whitter

First of all, Congrats to pbingham for being accepted into RSU's program! It is competitive, but I truly believe you will have a good experience there. I graduated this May from RSU. If you have any questions, feel free to ask :) I have been a member a while, but I haven't introduced myself. Here it goes.... My name is Whitney (aka Whitter). I graduated in May. I am an "almost RN" (I take my NCLEX next week!). I work in the CVICU. I truly love nursing. I am going to start working on my BSN in August at RSU and will graduate May 2010. Two more years! :) I would also love to be a NP, CNS or CRNA someday, but who knows?? For now I am going to enjoy the present.... learn... gain experience... enjoy my husband... and travel!. Everyone have a great week!

One of my colleages recently moved from Pennsylvania to Tulsa. The hospital gave her a $7000 sign on bonus (before taxes of course), $1000 for relocation costs and they paid for the movers. As for your pay rate, I have no idea :) I am a new graduate, so I am at the base rate right now. You would be above that so I don't even have a guess for you. The best thing would be to interview. Most hospitals will do phone interviews. I'm sure your pay depends on the hospital, shortages, the unit you apply to work on, day shift vs. night shift, etc. The cost of living is cheaper in Tulsa. You can Google a "cost of living comparison calculator" which could be helpful to you. I am not sure how accurate they are, but it may assist you. I have used it before when my husband and I considered moving. I hope I helped in some way. Good luck with whatever decision you make! Whitter

Hello everyone! I will be graduating in May... slightly nervous... I am going to start slowly reviewing for the NCLEX. I have heard a lot of people talking about Suzanne's review and finally found her sticky. I was so lost about "Suzanne's Review." Lol. Anyway, I now understand we are to complete the Saunder's review. Then, we can PM her and she will freely send us six weeks worth of great information. With that said, I was wondering if Suzanne, or others who have used her review, could tell me what kind of success rate her review has. Has it been helpful to many? It would help me and my friends greatly. Thanks for any input! Whitter

Thank you SirI and putmetosleep.

Hey everyone! I graduate in May. I externed in a CVICU and knew that was my niche. I loved it all. Organized. Structured. Challenging. Anyway, I planned on starting ICU after I pass my NCLEX. I am hearing two different things: 1. Be an ICU nurse when you graduate. You can learn a lot. You won't form bad habits. ICU nurses like new grads. 2. Don't be an ICU nurse right after graduation. Start out in Med/Surg. Anyway, I would appreciate opinions! There are a few of my friends that would like some advice as well. I still plan on being an ICU nurse. I wasn't crazy about Med/Surg. But, I am open-minded...

I graduate May 2008 at the age of 20 as a registered nurse! So excited :-) I will graduate with my BSN when I am 22. Yeah, I am one of the three youngest out of 70 students. I knew exactly where I was headed. Congrats to everyone who is going back after they have already had a career no matter what your age. You are So Amazing!!! Some of my nursing friends have kids, a job, church, nursing school, housework, etc. I don't know how they do it. All I have is a husband and three dogs! That's plenty for me. Lol. Seriously though. We should all be proud of ourselves... no matter what our ages! Neat post Sweetiez! *Whitter*

i think that nurses get "burnt out." i graduate in may and hope to love my job as a nurse. it makes me feel sorry for those who have graduated nursing school and hate their job. i have always wanted to be a nurse. to help my patients and their family. we have the opportunity to be kind, compassionate and bring comfort to others. what a magnificent opportunity! i respect doctors. yes, some of them are arrogant and do not realize what we as nurses do. still, there are some that do. i have seen nurse-doctor relationships where the doctor truly listens to the nurse and where they want you to listen and shut up. who cares? the patient is what matters. if the doctor is being safe and you feel comfortable doing the orders. do them. don't make it so personal. i do have experience in the icu and loved it. let's be honest. in every aspect of life there will be those that believe they are "better" or "above" you. i saw it on my floor. not just between the doctors and nurses, but the nurse to another nurse, or to the rt, st, etc. my goodness, you see it in high school, college, at my husband's workplace, between teachers... every where! i believe you have to demand respect. if you are a prudent nurse that does your job, takes good care of your patient, isn't lazy... other people within the health care team will respect you. personalities do clash. there will always be someone that doesn't like you. who cares? focus on your patient. on your responsibilities. then, when you leave work and go home to your family your day has been fulfilling. there is a huge nursing shortage. if you don't like where you are and hate your job, i would suggest to change your field. try something new. find your niche :-) they would rather move you and have you happy, than lose you as a nurse completely. i'm sure after i have been working 10 to 20 years i may feel burnt out. i have promised myself never to give up and quit. i will just try something new. i think nurses are amazing people. there are some nurses who do make our profession look "bad." still, there are those people in every profession. we look up to and respect preachers, but you hear of them running off with the church secretary. there are teachers that abuse their students. you get the point. every one i talk to knows that the "nurse" is the one that takes care of the patient, the family. the nurse is the one that is extremely involved. we are the patient's advocate. i think it is an important job. we should all realize that although there are negatives, we must focus on the positives. and if you do hate your job as a nurse.... do leave. i hate it when one of my friends or family members has a hateful nurse. it makes the patient feel even worse! yes, perhaps the nurse is having a bad day. if a patient dies on your floor that you have taken care of for months it is emotionally trying. i understand that. believe me. however, if you are hateful day after day... leave the field... or find a new niche. it's not fair to the doctors, nurses, patients or the families. this is kind of off the topic of the first post. i just wanted to add my little bit. i believe that she is titled to her opinion. i think everyone in "their field" feels underappreciated and underpaid. my dad has worked for a company over 15 years as a supervisor. he works his butt off. seriously, i hate how hard he works, as his daughter i worry about his health. he's underpaid, but he goes to work every day with his head up and does an amazing job. hopefully, one day nurses will be appreciated more and paid more, but first we have to quit complaining... do our jobs... and not discourage new nurses. be an encourager. everyone have a good day :-) i look forward to being a nurse. i get to make a difference. what a blessing we can be to others... changing our field starts with the nurse. as individuals we can make a difference.

