heard something about TCC...

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Yesterday I was at TCC in the cafeteria with a friend when a friend of hers stopped by. This girl is in the nursing program and is about to flunk out of her first year if she doesn't do really good on her next test. According to her, there are 2 lawsuits in process against TCC for them being "too hard." Supposedly they are testing on a master's level and not the associates level. I find this hard to believe, but I do know that TCC is supposed to be pretty hard. But this girl gave me an example of one of the questions she got wrong on her last test and I don't know what the problem is. Q: A nurse tech takes a patient to x-ray. the patient has a foley, where do you put the foley bag - hang on wheelchair, hang on IV pole, on footrest, or (another one I forgot). The answer is on the foot rest. I knew this from my CNA class, and I"m not even IN nursing classes yet. The girl got kind of upset that I knew this answer, but thought it was really hard. I just thought she was being a wimp. Critical thinking is part of nursing, isn't it? So you had to think through the rationale that you want the bag hanging lower than the person to let gravity take it's course. Just curious what you guys thought. This particular person is planning to transfer to Connor's in Muskogee to finish the program and said there are several other's transferring as well because it's supposed to be easier.

Oh, and about that question of the women wanting to lose weight. In Level 1 the focus is all about "feelings". First you have to understand how the women feels about weight and food and find out if maybe she is an emotional eater or something. If you just treat the physical and not the mental you won't get anywhere. The underlying problem is in her way of thinking.

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The only difference between TCC and the 4 year degrees are not the nursing information so much but the prerequisites. If they throw in more prereqs than yest it would be a BSN.

That isn't true at all. If the only difference were prerequisites then a community college could readily confer BSNs, since most prerequisistes are sophomore level classes anyway. You guys have about 37 hrs of nurse only curriculum where as we have approx. 63hrs of nurse only curriculum.

Excluding any type of prerequisites we have 24 more hours of nursing theory.

We have a 6 hr leadership class that teaches us about the role of nurse manager and hospital staffing and such. We also have a critical care class, research I and II, and community I and II. These are roles that are primarily or in some cases may only be held by BSNs so these are not taught at the ASN level.

Not trying to start an argument just wanted to correct your statement.

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Hey Marilynmom,

You may be in my class. I also attend UCO. Are you a senior? If so have you finished your leadership paper yet? I'm such a slacker, I'm still only 5 pages in. I plan to have it finished by Thursday though. That's my goal.

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Specializes in Level III cardiac/telemetry.
That isn't true at all. If the only difference were prerequisites then a community college could readily confer BSNs, since most prerequisistes are sophomore level classes anyway. You guys have about 37 hrs of nurse only curriculum where as we have approx. 63hrs of nurse only curriculum.

Excluding any type of prerequisites we have 24 more hours of nursing theory.

We have a 6 hr leadership class that teaches us about the role of nurse manager and hospital staffing and such. We also have a critical care class, research I and II, and community I and II. These are roles that are primarily or in some cases may only be held by BSNs so these are not taught at the ASN level.

Not trying to start an argument just wanted to correct your statement.

I agree. ASN program give the general nursing classes, but BSN prepares you more for management with the upper level classes.

Where are you graduating from? TU, OU or Langston?

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I attend UCO.

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Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.
Hey Marilynmom,

You may be in my class. I also attend UCO. Are you a senior? If so have you finished your leadership paper yet? I'm such a slacker, I'm still only 5 pages in. I plan to have it finished by Thursday though. That's my goal.

I have been accepted for the fall '06 so I am just now finishing up Fundamentals, Intro to Nursing, and Development (good lord that is one boring class...lol). I know I will be taking Med/Surg, Psych, Concepts, and Assessment. This Wed we have our new student thing in Howell Hall.

Good luck with your paper! I'm a procrastinator as well but I think it's works in my favor because I work well under pressure...lol How long is your paper?

What can I expect my first semester? Any tips for me? I bet your excitited to be so close to graduating :)

Marilyn

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Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.

MyReign1,

What have you found to be the base starting pay at the hospitals in the OKC area that you interviewed with? I've heard $18/hr plus differentials is that about right? Also are new grads able to work in the ER?

Gosh I have so many questions about UCO as well I don't even know where to begin. I'm so nervous and excited to start in the fall. What are clinicals like...hours, days, etc?

Marilyn

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Good luck with your paper! I'm a procrastinator as well but I think it's works in my favor because I work well under pressure...lol How long is your paper?

What can I expect my first semester? Any tips for me? I bet your excitited to be so close to graduating :)Marilyn

The paper is supposed to be 20-25 pages. But this semester we had to do 3 papers. The other two were group papers and had to be atleast 25 pages. Our research II paper ended up being 53 pgs.

