Huntsville: What Am I Up Against?

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I will be applying for the Delayed Progression Nursing Program at Calhoun for 2008. I am a mother of 2 and currently work in social services. This will be a second career for me. I really have a passion for OB and would love to go into L&D, Postpartum or Antepartum. I have been a little discouraged when getting on the hospital websites because it seems that any of these positions require 1-5 years experience. Do they hire new grads at all for any of these RN positions? I know this seems to be getting way ahead of myself since I haven't even been accepted into nursing school but I would love to know what I am up against. I definitely expect to pay my dues and not walk into the exact job I want but is there anything that you can do to increase your chances of getting the job you would like when you graduate? Do they do internships at these hospitals? I know you spend a semester in clinicals but that is not nearly enough. I just know this field is so specialized and I understand why they would prefer to hire a nurse with experience. Any insight or words of encouragement would be appreciated! I will definitely be speaking with an advisor about this if I get accepted. I know that clinicals will expose me to different areas and I may find other areas that will be of interest to me but I really feel that this is what I want to do.

Michelle

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Who said you only get a semester in clinicals at calhoun? As far as i'v heard you do clinicals every semester, which for their delayed program, is 7 semesters i beileve? I'm starting their RN program in August, and i know we start clinicals 5 weeks into the semester, so you will have plenty of experience, My friend just graduated UAH's nursing program in May, and applied to OB/nursery at crestwood and got the job, as a brand new graduate, so i dont think theres too much to worry about. I do want to do L&D when i graduate, so im just going to work really hard, and hope i can get that job! Maybe when your on your OB rotation, you could just be extra extra helpful and nice..and then if you apply, they ask the floor on insight, and they'll all say "oh yes! so and so...we loved her! hire her! anyways....GOOD LUCK! and you'll love calhoun, if you havnt already taken classes there.

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Thanks for replying! I meant only a semester in clinicals in OB....sorry that wasn't very clear. I have heard very good things about Calhoun so I am excited. It is very good to know that you know someone who was able to get a job as a new grad in L&D. Have you looked at the hospital websites? I was kind of freaked out that they all say 1-5yrs experience in Mother/Baby or L&D. Especially Crestwood....they are saying 5 years experience in OB related areas! I am feeling better about it after talking with people.

Michelle

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No, I havnt looked at the websites...but this may make you feel even better, my friend is 24, and like i said graduated in May, and had no previous work experience at all...none..zip...and still got the job after applying to crestwood, only downside was shes on nights starting out, but they told her she would work her way up. I think there getting to the point where theres just such a shortage of nursing, that they cant be picky, they may say "need with 1 year experience" but when no one applies that meets the criteria, they look at other options. So I wouldnt worry too much.

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Michelle,

I've worked at Huntsville Hospital for about 2 years now. I'm also about to start the RN program at Calhoun. Personally I myself have never taken much interest in L&D, and I'm not around that area much anyway since it's in Women's & Children's (obviously) and I work mostly in Main. But I would imagine that unless that particular department is for whatever reason just sorely in need of more experienced staff, they are probably no more likely to not hire new grads than any other particular dept is. Obviously I don't know for sure either, since I'm not an RN yet myself, but that's just my guess. Also, I'm kind of inclined to agree with Jamie - I willing to bet that even when the job listings might say "experienced preferred", what with the overall RN shortage, they're probably still willing to hire any new grads who might nevertheless apply for the job if it turns out that they need someone to fill the position real quick.

I was going to add that you don't necessarily have to work at a hospital to have an RN job, but of course if you want L&D I guess your local options get limited real fast outside of Huntsville Hospital, Crestwood, or Decatur, eh.

Anyway it sounds like you're doing real well as far as researching everything. I guess this probably doesn't help you much but good luck and keep us posted...

the Jedi

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Jamie,

Thanks for the encouragement! I am hoping that the Madison Hospital will go up before I graduate and that will help. I haven't heard who won the battle for it have you?

Jedi,

I really think I would love to start out at Huntsville Hosptial just simply because it is a teaching hospital and would have more deliveries so I would get more experience faster. What is your opinion of the hospital? I guess when it says experienced required I am just assuming that new grads need not apply. I know sometimes that turns people off when you apply when you aren't qualified. I do hiring myself right now so I kind of know how that goes. I think once I get on that floor I can talk with the nurses and see what they think. I am hoping my advisors can guide me as well. I am so bad about jumping ahead of myself but I just kind of like to know what I am getting into or what I can do to help my chances. I wouldn't mind working at an OB office either but I bet those jobs are kind of hard to come by.