Hey MEGS... Thought I would add to your post. Two public universities are... Tulsa Community College (TCC) University of Oklahoma (OU- Tulsa) Two private universities are... Oral Roberts University (ORU) University of Tulsa (TU) There is also a nursing school in the city of Claremore which is about 20-30 minutes from Tulsa called Rogers State University. Of course, I recommend it because that's where I am going! I've heard good and bad about all of the above. I have heard (and even read on allnurses.com) more negativity about Platt and TCC than any of the others. Everyone has their own opinion, ya know? Well, good luck on your future endeavors :-)

everything in black is straight off of the rsu website or the associate degree nursing handbook. the red is me! associate in applied science nursing (054) the nursing program began in 1981 and is approved by theoklahoma board of nursing and accredited by the nationalleague for nursing accrediting commission. the degreeconsists of a 72 credit-hour program and can be completedwithin five semesters by a full-time student.the nursing program exists to provide selected students witheducational opportunities in the classroom and in clinical set-tings in northeastern oklahoma, and to prepare them to enterthe profession of nursing upon graduation. the graduate isprepared at an entry-level of nursing practice and is eligibleto take the national council licensure examination tobecome a registered nurse. admission is competitive. first of all, i am not perfect. some small things may have changed since i enrolled march 2006, but for the most part it should be correct. if you are really interested in rsu, you would definitely want to seek help from an advisor to help you. i am glad to help you know what you need though! to apply for rsu’s program you must take 5 prerequisite courses listed below. you can only apply once a year in march which let’s you start in the fall. even though it makes it harder to get in, rsu is organized. there is always a “first year” nursing group and a “second year” nursing group. i like it that way. if you are in one of the 5 classes in the spring semester (which includes march) you can still apply. they will not start reviewing applicants until after classes have ended. so, you could even do two of the classes in the fall and finish up the other three in the spring! to be accepted the college highly recommends a’s and b’s. i have heard of a few people getting in with a c, but it is not common. *the following i copied and pasted from www.rsu.edu* a student must achieve a “c” or higher in each course specified on this degree plan and a minimum gpa of 2.0 to graduate with an associate of applied science. orie 1151 the college experience… preparation for success as a student, including study skills,interpersonal communications, information about opportunities available at rogers state university, and initial steps incareer planning. acourse emphasizing the importance ofplanning, proactive learning, how to study, building commu-nity on campus, and fostering an understanding of self. thecollege experience is designed to help students develop pat-terns and practices. (most colleges probably transfer this course. would need to ask) biol2215 anatomy and physiology… an introduction to the principles of the structure and functionof the human body. abeginning course designed to emphasize the integration of all body systems. lecture three hours,lab three hours. prerequisite: biol1144 or permission ofinstructor. (to get into the program you can take a&p together. taking it separately at rsu is okay. if at another college, would need to see if it transfers.) nurs 1191 dosage calculation… a study of calculation of safe medication dosages.medication administration is not included. class placement(or enrollment) determined by score on a specified mathematics assessment test. (to enroll in this class you take a super easy basic math test. it is only front and back at a middle school age level. then, you can get into dosage calculations. this probably has to be taken at rsu. is only one credit hour. you learn how to calculate medications. biol1144 general cellularbiology an introduction to inorganic and organic chemistry, with anextensive survey of cell structure, cellular metabolism,enzymes, mitosis, and meiosis, mendelian genetics, andmolecular genetics. lab two hours per week. (would need to see if class from other college transfers.) engl1113 composition i this course prepares students forcollege-level writing. essay organization, development, andstyle, as well as critical thinking skills will be emphasized. i’m sure most comp1 classes would transfer. again, always check before thinking it will. those are the five classes! i’m trying to make this easy to understand, because it can be confusing… let me reiterate—to apply you only have to have the above five classes. once you are accepted into the program you still have other prerequisites and nursing courses. let’s say you only have the above five classes and you have no other college classes to speak of. well, that’s okay. they lay out the program as follows… i took this information out of the rsu student handbook 2007-2008 for the associate degree nursing program from page 21. i moved stuff around and color coded, but this is the layout. to pass each semester and move forward in the program, you take the classes in order. first semester in program (fall) nurs1111 nursing concepts nurs1117 foundations of nursing practice [color=#3366ff]phil1213 introduction to logic [color=#3366ff]phar2113fundamentals of pharmacology second semester in program (spring) nurs1228 therapeutic nursing interventions i [color=#3366ff]biol2124 microbiology [color=#3366ff]nutr1113 intro to nutrition third semester in program (fall) nurs2138 therapeutic nursing interventions ii [color=#3366ff]psy1113 intro to psychology [color=#3366ff]engl1213 composition ii fourth semester in program (spring) nurs2223 transition to nursing practice nurs2246 nursing in a complex environment [color=#3366ff]pols1113 american federal government [color=#3366ff]hist2483american history to 1877 or hist2493american history since 1877 before moving to the second semester, you must have those four listed classes completed. you can not decide you are going to take logic or pharm the second semester. you must do it the way rsu lays it out. however, if you already have logic and pharmacology done before you get in the program you can take other [color=#3366ff]prerequisite(not nursing) courses early… like you could take microbiology in the first semester if you wanted to get it out of the way and not take it the second semester. some of my friends did all of the prerequisites (the 5 to get in and all of the others required prerequisites listed in [color=#3366ff]blue) before entering the program. i did not. i do have government and history out of the way so i won’t have to take that my fourth semester. but, i did take pharm and logic with the nursing courses my first semester, micro and nutrition, etc… my advice is your first two semesters after high school, take the five required classes and try to get microbiology, pharmacology and inroduction to logic out of the way, too. i made a’s in all three classes while taking them with my nursing courses my first and second semesters, but if you have the time you should get them done. less to worry about. i wasn’t sure what i was going to major in so i didn’t get that insight j make sense? i have typed a lot and may not have answered all of the questions. if you have any, post them! i'll reply sooner than this time. lol.

