doulos1

Hopefully someone sees this. Looking to speak with a Fall 2018 CNL student who researched loans/scholarships. I've been accepted for Spring 2019 and this is also my first time looking into loans and such. I wanted to get some feedback from prior students.

Just got a call from Mia, I've been accepted!!! Incredibly happy, especially after having reapplied. Best of luck everyone!

Talked to Mia, they're doing the 2nd batch of decisions and said we should start to hear back within 2 weeks. She did say the committee is progressing slower than they originally thought.

Haven't heard back, still "ready for committee". Mia said i was suppose to get a decision last friday :\ gonna call tomorrow.

Gahh i interviewed June 29, still waiting for a message >_ Congrats to everyone so far! @amandaucr, i think the avg cohort is close to 60 if I remember from interview. But usually its less for spring just because not as many apply.

@Calliope7 Haven't been accepted yet so hopefully someone else chimes in, but in answer to your question I have a few hundred hours of shadowing physicians and dentists (was originally predent -> premed -> prenursing). I also have 2 years of working as a CNA, first year as a float throughout the hospital and second year specifically in an inpatient psych unit. In terms of clinical experience I also have a week assisting and shadowing indigenous physicians as part of a medical mission to Peru. I might be beating a dead horse, but try not to worry too much over the GPA. Do what you realistically can (extra classes, etc..), but after that it's really out of your hands right? I've never heard of a case of someone genuinely desiring to go into a career and not eventually make it into the school for that career. Really just a matter of time and effort you're willing to put in. Everyone comes from different walks of life, especially so for this MSN/second degree peeps, heck when I finished undergrad I had a cumulative GPA of 2.75 and a science GPA of 2.55. For me the worry really just came from comparing myself to others and seeing many of my same-aged friends way ahead of me on this society labeled "life plan." When I acknowledged this worry I was able to better let go of it and put my focus into the present, knowing it would pay off in the long run. This led to finishing a 2 year postbacc with a GPA of 3.65. If there is anything I learned from my time preparing for a predent, premed, and now a prenursing career lol, it's that admissions focus on your growth as an applicant, what did you learn? how did you mature? Try not to get too bogged down with "getting into nursing school" so much that you lose focus on the present. In that sense, don't rush, enjoy and take advantage of the opportunities you have now. Who knows, maybe this is some "higher power's" way of equipping you to become a better future nurse. Cheers

Same situation here. Reapplied, been committee ready for a few weeks now. Praying for us all!!! Lol

Ugh, I got rejected :\, called Mia, was told the committee thought my app was excellent except for low GPA. Sigh, #hauntedByThePast Oh well, congrats everyone! I've reapplied for Spring 2019, hope to see you all then!

@kls7808, only thing i can think of is the cpr requirement and whatnot after acceptance. Check out the compliance requirements. Accepted Students | University of Maryland School of Nursing Is that what you meant?

Had my interview on April 4th. Excited, nervous, hoping for good news to come. Still committee ready.

Wahhhh congratulations you guys!!!!

Thanks Aapage87 & ltaylor19!

Speaking of financial aid packages, how does one start to go about this? I've only ever used FAFSA for undergrad and was very fortunate enough for dad to pay remainder of tuition, so no loans. Is there someone at UMSON I partner up with to find out what aid is available for me? Or is this something I hunt down completely on my own (i.e. applying for various scholarships, loans, grants, etc..). @ Aapage87, what are some differences you could see between the aid you receive with MD vs Georgetown? in my head if I'm seeking this out all on my own, I feel like I would be getting the same amount of aid regardless of what school I go to, minus the +/-1 school specific scholarship. *apologies for the brief sidetrack of conversation

ahhh I just got an interview invite guys! For early april!

Thanks isgvfj! Good to know, that'll save me some trouble in case I reapply for Spring 2019.

