OHSU vs. Linfield accelerated BSN- thoughts?

CuriousMe · Sep 7, 2010

Hi. I'm thinking of applying to OHSU and/or Linfield.
I've seen all the threads about how these colleges make their decisions etc etc but what I really want is information, from students or former students, about the pro's and con's of both schools.
So far I've heard that Linfield has excellent clinicals and academics but deluges students with ridiculous amounts of reading and homework, only part of which is directly relevant to nursing....and most of it is papers. Which I would ordinarily like, because I'm lucky enough to have the funny gene that lets me like papers, but also have Repetitive Stress Injury issues from time to time.
Rumored clinical student/instructor ratio: 6:1
Linfield has a stated interest in social justice, holistic care, and intercultural health care. Am not sure how far this is taken in the classroom????
I had a friend attend and she was changing bandages in a burn unit by her eighth month in the program.
Linfield is also more expensive....
I've also heard that OHSU, while offering stellar academics based on a test-based system, kinda sucks on the clinical level.
I have a friend attending who says that in her first term of clinicals she only got to do one or two patient interviews and next to no hands-on care. Rumored student to instructor ratio: 30:1 I need to check back in wiht this friend to see if it's true.
On the other hand OHSU has a stellar reputation and gives a great background in the theoretical foundations of health care. So it is great for people looking to develop a focused, in depth scientific understanding of disease processes, people wanting to become NP's and get admission to NP programs, and for people seeking work all over the nation/world after graduation.
Are these rumors true or partially true? I'd love your
Also, I'd be interested to hear about the amount of support each school gives to job placement for new graduates. Experiences, anyone?
Thank you! :redbeathe

I'm an OHSU student, but I'm in the standard BS program and not the accelerated. I can tell you that the clinical student to Prof ratio can be no more than 8:1 as that's the state BON requirement. Not sure where the 30:1 came from.

I've had amazing clinical experiences....we were staffing flu clinics to practice giving IM injections for example. But again, this is the standard program and not the accelerated.

Cinquefoil · Sep 7, 2010

Thank you. The 30:1 came from a professor whose wife was attending nursing school, but it did sound a little far fetched!

So are accelerated BSN clinicals totally separate from regular BSN?

CuriousMe · Sep 7, 2010

Thank you. The 30:1 came from a professor whose wife was attending nursing school, but it did sound a little far fetched!
So are accelerated BSN clinicals totally separate from regular BSN?

I'm not sure, I'm not on the Portland campus.

Cinquefoil · Sep 7, 2010

Fair enough. :clown:

LilaOR · Oct 8, 2010

I was accepted at several schools and I chose Linfield.

Instructor ratio for clinicals is 1:8 just like OHSU.

You are correct that there is an incredible amount of reading. I haven't met one student in my cohort that has completed all the reading assignments.

TONS of writing assignments. Tons. The instructor's berated us for an hour before handing back the corrected first drafts (which count on your grade). LOTS of group projects and skits assigned simultaneously and to be completed outside of regular classroom hours.

We read as much as possible to teach ourselves,then go to class and get an overview.

I am not sure if this is all true for the accelerated program.

The cohort at OHSU 3 yr Fall Start is 32. Linfield is 80. Not enough lockers for the students. No workout facility. The writing center is defunct. You do not get to choose your schedule. Ever. You rank a series of classes and then which choice you get is determined by lottery. You cannot register yourself. You will not know from semester to semester what schedule you will have or if you will even be with the same group of people that you started with, since they shuffle all 80 students around again. It's small campus with a lot of students. They doubled the students but not the space. There are only two printers in the computer room.

I am not bashing the school. I am telling the facts that I wish someone would have said on here so I could have made a more informed decision regarding fit, as well as how my $31+k per year would benefit me.

There's my $.02 that I wish I had spent elsewhere.

Lila

Cinquefoil · Oct 11, 2010

Thank you, Lila. Didn't seem like you were bashing the school, just frustrated and maybe overwhelmed at some aspects of it?

