Preparing for Nursing at Azusa Pacific, CA

Nursing Students Pre-Nursing

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hey.

is anyone going to azusa pacific university in california?

if so, any suggestions on how to prepare for the upcoming accelerated nursing program?

any books you recommend?

Glad to hear that the Kaiser Loan Forgiveness recipients from 2008 graduations received positions. Not so in 2009 (now).

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The Kaiser Loan Forgiveness program is not playing out as anticipated this year. BSN grads with RN are not being offered fulltime going rate positions almost 2 months after graduation. This is quite upsetting to everyone concerned. Be cautious, be wary, ask to talk to recent recipients to see if the program works for them.

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Specializes in Emergency.

I’m a scholarship recipient and am very happy with my placement; I got my first choice dept and am full time. We are paid the going rate, actually a step up on the pay scale because of our BSN. But, not all have been placed in a full time position yet. Some are part time and were told as soon as full time positions open up it will be theirs. If they can snag some OT (what’s considered OT when your part time) they could be sitting pretty. Times have really changed with the economy and yes, even in nursing. There are number of non-Kaiser scholarship recipients still looking for positions, some hospitals are not hiring at all and the positions are not as plentiful as they were 6 months to a year ago. I don’t have any doubts that they will not find positions its just not as easy anymore.

I’m not trying to discourage anyone. I just wanted to clear up the Kaiser info. Nursing is still a great field to be in for a lot of reasons and there are jobs, its just going to take more interviews and applying than it had before the economy took a dive.

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When did you get your placement? Yes the program has worked in the past but not now and not in this area. None of the students who graduated in May 2009 in our area and were recipients of the Kaiser program have received fulltime positions at the going rate with benefits. My daughter is one of them and has her BSN and RN (and a BS in Biological Sciences). The current offer by Kaiser (made on Tuesday this week) is to work fulltime through http://www.selaco.com/ at Kaiser for $20 per hour without benefits for up to 12 weeks with no position guarantee. They have told the graduates that they might end up with part-time, per diem, no position or maybe a position by the end of the 12 weeks (no guarantees). Graduation was 5/15/09. This is not hoopla. We have the offer letter in hand. No one is happy from this group. This story is not over. We'll be quite vocal about this in the next couple weeks. We are playing this fairly lowkey at this time.

If that was your outcome after graduation and getting your license how would you respond?

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Specializes in Emergency.

I am sorry to hear about your daughter’s situation; that is terrible. If her scholarship program was like ours, we signed a promissory note that spelled out the details of being hired, obligation to work for them for 2 years, etc. Kaiser, not only the students who signed it, is bound by that promissory note. I hope the situation will get remedied for your daughter!

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Yes we understand the legality involved. I'm sure the programs are the same. At the present time there are about 20 graduates impacted in this manner. Lawyers have been contacted (not something we would have planned to do). This is not a pretty ending to years of work and an expectation that if you do your part Kaiser will do its part. Communication continues and time will tell. Meanwhile my daughter has started the application process at several locations in our area (several months after she would have started without being involved in the Kaiser program).

Most noteable:

Part E(2) of the Loan Disclosure Statement clearly states, “Participation in this program [i.e., the Kaiser Permanente Nursing Student Loan] guarantees hiring to a nursing staff position

Current and future participants in this program deserve to know the truth.

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Liz 520,

Wow that's awesome you were able to land a position at Kaiser and fulfill your scholarship obligations. Did you have any prior nursing/medical experience? What do you think helped in terms of why you got a job in your chosen specialty versus the others who did not? I start eenap in January and am worried about all this. I am just praying and hoping that by the time I graduate in 2011, there will be jobs again. However, I am concerned about scholarship money as well and the Kaiser loan forgiveness scholarship is my only hope other than taking out loans.

Did you graduate from eenap this May? Did you do externships during your prorgram

Sorry for all the questions. Thank you in advance for anything you can provide info for.

Theresa

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I'm a scholarship recipient and am very happy with my placement; I got my first choice dept and am full time. We are paid the going rate, actually a step up on the pay scale because of our BSN. But, not all have been placed in a full time position yet. Some are part time and were told as soon as full time positions open up it will be theirs. If they can snag some OT (what's considered OT when your part time) they could be sitting pretty. Times have really changed with the economy and yes, even in nursing. There are number of non-Kaiser scholarship recipients still looking for positions, some hospitals are not hiring at all and the positions are not as plentiful as they were 6 months to a year ago. I don't have any doubts that they will not find positions its just not as easy anymore.

I'm not trying to discourage anyone. I just wanted to clear up the Kaiser info. Nursing is still a great field to be in for a lot of reasons and there are jobs, its just going to take more interviews and applying than it had before the economy took a dive.

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Specializes in Emergency.

Nursing is a great field, so best of luck to you. As I understand it Kaiser is not offering that scholarship program at APU anymore, at least for the time being. You can call and follow up on that, but that was the last I heard. California did have a loan forgiveness program if you worked at certain hospitals but we are bankrupt now so who knows if that program is still going. There are scholarships out there, it just takes some looking and essay writing.

My background was in social work so I think t hat helped me get into the ED. My manager said he liked that I had worked in social work and have dealt with people in crisis before. There is a HUGE learning curve with nursing so there is still a lot I need to learn but I am so glad to be able to start in ED

The program is so fast paced that you will not have time to do an externship. If you want extra experience I would suggest going on a medical mission trip or volunteering in a hospital during the Christmas or summer break. When you are in your clinicals, ask for the difficult/complicated patients, ask for opportunities to start IV’s, pass meds, help with chest tubes, lines, drains, etc. Put yourself out there while you have the mentors and the opportunity. It will be scary but you will be so glad that you did it!

Good luck!

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That's awesome, thank you so much for that. I am still very determined to become a nurse, if I have to get loans, so be it. It's very inspiring to hear from people like you. Please keep us updated on your progress. I am also interested in entering the ED. I will take your advice seriously and will ask for the difficult cases when I am in my clinicals. Can't wait!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nursing is a great field, so best of luck to you. As I understand it Kaiser is not offering that scholarship program at APU anymore, at least for the time being. You can call and follow up on that, but that was the last I heard. California did have a loan forgiveness program if you worked at certain hospitals but we are bankrupt now so who knows if that program is still going. There are scholarships out there, it just takes some looking and essay writing.

My background was in social work so I think t hat helped me get into the ED. My manager said he liked that I had worked in social work and have dealt with people in crisis before. There is a HUGE learning curve with nursing so there is still a lot I need to learn but I am so glad to be able to start in ED

The program is so fast paced that you will not have time to do an externship. If you want extra experience I would suggest going on a medical mission trip or volunteering in a hospital during the Christmas or summer break. When you are in your clinicals, ask for the difficult/complicated patients, ask for opportunities to start IV's, pass meds, help with chest tubes, lines, drains, etc. Put yourself out there while you have the mentors and the opportunity. It will be scary but you will be so glad that you did it!

Good luck!

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Hi...

It's been a while and was just seeing if there has been any update on the issue brought up by kcmom. Has your daughter found a nursing position? If so, with or without Kaiser? I am starting nursing at apu soon and unfortunately will not have the chance to even apply for the kaiser loan forgiveness loan. However, I hope they do offer it at some point.

Liz520,

How is the ER? Are you loving it? Are you loving your job as a nurse? I start at APU next semester, any advice?

Thanks!

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