Thanks for the replies! I may have more questions for you guys in the Calhoun nursing program if that is ok!

Michelle

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Jedi,

I really think I would love to start out at Huntsville Hosptial just simply because it is a teaching hospital and would have more deliveries so I would get more experience faster. What is your opinion of the hospital?

Michelle,

Personally, at this point in time I don't plan on staying at Huntsville Hospital once I become an RN, simply because I don't want to continue living in this area at that point in time. However, if I was going to stay, then I would probably want to stay at HH, simply because I already know my way around the hospital (that in itself can be hard/intimidating to learn at first, at any hospital really ;) ) and I already know a lot of people here. To be perfectly honest, I've had some less pleasant experiences over the past 2 years, but I think most of them have been somewhat isolated incidents that I've just had the bad luck of having to experience. On the other hand, it really amazes me sometimes how apathetic, and completely uncaring towards patients many of the RNs at HH seem to be at times. Now I'm not saying that that's a problem that's specific to HH; it may just be that burnout/apathy is a general problem with nursing as a whole. And/or it may be that I simply tend to notice things that other people wouldn't notice and/or wouldn't be bothered by.

However, having said all of that, I nevertheless still want to become an RN and I do plan on staying at HH as long as I am living in this area. Also, in spite of all the bad experiences I've had, I've also had so many rewarding ones as well (and anyway you have both good & bad at any job). Plus from my experience in talking one-on-one with patients, most of them, overall, who say anything, usually tend to say that they've had nothing but good experiences with their nurses. Not to say that there aren't the patients who are unhappy with their quality of care at HH (and many times rightly so from what I can tell) but overall patients seem to have mostly good things to say. So it may be that my less esteemed observations of the RNs that I mentioned earlier are either misperceptions or it's just that I tend to remember the bad apples more than the good ones. lol. And on top of all of that the fact remains that I've met and gotten to work with some really awesome coworkers.

At any rate I've rambled on probably far too long, but obviously this is a topic that I've given a lot of thought to in the past. lol. If you ever have any other questions about HH or Calhoun, please don't hesitate.

Also, about your question regarding the Huntsville vs. Crestwood debate over the Madison hospital - last I heard from my supervisor, the initial decision (which I think has already been made by now, though I haven't really been keeping up with it) will most likely be going through a process of appeal by whichever side loses. And I heard that the appeal will not be heard until sometime next year. And that it won't be until after that that the final decision will be made. Like I said I haven't been keeping up with it much but that is my understanding of it.

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Jedi

Thanks! You have been very informative. I had both of my children at Huntsville Hospital and overall my experiences were wonderful. I had a couple of nurses who definitely were not as helpful as others but most of my nurses were Wonderful. With my son I had a couple who didn't exactly do everything they should have done but I had one who was a shining star. I even mentioned some things that I was concerned about to one of the postpartum nurses (like the nurses not checking me) and she was very professional but I could tell that she was kind of cringing. She told me to just ask for the charge nurse if I had concerns. I am sure that nurses go through burnout but the patients shouldn't suffer lack of care because of it. It is very sad but I am sure it happens.

My latest anxiety (which could be an entirely different thread I am sure) is the Compass test. Have you guys taken it yet? I looked at the practice test and it made me realize just how long I have been out of school. I need to do well on this since the score is taken into account for the nursing program. Any advice? Study materials that are worth the money? I am 33 years old but wow do I feel old!

Michelle

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Hi Michelle! :D

I took a couple of semesters of prereqs at Calhoun (Huntsville campus), and even though I have since transferred, I can tell you about the Compass test.

First of all, don't freak out about it, even if you have been out of school for a while. If I remember correctly (help me out if I'm wrong, Calhoun students) the reading portion is what counts toward admission to the nursing program. The math portion is used for class placement.

I felt that the reading portion was more of an aptitude test than anything. It has been a while but I think I remember that it had several "read this passage, then answer questions about it" type questions like you would see on any standardized test like the ACT or SAT. I think there were also some questions where you were required to read a passage and then basically make corrections to it. My memory is a little fuzzy but I think this was checking for grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, etc.

My knowledge is a little more limited on the math portion because I had been out of high school for a few years and I remembered next to nothing about math, lol. My test stopped after a few questions because I got so many wrong. I had to take Math 98, which is remedial. If this happens to you, don't worry! I had an amazing teacher and learned so much in that class, then went on to do great in my "real" math classes.

