Galen St Pete, Fl

lexuan · Mar 12, 2010

I didn't know about the nursing caps...hopefully they are not still wearing those!

I have seen their new facility and it is really nice! I am SO excited to be starting soon!!

NursePunkinz · Mar 12, 2010

The curiosity was killing me...so I called today to check and the reception said "no, they stopped having them wear them a while ago." Thank goodness..they were horrid and got caught on everything! That's awesome that you are starting soon! Maybe I will see you there, if I can swing everything in time for the May start date...more than likely it won't be till August. Are you doing anything to prepare...do you know if we have clinicals in the first quarter??

lexuan · Mar 12, 2010

Hi! Glad to hear the info about the hats!!

I am trying to brush up on some med/surg but not doing too much else. I have been working mostly in LTC/ALF and need to refresh my mind about a lot!

I did see the schedule for the class that started in Feb. and there were no clinicals until the 3rd quarter. The first quarter is A&P, English, computers, math and psychology. If you have any of these classes completed already then your days and hours can be much less than the other students. Also, your tuition is a lot less!! I think I will only be going about 2-3 hours a day the first quarter. I met a few nurses that were in their last quarter and they seemed to really be happy with the program.

Are you working as an LPN now? :)

NursePunkinz · Mar 13, 2010

No, right now I am home with my baby girl. Prior to having her I worked as an LPN in an Oncology Center. I worked in a triage unit and treated patients for the side effects of chemo and with patients with various blood disorders. Blood draws, Phlebotomies, Injections, IVF's and IV pain meds, nausea meds etc. I have been home for 2 years now so I have a lot to catch up on too.

The only thing I am worried about is qualifying for aid and loans since it is so expensive. How long did it take to find out if you qualified once you had your appointment?

What was your interview like? And did they give a date for orientation yet for the May class?

ADeks · Mar 28, 2010

In Galen, once you get your RN can you transfer to a BSN too? I heard recently you couldn't and my friend is asking me if he should go to Galen or SPC. Why didn't you try for SPC?

itsmejuli · Mar 28, 2010

Galen is a private college so if you get RN there you won't be able to transfer most of the credits to a public college for BSN. You'd have to find a private college that accepts Galen credits.

RN543 · Mar 29, 2010

In Galen, once you get your RN can you transfer to a BSN too? I heard recently you couldn't and my friend is asking me if he should go to Galen or SPC. Why didn't you try for SPC?

If your friend has the option of going to SPC and is interested in furthering his education to the BSN or Masters level, then I would go with SPC. SPC is a lot cheaper and they have a BSN program. SPC is fully accredited so you could transfer your credits anywhere. The only drawback with SPC, community colleges, and universities, is that they are usually very difficult to get into... they are very competitive and some have very long waiting lists.

Galen, on the other hand, is a lot easier to get into. The day program starts 4 times a year. There are no pre-reqs. But on the downside, tuition is VERY expensive. However, I went there for LPN school and paid 15K to do so, because I didn't want to wait years to get into another school. And then I was out and working in a year as opposed to waiting around. I didn't continue on to the LPN-RN bridge program, because although it's a very good program, it is also expensive, and 15 months long. And Galen is not regionally accredited. I heard University of Phoenix will accept Galen credits. But it depends on what kind of masters program you would want. If you want to be a NP, CRNA, Midwife, etc, then you need to go to an accredited school. But if you are looking to get into manangement, infomatics, or teaching, then you can probably still get into a program by going to galen RN program. So another option is to just to your LPN program there, and then most schools (even ones that are fully accredited and not private) will accept you into a transition program as long as you have an LPN license. Doesn't usually matter where you got your LPN education. RN education is a different story for some reason.