Holy Family University ABSN Fall 2019

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I submitted my Holy Family University ABSN application for Fall 2019 and wanted to create a thread to talk to others that have also applied.

On 3/14/2019 at 12:52 PM, rinrin13 said:

Hi everyone, just graduated from this program 2 weeks ago. Feel free to message me questions! ?

Hi! I was just accepted this week and have to decide between Holy Family and Jefferson by Monday! Tight deadline! Can you tell me what you thought about the diversity of the program? Is everyone pretty much Catholic or is it more of a mix? Just wondering as I don't do religion if I would fit in here?

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Hi! I was just accepted this week and have to decide between Holy Family and Jefferson by Monday! Tight deadline! Can you tell me what you thought about the diversity of the program? Is everyone pretty much Catholic or is it more of a mix? Just wondering as I don't do religion if I would fit in here?

Haha trust me, as a non-white asian who doesn't do religion, I was worried myself as well. It is safe to say that there is diversity in the class, different religions & races- so I did feel welcome. There were two very Catholic students in my cohort but everyone else was diverse, and welcoming.

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On 3/14/2019 at 2:38 PM, jwear25 said:

congrats on graduating! Favorite part & least favorite part?
are there any days off between semesters? what was clinical like?

Thanks! I guess I really disliked the beginning of the program. Fundamentals of Nursing are so dry and boring in my opinion and lab where you learn BPs and basic skills is also not very engaging & unrealistic. I literally hated the first block. After that though, the content was more physiology based and relevant. Also I really loved Maternity clinical, but the class was definitely the hardest in the program!

So depending when you start, you may or may not have days off between semesters. I started January 2018, so the only breaks we had was 1 week off at the end of August and 3 weeks off in December for Christmas break. Other than that, we only had 3-4 days off between semesters.

Clinicals can be any day of the week- I had clinical for MedSurg I on a Saturday in a nursing home. It was so extremely slow. Some people had clinical on weekends multiple times. Clinical was once a week for 12 hours (and yes, they keep you there the entire time), except for MedSurg II clinical which was twice a week for 24 hours. You usually will arrive at the hospital/clinical site at 6:30am, get assigned patients for the day (usually 1-2 patients), get report from the night shift nurse, follow up with the day shift nurse, perform assessments/care for all your patients, and do medications with your instructor. After lunch it gets slow and you may have down time to work on careplans. And then before you leave there's a post-conference where you are expected to give a report on your patient and your instructor asks questions. All of my clinical instructors at Holy Family were amazing- they were all super patient and understanding. They expect you to be curious, be on your feet and ask questions.

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On 3/15/2019 at 12:05 AM, Lovingnurse2020 said:

Hi I just had a few questions. Did you work? Other students work? At least part time? I’m trying to see if I can work part time. Did you ever have clinicals during the weekend? I am starting next month. I am excited but nervous

I worked during the first 3 months of the program part time and then quit soon after because I wanted to focus on school entirely. There were students in my class who did work part-time and 2 people who continued to work full-time and they ended up passing. Knowing myself, I could never handle working that much and keeping up with school. It's highly suggested to not work while in the program but reality wise, not everyone has that luxury. Once you get to the OB/Peds block, you usually will have 4 days off a week, so in logic you may be able to work during that time. And yes there were clinicals during the weekend and they don't tell you your clinical schedule literally until days before, which was hard for my employer to accommodate as well.

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@rinrin13 oh my goodness lol thank you for such an honest reply!! i'm most shocked that you don't find out clinical schedule until a few days before... that must make it hard to plan out the rest of your life.

did you feel prepared for the nclex?

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3 hours ago, jwear25 said:

@rinrin13 oh my goodness lol thank you for such an honest reply!! i'm most shocked that you don't find out clinical schedule until a few days before... that must make it hard to plan out the rest of your life.

did you feel prepared for the nclex?

Yes it was hard! I couldn't tell my employer when I was available to work so that was one of the reasons I quit working as well. I can't imagine how difficult it was for students with kids trying to plan childcare etc. I hope they fix the scheduling issue soon!

I'm waiting for my authorization to test from my state (which takes forever!). Being a NJ applicant just makes the process even longer because NJ is a mess, but as soon as I get the ATT I will take the NCLEX, hopefully by next month. I do feel prepared right now though. Prior to finishing the program, you are required to take 2 practice NCLEX & you have to pass at least one for course requirements. If you don't pass, the school requires you to do an online remediation course. I passed both of my practice exams and a majority of my class passed as well. I think there were only 1 or 2 people who are doing the online remediation, but to answer your question, yes I do believe Holy Family prepares you well for the NCLEX.

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On 3/16/2019 at 10:50 PM, rinrin13 said:

I worked during the first 3 months of the program part time and then quit soon after because I wanted to focus on school entirely. There were students in my class who did work part-time and 2 people who continued to work full-time and they ended up passing. Knowing myself, I could never handle working that much and keeping up with school. It's highly suggested to not work while in the program but reality wise, not everyone has that luxury. Once you get to the OB/Peds block, you usually will have 4 days off a week, so in logic you may be able to work during that time. And yes there were clinicals during the weekend and they don't tell you your clinical schedule literally until days before, which was hard for my employer to accommodate as well.

Thank you for the information. I wish they gave us schedules for the clinical. I am currently per diem at a hospital I wanted to do part time but now knowing this I will stick to being per diem.

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@rinrin13 thanks for all this info ! Is there anything you recommend reviewing prior to starting classes in August ?

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4 hours ago, FutureNurseSasha said:

@rinrin13 thanks for all this info ! Is there anything you recommend reviewing prior to starting classes in August ?

Honestly, all I can say is enjoy your time off prior to starting the program! I was worried about reviewing Anatomy & Physiology but they teach you everything you need to know in class. If you really want, I can email you my powerpoints if you want to get an idea of what to expect. Definitely plan for the next 14 months, financially & mentally (I went on vacation before starting the program haha). You don't want to worry about financial stress during the program so definitely plan that out. Oh and make sure you have a reliable vehicle since you're going to need to drive a lot for clinical.

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Does anyone know what the date is for this mandatory orientation?

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13 hours ago, rinrin13 said:

Honestly, all I can say is enjoy your time off prior to starting the program! I was worried about reviewing Anatomy & Physiology but they teach you everything you need to know in class. If you really want, I can email you my powerpoints if you want to get an idea of what to expect. Definitely plan for the next 14 months, financially & mentally (I went on vacation before starting the program haha). You don't want to worry about financial stress during the program so definitely plan that out. Oh and make sure you have a reliable vehicle since you're going to need to drive a lot for clinical.

Thank you for the information! I appreciate it a lot! Do you remember how much the tuition broke down to each semester? Iike a rough estimate.

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1 minute ago, alyssawentz33 said:

Does anyone know what the date is for this mandatory orientation?

For the fall or summer orientation?

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