Denver School of Nursing

No, DSN's schedule is not that crazy...no one would go if it was. I just finished the LPN program this past June, now I'm in the LPN-RN program. The first quarter was a little rough, but looking back through the program it was definitely the worst of the year. After 1st quarter it gets much better.

My first quarter, we had Wednesday 1-4, Thursday 8-3 and Friday 8-4. But the 2nd quarter it was just Thursday 8-4 and Friday 8-4, and quarters 3 and 4 it was just MOnday 9-4 and Tuesday 9-4. The first quarter you have to do Pharmacology calculations, Assessment with lab, and Fundamentals with lab. So there is a lot of lab time, and you have to do all your skills in this quarter. And you do clinicals one evening a week (8 hours) in the first quarter.

Personally, I liked the LPN program. It was challenging, but so is any other good school. I liked the instructors. I would recommend it for those who really don't want to wait on any more waitlists. We got the education we needed, almost everyone in my class is working as an LPN and everyone I know who took the NCLEX-PN passed with 85 questions (the minimum).

Good luck!

thank you so much - gosh - what a relief. so tell me, how was the homework? i am just trying to anticipate how much will be feasible to work during the school. how much were you able to do?

you gave me a breather - thank you!

Christina

tlackey - what a relief - thank you so much. so you liked the program? Great to hear. how was homework? the reason i ask is because i am trying to anticipate how much i will be able to feasibly work during the first year. thank you for your help - you took a big weight off my shoulders!!!

Christina

The homework really was not too bad. The first quarter it kind of sucked, only because we had weekly quizzes in pharm. calculations, and we had to practice our skills and get checked off for assessment and Foundations class. Overall, because we spend a lot of time in lecture, the instructors don't assign any "busy-work." A few brief papers, a couple of presentations, but mostly tests every couple of weeks. The school doesn't work on a midterm-final test system; pretty much every class has a test every two or three weeks. There were 21 people in my class, almost everyone had families and jobs, but it was rare that anyone was really overwhelmed with the workload.

It is definitely doable, just a lot of studying your notes and texts. We all kind of learned to manage our school time with all the other stuff going on in our lives.

-Tracy

Tracy-

great. Do you still have your books from your first year there? Are you willing to sell them off or did you already? Thanks for all your help! Good luck w/ school this year. stick it out - you can do it!!!!

Christina:uhoh3:

Has anyone heard anything about the NCLEX pass rate for DSON for the BSN program? I see on the Colorado Board of Nursing website that the passrate is only 75% for the ADN program. I really want to start a BSN program and I'm sick of being on waitlists...but the lack of accredidation scares me. Any other thoughts? What was the deciding factor for those of you who decided to go for it at DSON?

Melissa

This is why I'm going there:

http://www.nlnac.org/Forms/directorySearch.asp

Colorado nursing programs accredited by the National League of Nursing: CSU-Pueblo, Metro State, Otero JC, Pueblo CC, and UCHSC.

Not Front Range, not CCD, not Arapahoe, not Aims or any other well-known nursing program in Colorado. At least DSN is a candidate for NLN accreditation, and all nursing programs are APPROVED by the state of Colorado (accreditation and approval are not the same thing). Then again, all state of Colorado approved nursing programs are required to attain accreditation by 2010 anyway. Going to DSN is no different from going to any other non-accredited nursing program in colorado, of which there are many.

There are several accreditation bodies for nursing programs. For example:

From Regis website:

Regis University has been accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools since 1922. The Department of Nursing was accredited by The National League For Nursing – Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) through April 1, 2002. We are currently accredited by The American Association of Colleges of Nursing – Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (AACN-CCNE).

As of April 1, 2002, Regis University voluntarily chose to no longer use NLN as the accrediting body for our nursing programs. NLN is the primary accrediting body used by associate degree programs. In light of recent changes, baccalaureate and master level programs are moving toward AACN-CCNE as their primary accrediting body. AACN-CCNE supports collegiate professional education and therefore is in line with the level of education that Regis provides.

If you would like more information on AACN-CCNE please go to: http://www.aacn.nche.edu/accreditation .

Thank you so much! I didn't realize that accreditation and approval are not the same thing and that there are different accrediting bodies...

This seems to be so complicated...

I just want to get my BSN and be a nurse! Of course I want to be the best I can be and get the best education as possible...thank you for helping clarify this issue.

Can you comment at all on how you are paying for DSON? I know this is a bit personal but paying for this is a huge concern of mine. I see that there may be options with Sallie Mae for a loan but I'm wondering how much of the costs the loan will cover. Do you have to pay for the entire $30,000 up front?

Thank you so very much for your help!

I'm hopefully starting DSN in April and have many of the same concerns. As far as how I'm paying for it, I'm hoping to get the Sallie May loan. I believe it's based on credit, so if you have good credit, you should get a loan that would cover the whole amount. I could be completely wrong, but that is my understanding. Anyone else planning on starting the BSN program April 07?

Does anyone know the average age of students at DSN?

I also want to add my thanks for the information provided. I'm also starting the BSN program in October 06 (!). You can take the NCLEX and be a nurse if you finish this program. JUST DON'T LEAVE--your credits might not transfer until the school becomes accredited.

I'm doing the self-pay option. I have fairly decent credit, so I called my credit card companies and got a reasonably low interest rate (0% until March 2008, then 7.99% after that. I highly recommend Chase for credit cards--when I explained my financing situation they really worked for me.) I'm also doing a short-term loan through my bank for part of the financing--again, I explained the problem and got a lower interest rate than the Sallie Mae loan.

Nelnet and some other companies offer private student loans as well, so you might try some of those options. I hope this helps! (It is REALLY expensive to go to school without federal aid. I'm already envisioning two years of Ramen noodles for dinner. )