JerseyGuy

Hi Angie: WOW....just loved ur email. Lots of good info in it, and much appreciated it. Am a recent grad from UMD's accelerated BSN program, and bkz ABSN programs are a little light on clinical experience, I chose to do an externship on a telly unit in central NJ. Very glad I'm doing so, bkz I feel I'll be stronger RN after my 10-week fulltime summer externship. Since I live near Essex County, my plan is to apply at The Beth sometime this Fall. Can you comment, please, on your nursing orientation? eg: how long, how did it meet your needs, etc? how is staff RN morale? i know the ancillary support staff (Aides, etc) are unionized, and wondering whether they are "slugs" or overall helpful?Thanks Angie!!

In response to Descartes below.....I understand about chaos/disorganization on a real live nursing unit, and no problem with that. But respectfully disagree that nursing SCHOOL itself needs to be like that. UMD hasn't adapted to the fact that students in its program have previous REAL LIFE PAID work experience, and are less likely to "tolerate" their administrative screw-ups and disorganization. Just need to express my feelings on the matter, and thanks for letting me do so.

Hey, about UMDNJ's Accel BSN Program.....it IS VERY disorganized, so just be sure you know "what your're getting into", as far as the stress etc due to the "lack of student focus" there. They are much more concentrating on their 10-15 Master's track courses. They know their Accel BSN is pretty much the only game in town, in terms of it being one of the 2 cheapest in NJ (UMD & Rutgers). Just "hold on for the ride" if you decide to go there. There are ONLY 2 advantages: 1) relatively cheap (for an Accel program), and 2) You get thru in 15 months. Believe me....most of the instructors are mediocre. The Asst Dean running the program (not the Big Dean of whole school), but the Asst Dean, is really a light-weight....sides with the faculty all the time. No one goes to her for anything. What can I tell ya....it AIN'T PRETTY up there. So, just "grin and bear it"!!

Hi NJRNtobe: thot I'd reply here, in case others are interested. Your local Unemployment Office (called "One-Stop" now, I think), can tell you if the program is still available. It's called "ATB", for Additional Training Benefits. Basically, if you lose your job thru no fault of your own (eg: no misconduct, but a layoff or job elimination, etc), in addition to the regular 26-weeks (6 mos) of UC that everyone gets, you can submit for approval (by meeting with a counselor there), for "ATB". It's an additional (and final) 26-weeks/6 mos of UC....as long as u are in school full-time, and changing your career into something on NJ's Hot Job List. RN is DEF on that list. Plus you might qualify for tuition waiver at NJ State college or community college (but NOT UMDNJ's Accel Nursing program), for tuition only (not books/fees) for your pre-reqs. Again, the job counselor has to pre-approve this for you. Only "hitch", and it's not really a hitch....is that you have to wait until like 5-7 days before the semester starts at your local comm college to register for classes. Idea behind that is they don't want a person on waiver to 'take/fill' a seat that a paying student might fill. Hope this helps. If I can help you further, drop me another line. Be glad to give you my cell number, but don't want the "rest of the viewing world" to see it. So we'd have to figure that out....if you need more info than can easily be typed on here. I got tuition waiver for ALL my pre-reqs (worth around $1800), plus a whole year of Unemployment, while I was in school in 2006. And it was ALL LEGIT. Take care.....

UMDNJ in Newark also has an Accelerated BSN program....at half the cost of Seton Hall, and probably similar price to JerseyCity State University (or whatever they are calling themselves these days).

UMDNJ in Newark also has an Accelerated BSN program....at half the price of NJCityUniversity in Jersey City.

hey there: I have a domestic partner who works, and he pays most of the bills while I'm in nursing school. (I did same thing for him several years ago, when he was starting a new business and not drawing a salary.) My situation also a little unique, in that I'm in an "Accelerated BSN Program", especially for career changers. We are "in class/in program" (clinical, class, learning lab,, etc) 32 hrs a week, so MOST people in my 60 person class do not work. I'm also a little fortunate, in that I spent all of 2006 doing my science/nursing pre-reqs and LEGITIMATELY getting NJ Unemployment of $500week = $2000 a month, bkz I was career changing into a "critical occupation" on State of NJ Unemployment Career listing....PLUS, I got a tuition waiver for all my pre-reqs during 2006 at local community college, thanks to this special NJ Unemployment Program for career changers. I felt "blessed" to be able to do so. Good luck.....oh, I've also taken out $50k in Federal & State student loans.....and use some of that for living money, but heck, have another 20 yrs to pay those back.