And that's really helpful to me. I can be enough of a stress case by myself without help from a school :cool:

But on the other hand what better way to break my perfectionist tendencies? LOL and maybe it's this way at OHSU as well?

Is there anything you really like about Linfield?

sarabear44 · Feb 8, 2011

I am in OHSU's ABSN program. Do you still have questions about it?

Cinquefoil · Feb 8, 2011

Thank you, I do! :redpinkhe

For example:

*What do you feel are some of the strengths and weaknesses of the program?

*What "side benefits" come with being a student at OHSU? (ex: access to fitness center, type of student insurance, accesses or privileges you wouldn't get if you attended another school).

*What advice would you give someone just entering the program?

*How does clinical site selection work?

*and finally, everyone's favorite question, what is a typical classroom/clinical day like?

Just a few questions! I'll ask the admissions dept too, but would really like the student's eye view

sarabear44 · Feb 8, 2011

*What do you feel are some of the strengths and weaknesses of the program?

I think the professors and instructors generally as a whole (there's always a few exceptions) are wonderful. They have varied backgrounds/experience and are leaders in the field of pioneering a new way of educating nurses. We get to do a lot of interactive learning. Plus, the instructor for pathophys & pharmacology (the 2 hardest classes which you take for two terms each) is, some say, the best teacher ever.

There are a lot of other great things: teachers are very understanding that this program is rigorous and while there are strict deadlines and expectations of students, they are very helpful and accommodating: i.e. if you are sick and need a new deadline, if you live far away and need a clinical placement near there, if we have an exam in one class, the other deadlines are staggered...

As far as weaknesses, it is hard for me to compare because I don't know a lot of people in other programs. I think whoever said that clinical placements are somewhat limited might be accurate--but I bet that's the case for all Portland nursing schools. I have LOVED all my clinical placements. There are a few instructors who get under your skin, but I expected that, too. And another weakness that I think you could generalize to ALL accelerated programs is that you get taught the hands-on skills ONCE and may or may not have a chance to use them while you're in school. I.e. I have learned at the simulation how to insert a catheter, but I haven't actually gotten to do it yet.

*What "side benefits" come with being a student at OHSU? (ex: access to fitness center, type of student insurance, accesses or privileges you wouldn't get if you attended another school).

Aetna student insurance which you can opt out of if you have another coverage. It is good as far as I know. For ALL primary care needs, the student health center is well equipped, though. When I banged up my knee, I went there for wound care. Female annual exams--free. When I had a sore throat, free rapid strep test. Free dental floss, condoms, urinalysis. Any blood work costs a small fee, but they get the lowest fees for health care and they bill insurance.

Fitness center is March Wellness. It is beautiful. Four-lane 25yd pool with a hot tub and a therapy pool, plus tons of cardio equipment and weightlifting equipment plus amazing classes and free 2.5-hr parking. That is free to you. $60 for spouse.

Ride the streetcar for free and of course the aerial tram for free...

The BSN program is the only undergraduate program at OHSU, so that makes an interesting student dynamic. There aren't really any sports teams to root for or lots of random clubs. But, there is an active student presence and LOTS of opportunities to get involved with research, ski trips, student council, cover the uninsured week, you name it (healthcare-related). There are a lot of electives you can take through the Global Health center (and even though you're in the Acc Bacc program, you can take advantage of those!)

*What advice would you give someone just entering the program?

Don't sign up for too much stuff, but get involved. Meet people and make relationships with professors and classmates--don't be a loner. Get involved with at least one thing at the school. Attend as many of the amazing lectures as possible. Move within 1 bus ride, a do-able bike ride, or even walking distance from the school if you can. If you don't have a car, that is okay but your clinical placements will be somewhat more limited. Don't obsess about buying every single book and uniform and piece of equipment. Wait and see what you need and what you think you'll use.

*How does clinical site selection work?