I can't speak for the nursing program at Calhoun, but I had some great experiences in my prereqs. Some of the instructors are absolutely wonderful, and I will remember them for the rest of my life. I also found it to be laid-back socially and easy to make friends. You will have a blast!

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Diamond,

Thanks for the information! I have everything but Microbiology so I should not have to take Math at all....I already had a math that would transfer into the nursing program. With the exception of Microbiology I will only be taking nursing classes if I am accepted into the program. I have a BS in Behavioral Science but had started out with the intentions of going into PT but I changed my major so I had many of the classes required for the nursing program. I am excited/nervous. I just hope I get accepted.

Michelle

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Jedi

Thanks! You have been very informative. I had both of my children at Huntsville Hospital and overall my experiences were wonderful. I had a couple of nurses who definitely were not as helpful as others but most of my nurses were Wonderful. With my son I had a couple who didn't exactly do everything they should have done but I had one who was a shining star. I even mentioned some things that I was concerned about to one of the postpartum nurses (like the nurses not checking me) and she was very professional but I could tell that she was kind of cringing. She told me to just ask for the charge nurse if I had concerns. I am sure that nurses go through burnout but the patients shouldn't suffer lack of care because of it. It is very sad but I am sure it happens.

My latest anxiety (which could be an entirely different thread I am sure) is the Compass test. Have you guys taken it yet? I looked at the practice test and it made me realize just how long I have been out of school. I need to do well on this since the score is taken into account for the nursing program. Any advice? Study materials that are worth the money? I am 33 years old but wow do I feel old!

Michelle

Michelle,

I hear ya on the age thing - I'd been out of school for a long time myself when I started at Calhoun. But so far it has been a completely different experience than my first years of college were, simply because this time around I'm doing something that I want to be doing; and that has made an enormous difference in my motivation and focus.

About Compass...as diamond pointed out, the Reading test is what really counts towards getting into the nursing program. I took the test last year, after I'd already completed A&P I & II (along with some other classes) with A's, and honestly it felt kinda silly having to take a "reading comprehension" test by that point in the game. My feeling at that time was...well, I've just made A's on several classes, so I'm guessing I kind of already know how to read and comprehend. Which, I don't say that to sound snotty or brag, but it was just kinda my feeling at the time, lol. But anyway I took it and didn't have any problems passing. Unless they have changed it, it is not a timed test, and it took me about half an hour to complete. It's all done on the computer. As diamond also said, it's mostly having to read short stories or articles and then answer questions about them. For most of the questions you were even allowed to look at the article or story while answering the questions. There did seem to be a fair amount of thought involved in several of the questions but I didn't think it was too terribly hard overall.

When are you taking micro? Are you planning on applying for the fall of 2008? Only reason I ask is because, perhaps you could go ahead and enroll in micro, and sort of ease your way back into school, and then once you've gotten back into that "study zone" frame of mind you could then go take the Compass test.

Also if it's been more than a few years since you've had any biology classes and/or Anatomy & Physiology, you may want to consider brushing up on those topics. Go get a generic study guide at Barnes & Noble or what have you. My first semester at Calhoun, before I took either A&P I/II or Micro, I first took BIO 103. (General Biology or Intro to Biology, can't remember which it's called, but it was 103.) This was back in spring of 2005, back when 103 was still a pre-req for both A&P and Micro. Calhoun has since done away with that requirement, but personally I'm very glad I had 103 first; it served me very well in taking all of the nursing BIO classes. I remember when I took Micro, Dr. Collier encouraged everyone who had not had 103 to at least consider purchasing the 103 textbook as a supplement/study guide to the Micro textbook - and I doubt anyone in the class actually did, but thankfully I still had my book and I'm sure glad I did. I guess I'm kind of a nerd like that but yeah...sorry I just keep going on and on, but I know how scary it can be going back into the game after being out of school for so long. Hope this info helps...

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Jedi,

Thank you sooo much! I feel much better now! Also some good news from the OB boards....there was an OB nurse from Crestwood that said they LOVE new grads and they just hired 2 new grads for the OB floor. That gives me hope. Ok, now I can just focus on the Compass test and getting in my application. I think I will try to pick up Micro if they offer it in the spring. They didn't offer it in the fall. I am applying for the Delayed Progression Program in Nursing (which starts summer semester). I am going to continue to work full time while I go to school. It will be tough but I want to try and pay my way through rather than take out loans. I am going to try and apply for some scholarships but I am not getting my hopes up too much. You have been very helpful!

Michelle

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