Our Lady of Lourdes Nursing Program (Camden)

U.S.A. New Jersey

Published

I sent my application into OLOL (Camden) and I was wondering if anyone has attended this program in the past few years? I havent really found anything on the internet about this school and I was wondering if it is a good program or not. I have read that it was good 30 years ago... but how about now? I wanted to start Jan. 2012 but they already picked for that start date so I have my application in for August 2012. As of now that is my 1st choice in schools unless I hear that it's not a great program. I am very nervous about Nursing School to start with so it is important for me to hear about the program.

I received my acceptance letter in the mail today. :)

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Congrats girl! When do you start?

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They said I could start either Spring 2014 or Fall 2014. It is up to me. I haven't decided yet. Are you in the program?

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I selected Spring 2014 as my start date. Is anyone else starting in the Spring?

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i know this is an old thread just wanted to know if anyone can give any information about the school? Nursing program? How has it been? It was really nice reading all the comments accumulated over the years, even though i know probably they are old and i cant them as a guide as things change. Anyone have any new updates on the schools nursing program?

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i know this is an old thread just wanted to know if anyone can give any information about the school? Nursing program? How has it been? It was really nice reading all the comments accumulated over the years, even though i know probably they are old and i cant them as a guide as things change. Anyone have any new updates on the schools nursing program?

Hello! I'm not entirely sure how I ended up on this thread but saw your comment and wanted to try to help. I just graduated from Lourdes this past May and I think it was a great program. They really prepare you for the real world and it's not just a bunch of classes that are pointless and waste of time/money. Your clinical hours are intense but that is where you learn the most. A lot of the nurses that we worked with during clinical have said that they are more comfortable allowing us to perform skills on patients because we are more comfortable in the clinical setting than most bachelors program students. The program itself IS intense, but we had mostly older students with a family, jobs, and a life outside of school that made it the whole way through. Staff is readily available to help and answer questions. Tests were extremely difficult (as with any nursing program) and you wanted to rip your hair out (also with any nursing program), but overall, I would say Lourdes was a great school and a great option for those tight on a budget and time.

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I just got accepted for Fall 2019. Anyone else?

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Specializes in ED/Peds/Occ Health.

Has anyone gotten a yes from OLOLSON and RCBC/Burlington County and decided OLOL over RCBC? Why, or why not?

Would you change your choice now having gone through the OLOL program? 

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I would not change it for the world! RCBC's NCLEX pass rate is not that great whereas OLOL is almost 100%. You don't want a program that you can get through easily and then when you take your boards you can't pass. OLOL does a great job at focusing on topics that are NCLEX based. Everything they taught me was on that test. 

A friend of mine went to RCBC and took the NCLEX 3 times, finally passing on the 3rd try. Everyone in my class passed with most of us taking the NCLEX within 2-3 weeks of graduation. 

As a nurse now I am constantly reminded of why I made a great choice because nothing surprises me. I have seen and done everything in school.

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Specializes in ED/Peds/Occ Health.
2 minutes ago, CynTaylor2018 said:

I would not change it for the world! RCBC's NCLEX pass rate is not that great whereas OLOL is almost 100%. You don't want a program that you can get through easily and then when you take your boards you can't pass. OLOL does a great job at focusing on topics that are NCLEX based. Everything they taught me was on that test. 

A friend of mine went to RCBC and took the NCLEX 3 times, finally passing on the 3rd try. Everyone in my class passed with most of us taking the NCLEX within 2-3 weeks of graduation. 

As a nurse now I am constantly reminded of why I made a great choice because nothing surprises me. I have seen and done everything in school.

I mean there are major universities over the bridge that don't have amazing pass rates nor focus on NCLEX testing and kind of just leave students fending for themselves once their program is done. Nor do I think passing the first time makes you a better nurse, per say. But I understand where you're coming from. 

I'd prefer a program where I got not only the book value of the program, but the clinical value too. I'm only hesitant with the OLOL program since CCC wouldn't take all my xfer credits and I basically have wasted 2 semester's worth of classes they won't accept since they limit it at 24ish credits. 

 

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My advice to speaking to the advisors are to speak directly with --------------------- at OLOL. CCC has given the wrong information on numerous occasions putting a bad taste in all of our mouths.

Cost played a factor for me when choosing OLOL. The universities set you up with classes that require ALOT of book work during clinicals and having "med-surg" like courses. OLOL gives 2 classes per semester and that is it. You'll have clinical 2 times a week and still have flexibility to work if you have to. 

Passing the NCLEX the first time does not make you a better nurse than anyone. It's the $200 fee that you have to pay every time you take it that makes me cringe.

Choose the school that gives you the knowledge, teaches you safe practices, stays accredited throughout your terms, and allows you to complete in an optimal time frame.

P.S OLOL offers 880+ hours of clinical in ALL areas of nursing with a focus on medsurg each semester. 

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Specializes in ED/Peds/Occ Health.
On 8/26/2021 at 6:40 PM, CynTaylor2018 said:

My advice to speaking to the advisors are to speak directly with --------------------- at OLOL. CCC has given the wrong information on numerous occasions putting a bad taste in all of our mouths.

Cost played a factor for me when choosing OLOL. The universities set you up with classes that require ALOT of book work during clinicals and having "med-surg" like courses. OLOL gives 2 classes per semester and that is it. You'll have clinical 2 times a week and still have flexibility to work if you have to. 

Passing the NCLEX the first time does not make you a better nurse than anyone. It's the $200 fee that you have to pay every time you take it that makes me cringe.

Choose the school that gives you the knowledge, teaches you safe practices, stays accredited throughout your terms, and allows you to complete in an optimal time frame.

P.S OLOL offers 880+ hours of clinical in ALL areas of nursing with a focus on medsurg each semester. 

The scheduling is what I'm looking at. I still need to work at least part time (.6 FTE if not .75) and go to school. I've done some forward thinking and planned out a mock schedule with RCBC and realized that I wouldn't be able to do a day shift if I worked days or nights specifically, and I wouldn't be able to work nights unless the facility is going to be flexible enough with letting me not work overnight on a specific night because of clinicals the next morning. 

Cost, at this point, isn't a huge thing. And I'm not saying that like I have the money. It's going to be in loans and it is what it is. I've also looked into Camden County College's program with Rutgers to do the 3 years BSN. But the extra classes for admission into the program alone doesn't make any sense. Nor does the traditional Rutgers Camden program since it's still 4 years. I could be working as an RN within 2 this way, and at least not struggle to keep things afloat for those four years at Rutgers. 

I didn't respond back right away because your comment about clinical hours in specific areas intrigued me, so I reached out to RCBC and asked about that situation. They said it's, "long term care, maternity/ob/L&D, peds and something else (I lost my note card), then med surg for the last like semester or more." And in essence from what I gathered, a lot of it is just med-surg which is not what I was looking for. I was hoping to get into a program that rotated you through a decent amount of specialties to not only get that experience, but to get an idea of what you want to do when you graduate. 

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