thyme39

Oakwood is trying to cut expenses until the end of the year. No nurses are being laid off that I know of. In fact we have 3 open positions for nurses on our floor they are actively recruiting for. However, we have been asked to work short 1 nurse for 4 hrs out of each 12 hr shift until end of yr. Our unit is usually busy so there is overtime if you want. They would rather cut agency and contingent and have us work the OT if we want. But the rumors fly that they could close departments. They closed a Med-surg floor earlier this yr. Also, nurses who have been here longer tell me they say the same thing for cost cutting the last 2-3 months every yr, so maybe it's not due to the economy or not totally.

I used binders for each class. You usually have 3 classes in a semester so I bought 3 different colored binders and put everything for each class into its own binder. Also downloaded all the info from the website they use to my hard drive because once I had a test and their site was down and was panicking cause I couldn't get to the info I needed for the test. I also made a monthly calendar on my computer and put all my class days, tests, papers due date, clinicals, etc on it so I could see a month at a glance what I had to do and where I had to be. I used the binders with a clear plastic sleeve on the front and kept the monthly calendars in there so I could quickly look at them but they were kept neat and not ripped/crumpled. I bought a backpack w/wheels cause the books are pretty heavy and I kept extra pencils, notebooks, etc in there. You do need to keep organized. It can be so crazy. You will find out what works for you. Good luck.

Where I work the weekend cadre is either fri/sat/sun or sat/sun/mon. You only have to work on a holiday if it falls on a weekend. You work 36 hrs/week but get paid for 40. (so if you work extra you get time and a half right away). Our critical care unit usually doesn't have enough people on the weekends so they rarely get pulled to other units or sent home.

Despite the nursing shortage, some ICU's still look for candidates with ICU experience. Go on the hospital websites in your area and see what the ICU positions are looking for. I've seen them say 2 yrs med-surg req, or previous step-down experience req.If you can't find anything in ICU, you can try a step down unit first. See if you can get into an ICU step down or a step down that takes high acuity pts. After you get some experience there, try again for the ICU. Many nurses use a step down as a transition to ICU and since you are getting some of the types of things an ICU gets (vents, some drips, etc) you will have a better chance of meeting their requirements. You may have to transfer hospitals to get what you want. Good luck.

Congratulations! I just took mine today. Like you I had 75 questions, 0 math, 2-3 OB & Peds. I had 15-20 meds and it seemed like every 4th question was an SATA. I thought "come on already". I don't know if I passed or not (will have to wait until Tues.) but I'm hoping that the large number of SATA I got means I was "above the line" since someone told me SATA are the harder ones. I took the Kaplan review and it really shook my confidence. I only got in the 55-60's on their tests. Their tests seemed a lot harder than the nclex questions. Congrats again!

Oakwood nurses are not unionized. Only Oakwood nursing assistants.

"The Michigan Nursing Scholarship, from what I have been told, is given to qualified students thru the colleges they attend. My school told me that they divy it up to the students who "need" it, and then see what's leftover for the rest." You are correct in that the MI Nursing Scholarship is given through the colleges. However, the colleges decide who to give it to and may or may not decide to use "need" as a basis to determine this. I received it for last year (2007-2008 yr) and my university did not use "need" as one of the criteria.

Went to OU. Got in first time. Did pre-reqs at Schoolcraft (much cheaper and closer). Did all my sciences there. Was in the accelerated pgm at OU and was a ton of work and even more stress. Lost some hair and gained some weight. But I lived through it and graduated. Had to wear all white for clinicals. You could wear a T-shirt under your scrub top if the top was cut too low. Work at Oakwood Hostpital now. Can wear any color except a med blue, which is what the OR wears. I bought all new print tops and solid colored bottoms. Woohoo!

