wannabecatcher

I'm in the same boat as you lilprinzessky (getting license in CA but in school in another state)! I wish I could speed things up some way! I am hoping my school will be quick with those transcripts! Good luck to you!

Thank you everyone for your replies!!

Hi Suzanne, I was directed to post on this thread because you might know something about this topic... I am exactly 54 days (yes, i'm counting) from graduating from a BSN program and have just finished interviewing for jobs at the hospitals in my area. They told me that they want the new nurses to start orientation by July 1st and asked me when I thought I would get my RN license. I explained to them that I had already sent in my application to the California Board of Nursing (including live-scan fingerprints) and that I had to wait until my school sent my final transcript to the Board and that then the Board would give me the go-ahead to take the NCLEX. The California Board of Nursing states on its website that it can take up to 4-6 weeks for them to process your application after they receive your final transcripts...so, say I graduate May 12th...grades are due to the registrar probably by May 16th...my nursing school will hopefully send off a transcript by May 19th....Board of Nursing gets my transcript May 22nd....and 4-6 weeks later brings us to then end of June or early July (which is when they want me to start working as a licensed RN). So best case scenario, I can take the NCLEX in late June...and then add some more time till I get the actual license! The hospitals here do not hire until you are licensed and are not allowing any new nurses to practice on the interim permit. One of the nurse managers suggested that I take the NCLEX before graduating from nursing school (she said that she knows someone who did it). One of the other nurse managers in the room said that he knew someone who had done this as well but that this person's license was different and said something like "non-graduate RN"...basically he said they don't recognize that you have graduated from a BSN. He didn't know if this was something you could change later after the Board of Nursing receives your final transcripts or if they would issue you another license at all..... So, has anyone else heard about taking the NCLEX before graduating from nursing school? And if so, what are the negatives to doing so? I was a little surprised that the nurse managers (who I assume have been doing hiring somewhat frequently for years now) didn't really know about this stuff. July 1st seems like a pretty early start date for new nurses graduating in the middle of May. I'd love to start working right away (got plenty of loans to pay off) but I'm not sure it is even possible by July 1st. Any advice/information would be really helpful. Thanks!

Hello all! I am exactly 54 days (yes, I'm counting) from graduating from a BSN program and have just finished interviewing for jobs at the hospitals in my area. They told me that they want the new nurses to start orientation by July 1st and asked me when I thought I would get my RN license. I explained to them that I had already sent in my application to the California Board of Nursing (including live-scan fingerprints) and that I had to wait until my school sent my final transcript to the Board and that then the Board would give me the go-ahead to take the NCLEX. The California Board of Nursing states on its website that it can take up to 4-6 weeks for them to process your application after they receive your final transcripts...so, say I graduate May 12th...grades are due to the registrar probably by May 16th...my nursing school will hopefully send off a transcript by May 19th....Board of Nursing gets my transcript May 22nd....and 4-6 weeks later brings us to then end of June or early July (which is when they want me to start working as a licensed RN). So best case scenario, I can take the NCLEX in late June...and then add some more time till I get the actual license! The hospitals here do not hire until you are licensed and are not allowing any new nurses to practice on the interim permit. One of the nurse managers suggested that I take the NCLEX before graduating from nursing school (she said that she knows someone who did it). One of the other nurse managers in the room said that he knew someone who had done this as well but that this person's license was different and said something like "non-graduate RN"...basically he said they don't recognize that you have graduated from a BSN. He didn't know if this was something you could change later after the Board of Nursing receives your final transcripts or if they would issue you another license at all..... So, has anyone else heard about taking the NCLEX before graduating from nursing school? And if so, what are the negatives to doing so? I was a little surprised that the nurse managers (who I assume have been doing hiring somewhat frequently for years now) didn't really know about this stuff. July 1st seems like a pretty early start date for new nurses graduating in the middle of May. I'd love to start working right away (got plenty of loans to pay off) but I'm not sure it is even possible by July 1st. Any advice/information would be really helpful. Thanks!