Sorry for the long delay haha. Just finished sending in my app for a direct entry MSN program. My timing sucked starting my nursing pursuit right after fall deadlines ended. But here's hoping for this one school which just started its rolling admission today. Yeah, usually if its a single 1:1 then with 3 PNA, one of us will do the 1:1. We don't have 2:1, if something like that came up, we'd call up a security officer to be stationed outside. Every once in a while things will get crazy and we'll have like 3x 1:1. In which case we have a pool of Patient care safety aides (Patient sitters). Or we'll ask if any PNA thats off wants to come in for a shift. Usually with 1:1, the nurse manager will try to predict number of days needed and will staff up accordingly. Worst case scenario is the morning shifts where theres only 2 PNA, 1 has to be on the 15min checks board at all times, the other would probably sit with 1:1. In which case things would run very slowly. Usually we can predict this early enough to call on an extra PNA for the day. We don't have Q30, only 15, 5, and 1. Our system is currently getting new changes b/c it used to just be physical handoff. Now I'm hoping to implement a more structured protocol for the handoff so messages don't get lost with shift transition. That and making our night shift work a little harder: cleaning up areas, prepping some supplies we use, organizing patient storage area for new belongings, etc... I'm hoping if we can do this, it'll make day shift run a little smoother since its the most chaotic time. My only challenge left is how we can improve the communication between PNAs. Since the only time waste I see is PNAs accidentally doing the same task, 2 PNAs without realizing, trying to fulfill a patient's request, or all PNAs getting stuck on something, not realizing checks need to be done, etc... Still more like a headless group of 3, but since we only have 3 PNAs during evening shift, maybe I could tailor some new procedures specific for evening shift. And also tailor some protocols for how the 2 PNAs work during day and night shift (hmm just thought that on the spot, I kinda like it).

Oh man, I really hope I can get an interview. I just started pursuing the nursing track and found this program only a few weeks ago. App is sent in, but since there's high volume of applicants, I wonder what my chances are :\ Would anyone happen to know if you get rejected, does any of your app materials roll over when you reapply?

Thanks Silver_Rik! I apologize, completely forgot to respond back. Looks like for the most part our units function similarly, except we have 3 shifts and a maximum of 3 PNAs with max census of 20. I think I figured out some of our largest issues on my unit so I want to ask you three questions. 1) What does handoff look like between your PNAs entering and leaving shift? On our unit, there really isn't anything formal. Technically, we're suppose to do 1 round of full checks together to acclimate the next shift's PNAs, but that rarely if ever is done. I've noticed with the lack of communication structure that the next shift's PNA don't know about laundry still left in washer, some belongings logs unfinished, etc... 2) Do you have anything like a PNA "team leader" of sorts? With the available activities/options patients have, things can get pretty hectic on our unit, especially when you incorporate admit/discharge, rounds, etc.. I've seen alot of times PNAs forget about requests the previous accepted to do for patients, or leave things half completed b/c something more high priority happens. My current thoughts for this remedy is to get everyone accustomed to trusting their fellow PNAs and completing whatever task he/she currently has at hand. To do that, I thought about maybe having a PNA as a 'team leader', maybe the one who holds the 15min checks duty to communicate and keep everyone on the same page, as well as remind them of whatever tasks still left to finish. I know there would be the issue of feasibility. Itd be hard for a team leader to constantly communicate and be on top of changes that occur. I wonder if there is something I could change/add more structure to, at the beginning and end of shifts to help. 3) Do you have any kind of "pseudo-reports" for PNAs? Our unit PNAs also sit in at start of shift to attend handoff report with nurses. I wonder if I could implement something like that for PNAs, so we're all on the same page.

Hi All, I'll get straight to the point. I currently work as a PNA in a inpatient psych unit and I wanted to hear how other CNA/PNAs work in their units. Our unit has shifts that usually consist of 2-3 CNAs working, meeting various needs for patients, observing behavior/safety, doing 15min checks, etc... But I feel like the way we work currently is too independent and reactionary. I was wondering if there would be a way to incorporate more teamwork, communication and preventative measures. Obviously this differs with everyone's unit and I'm looking into specific concerns that are present on mine, but thought I'd also just reach out. Might not hurt to hear what its like elsewhere. Do you have any structure in communicating or delegating responsibilities between CNA's and/or CNAs with Nurses?

