RedHeadRN2b

El Centro College in Dallas, TX does not have a wait list. That does NOT mean the entrance to the LVN/LPN program isn't competitive, because it is. When I say they don't have a waiting list I mean that the class selection process starts fresh every time. Whether it's your 1st or 10th time to apply doesn't factor in and they don't carry over applications from one class selection to the next. You have to meet the requirements and reapply every time. The only time there is a sort of "wait list" is in between the time where they've notified accepted students and the start of the class, during this time people may not accept their seats or drop and they'll fill in the slots in order of ranking. For example - if there were 40 spots available they will offer a seat to the top 40, but if 3 of them decline then seats will be offered to the people ranked as 41,42 and 43. I hope that made sense. You can find out about El Centro's ADN and LVN program here: http://www.elcentrocollege.edu/Programs/HealthLegalStudies/index.asp I'm applying to the LVN program for entrance into the Fall 2007 class.

I hope you all can give me a little info. I took my 40 y.o. husband in for a myelogram the other week and when they checked his BP before they released him, his diastolic was 110 (I don't remember the systolic). He shrugged it off saying he always got stressed at Drs offices. I'm just now starting my nursing journey (I'm in a CNA class) and we just learned how to take a manual BP, so I bought a manual cuff this last Friday night at the drugstore and have been trying to check him every night. His systolic has been running around 138, but his diastolic is still high like it was in the drs office. It's been consistently running around 100, give or take 2. The obvious path of action here would be to see a Dr. about it, but he absolutley won't take meds for this. I know this sounds sort of dumb, but if this is left untreated what will happen?? What could be causing this? What can I do? What s/s should I watch out for that could signal a crisis? Thanks!

Be sure to submit a cover letter with your resume whether you fax, snail mail, email or apply online!! Recently I spoke with a recruiter from a large hosptial here in the Dallas area that only accepts applications/resumes online and she said that adding a cover letter to your online application is absolutely critical. What you say in your cover letter is what will make you "pop" out from the other 500+ resumes they get for the same position. In fact, I had a hiring supervisor tell me that they do not even read the resumes they get - they read the COVER LETTER and THEN if they like your letter you get put in the short stack where they actually look at your resume. You should put just as much effort into your cover letter as you do your resume - make it genuine and specific. A recruiter can spot a "sample" generic cover letter that was copied from the internet a mile away. Hope this helps!

Oh that is just the saddest smiley face ever! {{{{{HUUUUUUGS}}}}}} to you luvmy2angels! :icon_hug: You obviously have the heart and soul of a nurse. It's tough to accept, especially when you are kind and honest yourself, that not everyone will treat you the same way. It's sad and more than a little scary to be honest. Hang in there though - your patients need nurses like you! Don't let them bruise your spirit and get you down.

No pun intended...right...?

The Dallas County Community College District offers A&P online and I've thought about taking it. HOWEVER, one thing that gives me pause is that I'd be missing out on the feedback from my fellow classmates. I'm positive that I could learn something from their questions/observations that maybe wouldn't have occured to me or may be just made clearer. I do take a lot of classes online (History, Govt, misc gen ed) but I've discovered that the DCCCD online classes tend to be the "throw you off the deep end" type of online classes. I have spent days waiting to hear back from a professor who apparently only checks their email once every four days. :angryfire There have been times that I have asked very pertinant, time sensitive questions that have never received an answer. That leaves me to flounder around making my best guess about what the instructor actually wants. I personally don't want to be in the dark with A&P.

Ok, I just have to share even though my most memorable "thank you" didn't have anything to do directly with the medical field. Who could forget the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building on April 19th, 1995? Certainly not anyone who was living in Oklahoma City. I was a young college student at Oklahoma Christian at the time, majoring in Theater, and I FELT the blast that morning. It's an experience beyond description. Anyway, my "thank you" came about because of that horrific day. I mentioned I was a theater major, well I was in a play called "Stepping Out" (a comedy about a group of misfits that are in a tap dance class together) and our opening night was supposed to have been April 19th. Due to the circumstances it got delayed and we weren't even sure if we would be allowed to open at all since the location where we were performing had been turned into the Family Notification Headquarters and one of the lead performers was a spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations. But open we did, on April 24th, to a sold out but somewhat somber crowd. It was common after a performance for the cast to go out to the foyer to "meet and greet", which we did, and during this time was when I received one of the most treasured gifts of my life. An elderly gentleman who had a large gauze bandage on his forehead pulled away from his companion (I assumed his adult son) and came up to me. He grasped my hands in his and I noticed they were shaking. I though he might be confusing me for someone he knew, but then he softly said: "I was in the Murrah building when that bomb went off and I walked away with only this (pointing to his bandage), but I never thought I'd laugh again. Thank you. Thank you for helping me laugh again." It took my breath away. It still does.