I know of 2 hospitals in my area (MI) that offer $20,000 toward your CRNA school tuition in exchange for 2 years working after you graduate. At least one of them also offers health insurance while you are in school (for you only not family). Is this common for hospitals to do this? Is it advisable to take an offer like this? Has anyone done this and how did it work out? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

I graduated in May with a BSN. I was offered a med-surg position at Beaumont and a critical care position at Oakwood Hospital. I looked for a position at DMC for ICU and did interview. I thought it went well (and the manager told me she thought my answers were very good) but they chose someone else. I feel it's probably because I had no experience. I did the excelerated program so did not have a lot of time to work. Many nursing students work as externs during the summer and then contingent during the year. This gets your foot in the door so to speak. Now, keep in mind I was looking for an ICU position right out of school. There were tons of med-surg positions out there. I never applied for them, except for Beaumont. I did shadow on the floor I am at at Oakwood. It is critical care (not ICU) but the ratio is 2 pts to 1 nurse, work every other weekend and I will be on midnights. I could also have worked the afternoon shift. I think that is 4p-4a. And one person who started with me is working days. So, as someone said it is a tradeoff. You should have no trouble finding a job. Most of the students in our program had jobs before they finished school. It might not be the one you ultimately want, or the time you want it, or even the place you want it, but you will have a job, benefits, and get some experience. Then you can move to something else or somewhere else if you want after a while. I like the floor I'm on. The nurses are great. I have 12 weeks orientation. I get to work with vents, drips, traches, and the type of patients we get mean I'm getting a lot of variety in my training. I've been there for about 2 months (on days) and the nurses work as a team. We had a pt who had a drain in his leg and blew his femor. While one nurse was holding his leg to stop the bleeding, 5 other nurses and the manager were all in there and helping. And when you have a problem with a pt and can't get to your other pt, the other nurses step in too. I've seen some posts from people who did not like Oakwood so I was a little leary. But so far it has turned out great. I was also told by someone who was on nights and switched to days that nights is even more cohesive than days. I'm a night person too. You will always have at least one person you wish you never have to work with but by and large, everyone is very nice, helpful, and knowledgeable. Also, the think I just can't get over about Oakwood is that everyone is always saying hi to me and smiling. Just other people who work at the hospital. I've never seen anything like it. When I walk in to work, I'll have 4-5 people smile and say hi. Really friendly. You shouldn't have any problem with finding a job with benefits. And I think the turnover is such that you wouldn't have to work for very long to advance. I would like to say to try to find out what the floor you want to work on is like. In my clinicals I had some very good floors but others in my class had terrible ones. Mean nurses, unhelpful, etc. If you ask me I would say that hospital was great but if you ask them they would say it was horrible. So it really depends who you will be working with. HFH and DMC are maybe not in the most desirable areas but you would get great experience there. And the job market is such that if you don't like it you should be able to move somewhere else, either somewhere in the same hospital or another hospital, or travel nurse, or..... Even in MI. It also doesn't matter if you have a ADN or BSN as far as getting a job. Then you can do an ADN to BSN pgm if you like. At Oakwood you start at 23.65, 1$ extra for weekends, $2-2.50 extra for afternoon and midnight shift. But I heard they just increased the base pay of nurses. so it might be a more. Good luck.

