Denver School of Nursing--BSN experience

keland1 · Nov 7, 2006

HI

I am also doing the BSN program, but not starting until April '07. All of your info is great! Keep it up! Good Luck!

mbw5680 · Nov 7, 2006

Hi all,

This is a little off topic--but here's some recent info I acquired.

I might have to move to Nashville before school is finished (sniff, sniff.) I called Belmont University in Nashville, and the admissions coordinator told me that he would have to evaluate my credits class by class. He said he'd need to see a catalog from the school, and for clinical classes, a syllabus for each class. He also said that while he couldn't guarantee anything, the school looked "mighty fine" at first glance.

Belmont does have a rule that if you get a "B" in Pathophysiology or Pharmacology, you have to audit the classes there, and if you get a "C", you have to retake them. (I'm SO going to be retaking Patho....might not be such a bad thing!)

mbw5680 · Nov 13, 2006

Hey everyone,

Just a quick note for those of you who might feel like this information is redundant or whatnot...

I am posting for EVERYONE out there. You might already know some of this stuff (and here's to that!), but there might also be people who don't. So if it feels like I'm telling you things you already know, just skim past that part and look for the juicy bits.

My note for today--I ran into the dean of the school in the elevator, who asked how I was doing, and when I mentioned how frustrated I was with the workload, etc., told me to come talk to her anytime. I also ended up sitting down with one of my professors for over an hour, talking about some study solutions. The point? The school staff does want you to succeed. Take advantage of that. Talk to these people. I found that even if they couldn't fix the problem, they were more than willing to listen to you vent about why tests are stupid.

studentnurse3 · Nov 15, 2006

Hi Cynthia (and everyone else),
For the Denver School of Nursing (19th and Market), I didn't have to write an essay or submit letters of recommendation. I just completed my pre-reqs and had an interview with an admissions counselor. I honestly found it very easy to get in. Jeff Johnson (the director of admissions), essentially told me that as long as you've fulfilled your prerequisites and can swing the tuition, you'll be accepted as soon as there's space. (Right now there's a very short to no waiting list because the tuition is so difficult to finance.)
I also applied to the CU-Health Sciences Center (I didn't get in.) They do require an essay, and the school is VERY competitive. (I realize this is off the subject of this post, but it's still about nursing school.) They don't advertise this, but CU DOES care about where you went to school (my husband is a professor there.) How they admit people is that they a) score each application, and then b) make a cutoff point and accept people who score above it. However, CU has a multiplier that affects your score depending on where you did your pre-reqs. For example, let's say your application is given a score of 83%. If you went to Metro, your score would be multiplied by .80, CU-Denver, 1.0, and Harvard, 1.2 (therefore effectively raising or lowering your score.) (I'm not saying those are the actual multipliers, it's an example.)
Good luck applying! Feel free to PM if you want.

I've been reading your BSN experience and it is very informative. Thanks for taking the time out to do this. I am very interested in applying there in the future. I believe after this semester I will have one prereq. I will need to finish before I can apply. I do have a question for you, did you have to take an entrance exam like the Accuplacer in order to be accepted? Some schools, like Platt, require you take this placement test before you will be accepted. Just curious if DSON does the same.

Thanks!

mbw5680 · Nov 16, 2006

No, you don't have to take the Accuplacer. I think I've mentioned this before, but you do have to take a basic math skills (pass/fail) in order to take Pharmacology Calculations.

studentnurse3 · Nov 16, 2006

No, you don't have to take the Accuplacer. I think I've mentioned this before, but you do have to take a basic math skills (pass/fail) in order to take Pharmacology Calculations.

Thanks for the info. I think I will need to brush up on my basic math skills like you mentioned in a previous post. Thanks again for taking the time to document your experience at DSON for all of us! :thankya:

K os · Nov 30, 2006

I was recently accepted to UC SoN and researched accreditation issues. My understanding is this:

When you pass the NCLEX you are an RN (whether you have your ADN or BSN)

So you may have the BSN but if you plan to further your education beyond the BSN level that is where you may run into trouble. Check with some universities offering masters/doctoral programs to see if your BSN coursework would apply to necessary pre reqs in their program(s).

I plan to continue my education post BSN, hence my decision to apply to CU.

Good Luck and hope that my two cents helps! :monkeydance:

mbw5680 · Dec 11, 2006

Hi everyone,

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, we have been BUSY! However, today we received the schedule for next quarter, so here it is.

Sun--open for clinicals

Mon--open for clinicals

Tues--open for clinicals

Weds--Health Assessment 9-12

Med/Surg 1-4 (short for medical/surgical)

Thurs--Health Assessment Lab OR IV lab 11-1

Health Assessment Lab OR IV lab 2-4 (1/2 the class has each lab; then you flip)

Fri--Med/Surg 9-12

Sat--open for clinicals

It should be noted--just because four days are open for clinicals, that doesn't mean you have clinicals on all four days. You will have clinicals on one or two of the four. If I learn more, I'll post it here.

mbw5680 · Dec 11, 2006

Correction:

You'll be in lab on Thursday from either 10-4 or 11-4:45pm, depending on if you're in group A or B. (This might be too much detail...)

Also, here's some more information about clinicals:

You need 120 hours for Med/Surg. You'll probably be in clinicals two days a week, 12 hour shifts. Right now, the shifts are 6:30am to 7:00pm. (Occasionally, you'll also have evening shifts from 2:30pm-11:00pm. Currently, the school doesn't do graveyard shifts.) Therefore, you'll only have clinicals for five weeks. (If you end up doing clinicals 1/week, they'll be for ten weeks.)

mbw5680 · Dec 12, 2006

Hi everyone,

This post is to inform you that due to a very long explanation, I won't be continuing my schooling at DSN after this semester. I'll continue to post any information I get up until the end of the quarter, but after that, you're on your own.

I'd like to encourage my classmates (and future BSN students) to keep posting and get information out for everyone to share.

Thanks for reading!

-Mary

wannabeinwanaka · Dec 12, 2006

Mary,

Thanks so much for your posts, they have been very helpful to me. I will begin in July and would love to hear from anyone with info about what to expect.

So, are you moving to Nashville like you thought? I hope all goes very well for you. Again, thank you.

m

mbw5680 · Dec 12, 2006

Yup--we're moving to Nashville (hello--fried catfish! I don't even like fish!)

I'm going to be attending Belmont University out there.