First of all, I am not sure how to reply and stuff yet! Lol. Sorry it has taken so long to reply. I have been very BUSY! I will type up something tonight and post it for you two.

Well, I've heard that once you're in the program the staff doesn't challenge you very much. A lot of the TCC students end up quitting or not getting enough grades. It may not be true, but that is what I've heard. At RSU, the faculty doesn't baby us but they are there to help guide you throughout nursing school which is awesome. Also, TCC's campus is in Tulsa. Their campuses are spread out over Tulsa. Sometimes you may have to go to two different places. At RSU, everything is on one nice college with architecture, ponds, grass, a beautiful library, etc... I'm not a gossip queen. I just want people to know about RSU. I'm sure TCC has a good program and those that go there will be a good nurse. Still, RSU is highly rated in Oklahoma. Our state and national average are well above the norm...

Well, I recently joined allnurses.com. I wanted to write a paragraph about Rogers State University in Claremore, OK. I am a RSU nursing student and I highly recommend it. If anyone has any questions about the program, faculty, criteria to get in, etc... send me a message or comment. There are quite a few schools in the Tulsa area, but I chose RSU for many reasons. Their passing rate is amazing... the faculty want you to make it through and help you stay encouraged... Claremore is a nice town... the campus is pretty and not in the city... tuition is very reasonable compared to other ADN programs... hospitals want RSU grads and making it through the program basically guarantees you will pass your NCLEX exam. After acceptance into the nursing program, you begin clinicals whether all prerequisites are completed. After you are through with your first two semesters you can take the NCLEX- LPN. So, even though it is not an actual LPN program, you can become a LPN after a year of the program which is pretty neat. You don't have to though. Once you complete the second year, you can take the NCLEX-RN! They also have a RN to BSN program. One thing I like about RSU is that at some BSN programs you take all prerequisites and then the last two years is when the nursing kicks in. Well, with RSU after 5 semesters I will be a RN, then I can finish up my BSN while working a RN's salary (which is great!). I just made it through my first year of school! Whoo hoo :-) I will graduate with in May 2008. I can't wait to be a RN!!

Hello... Those who are discussing the Tulsa, OK area can also consider RSU, OU Tulsa, ORU, TCC and TU. RSU had a 97% pass right in 2006. That means out of 50 or so students only one person did not pass the first time, but she did the second time she took the test. I am a student at RSU and I love it. The tuition is very reasonable. If you are a RSU grad, hospitals want to hire you because we are highly respected. I have heard bad things about TCC. I haven't really talked to anyone about ORU, TU or OU Tulsa. I will say that ORU and TU are very expensive. Not sure about OU Tulsa. I am 100% satisfied with the instructors and overall education at RSU. I will graduate in May 2008. If you make it through their program, you're basically guaranteed to pass the NCLEX because the program is very challenging. The ADN program is 5 semesters which is awesome! Hope this helps someone. If you have any questions, message me. RSU also has a RN to BSN program. Bye!