CU UCAN 2018

Nursing Students School Programs

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Started this thread for the 2018 CU-UCAN program. Has anyone submitted their application yet?

Thank you so much for being available to answer our questions! Could you please tell me what textbook was used for your Pathophysiology class? A friend of mine has Understanding Pathophysiology by Sue Huether and Cathryn McCance that she can let me use. Thank you

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Sorry for the wall of text-

Clinical Placements:

You do not get a say in clinical placements, up to senior practicum. For your practicum you get to rank your top disciplines (Med/Surg, Critical Care, Community Health, etc.) and make requests but none of it is garaunteed and there inevitably are people who get Med/Surg who wanted OB for example. They are a bit more flexible if you request rural placement (what I did) and less requested placements (Correctional Facility, also what I did). Ultimately, expect to be disappointed somewhere along the way.

You all will get some experience in a Nursing Home hopefully, which will be a new placement for the university. We complained that there was not a SNF/ALF placement for Health Assessment/Geriatric Nursing, and the university seemed very receptive of it. As for Urgent Care/Clinics, not unless you get your senior practicum there. This is mostly due to the nature of RN school. School is meant to get you ready for the NCLEX and you will not get the patient care experience in an outpatient setting, getting to see everything you want to see is hard enough in an inpatient setting… like there are no Surgical Rotations, nor ICU until senior practicum (Regis is the same way from what I have heard).

Also, per the hospitals in the area, you will not be rotating sites around as much. I had a talk with the CNO of a hospital system on our last day of a rotation and she said that all the hospitals are wanting to move to a system where students do all their placements at one facility. This cuts down a TON on their paperwork and improves hospital security (research what happened at Denver Health in April for an example). This also cuts down on your requirements too, because every hospital you work out you'll have to onboard at (which for some was ~5 hours worth of paperwork, classes, and modules)... a lot of the Regis people I talked to did not appreciate that fact. I spent all my rotations at Denver Health, and LOVED it. I have also talked to enough friends at other placements to get a decent idea of what the work environment is at each facility, so I am not worried about making a choice of hospitals later.

Lastly, I urge you to not view this program as a way to find what hospital/facility you wish to work at. Denver is in no shortage of new grads and, as the previous class mentioned to me, ultimately your first job will be what you can find. I didn't believe them, and now that I'm looking at graduating in a few months, I see what they are talking about. Furthermore, in talking with a few managers from different hospital systems (both here in Denver and Seattle, where I moved from) no one really cares what your senior practicum was in. They want to see good attitude, a passing NCLEX score, and work ethic.

Text books:

Not sure who'll be your instructor next year, but we used

Capriotti,T., & Frizzell, J. P. (2016). Pathophysiology: Introductory Concepts and Clinical Perspectives. Philadelphia, PA.: F. A. Davis Publisher ISBN#978-0-323-8036-1571-X

I bought the bundle the university offered (its was ~$1300) and regret it. I used the Pharmacology book, Nursing Diagnosis Handbook, and quite frankly….that was it. Save your money and use the copies on hand at the library or rent.

Also, not sure if I mentioned it before. I'm a Veteran and using the GI Bill, so if there are any Veterans or other GI BIll users message me. I have A LOT of VA specific information that the university did not share with me.

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Thanks for the honest feedback on clinicals - very much appreciated!

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Hello, does everyone get an interview? Or is that only for people who made it past step 1? Thanks!

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Just a question.. I am interested in applying for their ABSN program next year but I can't even find the ABSN application on NursingCAS, even if I click past programs, available programs and future programs...

I also checked on UCAN's website on "application deadlines" and the ABSN program isn't even listed.

Any advice?

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