MCG Clinical Nurse Leader - Fall 2010

Adriane82 · Oct 13, 2010

Out of the 29 in our class this year in Athens, I would say we have atleast 6 or 7 who commute from the greater Atlanta area. Some of them have worked out carpools to cut down on individual driving. I am local so I won't speak to how much harder that makes life for those guys, but I do know they manage. We are not on campus every day and the faculty is understanding with placing the commuters in clinical groups that prevent them from having to come to Athens an extra day just to do pre-planning. This semester we are all in lecture all day on Mondays. Half of us do clinicals on Tuesdays and the other half do clinicals on Wednesdays. We are also going to have one extra lab day on campus. This week it is Friday but it is variable. The "off days" are used to manage the online course load which is research and writing-based.

ayti · Oct 16, 2010

Thanks for your response adrianne82. I just was not sure if commuting is feasible. I really like the idea of getting a Masters degree instead of another redundant bachelors degree in nursing. Do you know if you are restricted to working only as a RN in Georgia with MSNCNL degree?

bdanders · Oct 16, 2010

You're definitely not limited to only working in Georgia. Once you pass NCLEX your RN license has reciprocity so you can work in any state. There may be some paperwork to complete to verify your license in a new state, but its no big deal. If there's a specific state you want to work in after graduation you can even just take the NCLEX in that state and avoid any additional paperwork!

anne2010 · Oct 16, 2010

Hi guys. Thank you so much for your replies. For some reason, I was waiting for email notifications of any reply-posts. So I didn't check sooner.

Your posts really helped. I'm really psyched & committed to this program. I can't wait!

Thanks again!

Adriane82 · Oct 17, 2010

I am pretty sure as long as your license is in good standing you can work in any state as an RN. Remember the school grants the degree (MSN), the license of RN is obtained from passing the NCLEX-RN and then some will choose to test for the CNL extra certification. Some states might require you register or go through some formal steps to "transfer" a license or whatever but it should not matter if you want to work in another state. Something to think about when considering BSN vs. MSN is that you are eligible to borrow much more $ in federal student loans as a graduate student than you are as a second bachelor's degree student, also the MSN is usually the minimum degree required to teach. If either of those are a concern for you I'd seriously consider the master's option. Just my 2 cents! If you give your post a little more time, some of the ATL commuters in my class may be able to offer their perspectives on how that has been for them.

ayti · Oct 19, 2010

Thanks bbanders and adriene82 for response to my questions. I am really excited about the program and I just feel like it is great alternative over the BSN program.

I have a question though, since the CNL is relatively new, I know new grads will be hired as entry level floor nurses, but do any of you know which settings hire CNL grad the most? Also, what will a career path be?

Also, do you think the CNL program is fast paced or accelerated?

BTW- bbanders I am not able to send you a private message/email yet because I do not have 15posts. But I will shoot you some emails for other questions I may have. Thanks so much. The commute is really scary, but when I think of it the program is about 16mths and before you know it, it is over and done with.

ayti · Oct 19, 2010

I have a question on the chemistry prerequisite requirement- do you know if it is possible to take a biochemistry course alone or do I have to take 2 intro to chemistry to fulfil the requirement? I am thinking there would probably be a prerequisite before taking the biochem

I was looking at MCG website and noticed the name will be changing to Georgia Health Sciences university in Feb 2011. I actually prefer Medical college better it is short lol. Anyway, i think I understand the logic behind the name change. Do any of you like the new name?

sharzaejones · Oct 20, 2010

I am also considering applying to the CNL program next year. Can someone please tell me what a typical week is like now? What days/hours do you have class, clinincals, etc? Also, I understand this is an accelarated program- do you feel like you have enough time to complete your assignments and study for test? I saw on a previous post where someone stated they were listening to a lecture, do the instructors post the lectures online or do you have to bring a recorder to record them?

bdanders · Oct 20, 2010

I can only speak for first semester and only for Athens as the other campuses have different lab/clinical schedules. For the first part of the semester we had lecture on Mondays from 9-4 (with 12-1 break) and lab most Tuesdays and Wednesdays (either morning or afternoon, sometimes all day). Clinicals start at the midpoint of first semester and then the schedule shifts to Monday (all day lecture), Tues OR Wed (clinical - 7-3) and Fridays (labs/skill check offs). For clinicals we have to be at the hospital at 6:30am, which makes for a very early morning especially if you'll be commuting from outside of Athens. There is also paperwork that needs to be completed the evening prior to clinical and additional documents to be submitted the day after clinical.

First semester requires the least amount of clinical/lab time (185 clinical/lab hours). I believe that in 2nd and 3rd semesters we will have ~2 clinical days each week maybe more in summer since the semester is shorter (total of 285 hours each semester). 4th semester we do a residency with an average of 36 hours per week in clinical (total of 585 clinical hours).

As far as time commitment goes, there is always something that needs to be done and once the semester gets going exams, quizzes, papers, and skill checkoffs come one right after the other (ie, time management is invaluable). Yes, its fast paced, but absolutely doable.

To answer your question about how things are recorded, all of the lectures are recorded using a program called Tegrity and can be downloaded to an iPod.

sharzaejones · Oct 21, 2010

Thanks for replying bdanders! What are you allowed to do during clinicals since this is your first semester? Also, I see the first semester also includes an epidemiology and biostatstics class. Do you have to refer to a lot of the information you learned in undergraduate statistics class? I dont think I remember much from that class

What are the test like (essay, multiple choice, etc)? I have a friend who attends the nursing school at Emory. This is her first semester and she said nursing school test are very different than test she had before. I was also shocked to hear her instructors give out study guides, does the CNL program do this too?

Adriane82 · Oct 22, 2010

First semester clinical has mostly been about pre-planning, observation, and development of assessment skills. Other than that, we are not allowed to give detail about clinical experiences (such as which hospital we are assigned to, which unit we are on, etc.) due to strict HIPAA rules.

Our epidemiology course this year is somewhat statistics based with a good bit of research and critical thinking thrown in the mix (statistical concepts yes, actual math type problems, no). However, the course professor changes year to year and next year I think I heard it was going to be a professor out of the biostats department and so a lot can change in regards to course content.

We are fortunate that our professors this semester in our CNL program courses have provided us with good study guides to direct our studying efforts, it makes life much happier. As far as the tests themselves-they are preparing us for the NCLEX all along and so the style of questioning is new and takes getting used to.

sharzaejones · Oct 24, 2010

Thanks Adriane82....