ISU aBSN

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Apr 14, 2014

I am in the cohort ahead of you, so I will be finishing up in the summer. We will be there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We will be there for your cohort the same as the previous cohort was there for us. Free free to PM me any questions. See you next month.

RookieRoo · Apr 14, 2014

Thank you! I am super excited. How have you liked the program so far? Where do you do clinicals (and when did those start)? Are you feeling prepared for the NCLEX in the fall? Is there anything I should buy ahead of time (stethoscope?)?

Thanks in advance! It's nice to connect with someone who's actually in the program. :)

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Apr 14, 2014

It had it's glitches at the beginning. We were the first cohort to max out a 30 students. They waited until the end of Spring semester to make their acceptance decisions. We got our email on 5/8 and classes started on 5/13. We had 5 days to rearrange our lives. Since we had short notice with getting in to the program, everyone had to buy their books at the bookstore rather than getting them online. The bookstore was short on books for the first summer session. That will be resolved for your group. All clinicals except for Fundamentals (nursing home clinicals during second summer session), mental health, and community nursing are done at Union Hospital.

Get a day planner to keep track of all your assignments and tests. The summer is fast and furious and assignments and tests come quick and often. You will need a stethoscope for nursing clinicals during the summer.

The program goes by quickly, 3 months and 23 days until graduation and yes they prepare you for graduation. Last 2 cohorts had a 100% pass rate on NCLEX with numerous finishing after 75 questions (minimum possible).

Enjoy the next month because you wont have much free time during the summer. Don't stress out too much, we (my "dysfunctional" family as we call ourselves) will be there for your cohort to help you with the summer.

Once you get 15 posts on here, PM me and I can give you more information on what to expect and my experience.

RookieRoo · Apr 14, 2014

Yeah they said they were going to do the same thing with us. I asked and they said notifications of admissions would be made May 9 with classes starting May 12! So I was surprised when I got an email from them with my acceptance already. I get a whole month to plan! :) I'm definitely taking advantage of it... going to California for two weeks to visit family and chill out since I know once school starts, I am going to be a busy busy person! Ha.

Thanks for your openness and willingness to tell me what to expect! I've done a lot of research but TBH, there isn't a lot of information out there on ISU's absn program. More on their online versions. Someone told me the program is too new and not well-known enough?

What is the mix in your cohort like? A lot of younger students? Nontraditional students? I'm more of a nontraditional, I have a family and left an entire other career to come to nursing so I'm just wondering. Looking forward to seeing you guys around on campus.

RookieRoo · Apr 14, 2014

Also, yes. I will PM you. Working on getting to 15 posts now. :)

EuropaRN · Jul 8, 2014

I graduated from the second cohort! I thought the program prepared me to take the nclex and I passed with 75 questions. I felt I had a good grasp on all concepts and when i needed clarification, the instructors were great about discussing it with me further. I truly felt that the majority of the instructors wanted us all to succeed.

The first summer is the hardest as far as content, but I'm sure you've figured that out. We did pharm in 5 weeks, drugs... all day, everyday for 5 weeks. Once you get to fall, it will slow down. Take time for yourself. Instructors and classmates stressed me out more than I ever did on my own.

Make connections at Union if you want to stay around Terre Haute... at least 7 (including myself) of my 15 classmates were hired there and the capstone clinical had a lot to do with it. But of course that's probably not at the top of your list right now.

Congratulations and if you have anymore questions I'd be happy to try to answer them for you!

RookieRoo · Jul 8, 2014

Kate, nice to "meet" you!

I see you're an ICU RN? That's awesome!

For the capstone- if we do it at a different hospital than union, are we less likely to get a job at union (and no, it's never too soon to think ahead so I love that you brought this up!) asking because I am considering OB and know there's an instructor who takes OB students in Bloomington. But then again, I also am looking forward to seeing how ER nursing might work. Guess we will see!

happily, pharmacology is no longer only 5 weeks... It now goes from June-July, so 8 whole weeks to learn a zillion drugs instead of five! LOL

other than that class is going well. It's a little scary to think that everything I'm learning will come back to haunt me in one way or another, whether through patient care or on the NCLEX- or both! Pressure to remember everything is crazy.

let me know if you have any insider tips or tricks, or just advice. :) and also, Don if you're around still I would love to know how your capstone is going. You're almost done!!!

EuropaRN · Jul 13, 2014

You too! I'm not that creative :-) Not at all, 2 nurses did their capstones in Indy and were hired. We had to make decisions by October, I think. As for pharm, learn the classes and you'll be golden. Memorize the few names that didn't match the suffix major side effects, etc. And you are learning the foundation to being a great nurse. Seriously don't think about the nclex right now. The only think to think about now is learning content and practicing that content through nclex style questions.

If you have the same med/surg instructor we did, you very well might do a couple of days rotation in ER and OR, and for me that was all i needed to know i didn't belong there!