Cypress College

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Anybody apply to Cypress College or is planning to? I was dumb enough to go the first day, and even though I was a half hour early, I ended up waiting a good 4+ hours for an application. Probably not the best set up I've seen, but whatever, this is the school I want to get in! So, here's the thread for Cypress, and wishing nothing but the very best to all us 2011 hopefuls!

Hey Jess! Thanks for taking the time for that awesome informative post! One question, you are planning to goto a bsn right after graduation? That's very interesting. I originally wanted to do a entry level masters, but the current tuition hike was a little ridiculous for cuss and ucs, so I chose to get a asn with plans to move on after I get the license.

Also, do u mind telling me where the clinicals would be at? I've decided that it's probably best if I moved closer to cypress, because the traffic on the 405 will give me constipation :)

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St. Jude in Fullerton is where Mc Romeo works too right? when did you start doing your residency program?

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Specializes in Ortho, Med/Surg.

I've actually heard some pretty negative things about the entry level programs as far as them preparing you clinically for being a nurse. So you will actually get a much better education at Cypress! They have an awesome pass rate of 95% in 2009/2010 (can be found @ rn.ca.gov for all schools)! Nurses will love you at your clinical sites, just due to the fact that you are Cypress student!

And yes, I plan on going right in for my BSN, I'd like to be done with school sometime this century - and actually really want to go on to be a Peds NP, so that's at least another 4 years of school! Yikes!

I believe that 1st semester goes to Placentia/Linda, St Jude, Los Alamitos, Garden Grove & Saddleback. However, options are different every semester! It depends on where and when they can find clinical time! Other places that will be options at some point are UCI, St Joe, CHOC, Fountain Valley, St Mary, West Med, Kaiser Anaheim, West Anaheim, Anaheim Regional... I'm sure there are more that I'm forgetting, but they are all in Orange County, the only one that isn't is St Mary's! (Plus the more specialized sites when you go to nursing homes & psych facilities.) But what they do is give you a list of what's available and you'll number 1-5 which you want the most and they do their best to get you where you want to be... but nothing is guaranteed. I always picked what was closest to my house, because let's face it, having to be starting clinical at 6:45am can be difficult!

I come in from Yorba Linda... and the 91 is bad enough, can't even imagine braving the 405!! Yuck!

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Specializes in Ortho, Med/Surg.
St. Jude in Fullerton is where Mc Romeo works too right? when did you start doing your residency program?

Yep! I started in January of this year, I'm just 1 semester behind him!

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Haha I feel like I'm a career student already! I have 3 bachelor degrees but finally decided to go into the field I've always wanted to do, rather than work work work!

I have heard many things against going to an accelerated programs, and after doing a lot of research, I decided cypress was the school I wanted to go to, and it was the only school I applied for! I've heard that instructors are great, a nice smaller cohort, and a great overall program overall.

I think it's suhweet that we can sort of list preferences for clinical sites, because I feel like I'm probably going to be someone who lives a little out of the area, so a close clinical site would definitely add more years to my life span. Thank you so much! I'm not going to lie, I'm so excited for the next stage in life to start!

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Aren't you kind of nervous too at the same time? i have like no experience at all in the healthcare field, so i really don't know what to expect haha

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No problem, I'm in the same boat experience-wise. . I'm nervous, but I gotta say that I'm more excited than anything :) we need to conjure up some confidence. Bring it!

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Wow, Jessica, seems we have a lot in common :) I live in YL and really want to work at St. Jude as a Peds NP as well... My other interest is in forensic nursing. I'm planning on going to Vanguard University's RN to BSN program as soon as I graduate. Still crossing my fingers that as an alternate I get a spot this semester!

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Specializes in Ortho, Med/Surg.

NCamp - if you really want to work at St Jude I highly highly suggest you try & get in as a CNA/PCT or a Unit Secretary. It's sooo hard to get in if you aren't an internal candidate, PLUS it will be awesome experience! Unfortunately St Jude has an itty bitty peds unit (who would go there when there's CHOC!), so I'm just concentrating more on getting experience until I'm through my BSN!

And to the rest of you stressing about experience, don't! Cypress is amazing at stepping you up, you literally start at the bottom with the basics, hygiene, vitals, etc... and they gently pull you up! Honestly, it's probably easier going in with no knowledge of the field because you have no bad habits to break, or prior knowledge to try and rely on! I will warn you the first few months of school I was wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into, but if you can get through that 1st semester you'll start feeling more like a nurse during 2nd and REALLY like a nurse in 3rd! =D

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Hey Jessica, i know that nurses and nursing students are very busy, and always on the go. The thing i was always curious about was, do nurses and nursing students have time for bathroom stops, and time to eat? I mean, i know it's impractical to sit there and have like 3-4 full good meals on a 12 hour shift, but what i mean is, do you guys have time for little breaks in between? where you can catch some air, and eat somethign small and have a pit stop

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Specializes in Ortho, Med/Surg.
Hey Jessica, i know that nurses and nursing students are very busy, and always on the go. The thing i was always curious about was, do nurses and nursing students have time for bathroom stops, and time to eat? I mean, i know it's impractical to sit there and have like 3-4 full good meals on a 12 hour shift, but what i mean is, do you guys have time for little breaks in between? where you can catch some air, and eat somethign small and have a pit stop

Well I'll tell you now, the trick to this is that you *must* make time for it. The floor I work on normally has lunch relief, so they take over your patients & phone for 30 minutes. But other than that you just have to make sure you have excellent time management skills, prioritize what needs to be done, and you can get in a few breaks! I am always constantly reminding myself to drink water, I always try to drink a full glass or 2 before I get there in the morning, and whenever I'm close to the pantry grab some more! It's too bad that you can't have any drinks (or food) on the floor due to health department regulations. You'll figure out how to make it work!

As a student you won't really have to worry about this as much as you basically always get your 15 minute morning break and 30 minutes for lunch! You're never on your own - and really aren't as critical to the care of the patient as the RN you are working with.

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Nice! Thank you so much for the advice. What classes do you need to take to transfer out and where do you plann on going for your bsn? I heard that CSUF has a good rn-BSN program, if i'm not mistaken

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