I have a couple of (what I think are) bone spurs on the heel and ball of my foot. Those little boogers wear a hole straight through padding faster than a speeding bullet and they make wearing the more rigid support shoes like Dansko's impossible. The best thing I found for me were Klogs - lots and lots of "cush", plus the insoles could come out when they wore out and I don't have to buy an entire new pair of shoes - just insoles! Not to mention they now offer select styles in NARROW. Seriously, a greenbean has more width than my foot does. www.klogs.com

I guess it depends on where you intend on going to school. In the Dallas Community College District, the LPN program does not have prereqs, but instead has "support" courses that they strongly recommend you take before applying to the program. Many of these support courses are the same classes that the ADN program has a prereqs (i.s. A&P, English Comp I, Speech I, etc). The LPN selection process is based on a points system and you are ranked in order by how many points you have accumulated. The top 40 people are accepted to the program. In the event of a tie on points, they look at the applicant's scores on the NET test. You get extra points on your application for each support class you take ahead of time. You also get extra points if you have a certification like EMT, CMA, CNA, etc... The ADN program has prereqs and the selection process is based SOLELY on your GPA in those specific prereq classes and nothing else. Saying that entrance to the ADN program here is competitive would be a gross understatement. There are only 100 slots and there are at least 5 applicants for each slot. The last class of 100 that was accepted to the ADN program ALL had perfect 4.0s. I was so discouraged by that until I found the LPN program. I'm not a 4.0 student (around a 3.2), and I don't feel that a GPA is the be-all-end-all measure of whether or not a particular applicant has what it takes to become a good nurse. To me being a nurse is SOOOOOO much more than just good test scores and book knowledge (helps to have it of course!). I'm just thrilled that there's a program near me that I have a chance at getting accepted into, thus allowing me to become the great peds nurse I know I can be!

I only need TWO more!!! Don't forget you could poll your parents! Thanks everyone!

Just kicking this up for better viewing...

I can vouch for this one. I had my navel pierced about 3 years ago and no matter what I did it never seemed to heal - and I was FANATICAL about care and sanitary measures. It kept leaking a whitish fluid (not pus - white cells??) and stayed tender to the point of being annoying. Finally a year later I had it removed and 2 years later the hole has still not completely grown closed. Not worth it if you ask me, but I know many people who love theirs.

The University of Phoenix has a BSN course that you can take online. This might work for you - not sure about what it costs though. http://www.universityofphoenix-online.com/Bachelor-Science-Nursing/

I'm a little afraid of that, but am hoping that maybe there are a few retired nurses browsing the boards, or like the previous poster would know someone that would be willing to do it.

That would be GREAT!!! This weekend (or even next weekend) certainly isn't too late! Thanks so much!

Hi everyone! I'm working on my Developmental Psych class for nursing. I have to get at least 5 people 65 or older to answer the following 10 questions and then I "get" to write a paper about the answers and my conclusions about aging. Yippie. You can just copy the list and PM me your answers unless you just want to post them here for information's sake (in case someone else has to do the same project! :chuckle ) You don't have to include your name if you don't want to (I'm not going to use it in the paper anyway) but if you could at least give your gender, age and what state you're from that would be great. Write as little or as much as you want - there is no "wrong" answer to any of these questions. Thanks so much for your help in getting me successfully through this class!! My paper is due March 6th. 1.) What would you do differently if you had your life to live over again? 2.) What advice would you give to a young adult on how to live a meaningful life? 3.) What is your most prized possession? Why? 4.) What event in history, occuring within your lifetime, stands out most in your mind? (this does not have to be an event that happened to you personally) 5.) What is your greatest fear as you grow older? 6.) What frustrations do you deal with on a regular basis that you can attribute directly to your age? 7.) Having experienced both the 1950's and the turn of the new millenium, if you could choose, would you rather be a young adult then or now? Why? 8.) What is the most fulfilling aspect of your life right now? 9.) If you won the lottery today, what would you do with the money? 10.) If you were given 2 weeks to live how would you spend your remaining time? THANKS AGAIN! I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL OF YOU WHO TOOK THE TIME TO READ AND ANSWER THIS! Julie

What I want to do with nursing is be a Navy nurse and to be a commissioned officer you have to hold a BSN. The Navy will pay for the RN to BSN bridge and I'll be able to work as an RN at a civilian hosptial while I get the BSN.

WOW - great info! Thanks so much!

Thanks for clarifying - I am NOT (I repeat NOT) trying to beat the proverbial dead "is one better than the other" horse. The issue is not whether or not to get a BSN, I just want opinions on the different ways to go about it. I currently do not hold a degree in any field, but am fairly close in completing enough classes for an Assoc Arts or Science, which would make me "core complete" in the state of TX. On another note, you mentioned "make sure you want to be a nurse" - how does one really go about doing this? I mean, I'm pretty darn sure I want to be a nurse, but do you have any suggestions on how to know with certainty? I'm currently a secretary in a non-medical field, but I'm trying to get work in one of our local hospitals as an admin or unit secretary/clerk so I can get some firsthand observation but I'm finding it hard to break in due to my lack of medical experience. Any other suggestions? Do hospitals still allow shadowing due to all the patient privacy issues?

I live in the Dallas, TX area and I'm looking for some recommendations on what would be a great nursing school to attend. My ultimate goal is to get my BSN, but I didn't know if it would be better to do an entire 4 yr program somewhere like UTA or to get my Associates from a community college like El Centro or Brookhaven and then after I pass the NCLEX go to a RN-BSN bridge program somewhere like TWU or UTA. Any thoughts??? I'm 33 so I don't want to start on one program and then discover it would've been easier/faster/cheaper another way. It almost looks like getting an Associates then going through a bridge program would be faster (and cheaper) than going the straight BSN. Also, I've heard somewhere that you will get more clinical time while getting an Associates vs. the straight BSN - IMO that's one big pro for going that route. Is this true or just myth? I would appreciate ANY pointers that anyone might like to give regarding school and nursing in general. Feel free to PM me if you're in the Dallas area - maybe we could discuss it over coffee! Thanks! Julie

What a great website! Thanks so much for sharing!!! I have always had a fear of needles and the previous responses have really given me hope that I can overcome it and be a fabulous nurse! Thanks!

NO DOUBT!! Been reconsidering ever since I read the post about the guy giving the "sweet little aide" a mouthful of surprise!