You will have 5 terms, each that is 10 weeks long. Each term, you will take 1 nursing theory class. Clinicals correspond with those. You also have to take other classes in addition to the theory class (pathophys 2 terms, pharm 2 terms, epidemiology, nursing leadership 2 terms)

Term 1=Health Promotion (clinical is at the simulation center 1 day per week for 8 hours + a few community activities like health fairs)

Term 2=Chronic Illnesses (clinical is a random hospital placement, focus is on chronic illnesses. 1 day per week for 7 hours)

Term 3/4=Acute Illnesses OR Population Health (the class is divided in two)

For Acute, you rank your choices between: Cardiology, Peds, Oncology, Mother/Baby; then you will have TWO of those choices for five weeks each. You go 3 days a week, about 25 hours a week.

For Populations, you have a LOT of choices; most people get their first or second choice. You go 2 days a week, about 15 hours a week.

Term 5=Integrated Practicum (or "IP") For this, we just got the email yesterday to mark our top 6 choices. You can choose from about 75 placements and there are only 64 students so I was impressed by the choices. This is a 10-week, 40 hour/week clinical in which you basically work your preceptor's schedule and eventually take over his/her job. There is every floor imaginable in many different hospitals plus many community placements as well! I am going to choose Emergency Dept, Critical Care, or ICU.

*and finally, everyone's favorite question, what is a typical classroom/clinical day like?

A typical clinical day. You wear dark green scrubs. You get up at 5 or 6am and make your way to your clinical site. You get your patient assignment (or you might have gotten it the night before) and you look up your patient. You get report from night shift about your patient and then you take care of your patient for the day. Sometimes you might have two patients. It's awesome and you learn a lot. Your clinical instructor is there to help you.

The population care clinicals are out in the community. During that term you might be at a refugee housing, alcohol rehab center, elementary school, etc..... I am in Hospice. We dress business casual and we do patient visits and charting. I love it.

A typical classroom day. You wear whatever. You go to class. You get a break every hour. We have lots of potlucks and sit outside on the grassy knoll when it's nice weather for lunch. There are lectures, guest speakers, LOTS of power points but also interactive group discussions, student presentations. You try to make it into the computer lab at some point to print out the articles/assignments you need for the next week. Everyone gets coffee at the "Nurse's Station", the cafe in the nursing school.

Simulation is also part of nursing school. There is a room with myriad patient scenarios. They hire live actors whenever possible. You get the patient's chart and you go into the room, which has a one way mirror and cameras so the rest of your small group is observing you and the instructors are behind the glass directing the scene. There are also just a lot of fake patients at the sim center that you practice wound care, lifting, head-to-toe assessment, etc. Plus you practice on each other a lot at first--brushing each other's teeth, washing each other's feet, taking blood glucose...

:-) I really love it. Of course there are people in the program who love to complain about everything. It's not all roses and rainbows.

Cinquefoil · Feb 9, 2011

Dear Sarabear44,

If I could press the kudos button an unlimited number of times, I would.

I deeply appreciate your responses. Your specificity and the WONDERFUL range of the information you shared is exactly what I hoped for in a response. Your descriptions were vivid enough to help me feel - a little bit - like I was there.

Many, many thanks!:redbeathe

And yes, I have heard that the Pathophysiology teacher is incredible. :) Exactly the subject where you want an incredible professor.

lolac · Apr 3, 2011

SaraBear-thank you for all of the info. I was just accepted into OHSU AccBac-Masters PMHNP, and also Linfield. Linfield offered me $$$, but it would jeopardize my chances with the PMHNP program.I've been so curious /nervous/excited about OHSU, but have had no idea what to expect....or how to pay for it...I still have not received my financial aid award letter...are there any other scholarships you can suggest looking into? Is it true we get a FREE marchwellness membership?

Thank you for all of the info. I feel like I'm flying blind here, but your post has been very helpful.

Since I'm a couple months away from my start date, is there anything you can recommend I do to prepare?

Thanks again,

Lola