Hi all, I was just wondering if anyone had any info on what it is like to work for US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. I know its not military nursing but it is working for the feds so I figured this was the most appropriate area to post in. Any info at all would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi all, I was curious if the coast guard hires nurses, and if so, does anyone know anything about it? Thanks!

I have a pair of Quarks which are ok, not the greatest, but ok. I bought them because they fit the standards but I don't love the way they look or feel. I tried on the Danskos and couldn't deal with the fit (maybe my feet are wider than most?). Just as well really, those things are darn expensive. Crocs just came out with a new style called the Specialist (comes with or without side vents) and was designed with a thicker metatarsal area to protect the top of the foot (supposedly from getting stuck with a dropped syringe/needle). This style also has a "closed heel" to meet workplace standards. I bought a pair and I absolutely love them- and they are only $35!

True that. I just got this in an email. "Sicko" in Top 5 Grossing Docs of All Time -- This Weekend it's "'Sicko' Night in America!"... from Michael Moore Thursday, July 19th, 2007 Friends, Good news! "Sicko," after less than three weeks in national release, has become one of the top five grossing documentaries of all time! So, this coming weekend, the distributor is expanding the movie by opening it in nearly 500 new theaters in small cities all over the country (for a total of nearly 1,200 screens nationwide)! From Rapid City to Carson City, from Gettysburg to Pearl Harbor, from Juneau to Battle Creek -- they're all getting "Sicko" tomorrow (Friday). Scores of cities that never have a documentary come to their local theater will now be able to see this one. It's happening all thanks to you who live in the larger cities and have supported "Sicko" so strongly. It's led the studio to say, "Let's make more prints and ship them to Oshkosh (and Beaverton and Brattleboro and Sault Ste. Marie and...)." The entire country goes "Sicko" in less than 48 hours! (Check here for the complete list of theaters showing "Sicko" in North America.) So, friends, this is it. This is the weekend to go see "Sicko" if you haven't seen it. I get a lot of letters from people saying they plan to "get around" to seeing it "soon." Well, soon is here! Trying to get theaters to give us screens when we are up against huge summer blockbusters is an almost impossible task. "Sicko" won't be around forever. And if you're waiting for the DVD, ask anyone who's seen "Sicko" -- this is a movie you want to see with a crowd of people in a theater. So let's pack the movie houses this weekend! Send an email to everyone you know, call your friends and tell them, "It's 'Sicko' Night in America!" And, to show my thanks to all of you who'll go see "Sicko" this weekend, I'm going to send one of you and a guest on a free weekend to the universal health care country of your choice! That's right. You'll get to pick one of the three industrialized countries featured in the movie where, if you get sick, you get help for free, no matter who you are. All you have to do is send us your ticket stub (make sure it says "Sicko" on it and has the name of the theater and this weekend's date on it -- Friday, Saturday or Sunday - July 20th, 21st, 22nd). Attach the stub to a piece of paper with your name, address, phone number and email and send it to: 'Sicko' Night in America, 888c 8th Avenue, Suite 443, New York, NY 10019. (Yes, you have to use that old 18th century device called the U.S. Postal Service, and it has to be postmarked on or by Tuesday, July 24th). First prize is a weekend in the city of your choice: Paris, London or Toronto. This includes airfare, hotel, meals and, most exciting, a representative from their fine universal health care system who will give you a personal tour so you can see how they treat their fellow citizens. You'll meet people who pay nothing for college and citizens who are in the fourth week of their six-week paid vacation. Oh, and you'll have time to see the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben or whatever they have in Toronto that is old and tall. (If you don't have a passport, we'll pay for that, too!) Canadians who are reading this -- you're probably thinking, "Hey, what about us? Where do we get to go?" Quit complaining! You're already there! But just to make it up to you -- and to prove we don't hold it against you for smugly walking out of a hospital with the same amount of money in your wallet that you went in with -- we'll let you participate in the drawing, too. Thanks again to everyone who has gone to see "Sicko." Take a friend or two this weekend and celebrate "'Sicko' Night in America." Yours, Michael Moore [email protected] www.michaelmoore.com P.S. I'll be on "The Colbert Report" tonight (Thursday) on Comedy Central. On a sadder note, my appearance on CNN with Wolf Blitzer has been moved to a later date. Wolf just called to say he had a death in his family and that we would have to re-schedule. Our condolences to him and his family.

