Eastwick College or Jersey College? Bridge program

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Hi has anyone tried out eastwick college in nj or jersey college in teterboro for the RN program? I am trying to figure out which would be the best to go to?  

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I am a current bridge student at Eastwick.   I will tell you that if you haven't decided already, I would look into the Holy Name LPN-RN bridge program instead.  

As of this writing, there are no clinicals in hospitals for RN students at Eastwick. The sites they have are acute care only, if they are able to go at all. 

 

 

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@hadeskitten thanks I didn’t know that I thought they were doing hospital for clinicals someone last year who went there told me that ?.  But it’s okay I guess I’m already signed up for the eastwick bridge program as well I start in the new year thanks for letting me know. Question how do you like the program? Besides the clinical portion LOL 

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Sadly, there were lying to you. LOL.

The only clinicals that were done this passed year were in acute care only, if they went at all. The RNs were the only ones going when I was doing my LPN because of the pandemic. Clinical for the RN does not start Eastwick until you are in your 3rd term of your bridge program. 

None of the campus have contracts with hospitals. Also, fun fact, we do not learn how to draw blood. :) Not all campus are rated equal either but you may sign up for one and be sent to another if the numbers in class drop. 

How about I just tell you some facts? 

1. This college is very ATI based. We take at least one dosage calculation every term and at least one speciality test every term (this term I have 2 speciality test in one class...). If you aren't familiar with ATI, how to pull up dynamic quizzes etc you'll want to ask someone at the college how to do it or let them know you are not familiar and get familiar. I know some people have a love/hate relationship with ATI, but I am one of those that happens to love it. 

2. This isn't really a prepare you ahead of time place. You get your syllabus the day of the course and yes, as nursing students we are already behind when this happens. LOL. 

3. Things constantly change. Sometimes its the day of classes. Sometimes its the time of class. In person/online. Sometimes its your instructor... *cough*. There have been some classes that haven't run at all due to lack of instructors. To maintain homestatis, you have to be flexable... like a slinky. 

4. At one of the campus, there are several coffee places on the way in within minutes of campus. This a huge bonus in my book. 

5. Our uniforms leave little to be desired. Not that you'll actively have to wear it. Ugly beige top and bright white pants...  If you find someone who has prestine white pants all the time , follow them, for they are a magician. 

6. Our exit exams are done by ATI and we've taken similiar exams to those through out terms. It's not unfamiliar material and its not hard not pass. If you one are those that don't enjoy ATI, you will probably not love this. 

7. A lot of the administrative staff are very kind and helpful. 

8. There are some truly amazing instructors.  

9. You need to calculate your grades and keep track of them yourself at all times. Apple has a great app for this. I am sure samsung has one also that doesnt make you have to do all the math (because after dosage calc, do you really wanna do more?). This is important as there is no way that you can check on your grades until the term has already ended and the grades have been submitted. Teachers will generally tell you if you are in danger of failing but usually by that time, it's a hard struggle to make a come back.  Also, if your instructor said that they've given you points on an exam.. write it down. So if later if your grades are in danger, you can make sure that everything is accurate. If you do fail a course, unfortunately you won't know until they call on you on the break that you need to repeat it if you aren't keeping track. 

 

Honestly, this was not the nursing school experience that I wanted or envisioned for myself. Missing that hospital clinical compotent was really huge for me.  

That said, I feel like this has made me a better nurse because I've had to fill the gaps on my own. I've had push and drive myself out of my comfort zone. I've learned things for the sake of knowing them and not just knowing them enough to pass my clinical exam. :) 

 

 Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk. :) 

 

 

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@hadeskitten honestly thank you so much for  all that info really appreciate it!! I start next week a bit nervous since I haven't been in School for a while and need to take English as one of my classes but at the same time excited LOL. 

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@hadeskitten hi I'm starting my 3rd term at eastwick in hackensack you have a very accurate description of the program LOL I asked the Director of Nursing on finals day if we were having off campus clinical she says hopefully but prepare for stimlab LOL but I honestly don't mind I commute over an hour to get there already. if you don't mind me asking, what is the ATI concentration for nursing concepts 1??

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@hadeskitten hey I went through my first week and see what you meant LOL. I would like to ask you I have my first test for my nursing patho class in two weeks. And wanted to know what are they like. Do I get to see what I got right or wrong at the end of the test? Do teachers usually go by what they show on the PowerPoints or talk about in class? I have a couple of books for that class and don't even know what to fully focus on LOL 

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@hunbun  Concepts 1 was a lot of fundamentals of nursing. Health care law, informatics, some nutrition, infection prevention, etc. By far, concepts 1 was a breeze compared to concepts 2 which is mostly med surge based.  

Depending on what instructor you have, I would make sure to do the ATI recommended homework (So engage fundamentals RN) and make sure to look at your rationales. Mainly if you got something wrong that looked like it could have been a right answer because chances are some kind of question like that will come up again. 

Also if you have concepts 1, you should have 2 dosages this term to do. **Make sure you know how to do critical care dosage**! I can't remember if its on peds or maternity dosage, but one of them has like 3 or 4 questions with critical care math that you need to know how to do.  Your instructor will likely not tell you (ours didn't. One of the cohorts ahead of us told us to study critical care math) because they generally are not allowed to look at any ATI tests to see what is on them. 

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@SRpn21  What you have to focus on is greatly dependant on your instructor and what they want. Some professors are all about their power points. Some will give you a study guide as a guide line. Others will just refer to syllabus and some will throw stuff on that they only brused over in class. 

 

 In our class if I am remembering correctly, it was all disease based. I did not use a book that term because she was so heavy on her power points but re-enforced the learning from Simple Nursing, Level up RN, and picmonic. 

 ATI and Saunders for questions on the diseases that you are studying.   

 There  is a big focus on what are *early* signs, what are *late signs*. What is the recommended therapy and what is contraindicated.  If the disease comes with an electrolyte imbalance, what those are and what the signs are. 

 

 

 

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@hadeskitten thank you so much for your wealth of knowledge!! I will start the RN fundamentals dynamic quizzes ASAP LOL and I'm pretty good with dosage calc so that is all good thank you so much again! it sounds like you're close to the finish line! good luck and congratulations!! please keep us updated (-:

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@SRpn21 hi I had patho in July-october I second with hadeskitten, I used mainly picmonic, I rewrote the powerpoint notes, simple nursing videos and podcasts while driving, and lots of ATI dynamic quizzes because our teacher made the tests from ATI test banks but every teacher could be different. I also used the assigned textbook when I needed more information or to use the end of chapter practice questions. 

I will say next term for pharm my teacher relied heavily on evolve sanders practice questions like all the tests came from there so just a tip for next term!!

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@hadeskitten @hunbun thanks you guys so much for all your help and tips and good luck with everything ? we got this!! 

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