National University San Diego

U.S.A. California

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Has anyone had any luck with applying at National University for their nursing program? I applied back in Oct 06 and have been waiting to hear from them. They are supposed to notify in 3 months. I have called and called and written email upon emails with no response really. :banghead: Please, if anyone has applied and received some sort of letter, I would greatly appreciate your reply.

Thanks

Specializes in NICU.

I sure don't - and I am the type of person who actively seeks learning opportunities.

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Specializes in Near Future: ED, Future Future: ACNP!.
I sure don't - and I am the type of person who actively seeks learning opportunities.

there seem to be a lot of clinical hours, so why do you feel that way if you don't mind me asking?

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I'm just writing from one person's point of view...one who is very close to graduating with really no prospects and not from my own undoing - just the reality of things. We are paying a LOT OF MONEY for these degrees from a school that can't take the time to organize this class that gives us the competitive edge we need to find jobs in this market. Take it with a grain of salt because it is my OPINION. I'm encouraging others to ask questions and get answers because those of us who are students currently can't get any!! My options now are to work in housekeeping with a part time job to get my foot in the door because no hospital will hire a new RN grad with 0 years experience. It's plain fact. There are applicants from all over the U.S. applying for jobs here in San Diego. Thousands for only 30 spots. I agree about the wait time with other schools and yes, NU is fast...but, fast for what reason? Every student I've known who has applied for an externship has received one, so that hasn't been a problem. What I'm saying is we now don't even have the opportunity. This decision being made by the BRN on behalf of SWC is moot because other schools do offer the class and it still doesn't answer why NU doesn't have a preceptorship instead. I would be more than happy to have made that as part of my cirriculum than floating around to different units without any kind of consistent training.

It's just another issue on top of the countless trials and tribulations one must face when attending this school. Their motto is "you have to be flexible!" because times and dates change sometimes at the last minute, no one can account for the "fees" we are paying, hospital clinicals recently have been part time in a simulation lab because NU can't get placement (forget about having clinicals at Children's for peds), etc. Take these posts as vents or take them as issues that you might want to consider. I really wish someone could have given me some tips or pointers before heading into this new career path with naive excitement.

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I can see that the added experience would be a great confidence and skills builder for a nursing student and the face to face time with potential employers would be a sweet benefit so I emailed the nursing department directly regarding their lack of an externship program. I'm not sure a direct quote from my personal email would be appropriate, but as I understand it they are working on adding it to the curriculum.

NU has been "working" on adding this to their curriculum for several years so they say even before I applied to school in early 2008...We've come across ex-NU students from years past who have said this very same thing. As far as I can tell, nobody is working on anything currently. If all things are equal and every student from every other school has the opportunity or option to even apply for an externship then NU students are now a step behind and are disadvantaged greatly!

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hi i have been reading this thread and am also interested in attending national university but i had a couple of questions if any one could help me out that would be great :)...

1. for those of you who decided to do the pre reqs through national was that covered by financial aid or was that an out of pocket expense?

2. also once you started the program how was the financial aid situation?

3. how long is the actual program intself? 18 or 22 months?

4. for graduates of the program or soon to be graduates are you having a hard time locating work?

thank you if someone could please help me out with this it would make my decisions a lot easier..

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Specializes in Near Future: ED, Future Future: ACNP!.
I'm just writing from one person's point of view...one who is very close to graduating with really no prospects and not from my own undoing - just the reality of things. We are paying a LOT OF MONEY for these degrees from a school that can't take the time to organize this class that gives us the competitive edge we need to find jobs in this market. Take it with a grain of salt because it is my OPINION. I'm encouraging others to ask questions and get answers because those of us who are students currently can't get any!! My options now are to work in housekeeping with a part time job to get my foot in the door because no hospital will hire a new RN grad with 0 years experience. It's plain fact. There are applicants from all over the U.S. applying for jobs here in San Diego. Thousands for only 30 spots. I agree about the wait time with other schools and yes, NU is fast...but, fast for what reason? Every student I've known who has applied for an externship has received one, so that hasn't been a problem. What I'm saying is we now don't even have the opportunity. This decision being made by the BRN on behalf of SWC is moot because other schools do offer the class and it still doesn't answer why NU doesn't have a preceptorship instead. I would be more than happy to have made that as part of my cirriculum than floating around to different units without any kind of consistent training.

It's just another issue on top of the countless trials and tribulations one must face when attending this school. Their motto is "you have to be flexible!" because times and dates change sometimes at the last minute, no one can account for the "fees" we are paying, hospital clinicals recently have been part time in a simulation lab because NU can't get placement (forget about having clinicals at Children's for peds), etc. Take these posts as vents or take them as issues that you might want to consider. I really wish someone could have given me some tips or pointers before heading into this new career path with naive excitement.

