Merritt College ADN

lil' bit country · Mar 10, 2011

i am in the program now and it has not improved from what i can tell. the instructors are discouraging, belittling, and unapproachable. all of the classes are self-taught (with the exception, so far, of psychiatric nursing), with "lectures" consisting of instructors zipping through their power point presentations at lightning speed without any consideration to students attempting to take notes or ask questions.

our "skills lab" is a joke. we weren't taught anything, only sat down in a classroom to re-watch videos that we were assigned to watch at home. yet once you get to clinical rotations, you are responsible for being proficient at these same skills. (the skills lab is open 4:30-6:30 only during the weekday and you have to sign up for skills lab hours separately than the program --costing more money and prolonging hours on campus). their "state of the art" sim lab is off limits to students -- not a single person in my class has touched a single piece of equipment in that room. it was used as an alternate day for clinical rotation when there were too many students on the floor at the hospital. take a wild guess what you do on your sim lab day. yup, watch videos.

until our class, end-of-semester class evaluations were not anonymous, so no real opinions could be put forth without fear of retribution from the instructor when you have them again farther along in the program (the same instructors that teach the first class...teach the last class as well).

the system for filing a complaint is a joke, since the administration and the teaching staff are one and the same. for instance, if you'd like to complain about an instructor, somewhere along the chain of command that you are required to navigate in order to get to the dean, you will have to go through the very instructor you are filing a complaint about. no advocate for the students exist. it appears that the administrative staff are only in place to watch each other's back.

a side note of shady behavior: in order to be approved for funding from the song-brown act of california, each health care program it is required to undergo a walk though evaluation site visit by a lawyer. guess who the lawyer who did the check on merritt was! none other than their own ***** conflict of interest much? you can see the full report by clicking the link below.

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:_tgpuv8w7lmj:www.transparency.ca.gov/common/document.ashx%3fid%3d8515%26tb_iframe%3dtrue+family+practice+residency+program+kathleen+bauer&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=adgeesincvwrcbdpjkdsjsfhxvf8j7xxjpq2pwo29fdd0acrinrmqup2msy7bcmiwhxlxjsjga11mq10mftamkbsrsvsvbplzj4vmresjegcfq5ccnpehijvn56bo1qfsablangevgtt&sig=ahietbqudplmpfxoqod6s0cpfbqv-lb2ug

avoid this program at all costs.

Christine2009 · Mar 10, 2011

***** did the walk through??? OMG! You know that Merritt's accredidation is on probation and in jepordary of losing their program? They just lost the LVN program because of this. I spent a year in the LVN program and then transitioned to the RN and agree that the instructors are rude and straight ghetto! Mr. ***** and Ms. **** I can not stand as well as **** and her flightly way about her.

Let's not forget the stupid ATI that you have to do also...what a joke that was...the SIM lab still is not being used, but they boast about how they have state of the art equipment you can learn from in orientation and then you never get to use the lab but the skills lab that has outdated supplies or no supplies what so ever. They say that they have an "open door policy" but as stated you have to be careful what you say so you do not suffer the after effects of what is said.

Needless to say, I left the program and much happier where I am at now and my grades have improved dramatically. I have gone to getting 75% to 89% or higher on exams. My instructors at this school are so sweet, everyone is on a first name basis and very accomadating if you need help.

So, to answer the question, Merritt is still the same and has not changed one bit!

Kt21 · Mar 10, 2011

Whoa! I cannot believe that after everything this program still sounds the same. I was accepted to a much more expensive program, but now I am even more confused. Is it crappy but doable? Is it still easy to get into. I might have to suck it up and deal with it if it is the only other school to come through. If you don't mind my asking how did your clinicals go if you weren't able to properly use the lab? Where are clinicals?

Kt21 · Mar 10, 2011

Christine2009 - I would love to know what program you are in now that you are happier in?

Christine2009 · Mar 11, 2011

Katie,

I am at the Gurnick Academy of Medical Arts in Concord pursuing my LVN and then going on to the bridge program for my RN. Awesome school and well worth the money and time to be there and learn from quality instructors!

lil' bit country · Mar 18, 2011

KT21,

I can't speak to whether or not it's doable, I mean, I'm doing it, but just barely...as far as I can tell, the same goes for the rest of the class. No one is getting over an 85% overall grade right now.

After orientation and alternates, our class started with 85 students. After 1.5 (out of 4) semesters, we are down to 23 (with 6 on an undefined "academic probation" -- they haven't been told what this means yet). About 10 of them dropped out for varying reasons (a few of them in tears), the others were failed. In my opinion, the program is nearly impossible because nursing can't and shouldn't be self-taught.

The administrative staff like to brag about how they have a "100% passing rate". This is for the NCLEX, this is NOT the program itself. By accepting over triple the amount of students that will finish at the end of the 2 year program, it's not surprising that the 30 or less students that actually make it will pass the NCLEX - most likely they would have passed it in any program. This doesn't account for the 50-75 students that were both smart and determined enough to get through the prerequisites, the TEAS, and the application process to get in to this nursing program, but once there had no support or instruction available to reach their goal of becoming a nurse.

If you have other options, take them.

Kt21 · Mar 19, 2011

Has anyone else applied and heard if they passed the initial checklist of requirements?

lil bit country.....would you please let me know what fundamentals book you used?

Columnist · Mar 20, 2011

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mistymall · Mar 23, 2011

i am in the program now and it has not improved from what i can tell. the instructors are discouraging, belittling, and unapproachable. all of the classes are self-taught (with the exception, so far, of psychiatric nursing), with "lectures" consisting of instructors zipping through their power point presentations at lightning speed without any consideration to students attempting to take notes or ask questions.
our "skills lab" is a joke. we weren't taught anything, only sat down in a classroom to re-watch videos that we were assigned to watch at home. yet once you get to clinical rotations, you are responsible for being proficient at these same skills. (the skills lab is open 4:30-6:30 only during the weekday and you have to sign up for skills lab hours separately than the program --costing more money and prolonging hours on campus). their "state of the art" sim lab is off limits to students -- not a single person in my class has touched a single piece of equipment in that room. it was used as an alternate day for clinical rotation when there were too many students on the floor at the hospital. take a wild guess what you do on your sim lab day. yup, watch videos.
until our class, end-of-semester class evaluations were not anonymous, so no real opinions could be put forth without fear of retribution from the instructor when you have them again farther along in the program (the same instructors that teach the first class...teach the last class as well).
the system for filing a complaint is a joke, since the administration and the teaching staff are one and the same. for instance, if you'd like to complain about an instructor, somewhere along the chain of command that you are required to navigate in order to get to the dean, you will have to go through the very instructor you are filing a complaint about. no advocate for the students exist. it appears that the administrative staff are only in place to watch each other's back.
a side note of shady behavior: in order to be approved for funding from the song-brown act of california, each health care program it is required to undergo a walk though evaluation site visit by a lawyer. guess who the lawyer who did the check on merritt was! none other than their own ***** conflict of interest much? you can see the full report by clicking the link below.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:_tgpuv8w7lmj:www.transparency.ca.gov/common/document.ashx%3fid%3d8515%26tb_iframe%3dtrue+family+practice+residency+program+kathleen+bauer&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=adgeesincvwrcbdpjkdsjsfhxvf8j7xxjpq2pwo29fdd0acrinrmqup2msy7bcmiwhxlxjsjga11mq10mftamkbsrsvsvbplzj4vmresjegcfq5ccnpehijvn56bo1qfsablangevgtt&sig=ahietbqudplmpfxoqod6s0cpfbqv-lb2ug
avoid this program at all costs.

thank you for this bit of info. lil bit country...i was unsure of this school due to another article i read not long ago, but since your posting is recent well...need i say more!

Candicen83 · May 10, 2011

Wow, I was accepted to a couple of other programs and was wondering whether i should pay $22 and send this school my TEAS V score. At one point, I thought it couldn't hurt to "broaden my options," but these accounts have proven that philosophy wrong. I knew there was something fishy when I went in person during business hours to turn in my application and the nursing office was locked. There wasn't even a sign to let us know if someone would be returning (and no, this was not during lunch time).

My gosh, it is scary to think the highest average was an 85% in the classes. I want to eventually get my masters in nursing and I would be livid if this school hurt my chances in this way.

Good luck to those who are still in the program. You guys are troopers!

ProudMom511 · May 12, 2011

Congrats for your acceptance, which colleges did you get in? I sent my TEAS transcript to Merritt college, it was due by the 9th of may.