I almost forgot- You won't have class on days that you have clinical. And, as for the BLS cert, NYU paid for us to do it the weekend before school started (right after orientation). It was good too- it only took 2.5 hours as opposed to other ones that I have taken that were much longer. I would call the nursing office and find out if they are going to do this again as it would be one less thing that you have to pay for.

Hannah, I don't know anything about the 1 unit differential you are talking about- no one I know had to make up any liberal arts units. If you have a degree already and you completed all your nursing pre-reqs, you shouldn't have any courses to complete besides the ones on the 15 month track. We all come into the program with 64 total units completed (44 in liberal arts and 20 in pre-reqs). If I were you, I would call and get that cleared up before orientation. Oh, and clinicals go from 7:30am-3:30pm (8 hours), and I ended up having to leave around 6 as they are pretty anal about you getting there on time (and I had an hour commute). I can't really speak to how your registration will go for all of you starting in the fall. I think that we (in the January start) had different circumstances- most of us found out we got in to the program one month or less before the program started, and I registered online before I even made the move to NY- and we had one orientation that was one full long day on the Friday before classes began for the semester. I know the traditional students who will be in your cohort have already registered for fall classes. As for a head start on studying/reading, the one thing that I wished I had started reading right away was fluid/electrolyte/acid-base balance material. For Fundamentals of Nursing (the 6 unit course) you will have to really know this stuff and it takes a while to remember it all. The Fluids and Electrolytes Made Incredibly Easy is the best book for it. Otherwise, I would hold off on the rest as the professors pick and choose from each text. Also, just so you know, I spent $800 on texts for the first semester- and some people spent $1000 and got all the "optional" books. If you think you want the optional books, I would at least hold off for the first couple of weeks so you can better gauge if you need them. As, for study-spots, that all depends on what environments you do best in. Bobst library, on Washington square, is where you go for quiet study space as well as group study rooms (which my friends and I took advantage of often). You can rent the group study rooms online on the library page. There is a great coffee shop called "Think" in the village that I like too. anything else? Congrats to you all!

Julialuk, Its hard to say exactly how many hours the program is a week- I would definitely say it is FULL-time. You will spend a significant amount of time in class and clinical since you will be carrying 17-18 units a semester. The sheer amount of reading that you are expected to accomplish can be mind boggling at times- it felt like it's own full-time job! Not to mention all the papers, careplans, and projects...I've met very very few people who are working during the program (only 2 that I can think of- and they are working VERY part-time). One thing that I have noticed that is popular among some students is babysitting- a way to make a few bucks every once in a while when you have the time. Of course, you have to be kind of established here and know people who need a babysitter to get that kind of set-up. I think it also depends on what kind of grades you are going for. You have to at least get a B- to stay on the accelerated track (any C is not passing, and you have to retake the course) and if you are looking to make As in your courses- I just don't see how there would be enough hours in the day if you were also working on top of it all. I'm not sure if I understand your question about the clinicals- basically, you either register for a section (online) and have no idea what borough it is in (which is what happened for all of us for our first semester (I just happened to get Brooklyn)...OR they release a list of section numbers that correspond with what borough (but not hospitals) and you try and register for the one you want (this is how it worked for this coming summer and fall semesters for our cohort). Unfortunately, you are unlikely to get your first choices unless you are a traditional student. They all got to register before the accelerated students and then all of us accelerated students registered at almost the same exact time. All of the Manhattan clinical sections were taken (as well as most of the Brooklyn ones) before ANY accelerated students got to register (for this coming fall) so I ended up with a choice between Queens, Bronx, and Long Island. I live in Manhattan so I am expecting that I will spend 2 hrs traveling for each of my clinical days (we have 3 for the fall) which means I will spend about 6 hours each week just getting to and from clinical. Kind of a bummer.... Well, finals are over and my first semester has finally come to an end- phhheeeewwww.... now I get a week break and then summer semester starts. It is a pretty intense program, every break is much appreciated. Luckily we get the whole month of August off before starting back in the fall! Well, any other questions- I would be happy to answer. Oh and if you are looking for housing, I would recommend Craig's list for finding a place. Most people I have met either live in Manhattan or Brooklyn, although there are a few that live in NJ, Queens, etc. I wouldn't recommend NYU housing- it is way overpriced (you can get a better place for half the price) and if you are a bit older and have been out of college for a while- it may feel like a bit of a regression. Just my opinion. Good luck with all your preparations! Be well!

