drd18

I would look in depth to the programs you are interested in- many will not accept online labs, sometimes won't accept online science courses at all! I did my sciences at Phoenix College in person and absolutely loved it though :) Try to get Professor Justin Howard for A&P!!

No problem!! Yeah the title "sitter" is confusing and I personally think a little condescending to the patient, sounds like baby sitter. Haha good luck with your search and finishing out nursing school!

Hey! At my hospital, a sitter often has a CNA cert but does not do many of those duties. They are paid less, and are "safety techs". Work mostly with BHU, and you literally "sit" in the room with them to ensure they don't harm themselves and sometimes provide some basic care. They sometimes use them post-op as well if patients are disoriented when waking up so they don't try to pull out lines or get combative. Sitters at my work are often are just trying to get in to the hospital so they can transfer to a PCA job or something else. I'm in SD as well so I would think our lingo is similar amongst different hospitals. Hope that helps :)

Of course!! Truly any experience you can get in a hospital will be beneficial. I started as a front desk and soo many nurses and staff were eager to help me and answer any questions I had since they knew I'm about to start my program. People have gave me their numbers, offered their old textbooks, etc. Either route you go will make you a better RN!

Of course! Good luck! :)

Yes, this type of policy is totally normal! It will be the same when you are a working nurse as well. If there is suspicion you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, a manager right then and there can march your butt down to the E.R. and have you tested in the middle of the shift. I've seen it happen and have seen tests come back both ways unfortunately! When it comes to a prescription medication, the policy will probably never go super in detail because it is such a case by case basis. Only you know the medications you're on, so be very honest with yourself and your doctor when deciding when it is appropriate to take this medication and if you can still perform your required job functions with 100% clarity while on the medication.

ALSO, I'd like to add a bit of advice that was given to me! Someone in a similar position reminded me that it's common for real world nursing practices to vary widely from what we learn in school. So, she advised that working as a LPN while still in RN school can sometimes implement "bad habits" that make it hard to study for tests. She explained she would be in a test or simulation and mix up what the "textbook" answer was, and what the "real world" answer was. This may have been an isolated experience though and other experienced nurses could speak on this better. But some food for thought :)

I agree!! LPNS can not work in hospitals in my area. Internal applicants get first consideration for our new grad programs. It's common for our CNAs to transfer to the new grad program and have a great paying, acute care RN position literally right after they pass their boards. No long waiting period, or extra physicals/drug tests etc. Just training and orientation as soon as their transfer is approved! So in a scenario like this, if finding an RN position quickly and in your first choice hospital is your goal, then working as a CNA somewhere you would want to stay may be the most beneficial. Some things you can do to make up that lesser pay as a CNA is do per diem, nights, or float pool :)

Hey there, I did my undergrad at ASU and also looked into their nursing program, so I KNOW they suck with responding haha and they will virtually tell you NO info about the program unless you make an appointment which there is always a wait for. A close family member of mine is a nursing instructor at an AZ school and there is absolutely zero rhyme or reason to where you are put at clinicals. Source: I sat in their office when they were assigning placements one day and watched names literally be dragged from one side of the screen without looking to a folder with the hospital name on it. It changes with every rotation and can also be changed last minute with little warning. It does not matter where you live, your family/child situation, your means of transportation, etc. Things may change slightly school to school, but so far this is the same process for my nursing school in California and sounds the same for every school I've heard of in AZ. My school tries to keep clinical groups together, so the goal is for a group of 8 students to have the same placements together throughout. From my understanding, faculty is already handling so much and if they also had to deal with some sort of bidding system for students to be placed where they wanted, they would all pull their hair out. Lol hope that helps!

We do drug testing at my current work and as long as you have a CURRENT prescription with your name on it, regardless of the drug, you will be cleared. If admitted, remember to be extra careful throughout the program to keep up to date prescriptions with your current name and address (random drug tests DO happen) and ALWAYS disclose before you take the test that you are on a medication that will show on the test. I have heard of labs that even if you can produce a prescription after you failed, if you didn't disclose ahead of time you will still be failed. And I would assume it is extremely illegal for a program to pick another candidate over you solely based on your prescriptions. That's discrimination! Besides, you are offered conditional acceptance before you even take the drug test and as long as you follow proper protocol to show proof, they will not revoke your acceptance for that reason. Good luck!

