WAnurse11

hey @entryleveleverything I agree with most of the information posted on here already, but I'll just add a little and reiterate things that I find important. We were given most of our clinical locations at the end of summer. They don't take into account your preferences as the process is already crazy enough. You can talk with other people and try to switch for clinical locations that are further north. However, most of the clinical sites are in Pierce County. Some clinical have sites in South King County, but I think they change based on availability and relationship with PLU. There's one gal in our cohort who comes from South Seattle and a few in south King County. They seem to have made it work (you do go opposite traffic for the most part!). Try to sign up early as possible and if you don't get what you want, you can switch with someone who is willing. Studying is up to personal preference. Some people choose to treat it as a job and just work 8-5ish every day and call it good. Others slack and cram. I've been doing alright. There is less direction than my previous school, so sometimes it's hard to know what to focus on. Nursing tests are usually "NCLEX style," so no matter how hard you study, you're probably going to miss a few. One of my friends who went through the BSN program told me, "The earlier you stop caring, the easier it will be." He got through with decent grades and passed his NCLEX first time. haha. So it's really up to you how much you want to put into it. I aslo want to restate that nursing school is not what I thought it was from the outside. Nursing school does not prepare you to be a nurse. It gives you exposure to different types of nursing and (hopefully) helps you to build a foundation on which you can build on once you get a job. Talking to other nurses, this seems pretty universal to nursing school. More specific to PLU and this program, our cohort has had frustrations with the overall lack of organization and transparency. I think it's important to know this going into the program and to think about how to deal with it. Overall you'll get through and become and RN. It's all part of the process!

Hey y'all! I'm also a current student in the first year of the ELMSN program. I agree with everything curiousrei has commented on so far, but if you have any other questions, feel free to let me know!