sammiep.perry

Thank you so much for your response! I took your advice and began applying for jobs anyway. To my surprise, the Arizona BON granted me a license 3 days after passing my NCLEX without doing an investigation! Just thought I would post to let anyone know who was experiencing a similar concern/situation.

Hi Everyone! I am looking for some advice on how to go about applying for jobs, or if I should even start applying for jobs as a new graduate RN. I just graduated from my nursing program this month. The problem is that about 10 years ago I received a misdemeanor DUI for marijuana, so the Arizona Board of Nursing will have to do an investigation before granting me my license. I already have a lawyer and he assures me that I will definitely be getting my license, it is just a matter of when. I have heard that these investigations can take months, so my question is... should I even start applying to new grad RN positions? Or should I wait until I know when I will have my license? I know most hospitals only release new grad jobs a few times a year, so I didn't know if it would be beneficial to try to secure a job, then tell them about my situation. I'd love to hear some of your thoughts. Thank you!

@Cj888Thank you so much!!! It's definitely been a crazy ride, and it went by SO fast! And yes! I actually start mine tomorrow. At the beginning of summer semester they had us apply to the hospitals we wanted to do our immersion in (HonorHealth, Phoenix Children's Hospital, MIHS, Banner, Dignity Health) and you can pick a unit preference. For the immersion, you get assigned with 1 nurse for 7 shifts and you follow his/her schedule during that time. The downside to that is you could end up doing night shift and weekends (like me). But it is a great opportunity to get to know your nurse and the management at the hospital so you can potentially get a job at the end of it. The immersion isn't until the last 7 weeks of program, so you don't have to worry too much about it right away. They also have an alternate option if you don't want to apply to any hospitals and need to do a day shift during the week for your immersion. In this case you won't have a 1:1 preceptor, it will be like clinicals and you may have a different nurse every time.

I was very nervous about doing the program as a single mom as well, but it has actually been a lot better than I expected. It is great that you have help with dropping off and picking them up, because that has been the biggest issue I would say. I actually decided to stop working when I started the program because I felt like it would be too much for me, and honestly that was the best decision I made. I'm not telling you to quit your job, because everyone is different. But for me, it really made a difference. You will likely have a day off of classes/clinicals during the week where you can study and get assignments done too. I just focused on spending time during the day while my daughter was at school to get things done, so that when she came home I could spend time with her. I think it also helped to try to get assignments done early to give myself some more wiggle room when it came to deadlines. Don't get me wrong there were plenty of times my daughter complained about me having to do homework, and it broke my heart. And there will definitely be times you have to lock yourself in a room in order to study. But it is ONLY A YEAR! You can do anything for a year. It will be hard and stressful, but it will be SO worth it! As far as scheduling, you will have classes on campus a few days a week. First semester you will likely have 1 clinical day a week. Fortunately, we never had any clinical days during the weekend and they were always day shift. I think this will be the same for you guys, but you never know! Typically clinical days are 12 hrs, but we have had some that are 10 hours all the way down to 3 hours (these were mostly during the Summer semester). Unforuntately, I can't give you a set in stone schedule since it will change depending on what group you are in and what clinical site you are at. But you can definitely do it with kids as long as you have some help!

Hey All! I am a current ASU Post Bacc student set to graduate this December (yay!). Just wanted to pop in and give you all a resource to ask questions or get clarification. Some of the post baccs from last years group did that for us, so I just wanted to help pass along the favor. ? I also have a 4 year old daughter, so I am happy to offer some insight on how the program was with having kids. Best of luck to you all and hopefully I'll get to meet some of you at the November welcome meeting for the class of 2020!

So far it has been...stressful. haha! It is great and I am still very happy to be doing it, but it definitely is challenging. We just started our summer semester and the workload has increased significantly. It is pretty standard to be spending a few hours a day (if not all day) working on school work or studying. There is definitely some disorganization with this program which doesn't help. So far all the faculty have been helpful and willing to work through things with us, though. I am sure I will be able to provide you with a better update towards the end of the semester. ?

I am! I have a 4 y/o. It is definitely challenging. I have to rely on my mom and my boyfriend a lot to help me with picking her up and dropping her off at school/daycare. I think it also helps that I chose not to work during this program. If I had to juggle being a mom, doing this program, AND working, I don't know if I would be able to handle it. But, everyone is different. If you want it enough, you will make it work!

So you get all holidays off that the university takes off. You can find that schedule on the ASU website, I am not sure about labor day although I assume we would get it off. This year we had about a 3 week break between Spring and Summer semester, and we will only get a 1 week break between Summer and Fall semesters. This may be different next year though, we lucked out this year with our 3 week break. And you can miss a day of clinical, but from what I understand the make-up assignment they give you is kind of a pain. I haven't missed any days of clinical thankfully, so I am not sure what the assignment entails. You absolutely want to avoid missing clinical days if you can though. We have a very limited amount of time in those clinical settings, and the time is very valuable!

Yeah let's do it!

Omg I got accepted too! IM SO EXCITED!!! *does happy dance* trying to contain my excitement at work right now...

Hopefully we hear something today!

I called and asked them last week just to make sure they were still planning to notify us by mid-October and they said "yes." She also confirmed that we would be notified through our ASU email.

I don't know about anyone else, but the anticipation is killing me! I know we probably won't find out for another 1-2 weeks, but I am constantly checking my email for news. haha!

I also wanted to ask... are there any other single parents who are applying to the program? Perhaps this was already discussed earlier in the thread and I missed it. Any tips on paying for childcare and bills during school without working? I feel like I might have to live off of student loans which kills me to think about.

U of A has an accelerated nursing program based in both Phoenix and Tucson as well. I am planning on applying to that program if I don't get accepted into ASU's. It is 15 months and I believe you graduate with an master's degree. It looks like most of the requirements are the same, except you would have to take another test similar to the TEAS. Here is a link. Master of Science for Entry to the Profession of Nursing (MEPN) | University of Arizona College of Nursing