I just graduated from OU's in May. They do 3 sessions a year and as far as I know still have rolling enrollment (which means you don't have to reapply each time just like a new person). The wait times are estimates. People who apply usually apply to other schools too. I applied to UofM and was in the process of applying to Wayne when OU called. So, some of those on their wait list may drop out to go to other programs, may not have their prereqs done as they hoped, etc. For whatever reason some do drop, so lots of times you may get a chance to get in before they told you. But , like everything there is no guarantees. so they can't tell you this (that you could get in sooner). This is what I remember. You can apply anytime but they will only consider you when you START your last semester of prereqs. Why apply early? I did it so I would know exactly what I needed to finish and so I would be familiar to them. Each semester of prereqs I sent the grades to OU and they updated what I needed to finish. They also run 3 programs a year. Take around 55 people each. So, the wait may be less if you were on their wait list than a school that does 1 session a year. I also like the fact that I could work until the day I started school. (I quit on a friday and started school on a monday). Wayne's is also 1 semester longer. I think the money is compatible with OU's but it was another semester that I would be in school and wouldn't be making money. OU's is based a lot on GPA. You do have to write something for them but I think unless you blow it or the interview, if you have the grades, you will get in. I just didn't like the idea of having to apply year after year someplace and maybe never get in. They do make you take 3 classes from OU. For me it was $2000. However, you can loans that apply to these pre-req classes (pharm, patho, nutrition). They were all online and you take them before you start. I took them all in the semester before I started and worked full time. I would suggest not doing it this way if you have a choice since it is stressful and a lot of work. But I DID do it and got 3.7,3.8,3.9, So it can be done. Also, try to get high grades in these because they are part of your nursing GPA so if you want to go on to more schooling (masters) you want to keep your grades as high as possible. 30's is not too old for the 2nd degree pgm. Lots of people are 30's and older. Also, I liked the program at OU. Like any other it can have it's problems. Just remain flexible, don't get too upset at last minute changes and hang in there and you will do fine. I think each class they try to do it better. They hire an outside company to talk to the students to find out what they should do differently. But I think you would get a good education in any of the 2nd degree pgms in MI. Good luck in whatever you decide.

I just finished an accelerated BSN pgm (12 months from OU). I think the other posters had some great ideas and comments and I agree with all of them. I have an 11 & 14 yr old. And a great husband that took over everything I was doing with them (homework, picking up/dropping off, meals, etc) so I could spend almost all my time out of class studying. I usually did not study on fridays and just watched TV with the family. I did absolutely study on sat and sunday and sometimes all day sat and sun. Like you I could not afford to not work for more than 1 yr so the pgm was perfect for me. You will need a lot of study time. Don't go in thinking you can study and hour or two late at night and that will be enough. BUT, it is absolutely doable. AND, it is only 12 months. I would like to add that planning is a big part. Read all these posts to your support system so they know what you (and they) are getting into. Tell them you will need them to be you for the length of the program but that it will be over in 12 months (if yours is 12 months, I assume it is). Know you will probably feel guilty that you will not spend much time with your family for the next year. My kids are older but even I got the "You're studying AGAIN" routine? Make sure you have backups if your kids get sick or need something that you would normally give them but can't since you are in school. I did not do much except school and study the whole year. My house was a mess, the outside even worse, and I never picked up a non-text book to read during that time. I hope I am not scaring you off. It is hard. But you CAN do it. Repeat. You CAN do it. Others have. Many of my class had very young children. One was delivering in the last 2 months of the program. The only ones that dropped out were those who had no help from anyone else and had to miss clinicals or not study because their children needed to be picked up from school or were sick. And just think, after this relatively short period of time, you will have no trouble getting a job and can work 3-12's and be with your kids and your family a lot. There is also a unique side to all this. My husband has grown so close to my 2 kids. Closer than I would have ever thought. I believe that without this time with them, he would never have forged such a bond. He may have been "forced" into it but it turned out good. Also, it's easy to forget you also have a husband who will miss you. I guess because he is an adult and we just expect him to understand. So maybe once a month take some time just with him. I also noticed that some times during the program were easier for me. Everyone had different times. So I spent more time with my family then. I truly believe you can do it.

I just graduated and am starting in a progressive/step down unit. I found it pretty hard to get a job in an ICU unit right out of school if you don't have experience such as doing your preceptorship on an ICU floor or working as a tech on an ICU floor. Even though several hospitals said they hire new grads into an ICU (and a lot more flat out said they won't hire new grads into an ICU) when I interviewed most of those wanted you to have done an internship or tech on an ICU floor. And then they only hired you if you had done it on their floor. I am very interested in critical care so I started out with my heart set on working in the ICU. What I ended up doing was starting on a progressive/stepdown unit. I think it is the best place for me. This unit gets almost everything an ICU gets but not as critical. I did not tech or preceptor on this unit but did shadow. I feel I will learn a tremendous amount here and in a year I will probably then look at going to an ICU. I know people who have gone to an ICU unit directly out of school but most has some tech experience. I think it can be done but you have to have a VERY good orientation/preceptorship when you start and a LOT of helpful experienced nurses. And be able to handle a lot of stress. I know this is off the topic but had to put in my 2 .

