kayji

Ohio BON has very slow processing and slow or no response to email or phone (check Google reviews for lots of people with the same issue). They also seem to be fairly disorganized in terms of processing documents that they receive - there doesn't seem to be a good "first received, first processed" system in place since some people get quick turn around and others wait months. When I applied (graduated in Dec), my application went from "in progress" for over 3 months after they should have had my documents, to ATT in one day without any in between updates about documents received. I firmly believe documents just sit in a pile on someone's desk waiting to be entered and new ones probably get added to the top instead of the bottom of the pile... All this to say, if your school just submitted your program completion letter, give it some time. If you get lucky and it is processed within a few weeks, celebrate. If not, consider filing a complaint through your state reps or the BON website since this seems to help some people who have been waiting for a long time.

Some schools will allow you to start an ABSN with a sufficient number of credits (not necessarily a completed degree). It can't hurt to ask your school if that is an option. Have you completed the prereqs for the nursing program already? If you're sure you want to switch to nursing, I would suggest spending some time researching what programs are available near you or somewhere you are willing to relocate for school. Look at transferring to BSN programs, ABSN, and community college programs. Some people are less willing to consider CC if they have lots of credits already, but in general it is a practical and economic way to get into nursing. Do a little research into what hospitals are looking for in your area, but in many places nurses with ADNs and BSNs work the same jobs for the same pay. The downsides of finishing your current degree include limited loan options for a second bachelors degree, wasted $$ paying for the remaining 24 credits to get the degree you don't want, and more time spent pursing something you aren't really interested in. If nursing is really what you want to do, spend the time now to figure out how to start on that path instead of continuing on a path you don't want to be on.

Co-requisite usually means two classes that have to be taken at the same time (e.g. a lecture and lab). I don't know why they are using it for the A&P II and micro classes - it seems out of place. To calculate your GPA you need your grade and how many credits each class was worth. We can't verify without the credit information, but you can easily calculate yourself: add up (class * credits), then divide by the total number of credits. If that's what you did to get 3.23, then it's right.

There isn't a lot of info out there, but I think you're fine. You made it into the 'hard' question level, so that alone should tell you that you are doing well. Beyond that, it's expected that you would have some variation in percentile, and 26th is still after making it to the hard level. It's OK to only be getting 50% right because the questions are skewed to higher difficulty because you answered the easier questions correctly. I remember reading somewhere that a school recommended trying to get above 50th percentile on the medium difficulty.

I think overall passing minimum is 70%, and you also have to get 70% or higher on exams. "Students are required to repeat a course if they earn a grade below a C- (<70%). A grade below a C- (<70%) constitutes a course failure." "Clinical Nursing and Nursing Science Courses (Pathophysiology, Pharmacology, and Health Assessment): Testing by examination in each course will comprise a minimum of 70% of the course grade. Students must earn a weighted average of 70% on exams in order to pass the course. ATI proctored assessments are included in the average as appropriate. Once the 70% is met, papers and other written assignments will be included into the overall final grade. Failure to achieve a 70% on the final grade (examinations + written assignments) will result in a course failure"

I was in a previous Spring cohort. I applied in May and didn't get my acceptance until September, and that seemed like their first round of decisions that went out. The program is busy and you have to actively make time for your personal life and self care, but it is doable with good organization and prioritization. First semester we had class three days per week. Second & third we had class two days plus clinical 1-3 days depending on scheduling. Studying outside of class was 8-10 hours on non-class/clinical days. If you're someone who likes to read the book and take detailed notes, there is nowhere near enough time to do that. Jobwise, I started looking in September and had three offers in October for residency programs. However, I think the local job market varies a lot and some places prefer to wait until you have your license to do interviews and offers.

The bigger concern for your friend might be learning the strategies used to answer ATI questions (e.g. studying answer rationales, breaking down the questions, and prioritization methods), which he will need for the NCLEX. It's a shame that his program didn't prepare him for that - not only in his last semester, but throughout. However, these strategies can be learned and practiced. Lots of schools use ATI or similar tests as part of their evaluation, so that part doesn't seem too strange to me. Some schools use them to weed out students to keep their NCLEX pass rates unnaturally high. That seems less ethical to me, but it happens. To me, it sounds like this program is somewhere in the middle. I do agree with you that only having one chance to take it is rough, but they are also not straight failing people based on their one grade since it is factored in. However, the test policy and grade implications should have been discussed somewhere before hand (syllabus or policies)...? If this policy wasn't mentioned anywhere (which I think is doubtful), your friend may have grounds to raise the issue within the school and try to appeal. This is not hurting your friend the way you think it is. Raw scores are lower than probability of passing for ATI exams. For example, my school used 90% probability of passing as the required score, which corresponds to 69.3% raw score. 60% probability of passing appears to correspond to 58.7% raw score. Although it is disappointing to get so far and be asked to repeat a course, the fastest route to be done may be just to repeat the course. If it ends up going that way, make sure your friend puts in the effort to focus on ATI strategies to avoid a repeat experience.

What state are you in? I just graduated in December and people from my cohort had very different wait times depending what state they applied for licensing in. Fastest were just a few days (RI, MI), but some took multiple months (SC, OH).

What are your concerns about using a flush syringe? Try to think about what you need to accomplish when diluting IV meds and whether flushes or single use vials affect the outcome. As for articles, you could try researching with your school's library resources.

You can't really study for it. It's logical problems like: If Alice is shorter than Bill, Bill is taller than Charlie, and Charlie is shorter than Daniel then which of the following must be true: Alice is taller than Daniel Charlie is the shortest Bill is taller than Daniel Charlie and Alice are the same height

The sample questions I had were more like a case study than the regular (stand alone) questions. There were a bunch of questions about one patient scenario with history, symptoms, lab results, etc. There are similarly formatted practice questions in ATI's question bank, and maybe on the NCLEX already, but the sample questions had even more detail. I didn't think they were harder, just different. I guess you get some context from the series of questions that you don't with the current NCLEX format.

I don't have any specific organizations to suggest for you, but you might be able to see if your school offers anything. My school had an option to do international work that counted for population health clinical hours. Since you have the Summer off, they may have an option organized for students who are interested.

The only thing that is for sure is that if you don't apply you won't get in. You could try asking the admissions office, but they probably can't tell you for sure. If nursing is what you want to do, don't give up before you've applied! You may need to retake some prereqs to try for higher grades if you aren't able to get in initially, but if that's gets you to where you want to be, start taking steps to get there. If you are calling the admission office, ask them what their policy is on repeats (in terms of evaluating applications).

I think it just depends on the situation where you are. Some places are willing to hire (conditionally) before graduation but others prefer to wait. If you are applying in the same city you are going to school, your teachers or nurses at clinical should have good advice for what employers are looking for. If those people are telling you to apply before graduation, you may need to work on your resume.

I would recommend being very careful with your units when looking at this question. At the risk of stating of the obvious, mEq is not the same as mL. It might be the case that you have a solution with a concentration of 1 mEq/mL, but that isn't always the case and can't be assumed. In order for you to find the rate (mL/hr), you need to know what the concentration (mEq/mL) of your potassium is, and add the appropriate volume (mL) for the prescribed quantity of potassium (mEq) to the total volume to be infused. It is added because the potassium solution is being injected into the bag of fluids.