Penny8611

Good NIGHT, you two. Find way better ways to expend your energy, please! Yeesh!

I have to be honest...I was ready to dive in head first and it was only the wait-list at ACC that slowed me down. I was going to get my credits together to apply to CU, but the wind has kind of gone out of my sails. The more I look into it, the more it looks like it's going to be a while before the market here really recovers. I have a good friend who is an RN in the Dallas area. She worked for seven years on one floor and decided it was time for a new challenge. She applied for one of two positions on another floor...and was one of 70 nurses who applied for it. A number of the applicants were experienced nurses who already worked at her hospital; the new grads who were applying didn't stand a chance. (She did get the job. She rocks. ) It's really difficult to know what to do. I've been told by ACC that I might get a letter inviting me to show up for orientation this fall as an alternate, but...if I get that letter I believe I will pass and wait until my number actually comes up. Maybe by then I'll have a clearer idea of what to do. It's kind of a mess!

I'm not even in nursing school, so I could be completely wrong on this, but...the job market for new grads is dismal here. The link above is to the "Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence" which, as far as I can tell, is funded largely by the hospitals in the area. I hate to be so jaded, but it's in the hospitals' best interest to make it look like there are not enough nurses here. I've done some research while biding my time on the wait-list for ACC, and it truly does look like there are jobs available...for BSNs with experience. For brand new grads...it's not pretty. Also, I've heard repeatedly that many of the jobs posted on the hospital websites are only POSSIBLE openings, not hard-and-fast actual jobs that are actually open right now. I could be wrong, and frankly, I hope I am, but in the metropolitan areas of the state, it's not good from what I can see.

I know we're not supposed to name names, so I'll stick with initials. I took it through ACC. TH, was the instructor. Nightmare. Complete and total. I withdrew rather than have it tank my GPA. The second time signed up (again through ACC) MS was my instructor. She was very tough, but fair. I got an A, but worked my tail off. Online classes through TH are a no-win situation. I guess he's a much better instructor for on-campus classes, but online...avoid. Just my opinion, of course! ;-)

I took it online as well. NOT easy. It was the toughest online class I've taken. My experience was that if I didn't know the answer to a quiz question, there is very little time to look it up. Not easy, but it can be done! Good luck!

I can't really tell you anything about either school, but I would say that I, personally, would not choose to live in the Springs if I was going to school in Pueblo. During good weather it's not a horrible drive, but during snow/ice, it can be really ugly. Pueblo doesn't get as much snow as the Springs can, but the wind and temperatures can make for really horrible driving conditions. Where ever you choose to go to school, I would really recommend living nearby...I'm a Colorado native and have lived in both Pueblo and the Springs. Best of luck!!!!

If you are open to living anywhere, the southeast corner of the state is usually hurting for medical people. However, much of the southeast corner of the state looks like Kansas. I grew up in Canon City...I have no idea if they need nurses and I've not set foot in St. Thomas More hospital in about 30 years, but it was a great, great place in which to grow up. Awesome town. Good luck!

Congratulations! I was accepted to the nursing program there when it was the University of Southern Colorado in the early 80's. I got distracted by my current profession and am now working on getting back into nursing school. I haven't been back to Pueblo in about 15 years...I'm sure it's really changed. I looked at the school website, and the campus has REALLY grown. I still think the library looks like a martian ship. Best of luck!

Thanks for the reply, CalebMommy! Here's part of the email I got back from ACC: >> All candidates who had applied to the program and received a waitlist number by the "cut-off date" of December 19, 2008 will, in good faith, be offered admission. It is anticipated that it will take between two and three years to offer admission to all those candidates who applied under the first come first served process. No student accepted under the first come first served application process who got a waitlist number by December 19, 2008 will be denied an offer to the program. When all those candidates have been offered admission, then ACC will go to the competitive qualifications process. >> So, if one fulfilled the pre-reqs and applied to and got a waitlist number from ACC before 12/19/08, it looks like he or she is in, after spending time in Waitlist Jail. It looks like ACC won't be changing their criteria for the people who made it onto their waitlist...it only seems fair to me that the other schools in the community college system do the same thing. And they wonder why there's a nursing shortage!!!!!!!! Good luck to you, and to all of us! Penny