Natcat, I never did an internship or worked as a nurse tech. Some of my class has. I decided instead to concentrate on getting good grades since I want to eventually go on to my masters. My pgm is 2nd degree so it is very intensive and only 12 m long. Not a lot of time to work. I did however join the Dean's Circle (kind of a leadership group for nursing students) and was even in a video our SON made. I have pretty good grades and they will serve me well in the future. I could have worked and probably gotten grades that are passing but not as good. I am currently looking for jobs. Would having worked as an intern or nurse tech help me find a job? No. Would it have helped me land the job I want? Maybe, since I'm partial to ICU. However, after learning that I may not be able to get into ICU I broadened my horizon and am now looking at step downs. So what if I have to work a year in step down and then go on to an ICU. Or even a year in med-surg and then go on to something else. Maybe it's not what I planned when I started but things change and if I really still want ICU, I will work till I get it. A year is nothing and will fly by. In the meantime I will learn a lot and be MORE ready for the ICU. And - I hear all the time about great nurses who weren't so great nursing students. That is, they may not have gotten the highest grade. But they hung in there and are wonderful nurses now. I'm sure you will be one too, because you aspire to be one.

I suggest you look around on the internet to find out more of what is available in general in nursing. MI probably has the same types of jobs that other states have. Also, you don't always have to leave the hospital to work more "normal" hours. Many hospitals have areas where they work 8 or 9-5 5 days a week, no weekends/holidays. I think the Cath Lab may be one such area. And hospitals are offering a lot of different options - 3/12's, 2/12's and 2/8's, contingent(work when you want), weekend only, etc. Some are for experienced nurses only but after a couple of years you should qualify. Also, one nurse I know is going to work for a group of doctors in an outpatient chemo clinic. 9-5, M-F, no call/holidays. I'm sure there are tons more opportunities out there.

I attended an info session about a year ago and at that time they said it as approx. $21,000.

if so, do you think the wait time predicted by the school is always right or sometimes shorter, and if shorter- how much so? I have never been on a wait list but I have talked to others. They seem to always be shorter than what they were originally told. Also, if you could avoid a wait list and start a program pretty much right away, but it was 45 mins. from home- would you make the drive? even in MI winter? ;-) I would drive the 45 min. We don't really have that many days of truly horrible weather. I drive 45 min now and I did it in the last snow storm when you couldn't see the lines on the road because they were covered with snow. I have a Saturn Ion so no 4 wheel drive. i just went slower but got there no problems. As far as clinicals being maybe even farther. Keep in mind your clinicals are no where near as long as your regular classes. We have people in our class now who drive an hour and a half to class. It really depends on what you want to do and how 'quickly' you can get into the RN pgm. Great that you have the help. We had a person drop out because she had no one to help and her daughter got sick and she missed 3 clinical days. Good luck on whatever you decide.

I will be a GN in a couple of months. I have an interview for a step down unit. My ultimate goal is to be in ICU but Hospitals around here usually require you to be a nurse tech for 6m-1yr or do an externship, both of which I do not have. So I am thinking of a step down unit which can then lead me to a job in the ICU. My question is should I even tell them I am interested in ICU? Will they not want to spend the time training me just to have me leave in a year? suggestions are welcome.

