GWU ABSN/VBSN Spring 2019 Cohort

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Has anyone applied for the George Washington University Accelerated/Veteran's BSN program for the Spring of 2019?

Where are "they up?" ...and congrats!!!

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I got an email saying my decision was ready to view on the portal page! It might be soon for you too! I'm guessing they were waiting on those who applied by October 15th. Thank you!

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Specializes in Oncology.

Congrats to everyone who got in! If anyone has basic questions about schedule, etc I can try to answer. I'm currently in my first semester ... it's a great program with wonderful faculty, I've been very happy with my decision to go there. Be prepared to work hard but you will learn a lot!

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I think we'd all like some insight of the program from a current student! Thank you for offering this to us!

What is the schedule like?

What can we expect during the first semester?

Are the ABSN and VBSN programs integrated?

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Specializes in Oncology.

First semester is the heaviest as far as course load, but I believe your clinical time increases somewhat as you get further along in the program. For us, first semester we are taking Pathophysiology, Med-Surg I lecture, Med-Surg Lab, Health Assessment Lecture, Health Assessment Lab, Pharmacology, and Nursing Transitions (which is mostly a discussion/paper/project based class).

For first semester, you will have the opportunity to choose between several different schedules (but they go insanely quickly so you have to be okay with a second or third choice). There are morning/afternoon schedules and afternoon/evening schedules available. This semester, my schedule is Monday 8-12, Tuesday 8-12, Wednesday 8-11:30 and 1:00-6:00 (with half hour breaks in each of those blocks), Thursday is my clinical day at the hospital, and Friday is 1:00-5:00. You are assigned a clinical day, which for us was either Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. If you have a Saturday clinical, then you'll have one weekday off. First semester you cannot choose your hospital, but I believe in subsequent semesters you can put in your top few choices but are not guaranteed to get those.

There will be a 3-day required orientation the three days prior to the start of the program that you will be required to attend (at least that's when it was for us). It's a good opportunity to meet everyone and you will learn how the program works. The faculty is wonderful and I can honestly say I really like every one of my professors. No one is scary or unapproachable. They foster a really supportive environment, my cohort is really great, we all support and encourage each other, it is not at all a competitive environment among all of us.

Yes, the Veterans BSN students are completely integrated with the non-veterans students, taking the same classes with us. They are great as many of them have skills and insight that are helpful to the rest of us. Speaking of which, everyone has a varied background which bring lots of interesting perspectives to the program.

It is a lot of work and the first 6 weeks can be overwhelming but you will hit a stride and figure out pretty quickly what works for you as far as studying, prioritizing, etc. I find myself quite a bit more comfortable and relaxed (still have to work a lot!) and I'm in week 8. When you are in clinical, you will be amazed at how much you've learned in such a short time, and it's great to see things you learned in class happening in "real life."

Happy to answer any other questions - keeping in mind I'm still only first semester, but I'm happy to provide any other info you are curious about. I know I had a lot of questions prior to starting.

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Congrats, I'm happy for you! Not losing hope yet!

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Thanks for the info! I thought the daily class hours would be more than four hours, so that's good to hear. Your schedule sounds pretty ideal to me. Hopefully I get something similar.

As far as the Admitted Students Uniform guidelines.. For the Khaki scrub bottoms and navy blue scrub set, is there a certain style or brand they want us to get or does it not matter?

Also, what are the guys wearing for their 'white nursing shoes'?

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Specializes in Oncology.

Yep, for the blue scrub set you'll use for lab and the khaki bottoms you can purchase anywhere and have any style basically. For the red and blue shirt for clinicals you'll order those through Fenton's because they'll be embroidered with the GW logo.

Hmmm not sure what shoes the guys are wearing, I never really looked! I'll take a look at clinical later this week and let you know.

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Hi Misteighbloo! Thank you for all of the info so far! It's beyond helpful! I have a few more questions: Maybe other people have input too?

  • At what point do you get to pick one of those 3 schedules you mentioned- after our deposit, orientation, after that, or in January?

  • What are the dates of your breaks? (I'm trying to figure out if I have to skip some weddings haha)

  • How did you find where to live and who to live with? Any recommendations or things you would have done differently?

  • Is there a place open 24/7 to study?

  • Are you from out of state? I am wondering about health insurance while in school.

Thank you, Misteighbloo!

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Specializes in Oncology.

We weren't able to choose schedules until about 4 weeks before class started. As for holidays, we follow the General GW academic calendar so you can look that up online to see when you'll be off. The only caveat is if you are assigned a Saturday clinical, and the holiday is only a Monday , you don't get your clinical day off. If the college is closed through the weekend (I think that might be the case with spring break - but definitely check) then you don't have your Saturday clinical (I believe this is the case). I lived in the area already, but I think most people found their roommates through the Facebook page for our cohort.

Yes, all the buildings are accessible 24/7 (you'll get an access card for after hours) and there are plenty of good places to study.

As for insurance, you'll have the option to purchase student health insurance through Aetna. In fact, everyone is issued the insurance and you have to opt out if you don't want it.

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Specializes in Oncology.

One more note...they'll open the pods (schedules) up via sign up genius on a given date and time (ours was in the evening). FYI you have to be on right when they say to get on...I signed up at 8:00 and 30 seconds when they opened it up at 8:00 and my first choice was taken already!!!!

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@Misteighbloo Thank you for making some time to answer our questions!! These are very helpful! :)

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