U.S.A. Pennsylvania

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Hello, I plan on entering a UPMC school of nursing in 2014. To me, its between Shadyside and Mercy. Can anyone speak to the comparison of these two schools? Shadyside has some clear advantages; they have a great simulation lab (better than Mercy's) and they seem to have a stronger reputation for helping with professional development (however I can't tell how much of this is hype and how much is accurate). However I'm still leaning towards Mercy due to its faith-based identity and also, to a lesser extent, its smaller class size, and (for me) its a much easier commute. I'm sure they are both great schools but Shadyside seems to have a bit of an edge yet my gut still says Mercy. Thoughts? Advice?

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.

I am a Shadyside grad. The class sizes were around 20-30 for lecture 4-6 for clinical. There is definitely some career assistance, as they have nurse recruiters from Shady side hospital come out first semester and basically anyone interested in working as a tech gets hired. I didn't see as much career assistance for the RN transition, maybe it was there and I didn't utilize it.

Any other specific questions or concerns you have about Shadyside I can try to address. I never looked at Mercy so I don't know much about their program, but I feel graduating from any UPMC school of nursing gives you an edge as a new grad when it comes to getting a job in one of their facilities

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I'm at Mercy now, and after visiting each school, you usually can get a feel for what works for you. Mercy is faith-based, but with that I feel like the instructors actually care about the students. Not just care if you pass/fail but care about you as a person. I didn't feel that at Shadyside. It felt too competitive there for me. I'm in my first semester, so right now our foundations class is rather large (about 100 students), but it's just the basics. Once you get into the specialized rotations (2nd semester of the first year) the class size drops significantly. But even with the large class size, the clinical groups are usually 6 students. There's is also a support program in place to help students succeed academically in nursing school. I'm not sure how job assistance is, but if you do well you generally wouldn't have a problem getting a job anywhere. Good luck!

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Thank you both. Your comments were very helpful. naturalgirl, did you find that it was easy for students to find jobs as NAs or PCTS in their first semester at Mercy? If I go to Mercy, I would like to work in one of those positions at the hospital while I am in school.

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Hi smm, if you don't have any experience, I think you have to wait until after your first year to be a pct. most people already had jobs in phlebotomy, NA, PCT, or as a monitor tech. I just found a job at mercy as a unit secretary, but most people either already jobs coming in, or are too busy to think about starting a job! Lol...have you taken any of the non nursing classes yet?

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Thanks for your response. I would like to get a job as an NA or a PCT before entering the program if I can. Currently I work in a non health care job. I am about to start applying through UPMC's website. Do you have any advice for getting an interview? One of my only concerns is that I have heard that you may start out at around $10 an hr as a NA which is less than Im making now so I would have to be willing to take a pay cut :( But yes I am taking A&P 1 right now at CCAC and am scheduled for A&P 2 next semester. I hope to fit Micro in before i start in the fall. I wanted to try and take more classes to transfer in but since the curriculum is being revised still I dont want to end up taking something that will no longer be required come Fall. last time I checked they still havnt announced the new curriculum. yikes!

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Specializes in Pediatric/Adolescent, Med-Surg.
Thanks for your response. I would like to get a job as an NA or a PCT before entering the program if I can. Currently I work in a non health care job. I am about to start applying through UPMC's website. Do you have any advice for getting an interview? One of my only concerns is that I have heard that you may start out at around $10 an hr as a NA which is less than Im making now so I would have to be willing to take a pay cut :( But yes I am taking A&P 1 right now at CCAC and am scheduled for A&P 2 next semester. I hope to fit Micro in before i start in the fall. I wanted to try and take more classes to transfer in but since the curriculum is being revised still I dont want to end up taking something that will no longer be required come Fall. last time I checked they still havnt announced the new curriculum. yikes!

Call around to nurse recruitment at some of the hospitals after you apply, and tell them your story. It will help keep your application from getting lost in the pile and stand out.

I haven't been a tech in 5 years but when I was I started out around $9/hr for UPMC and never hit $10/hr in the 2 years I was a tech, and there are no shift differentials. So for the experience you are getting the money does suck.

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A nurse recruiter will come at the end of your first semester.

I love mercy and I have a coworker who goes to Shadyside who says they're "cold" and "cut throat" lol those are her words not mine!

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