Hi Hannah, The tuition (+ all fees) per semester comes out to be just about $17,000. The summer semester is less, I want to say closer to $11,500. So I would say that you are going to pay NYU $62,500 for the whole 15-month program. Of course, not included, is the cost of living here and your expenses for books and travel to all of your clinical sites. And you gotta eat too! Its a whole lot of money and there has been many threads on this site about whether its worth it or not to pay the big bucks. I think it comes down to the individual. Everyone in the program carries heavy loans but you have to keep it all in perspective- starting salary for BSN RNs in NYC is around $65,000. There is also the prospect of free money (scholarships) depending on your situation. I received a pretty decent scholarship upon admission that is automatically renewed each semester (that's the NYU college of Nursing scholarship on your financial aid award letter) + there are a few smaller ones that I have been able to get. I am applying for another one in June that I believe is $10,000 with no strings attached. With all that said, I do know many in the program who got almost NO free money. There are also many scholarships for folks who will commit to working in NYC for 2 years after they graduate. I am planning on moving back to the west coast to do a Masters program, but otherwise, I would have jumped on that one. The tuition payments are made per semester and they do offer payment plans for those in need. I think you can set it up so that you only pay part of the tuition at the beginning of the semester and continue with payments until the end of that semester. But if you are getting loans (stafford, perkins, and private) there is really no need to do this, from my perspective. So hopefully I answered your financial questions about NYU. As for what I wished I had known...well, thats a tough one for me because I really didn't know anything! I had never even been to NY before! Well, one thing that a lot of people have been upset about is that our clinical sites are all over the place (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, and Long Island!) and you have almost no say in where you get placed. THe registration system is pretty screwed up with all the traditional students getting to register before the accelerated students. Also, often times you won't even know what borough (let alone specific hospital) you are registering for. For some this is a huge deal. When you add your travel time into your clinical day, the day can become veryyyyy long (think long island!), and after your first semester you have multiple clinical days each week. I actually like the opportunity to explore all over so I don't mind so much being all over the city (I was in Brooklyn this term, I'll be in Manhattan for both clinicals this summer, and in the Fall I'll be in Queens). I would write more, but I must get back to the books, I have two finals this week- but if you have any other specific questions, i'd be happy to answer them. Congrats about your acceptance!!! Be well!

Hi Jen, I would be happy to answer any questions you have about NYU's accelerated program. I started the program this spring (finals are next week, yikes!) and will finish in May of 2008. What would you like to know?

Hello All! I am currently about a year from graduating with my BSN and would like to work as an RN for a year or two and then go back for the masters, most likely a midwifery specialty. I have heard a lot about getting your employer to pay for your advanced degree. Does anyone know how this works? Do you continue to work full time while going to school or part time? Do all employers offer this sort of thing? Before starting a new job, can you negotiate this point? Does it matter what specialty you are in? After the huge amount of loans I have already taken out, the thought of taking out more for another degree gives me the heebee jeebies! Any info would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! - Julie

Hi Visuals! I will also be starting the accelerated nursing program at NYU this spring. I am also pretty nervous, not so much about the nursing program, more about living in NYC! I live in a rural area on the west coast and although I am excited at the prospect of living in NYC, I am trying to prepare myself for some major culture shock! NYU is gonna cost a bundle, even with the scholarships, but I really think it will be worth it in the end. Are you going to the orientation the thursday before school starts? Where are you planning on living, if you don't mind me asking? Did you register for classes yet? Congratulations- we'll probably be meeting in a few weeks! -Julie