Calebmommy, I'm dying to know what school you go to!!!!! I attend ACC. This is the info I got from them recently: >>> Your waitlist number will not change. ACC enrolls twice per year; one group in the Spring and the second in the Fall. The Arapahoe Community College nursing program still subscribes to the average number of candidates of 75 to 100 numbers twice a year to fill two classes of 36 to 50 students, so that's 150 to 200 names per year. It is anticipated that the attrition rate will probably be reduced, since all candidates applying for a waitlist number must now have all pre-requisites completed to get on the waitlist. The average wait is 2.5 to 3 years from the time you applied and were eligible. For a better idea of your place on the list, contact the nursing department one week AFTER the first day of the Fall and Spring semesters. All "guesstimates" are subject to change. There is literally no way to anticipate human nature and the impact a three-year waiting list has on a nursing program candidate. The current five courses required to start the program are: ENG 121 English Composition I PSY 235 Human Growth and Development BIO 201 Human Anatomy and Physiology I BIO 202 Human Anatomy and Physiology II BIO 204 Microbiology The above five classes must equal a 2.5 GPA and the BIO courses must be within 7 years both at the time you applied AND at the time you are accepted into the program. You MAY take these classes while you wait: BIO 216 Pathophysiology MAT 103 Math for Clinical Calculations HPR 108 Nutrition (or HWE 100) Elective - 3 credits under Guarantee Transfer Courses in Behavioral Science >>> According to that, people who made the ACC waitlist by the end of 12/08 will be accepted into the program based on their waitlist number alone. I haven't received any emails or any info to the contrary. I would hope they would let everyone know if they decide to change the criteria!

All I know for certain is in regards to ACC...I don't even know if it applies to all the Front Range CCs or not. Very frustrating, I know! The ACC info: https://allnurses.com/forums/f138/arapahoe-community-college-new-wait-list-requirements-347730.html

Hate to be a downer, but I wouldn't be able to do it every day. It's a four lane (badly maintained) road most of the way, heavily traveled by 18-wheelers, and one of the more dangerous stretches of highway in the state. JMO, but...I would approach with extreme caution. Good luck!!!

And lucky to be alive, if I had been in the room. :chuckle

I think we have a winner for that brain transplant.

Hopefully not within earshot of the loved one!

Okay, I'm a moron. My wishful thinking prevented me from reading this logically. ;-) I misunderstood...they are starting the competitive selection process after everyone who is currently on the waitlist has gotten into the program. That means it'll probably be another three years before they start doing that. In the mean time, 12/19 of this year is the cut-off for anyone who has completed prereqs to apply to be put on the waitlist. After 12/19 of this year they're closing applications to the program. They'll reopen it with the competitive process after everyone currently on the waitlist has gotten into the program.

HOLY MOLEY! I don't know why I didn't get the email on this sent to my ACC account...I've emailed them to find why. I am done with my pre-reqs! I am also a screamingly happy girl that you posted this! Thank you so much for posting this info...I'm not sure I would have known about it, otherwise. Wow! THANK YOU!!!!!!

I was registered for patho through Arapahoe Community College this semester. I was taking it online. I know we're not supposed to post names here, but I hope initials are okay...ANY class in the ACC biology department that has T.H. connected with it needs to be avoided, IMO. I took my first semester of A & P under him, and am still amazed I managed to pull a B. I took my second semester of A & P under another instructor and while I didn't breeze through it, it was infinitely easier and I got an A. The patho class I was registered for has T.H. listed as the "instructor" but had another person basically faciliating the class. NIGHTMARE. Seriously. Trust me. If it's through ACC and it has T.H. attached to it in anyway, run like the wind. I was not going to get out of the class with anything better than a B, and it was looking like I wasn't even going to be able to do that well, so I withdrew. I lost my tuition money and a semester's worth of time, but at least salvaged my GPA. A good friend took patho through http://www.ccconline.org and did very well with it. Again, not easy, but doable. Good luck!

The math concern aside, if you're getting into nursing because of the pay, you likely won't make it through your first couple of semesters of school.

I was put on birth control pills for the same reason, and my mother had an absolute COW. And I was 19 years old! Best of luck...with such a caring mama she'll be fine!

How funny...I was just about to suggest Canon City and then saw micco's post! I grew up in Canon. It's much larger now than it was when I lived there (I graduated from high school in '79) but it's a great size and a great little town. The winters are generally pretty mild, but summers can get pretty dang hot, I think. I loved it there. I miss it a lot sometimes!!!!

This is so interesting to me...I always swore that my Mom became way more funny and had a far better sense of humor as her dementia deepened than she ever did when I was a kid. It's interesting to see that maybe changes like that really do happen. My heart is breaking for everyone here who is going through this...I totally understand how horrible it is. Hugs to all of you!!!! :icon_hug:

I have nothing to offer but my gratitude. People like you made my Mom's final years more bearable. God bless you!!!!!

And some of us have the joy of just being yeasty people. I seem to be very susceptible to it, unfortunately, and know the first warning signs of thrush very well. Hormonal changes can really impact the ability of the yeasties to take over. Some women deal with a yeast infection every month, which would cause me to just go more insane than I already am.

My Dad was in the hospital a few months ago...I saw a guy on the corner out in front of the building with cigarette in one hand and his IV stand in the other. I just had to walk over to him and ask if the hospital staff knew he was out there. He said they did, and helped him get dressed. He had jeans under his gown, and a coat with one arm in one sleeve. The other half of the coat was just over his shoulder. It was insane.