Hey there! Since this thread is for the ABSN program, we may not have much insight on the traditional program. From what I understand the requirements are pretty different and the point system may be as well! For the ABSN program though, there's been a good majority I've seen in the 30's :) Good luck!

Hey! I'll be commuting from Oceanside as well. I work at a hospital and both instructors and students of the program have told me it isn't worth it, because you could have class 1-2 days in Temecula and then clinical 2-3 times a week in San Diego. I personally will commute for lecture and try and set up car pool with others!! I'm sure some will love living close to campus though. No hurt in getting through the first semester and seeing how you feel :)

Hi Carly, I start the CSUSM ABSN program in June. My undergrad was from another state so I understand the confusion with transferring courses! I really recommend calling the extended learning office and asking for the contact of an advisor. Before I even put in an application, an advisor was helping me by email to see what courses fit where. I personally did not find the assist.org website helpful at all. For the A&P specifically, it just matters that you had two courses. Most California students seemed to have taken a separate Anatomy and Physiology class, where mine were mixed- so A&P1 then A&P2 and they accepted that without a problem. If you search CSUSM ABSN on here, there is many past threads as well where other students have asked similar questions and got feedback. Hope this helps! Good luck!

Similar to what another poster said, the primary benefit is that these days they miss will not count as an absence for them as long as they follow the correct call-out protocol. This can be because they know they have say 2 chemo appts a month, or can also be for a family member- like they need certain # of days a month to take their ill mother to appts. However, they are not getting extra pay or benefits unless they choose to use their own PTO hours. The mental health seems very tricky, and I can only assume providers are taking their patient's word for it on how many days they need to miss a month, or are going off past hx if they are their mental health provider. I work on the receiving end of this paperwork for employees and I still don't understand how providers quantify this since any reasoning is kept private from us unless the employee chooses to talk about it.

Admitted means you are accepted!! :) all of us didn't receive a letter/email until a couple days after the admitted status change. Congratulations!!

C is technically a passing grade, and I live in a very concentrated area for nursing students and people are constantly being turned away with B's in their sciences. So these days, any passing grade will not work. To the original poster, only you know how competitive your nursing program is. I was in the exact same predicament, 2nd bachelors student working full time trying to get pre-reqs for an ABSN. I think in your case it would absolutely be worth it to take the W, get a better handle on things, and then come back and take it again when ready. Where I took my pre-reqs, you could not retake a course for a better grade unless you got below a C! So everyone would jump at the opportunity for a W if they knew they wouldn't get the grade they needed. And I have never heard any of my classmates saying a W negatively impacted them getting into a program. And if in the end, you get a C and want to retake it, many schools will not replace the grade but average it. This can be frustrating and leaving you with essentially the same grade as before! Something else to consider is your desired programs application process. Are they on a point system? If so, a B wouldn't necessarily kill you if you could get extra points in other categories. If you are dealing with financial aid, make sure you look into your school's policy on paying for retakes. Typically only dropping a class affects your aid, but it's worth it to check and make sure a W won't as well. In summary, yes, if you know it is a good chance you will end with a C, I would without a doubt take the W while you still can. Be honest with yourself in terms of where you see your current grade heading. Hope this helps! :)

Thank you for taking time to respond! You make some great points.

For those of us who got accepted, we got our letter around January 23rd and had 2 weeks from the day we got the letter to accept or decline and pay our deposit (I think that brings us around February 6th?). So they should start reaching out to the next round of students sometime after then! Good luck to everyone waiting!!

Yes yes yes!! This is something so important to think about. You are getting a ridiculously higher amount of student debt, but you will not enter the workforce making more money BSN vs MSN. I know a handful of people who have done an MSN and get so upset when their first job is the same as the rest of the new grads with BSNs. They won't care about that degree and that you got leadership training when this will be your first nursing job and you will be no where near a leadership role yet! Definitely something to think about!

I had 36! If you don't mind sharing, what did they give you on your evaluation?

That's a great point, thanks for your feedback!

I just requested too!! My name is Desiree :)

Yesss let's definitely make a group! I'm not the biggest FB user so it may have to be someone more savvy LOL

Congrats!!!

You had higher points than both of us!! You're totally fine! I'm sure it depends who your advisor is :) And I think they enter them manually so you might be at the bottom of the stack! Lol