Your favorite TV shows because you won't have time for those either. You could also get a good Medical Dictionary. I have Mosby's Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing & Health Professions. The pictures in there are awsome. I signed up for B&N and they send 25% coupons off a lot, plus my 10% for being a member helps keep the price down. I also liked Taylor's Med Dict. You can look at the library to see some of them or just go browse the bookstore.

Lisa, if you don't have any more school to do try taking a medical terminology class. Most comm coll have one. We had to learn it by self study from a book. We had till end of 1st semester. I wish I had known it when I started. It helps to know what the prefixes/suffixes mean. Can you get a job in a hospital as an aid? Or just do some volunteering. I didn't have time and I did fine but since you have the time... Make sure you have money for lots of ink/paper. There's a ton of stuff to print out.

There are people in my class at Conner Creek (grad in May) who have children, even small children. They are still in class and passing and will graduate in about 2.5 months. I have 2 girls - 11 & 13. It is absolutely doable. The suggestions I have are - Have your support group ready, whether it be a spouse, relative, friend, whatever. You can have clinicals any time day or night. While most are in the day, not all are and they don't look kindly on you telling them you can't do the clinical because your child is sick or had to be picked up or whatever. There are only so many clinicals and the time in 2nd degree is very tight. They won't reschedule tests for you either. Today, a classmate brought her child to the test. The test was 90 min. and her child looked sick. She left immediately after the test and didn't stay for lecture. I'm assuming she did this because she had no choice (she had never brought her child before) and she had to take the test. But I wouldn't recommend it. Have everything lined up before time and backups available. You may never have to use them but why put more stress on yourself. Secondly, it helps if you know how you study. I would not be able to study while watching a 2.5 and 1 yr old. You may be different but there is a LOT of studying in the 2nd degree and no matter how much time you have it is never enough. Also, if you know your study habits, it helps. I'm better when I go to the library, even if there's no one home at my house because it's too easy to do other things (like going onto allnurses.com :wink2:) Hopefully you have already thought of this and it's not a problem. Do my kinds miss me? Yes Yes Yes. I spent 2 yrs on pre-reqs and working before this pgm started (left 7am got home 9pm M-TH, studied all weekend) so they haven't seen me a lot for about 3 yrs now. They are REALLY looking forward to when I graduate. However, I'm doing this for them too. My previous career was not secure and I made the bulk of our income, so if I didn't have a job, lots of bills didn't get paid. There were a couple of people that dropped out the first semester because they didn't want to spend so much time away from their kids. Let me say this though. My husband does a whole lot more with our kids than he ever did. He gets up early and fixes them breakfast, takes them to their different groups, goes over their homework and projects, etc. He is a lot closer to them than he ever was. I don't believe this would have happened had he not been forced to by my not being available. I believe it has been good for my girls. They will always want to see me and be with me cause they see me less and probably cause their girls and dad's not into sappy movies and painting nails. But their father is more a part of their life than ever before. Once I am in the working world again, it will probably go back to the way it was but for now they are experiencing having their father a big part of their life. And, it's only 12 months. You will miss them and probably feel guilty but after you graduate and are working you will have time. Since yours are younger they probably won't even remember the year. For the other questions (and I appologize for the long post), all the semesters are part clinical and part lecture. All are busy. You will find some are easier than others but everyone is different. The 1st was the hardest for me but others said the 2nd was hardest. Think of taking a 15 week semester and squishing it into 7 weeks. That will be your life for the next 12 months. Clinicals - definitely hands on. The first clinical ever, I shadowed a nurse the whole day but after that you are in there doing everything the nurse would do except IV's, give blood, central lines and maybe a few other things. You will give bed baths, chg beds, do bedpans, give meds, put in foleys, tube feedings, chg bandages, whatever your patient needs. Interesting stuff. You will feel scared stiff the first days and maybe every clinical, thinking you just don't know enough and can't possible do it. People have even thrown up their first day (thankfully not on the patient). You will also wonder, after a couple of months why you were ever scared and thought you couldn't do it because you are doing just fine. You will have a patient thank you for taking the time to talk to them, just talk, because, as a student you HAVE the time to talk. You will see, maybe not in all but in some, that you did make a difference that day. YOU - the new student nurse who knows only a smattering of what you need to ultimately know- actually HELPED someone. And it makes all worth while.

