nursetobein2010

Hello experts and peers! I am due to graduate from a BSN program at the end of May 2010. I plan to take the NCLEX before the end of June 2010. For personal reasons, I am considering taking as long as 6 months off between nursing school and the start of my first job. The earliest I would like to begin working would be October, but January 2011 could be even better. My question is this: will it be difficult for me to get a job with the 4-6 month elapsed time period between graduation and application for a job? I have heard that a lot of new nurse grad programs start in the fall and January so this could work, right? (Obviously, if the hiring freeze is lifted by then!) The other catch is that I want to be an L&D nurse so I am not open to taking "just any job." I will be doing my 5 week preceptorship (at the end of the schoolyear) in L&D. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!

First of all, congratulations! I personally would consider moving. If you're renting in Brentwood, you may as well rent in Oakland. If you own, that's obviously a bit trickier. I wouldn't want to spend 3 hours a day driving. But some people probably do, I'm sure! I have heard (from a couple students at SMU) that SMU ABSN students are often offered jobs on the spot during their preceptorships at the end of the program. So choose wisely - choose a preceptorship that really interests you so you'll be really excited and eager to learn and work! You may be offered a job. Once you're a hospital employee, it will be easier to move around units. This is what I've heard anyway. My mom is a nurse manager and she has said the same. She also said she doesn't think it will be terribly difficult for ABSN students from SMU to find a job - you're getting a Bachelor's degree from a very good university. But the program IS a lot of money, no doubt about it, so you really have to consider every angle carefully. Good luck! I know it's a tough decision. Congrats again on getting in! I hope to meet you in May!

I received an acceptance letter to the ABSN program, Oakland today. My intention is not to brag. I just wanted to let the rest of you know that your decision letter should come in the mail today or tomorrow. I know I was dying to know here! To the person who asked about orientation - in our welcome packet, it says there is a mandatory orientation in Oakland on May 14th. More info will be sent later.

Never mind, I just got the email from Lizzie. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone, Jumping in here because I wanted to see if anyone had received acceptance letters for the Oakland ABSN program yet. How do we know it's early March? When I spoke with an admissions counselor in November, she had told me we would be notified by the end of February. I know that may only be a week's difference, but that's huge! I can't wait until MARCH! I applied to Oakland and only Oakland. Took a gamble (big time!), I know, but I just can't do the commute. I live 1.5 miles from the Oakland campus and have a toddler I want to see as much as possible. With the intensive accelerated nature of the program, I just didn't want to have to spend 2 hours a day commuting when I could be spending those 2 hours with my son. I will re-apply for next year if I don't get in this year. Good luck to everyone!

This thread has been great! I've been following it closely. I applied to the Oakland ABSN program and am anxiously awaiting acceptance!

Agreed! I am actually applying to Samuel Merritt and wish I had just applied there in the first place. Wonderful school. I have never heard anything bad about it, apart from the cost of tuition. I figure, it's an investment!

Read this article on the Merritt College (Peralta) Nursing Program: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/merritt_college_nursing_woes/Content?oid=850642

The East Bay Express article will be out in tomorrow's edition. It was posted on their website tonight. Read on: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/news/merritt_college_nursing_woes/Content?oid=850642

we have already contacted them. it is sad, isn't it?

I was also enrolled in the Merritt College (Peralta Colleges) Nursing Program and dropped out this semester. I am not trying to brag here but I just want to make it clear that I am not someone who doesn't study, ok? I am a straight-A student with a bachelor's degree. I am an over-achiever. I aced all my prerequisites. I work hard. I was failing the program. About 75-80% of us were, and the vast majority of us were solid students, very smart, hard-working, many with previous degrees. Once again, not trying to say those without straight As or degrees are worse off, I am just trying to give you as much information as possible about this horrible, horrible program. If we couldn't even pass, who can? There were very experienced CNAs and LVNs in the program, with years and years of experience behind them, and they were failing. The textbook Merritt uses is ridden with errors. The practice questions in the back of each chapter often have the wrong answers misprinted in the back. A couple of these questions were even on the exam! How were we supposed to know what were the right answers and what were the wrong ones? The teachers said they would review our exams with us but they didn't. They just read the correct answers out loud, really quickly and then made us turn them back in. How were we supposed to learn from our mistakes for the next exams???? What my fellow classmates have said is true...everything is true. I know it's hard to believe that a program so bad, so blatantly, well, EVIL, can exist. This is a program that is supposed to be training students for a profession based on CARING. The teachers did not care about us AT ALL. We went to the Director of Nursing. She didn't care. The dean? Nope. The chancellor? Perhaps a little, but he didn't do anything. We have now gone to the press and an article is coming out next week. I will post a link to it as soon as it comes out. DO NOT GO TO THE MERRITT COLLEGE NURSING PROGRAM. Save yourself heartache. Seriously. It is not worth it. I was really full of myself and never considered for a second that I wouldn't be able to get through. The program is set up to make you fail. I am not sure why. I have my suspicions that it is due to grant money but I can not confirm this.

Rianna, thank you so much for your long, detailed post. I really appreciate it. I was going to PM you, then thought that looking through other posts helps me, so perhaps my questions and your answers will help someone else in the future. Hope you don't mind. You answered my questions. A couple more for you to answer if you would be so kind: Are you in the Oakland program? That's my first choice as I live in Oakland. I have heard from some people that you miss out on clinical time on accelerated programs. Do you feel this is true? (Perhaps you won't be able to know the answer to this yet since you are still in the program). I definitely have heard the rumors about the program being disorganized. You don't feel this is an issue at all? What's the grading like? If you don't pass one exam, are you immediately out of the program? Did you have health care and volunteer experience? I don't (at least, not within the last 5 years) and am worried that may hurt my application. Once again, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. Best of luck to you!

Thanks everyone, for your support. It really helped. I did drop out yesterday so will have absolutely nothing on my record...if I had waited another day it would have been a W, a few more weeks, possibly an F. I am going to start applying for other schools. To the person concerned about what school it is, don't worry it is an Associate's Degree program at a junior college (not BSN or ABSN), so you have nothing to worry about. Good luck to everyone and thanks again for the advice - it did help me to know the decision I had already made in my heart was the right one.

Is this program doable? I am looking into it for next year - just how much time and stress are we talking? I have a baby who will be 18 months at the start of the program and a husband who will be home full-time. I have support from my parents as well. I am a good student (very) and don't mind throwing myself into my studies for a year. However, I would like to spend some time with my baby over that year. Can anyone who has been through the program advise me as to just how much "intensity" we're talking? Also, do they try to weed students out? Or are they supportive and encouraging (provided you work hard, obviously). If you have already attended this program, how many people started in your year and how many finished it? Thanks for the advice!

Hi, I am currently enrolled at a community college in the Bay Area. The program is a complete joke. They are just weeding us out. It is surreal. I am a straight-A student, a major over-achiever and I study non-stop. I already have a bachelor's degree. My mom is a nurse manager and thinks the program is unstable and run poorly. I didn't pass the first exam (80% of the class didn't, with the other 20% just barely passing it). I want to get out and apply elsewhere for next year. My education is too important to me and my nursing future is at stake here. My question: Do nursing schools frown on "Withdrawals" from previous nursing schools on your transcript? I have until the end of the day to drop out without a W appearing on my transcript! Thanks for the advice and support.