corncob

Did you end up hearing back?

Hi! I got a phone call from a recruiter about a week or two after submitting my application. The recruiter did a brief phone interview with me where we mostly talked about my resume and the specifics of the residency program. She then scheduled a phone interview with the nurse manager for the unit for the following week. I interviewed in the morning and was offered the position later that day by the recruiter. Hopefully that helps! Good luck!

My recruiter sent me a list of apartment complexes in the area so I just worked off of that. I looked at the specific listings on apartments.com to see the price, floor plans, amenities, etc. and narrowed it down based on my needs.

Hi! I am in the same boat. I recently accepted a nurse residency position at UNC for the Burn ICU. I am from CA and will be moving to NC in January so I can settle in before my February start date. I also know no one and have never been in the area. I don't know if you have looked into apartments in the area. I managed to secure a 1 bed/1 bath apartment for a decent price that is a few miles from the hospital and about a mile from one of the Park & Ride lots since parking can be a nightmare.

Hi, you do not need to repeat nutrition. I was in the same boat and they just have you drop the class. The unit requirement for upper div GE courses taken through CSUSM is fulfilled by your philosophy and anthropology courses.

I have attached a screenshot of a message that current students received regarding Complio compliance. I imagine it applies to incoming students too. The school does not expect you to be compliant before starting your first semester. It only becomes important as you prepare for your Fundamentals clinical in the second semester. They will discuss it at your orientation too.

No, I don’t! Sorry!

Yeah, as CNAs/PCAs. I chose to apply to an externship since the specialty I am interested in is so specific. Most people wait until their last semester when it is mandatory to do an internship/externship but I wanted the exposure like you do so I started earlier.

Yeah, you can work during the program. Some people do it, some don't. It just depends on your comfort level with maintaining a busy schedule. If you start in Fall 2020, your first Summer will be the hardest semester since you will have Med Surg I (2 clinicals/week), Patho/Pharm I, and Mental Health (1 clinical/week) in ten weeks. My cohort had the same schedule and it was tough but I managed to work part time during the Summer. Most people start working in their final two semesters or apply for an unpaid externship at UCSD or Scripps. Or, in my case, both. It isn't work study but the SoN sometimes hires student assistants.

Spring semester starts on Tuesday since Monday is a holiday so I would be surprised if the school announces anything any time soon. They tend to do what they promised by a certain date whenever they want. The campus is pretty hectic right now but fingers crossed that you get an answer ASAP!

You take them on campus. I think it is usually split between two days. Anthro and Nutrition one day, ethics another day. Many people commute the first semester and some still continue to commute throughout the entirety of the program.

I moved to the Temecula area (Murrieta specifically) but people are spread out all over the place. Some still live in LA/OC. It's really up to you. Some people like living in the Tri-City area of Oceanside/Carlsbad/Vista because you are closer to the ocean and the weather is nicer. Temecula is usually significantly hotter or colder than coastal areas. Escondido is another option if you want somewhere that is more of a halfway point between San Diego and Riverside with the 15 running through it. Plus, San Marcos is just west of it via the 78. As far as clinicals go, it really depends on luck. The school claims that they take your zip code into account but... they don't. I've been sent all over the place from Riverside to Kearny Mesa, Encinitas to Hemet. I live less than five minutes from two of the potential clinical sites and was instead sent to hospitals 45 minutes away. The only time you know you will be in San Diego is for pediatrics in your 5th semester. I think I would make the same decision again to move to Murrieta. It's not pretty but it's just two years.

I don't know if there is a limit. It just depends on what units are willing to allow students. You are competing with students from multiple other schools in the area for spots. I know of two students from my cohort other than myself who were selected for UCSD and two more for Scripps. As far as I know, I am the only person who is doing a patient care externship. Everyone else is doing quality improvement. I think QI is more common. The positions are unpaid. You actually need to pay for the units through CSUSM since it is for credit. The only reason I am willing to do this is because I was placed in the unit I eventually want to work in so it is worth the cost for me. I know many other people do not think it is beneficial since we have to pay to do an externship. The total time commitment is 120 hours over the course of the semester so 10 12-hour shifts within 15 weeks. I was selected at the end of November and start at the end of January so for now I can only speak to the quality of UCSD based on my interactions with the nurse manager and the handful of nurses I met while taking a tour of the unit after my interview. Everyone was very kind and seemed genuinely excited to have a student interested in their under-loved specialty. I think it will prepare me to be a successful nurse based on the nurse manager's expectations about my ICU level clinical skills - vents, trachs, arterial lines, Swan-Ganz caths, etc - already needing to be strong prior to the start of the externship. The experience will allow me to further hone these skills as well as my communication skills with medical staff during rounds and with patients & families. It's also my dream floor at my dream hospital so I am going to be a sponge and learn everything I can ?

Sure! You apply through the agency you are interested in so either UCSD or Scripps. UCSD offers placements in pretty much any of their units in Hillcrest or La Jolla. You won't know what is available when you apply because it depends on whether the nurse manager is willing to allow students/look at applications. They ask you to rank your top 3 choices. There are two types of externships: direct patient care (this is what I am doing) and quality improvement where you help nurse leaders with unit projects/research. There is a section of the application where you can say you only want patient care or if you are willing to do QI. Some people aren't interested unless it is direct patient care. You typically need to interview for the positions but sometimes these are just over the phone interviews. I had to do an in-person interview for my position with the nurse manager since my unit is specialized and high acuity. You need to submit a resume, cover letter, and letters of rec. Applying to Scripps is more relaxed. I did not apply there but I know from my friends that Scripps requested a brief (< 1 page) personal statement only. This externship is different from UCSD because it is only offered in the ED and starts as quality improvement rather than direct patient care. However, if you do well, they may offer you a patient care externship in the ED for the next semester.

Depends on the semester. The first semester is just prereqs like Ethics, Nutrition, and Anthropology. For semester 2, you have a full day of lecture once a week - 3 classes back to back typically starting at 0800 - and two labs but one turns into a clinical halfway through the semester once you have learned the required hands on skills. From semester 3 and on, you still have a full day of lecture once a week but you will have two clinical days per week (except summers if you are enrolled in Med Surg I or II - you will have three per week due to the condensed schedule). You spend the first two or three weeks on campus in the lab for your clinical classes to learn new skills then you start clinicals at the hospital. This continues until semester 5 where you have more free time since you only have one real clinical class - pediatrics - and a requirement to shadow a nurse manager for a handful of shifts for Leadership. It is at this time where you can get a job as a CNA/ED tech/etc, get an nurse externship at Scripps or UCSD (that's what I chose to do), or volunteer to gain experience & connections. Long story short, you spend one full day in lecture and two days in lab/clinical each week. The schedule is pretty doable but the program is stressful like any other ABSN program. You are expected to do a lot of self teaching. Hope that helps!