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Semester 1: Med/Surg
Semester 2: Med/Surg II
Semester 3: OB, Psych, Peds
Semester 4: Advanced Med/Surg
There are no rotations in any other specialty areas. I'm interested in trauma nursing and this program offers no rotations in ED, ICU, etc. Should I select another program, or is this pretty typical?
I should have clarified. This is the curriculum listed on the website
Semester 1: A&P I, Health Asssessment, Lifespan Psych, Med/Surg I clinical
Semester 2: A&P II, Microbiology, Community/Home Nursing, Med/Surg II clinical
Semester 3: Peds/OB/Psych clinicals
Semester 4: Health Management, Advanced Med/Surg clinical
I e-mailed the lady in charge of the ADN program and asked what specifically was included in the med/surg rotations and informed her of my intents for graduation. This is exactly what she said in response.
"We are a pre-licensure program and as such only have specialty rotations in Peds, OB,& PSYCH nursing. 3 Semesters are devoted to medical surgical nursing, each semester builds upon the previous semesters with increasing responsibilities added. The final semester is the advanced med/surg course. There are no specific courses where students have a clinical experience in the ED or ICU."
I attended a hospital based diploma program. Each of my semesters were broken in half into 8 week blocks. I spent 3 separate 8 week blocks in med-surg (cardiac, onc, and ortho), 8 week block in psych, 8 week block in a combined ob/peds class, and 8 weeks in critical care (I was in a MICU/CCU). While at the time I had no interest in ICU, I am greatful for that experience. I know think I would love to work in a PICU.
"We are a pre-licensure program and as such only have specialty rotations in Peds, OB,& PSYCH nursing. 3 Semesters are devoted to medical surgical nursing, each semester builds upon the previous semesters with increasing responsibilities added. The final semester is the advanced med/surg course. There are no specific courses where students have a clinical experience in the ED or ICU."
Ahh, that may be the difference. In my program, the first year was the LPN year, and the second was the RN year. Every person in the third and fourth semesters was already licensed as an LPN. Perhaps that allows for more in depth clinicals? It *was* a requirement to have the LPN before moving on into the next year. If you didn't pass boards, you weren't allowed to continue.
Interesting.
Where I am it along the lines of this if I remember correctly
Sem 1: Intro to Nursing, A&P I
Sem 2: Fundamentals, Micro, A&P II
Sem 3: Med/Surg I, Patho, Pharm, Lifespan
Sem 4: OB/Peds, Psych
Sem 5: Med/Surg II, Leadership, Internship/Advanced Practium
That is just the nursing specific classes. There are also 5 english classes, a math class, and psychology class.
We have to opt in for critical care during our elective period in our third (and final year). All our other placements are med/surg and/or med/surg specialties (e.g. cardiovascular ward, colorectal surgical ward) or speciality to match the subject (e.g. psych, children's etc).
Our placements look like this:
Year 1:
1st Semester - Med/surg ---> general hospital placements (1 week)
2nd Semester - Med/surg ---> general hospital placements (2 weeks)
Year 2:
1st Semester - Med/surg ---> general hospital placements (2 weeks)
Children's ---> in a daycare center or special school for disabled children (1 week)
2nd Semester - Med/surg ---> general hospital placements (1 week)
Psych ---> community or inpatient psychiatry (2 weeks)
Year 3:
1st Semester - Advanced med/surg ---> general hospital placement (3 weeks)
Elective ---> choose from critical care (here you can get placed in ICU, HDU or ED), aged care, paeds (you might land in PICU or NICU here, rarely), palliative care, community, women's health, peri-op, child & family health, australian indigenous health or mental health (2 weeks)
2nd Semester - Sub/major ---> choose from med/surg, aged care, paeds or mental health (2 weeks & then 3 weeks, possibly at a different location. Sometimes you're lucky enough to land a critical care ward. This year - looking at the third year placements for med/surg and paeds - there are a handful of NICU, PICU, ED & HDU placements. I can't see any ICU placements, though.)
CRIMSON
364 Posts
Seems fairly typical but we have a few more classes.
Sem 1: Fundamentals, Assessment, Legal & ethics. Clinical I, II
Sem 2: Med Surg I, Med Surg II, Pharmacology, Clinical III, IV
Sem 3: OB, Pedi, Spec Topics Child Care/Infants, Clinical V, VI
Sem 4: Adv Med Surg, Psych, Management, Clinical VII, VIII