Here's what I've picked up from a pretty reliable source....a senior level educational dean at another nursing school: Seton Hall's Accelerated BSN apparently has a fairly low NCLEX pass rate....both they and UMDNJ's Accel Program are among the lowest in NJ. Also, Seton Hall is supposed to stop offering an Accel BSN, and instead, offer some type of Accelerated Master's in Nursing----BUT that will require them extending their program from the current 15-16 months, to close to another year. Am unsure of the exact degree, other than it's some type of "Clinical Nurse Leader"-type Master's Degree in Nursing. And, at some point students will still need to pass the NCLEX, to get licensed as an RN. Some questions: at the price of Seton Hall....is this plan really "viable"?? Also, what hospital is going to hire a Master's-prepared "Clinical Nurse Leader", most of whom probably WILL NOT want to take a "regular Staff RN" patient assignment?? Ya gotta wonder....what are these academic administrator's thinking?? Comments, please??

I recently heard that Seton Hall University (South Orange, NJ) is "closing" its Accelerated BSN Program to new admissions, eg: that the last Accel Class it admitted was this past September, 2007....and that no new students were being accepted to its Accel Program after that. Does anyone know if this is true?.....or can you confirm it? And if so, do you know why they are not taking new students? I had heard it was due to its dismally low scores on NCLEX, and that the program at Seton Hall was very disorganized? I understand they will still have their regular 4-year BSN program, but this change only affects its Accel BSN.

Been there a year now. I gotta tell ya......if you go to UMD-Newark, you really have to "grin and bear it!" They do very stupid things there, again, the ONLY good thing about it is: it's the cheapest accelerated BSN program in NJ, compared to Seton Hall and Fairleigh Dickinson. If you can put up with the crap for 15 months, then go.....but don't say "no one told me it would be this disorganized."

I am currently in the UMD Accelerated BSN program, and the reply from the person who works at UMD is VERY ACCURATE---in that the previous admissions area at the School of Nursing was a DISASTER!! They have all been replaced, with all SON's admissions work now being done centrally by the School of Health Professions at UMD----so THAT has improved. BUT...and it's a big BUT----HOLD ON FOR THE RIDE once you get it. The Accel program at UMD Newark is VERY UNORGANIZED, unfortunately. Not sure whether it's the individual faculty---but more likely, the Director/Dean of the Accel Program is really not too swift. She's been really disappointing to students there, on a wide range of issues. In fact, of late, students just go directly to the overall Dean for the entire School of Nursing, as the ABSN Dean is pretty ineffective. Enough said about THAT. But just wait until you see how they schedule clinicals---it's a joke. They can't manage their way out of a paper-bag, I hate to say. The instructors: a few are very good, a few are VERY bad, and the rest are somewhat mediocre. The bad ones persist---who knows why....but students before us have told us not much will be done about it. Sadly, they seem to be correct. Best thing about the program: it's the cheapest Accel BSN Progrm, other than Rutgers (and Rutgers has tougher pre-req requirements). Unfortunately, it's kind of like: "get in, get out", and you'll never want anything to do with the place again----other than staying in touch with the student friends you make. Great bunch of students-----very diverse. Good luck!!

In my class of 60+ nursing students, there are 12 males...and I am the only gay/out male. There is one other who hasn't quite come out yet, and all the others are married/straight. So it's really a stereo-type that's out of date, as far as nursing is concerned. I DO think that years ago, there were so few males in bed-side nursing, that most (of the few males there were), were gay. That has obviously changed. I view being a male in nursing as a BIG advantage. Most (female) nurse mgrs I know want a few males on their units, in their own words: "to help ease the estrogen level down a bit". Good luck!! And as long as any nurse is professional, his/her sexual orientation isn't really much of a concern/issue.

Now that's odd about the fly zipper....I ordered a pair, and didn't see the "option" for the zipper fly, so I just sent them back. Without a fly zipper, it's kinda a hassle hitting the head (bathroom), so to speak.

The Saint Barnabas Health Care System has daycare in several of their acute care facilities, including, SBMC in Livingston, Newark Beth Israel in Newark, Clara Maass Medical Center in Belleville, Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch.

Correction----Mountainside Hospital is NO LONGER in the same network as Morristown Memorial Hospital (MMH). MMH is part of the Atlantic Health System, and it's only other sister hospital is Overlook Hospital in Summit, NJ. Sorry, but there is NO connection at all between MMH and Mountainside Hospital anymore----nor is there any comparison nursing-wise or clinically. MMH is light-years AHEAD of Mountainside Hospital, which was recently taken over by a for-profit chain. All of the good mgmt people at Mountainside have been "bailing out" of there for months now.