I replied to your PM but I'll say a little here too in case someone else wants to know. I did have a 4.0 for my pre-nursing GPA for the classes they consider when applying. This means that there are a set core of classes they look at to determine your GPA for admittance to the pgm. I think most colleges are like that. They are (for OU) Bio, A&P, Chem, Organic/biochem, and Psychology. Actually I take that back. I don't think I had a A in psychol since I took that class during my first bachelors and probably got a B. But, all my sciences were A's which did help me to get in (I believe) as soon as I did. I actually thought I would have to wait until the next group but they called me for an interview and I was accepted. OU has a rolling inrollment and I think they are the only ones in MI that do have it. One thing - I am in the St. John Cohort, which means all your clinicals with a few exceptions are given at St. John's hospitals. I have done clinicals at Providence in Southfield, St John Main in Detroit, St Joe's Oakland in Pontiac. Other cohorts may do their clinicals at other hospitals in the area. I think the Oakwood cohort does theirs all at Oakwood. One thing this does allow is that the hospitals supply space to teach the classes, so OU can offer more than 1 class. I generally found the clinicals to be pretty good at St. Johns and St. Joe's. I also felt the instructors and administration was interested in your doing well in the pgm, on the nclex and in your nursing career. While there are bound to be snags in any program, I feel they listen to what you say and do make changes, even if it has to be for the next program instead of yours. Let me know if you have any more questions.

i am in my last semester of the 2nd degree bsn at ou. we started with 55 people, 44 people are left. i think that's excellent considering that this is an intensive program. how to get through it - turn off the tv. if you have favorite pgms, you may get to see an episode once in a great while. get organized. it's much easier if you are. if you aren't an organized person, work on it. get in the habit of checking your email every day or several times a day. they send out a ton of info via email. don't alienate your classmates. it's a sure bet that even if you are the ace student of your group, you will need them one day. book learning/classroom is a lot different from clinical and not everyone exceeds the same in both. it's great to have friends before hand but try not to be cliquey (is that a word?), especially in clinical. your clinicals are usually around 8 people and the people change all the time so you will get to know a lot more of your class as the clinicals progress. bet on things changing because they will (place of clinical changes 3 days before you are to start, day of test changes to 4 days sooner, etc) - often. if you expect things to change you won't get so bent out of shape when they do and it's easier on yourself. study, study, study. know your study habits. if you can't get away from watching that program then go to the library or other place where you won't be tempted. i tend to get side tracked at home so it helps if i'm somewhere others are studying. know that you probably won't get as good as grades in nursing school 2nd degree pgm as you have before. most 2nd degree students seen to be go-getters. otherwise, why would you be in the program. you have got to want to chg jobs/careers, go back to school, study like crazy, and not have a life for a year to even take the program. it's humbling to realize you won't get that 4.0 grade for each class, even if you got it for a&p, micro, chem, pharm, and patho prior to starting the pgm. i could say more but this is getting long. i think above all, don't give up. i say that again - don't give up. it's a crazy time for 12 months but it is only 12 months and then you can resume your life again. i've seen students freak out even when they weren't doing too badly (certainly were above just passing) who dropped out and went into the traditional program. they still had just as much work but it took a whole lot longer. you will feel overwhelmed at first and during the program. take a day at a time, comisserate with your classmates (who will also be feeling this way) and just keep going like the energizer battery. you will get through it. you will pass. your hair will stop falling out (really, mine did the 2nd semester). you will be glad you stuck it out. your classmates will be your best resource. it has been hard but i'm 3 months away from graduating and it has been worth it. i would recommend it to others. i think you will feel the same way at the end. let me know if you have more questions.:cheers: