kellyfuturebsn

Hi everyone. I am not 100% sure I can accurately answer questions since I graduated from this program in 2019 and I know things have changed. I did hear they have a mostly online platform now? And I believe things have changed especially since COVID. your semesters are set up in 8-week increments. But really it's like 6-7 weeks because that final week is usually an exam week. Your first semester, you'll have a couple days of coursework and a couple days of simulation lab. As the semesters progress, you'll do more clinical and sun lab work. The program was pretty good about making sure you aren't taking more than one exam in a given day. All I can say is form study groups, take the work seriously and seek any type of help from your professors. All these programs are is one large form of time management. I actually began working part time as a CNA for my last few semesters because I was comfortable enough with the format of work and managed my time well. It goes fast. I can't believe I'm coming up on 4 years since graduation. I'm currently in school for my NP with plans to also teach so I hope to circle back to HFU to be an instructor! Good luck!!

I believe I answered this somewhere in this thread or another about HFU ABSN. What I can tell you is that your schedule will change every 8 weeks, so you must be flexible. That’s the give and take of being in an accelerated program. In the beginning you’ll have lecture and lab, then clinical will get added in. All clinical days are 12 hours, usually once a week. Some semesters are different than others.

I both study alone and in groups. I almost always would study on my days off, cramming this kind of content isn't possible in my opinion. It may work for some, but not for me. I like to re-listen to lecture recordings and make extra notes, and crossmatch it with my text. Typically, I would meet with my group a day before or a few days before an exam and we would just cover everything that would be on the upcoming exam - it helped me immensely. My grades improved working with a group, however, this again isn't something that works for everyone. The "not so great" sites? I wouldn't say that they weren't great because clinical is what you make it. The point I was making was that you won't always be in a big, city, university hospital. Sometimes you'll be in smaller community hospitals - all are great sites to learn in.

Hey Aaron, I am about a month and a half away from graduating this program. I've been all over these boards trying to help people as best as possible. If you search the boards, you'll get a ton of differing views. I can tell you from a personal standpoint, I have truly enjoyed the program. It's a lot of work, but if you stay focused and put in the time, you'll do well. You have to be flexible, as your schedule will change every eight weeks. I can truly say I have been lucky that I have loved every single one of my clinical instructors, they are all amazingly smart and experienced, I've learned so much from them. Many of the professors are amazing as well. People have their complaints about certain things, some of it is warranted and some not. You don't get to pick your sites for clinical. The school will send you to locations within a 25 mile radius of main campus. I have been to some great hospitals - Temple, Penn, Abington. Others in my class have been to Jefferson, Einstein, CHOP etc. We have had some that weren't great, but most of them are. Clinical is what you make it - I had a bulk of my MedSurg at Nazareth and I still learned an unbelievable amount of experience. My very first semester was in a nursing home, but I learned all of the basics of bedside nursing, and I am still thankful for that experience. Our program is known to perform very well on the NCLEX - stats have been 100% pass rates for the first time taking it. The tuition is probably the cheapest in the area. I have heard some complain at programs that are only a year or less because they don't feel they had the experience to learn much - that is not the case with Holy Family. Every program has its quirks, but it's constantly changing and evolving. I'm ready, and although I'll be singing a different tune when I begin working, now I feel ready to start working as an RN. I feel I have a solid baseline knowledge. I also worked really hard in this program. Lastly, don't prepare now. Enjoy your free time, while you have it. Although I still made plenty of time for family and friends during this program, when I wasn't in school, I just enjoyed life and didn't think about it. It'll take up plenty of your time once you start. Your orientation should be coming up shortly, right? They will give you SO MUCH information there about the program.

Donna, I'm currently in the program and my nutrition class was not with a registered dietician. I actually took it online at Bucks over the winter break.

hey jwear. I had zero healthcare experience before applying. I only had about a 3.0 exact cumulative GPA with a 4.0 in the pre-reqs. I'm four months from graduation. Don't worry about you previous degree, mine was broadcast journalism.

Scroll through this thread, I've posted a lot of info :) I will say, if you want to work full time, this program may not be for you. Part time is doable, it's still tough, but can be done. I do know Jeff has a two year second degree program, but I think many of them still require flexible scheduling.

I've paid for most of the program with federal loans and will pay the remainder with private/educational loans.

Are you talking about Fall this year or next? I would recommend waiting, if you can. I've had two weddings this year and I did luck out with my clinical days falling on different days. But I heard it's awful to makeup clinical days because they're 12 hour shifts.

Sorry it took me so long to reply. Your first semester will be three classes with two days of lab, so you'll be in classes probably 4 days a week. Then you move on to two days of lecture, and one or two clinical days a week. And you will need immunizations before you start clinical, which is your second "semester." You'll get all the information on that at your orientation - you'll have more than enough time to get it all done í ½í¸Š good luck to you!

We record the lectures, I'll go back and re-listen to them while reading my notes/power points. I'll then reference the text and ATI text. Sometimes I'll use ATI practice questions and I just go online to find practice questions as well. It's all what works for you. You will learn 90% of what you need in class. People use UWorld after they're finished but I've heard better things about Kaplan.

Our ATI proctored exams only account for a very small percentage of our grade. Also the grading on ATI I believe goes off a national average, so there are levels. The level you get will translate into what percent you get in the class. Our curriculum is not 100% centered around ATI but we do utilize the ATI texts a lot in our information. I actually prefer the ATI texts to the actual textbooks. You will have a class written exams. Your ATI proctored exam is in Med-Surg 2 and Pharm 2, that you will take once at the end of the semester. Then you will have them for each subject after. ATI should not make you fail the class if your class exams have a decent average, it'll really only effect the people on the line between passing and failing. Then as BA2012 said, you'll take your comprehensive ATI exams at the end of the program. ATI should just be meant as a tool to help prepare you for the NCLEX.

We do use ATI, the tests are written by the professors. Where they get ideas for the questions, I'm not sure. However they are NCLEX style questions. We have class 2-4 days a week and clinical 1-2 days a week. It all depends on the semester and what classes. I'm not sure what I should elaborate on for why I like it. I think the professors care, clinical instructors are great, I feel we're provided with everything needed to succeed. The scheduling is tough and you need to be flexible as every 8 weeks, it will change.

Some nursing schools are 73 to pass but almost all schools have moved in 77.

I started in January and we haven't had a single failure, And other cohorts don't seem to have many failures either. I think one person so far from the cohort ahead of us but they are joining us.