Thanks ThatBigGuy for the message! Sorry for responding back so late. I talked with some others as well as admissions over at JHU. For now I don't plan on taking additional courses besides some of the prerequisite courses for nursing programs. It would be hard for me to boost my GPA at this point simply because there aren't too many new courses I haven't taken yet. Luckily I found the program at Drexel to calculate GPA based on the past 60 credits in which case I would be seen as a 3.7. And JHU says the improvement from my undergrad to postbacc GPA would be highly favored. So my plan for this spring, summer, and fall is to finish prereqs and apply. If it doesnt' work out, I'll default to taking what courses I can to boost my GPA higher. And if time works out, I'll probably retake my GRE this summer as an added boost to be more competitive. Thoughts? *Some more context. The low GPA comes from doing poorly in some old science courses and random humanities (like ancient greek, orgo, computer science). I have since then retaken my science courses and achieved A's & B's. But since there is no grade replacement, those old C's and D's are still there. Sigh.. if only I took classes more seriously back then.

Hello everyone! I'm fairly new to this forum and am looking for as much feedback as possible (of course I plan to also speak with various admissions and nursing friends I have, but since this is a new realm for me, I'm thinking the more feedback the better). Bear with my long story here, I want to give as much context as possible: I am originally a slightly unorthodox pre-med student. I graduated with a B.S. in Biology. But spent the majority of my time prioritizing student organizations and reforming policy work around that. Totally did not care about my grades until senior year when I decided to pursue healthcare. My undergraduate GPA stands around a 2.70 (and a science GPA of 2.5). I completed an informal postbacc at Harvard Extension (since my GPA was so low, I wasn't accepted into any formal 1year masters programs). 2 years of taking courses like Neurobiology, Biochemistry, Bioinformatics, Medical Microbiology, and a few retakes from my general science days: Chemistry and Physics, I finished the 2 years with a GPA of 3.67 Originally I planned to apply only to Osteopathic Medical schools (DO) due to their philosophy of Patient centered care. DO schools removed their grade forgiveness policy which would have used my 2 years of postbacc work to bump up my overall GPA to a 3.0 and a science GPA of 3.3. Instead removal of the policy has me sitting at a overall 2.75 GPA and a 2.85 science GPA. Now I know everyone is probably asking why nursing and why not reapply medical schools. I can go in depth if you like. But to be concise. I always preferred the whole patient approach to healthcare, vs the disease model approach taught in medical schools. The only reason I enjoyed science was because it better helped me understand, communicate, and build trust with patients. With that said, since my interests lie in Primary, Palliative, and Psychiatry. I know the career of a Nurse Practitioner will still fulfill my goals of challenging the status quo in these fields. Some more context: I've shadowed over 100's of hours in primary care. Worked as a patient sitter (1:1 with patients) for 7 months in the hospital, floating over various units from neurology to pediatrics. And currently work as a Nursing assistant in the inpatient psychiatry unit. I've taken my MCAT and scored a 504 (61 percentile) I also still have an active GRE score of 155 Verbal, 157 Quantitative, 4 Analytical. I have massive amounts of leadership and extracurricular experiences, including creating policy reform in college, a public health initiative for premed students at Harvard Extension school, video projects for letters of recommendation advice, and more. Since nursing schools require alot of labs, I will be retaking a few courses like anatomy and physiology, microbiology, since I never took the lab portion before. Ah as well as the lifespan psychology course. Not trying to sound arrogant, but I do expect to excel in these classes. I would like to ask for feedback on how I can become a competitive candidate for nursing schools, particularly direct entry MSN programs. I'm still doing research, but I would really like to get into the JHU Direct Entry MSN program.