Tips: It is a definite transition from regular test to nursing test. I already had a BS in biology when I started the program but fundamentals was the hardest class I had had because there simply wasn't a right or wrong answer. It was more like pick the best answer. Once you become comfortable with those type of questions though it does get better ;) .

Purchase the Saunders NCLEX-RN exam book. It is a big blue book in the bookstore. It wasn't recommended until senior year but it would have helped so much in the junior year especially for med-surg. It'll help with info as well as practice with nursing school questions.

In your 2nd semester of the junior year you'll hear about "Enrichment Points" start on them early. Do not wait until the senior year or you'll be scrambling for points.

Congrats on making it into the program.

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MyReign1,

What have you found to be the base starting pay at the hospitals in the OKC area that you interviewed with? I've heard $18/hr plus differentials is that about right? Also are new grads able to work in the ER?

Gosh I have so many questions about UCO as well I don't even know where to begin. I'm so nervous and excited to start in the fall. What are clinicals like...hours, days, etc? Marilyn

The base starting pay is more like $17/hr + differentials. I interviewed in Tulsa though where it is only slightly higher. New grads are able to work in ER in some hospitals although it isn't recommended. I eventually want to work ER so I'm starting on a telemetry step down unit to get cardiac experience, since you will see alot of cardiac in ER. If you do decide to go directly into ER, I would recommend getting an ER nurse tech position so that you become comfortable with the environment.

Clinicals days are generally tues-wed, they may be wed-thurs. In critical care they are tues-wed and you go tot he hospital on your own on monday to pick out your patient and get all of his/her info and complete the paperwork before clinicals the next day. In Leadership the clinical days are tues,wed, & thur. The hours are either 7am-3pm or 3-11. Comm I & II and Leadership have to be during the day.

If you have further questions pm me and I'll give you my email address.

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Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.
The base starting pay is more like $17/hr + differentials. I interviewed in Tulsa though where it is only slightly higher. New grads are able to work in ER in some hospitals although it isn't recommended. I eventually want to work ER so I'm starting on a telemetry step down unit to get cardiac experience, since you will see alot of cardiac in ER. If you do decide to go directly into ER, I would recommend getting an ER nurse tech position so that you become comfortable with the environment.

Clinicals days are generally tues-wed, they may be wed-thurs. In critical care they are tues-wed and you go tot he hospital on your own on monday to pick out your patient and get all of his/her info and complete the paperwork before clinicals the next day. In Leadership the clinical days are tues,wed, & thur. The hours are either 7am-3pm or 3-11. Comm I & II and Leadership have to be during the day.

If you have further questions pm me and I'll give you my email address.

Thanks so much for all the advice, I appreciate it. I will PM you because I would love a mentor if you don't mind :)

I think starting in cardiac is a good idea, I have always been interested in that. I am totally going into all this with an open mind though. For all I know I might end up loving something I have no interest in now. I'm just trying to get all the info and ideas I can.

Congrats on your new job in the step down unit! How exciting.

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Specializes in neuro, m/s, renal, ortho, home health.

I went to ECU in Ada, OK. The bachelor program there was so hard. I graduated in 2001. The chair of the nursing dept was in my opinion very biased. What I discovered about tests is this: some professors know how to write test questions and some are terrible at it. Many use instructors bank of test questions from the text. The one thing we had to do before graduating is purchase this NLN test. It is supposed to help you w/ taking NCLEX and provides a % of predicted success in passing the NCLEX. I believe we had to score at least an 80%. The test results indicate areas that are incorrect and the type of question, ie: assessment, etc. My score showed I had a 98% chance of passing the NCLEX. I did not take an NCLEX review. The chairman tried to encourage me to purchase the NCLEX review. I declined stating it has taken me so long to graduate, I was ill and had to pass a test in a class I had already earned credit in.....to continue in the program. She had me take the test 1st time when I was ill and had just been released from the hospital....and another time when I was unprepared. (She did this to another student, had her take the test also but she was not ill and still did not pass). Then we audited the class, passed the test and we were allowed to continue. This program is small and if you have to repeat a class you have to wait until it is offered again the next year. I took the NCLEX test and passed taking only 76 questions. That year ECU had a 100% pass rate on their boards. I however would not recommend this university due to university and nursing dept administration's blatant use of favoritism and bias.

The chairman that I had trouble w/ is no longer there and I believe the last time I heard the pass rate was 80 something percent. Most nursing programs that are good are difficult, as long as you have a dept that is fair and wants students to succeed you are in good hands.

I'm so glad I'm out of school, it was the most stressful time of my life and my health showed it! Oh, and I also learned that the drop out rate at many programs can be up to 50%. Basically your life is on hold when you are in nursing school.

Good luck, don't give up, we need good nurses!

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