Every opinion counts to me! That's what I am looking for. Tips, pointers, and direction. I get that you are upset about the preceptorship/externship aspect of the program, but what else? Explain a little more about why you have to be so flexible. How often do things change? What happens if you can't accomodate the change? How would you rate the rest of the program? Do you think this program prepared you for nursing? If NU had a preceptorship/externship would you be satisfied with the program? What are the other "trials and tribulations" you are talking about? Those are the types of things I am looking for. I really appreciate your input :)

It is a lot of money. It is not quite as much money as it could be at other private schools though.

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Specializes in Near Future: ED, Future Future: ACNP!.
hi i have been reading this thread and am also interested in attending national university but i had a couple of questions if any one could help me out that would be great :)...

1. for those of you who decided to do the pre reqs through national was that covered by financial aid or was that an out of pocket expense?

2. also once you started the program how was the financial aid situation?

3. how long is the actual program intself? 18 or 22 months?

4. for graduates of the program or soon to be graduates are you having a hard time locating work?

thank you if someone could please help me out with this it would make my decisions a lot easier..

Hi there!

1. I paid out of pocket, but I believe you can get FA as long as you are a 1/2 time student.

2. I just applied for FA for the program. It is my second degree, so I only qualify for unsub stafford loans and likely won't be getting much. Maybe someone else can be more helpful. I got my other degree at NU and received full FA (15 years ago).

3. 22 months for the nursing classes.

4. I'm just starting out in the program. If you spend any time at all on allnurses.com you will see that there is no nursing shortage and new grads are having a hard time everywhere. Hospitals are currently not wanting to put the money into training new grads. Hopefully that will reverse as the people who came out of retirement due to the economy go back into retirement, and the economy continues to improve in general.

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ExPharmaGirl

thanks so much for the information anything is helpful so thanks for replying so quickly.

and good luck to you with the program.:):)

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there seem to be a lot of clinical hours, so why do you feel that way if you don't mind me asking?

There are some instructors who cancel clinical, have the students arrive late or leave early, so a 12 hour clinical day can easily turn into a 6. The first day on the floor, which is supposed to be a full day, is often just a brief orientation to the unit, 1 to 2 hours, and then you go home. Clinical instructors often disappear from the floor, and are not around for guidance until post conference, so you rely on the nurse you are following for the day to show you how to do things. Just when the RN's start to trust you to do a skill, it's time to leave. Students are all so busy with class assignments and papers that it is hard to complain. If one did, there might be flack from the other clinical members, or you could be made to write yet another paper to make up the lost time. As you can see, the proposed 136 clinical hours, really isn't what you get.

Another problem clinical placements are sometimes BAD. In my peds rotation the 10 students had to share as few as 5 patients, 2 which were adults that were flowed over from another unit. We didn't get to go to Children's, since they have contractual relationships with other schools, but not ours.

Fundamentals was more about watching videos than practicing basic skills. There are no supervised open skills labs to practice weak areas. MS 1 focused on passing meds and doing vitals, MS 2 focused on pt teaching, passing meds and learning critical thinking. Throughout the whole program, I never preformed a dressing change, dry, wet-to-dry, sterile, not a-one. I got to watch one on video and one at the hospital though, which makes me capable - I guess. :uhoh3:

I do know that the SIM lab is open now, so things may be a little different. Perhaps everyone feels unprepared coming out of nursing school, but I expect there are programs that provide better clinical teaching and prepares students better for transitioning into the workforce.

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Hi Rippecal,

I have no idea what was wrong with my first essay, I asked several times for some feedback since it affected my points so much but I never got it! I consider myself a pretty decent writer although the prompt wasn't was I expected so I had a difficult time making my essay as interesting as I could have. I got my acceptance letter for the October cohort last Thursday so what ever I did this time worked!! Is there anyone else out there that applied for October and got their acceptance letter??

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Alright everyone, I am having a hard time figuring out how to make responses on here. I really wanted to reply to a post by HappyMommy3 to say congrats and I will be starting in October as well. Is there a way to do an individual response or does everything just automatically post ay the end of the thread?

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Maiday has hit the nail on the head that each of us have our own motivations and circumstances which will factor into our decision. That said, I personally don't know that I will live in the same place long enough complete my BSN at a traditional university (my husband is military and I kind of like living with him :p) but I do have the luxury of not stressing over finding a job because I won't have student loans (I have my GI Bill) and we have been a one income family for the last few years and are already used to clipping coupons. A BSN in the same 2 years it would take to earn an ADN seemed like a no-brainer to me.

So for me, the question is if the quality of education is up to par. From SD Book Worm's posts it sounds like clinical hours are sometimes cut, there are clinical rotations which aren't allowing for a good learning experience and hands on practice is often lacking. Also, I haven't had an opportunity to do much research, but if all of the other local schools do offer preceptorships (the unpaid experience), the lack of this program at NU will hopefully be rectified.

Has this been the general experience with NU or was there just a kink in the system during the time SD was going through that has been since worked out? I appreciate all of you who are taking the time to answer our questions.

P.S. Congratulations to those of you receiving acceptance letters!:yeah:

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