chelleRN38

I started a weekend option hospice job 8 months ago after working medsurg for 5 years and then ER for 5 years. I work saturday 0800 to monday at 0800. I have to say I do love being off all week but i'm already thinking of a career change. Weekends can be very busy and very stressful. I cover a large area often driving 150-200 miles a day and seeing 3-5 pts plus calls that come in plus "emergent" admits. It can be a very socially isolating job. I do love the freedom of hospice and it can be very rewarding but I find myself constantly doubting whether this job is for me.

Stressed? Me? That is putting it mildly:rolleyes: I took almost all of my prereq courses through Ivy Tech...to me it is much simpler to do it that way than trying to study for a test out or trying an impromtu speech...acckk. I was told that there are people who are taking 424 and 450 together this summer...I pity those poor soles. I have taken my prereqs along with my nuring courses but I think they are tightening up their retrictions and requring that prereqs be done first. I got a letter from my advisor saying that the only way to sign up for a nursing class was with her approval *after* she had reviewed your DARS to see if you had all of the prereqs to that class done. When I started, 3 years ago, we had a number to enter and just enrolled ourselves in the courses we wanted to take that semester. Chaxanmom is right....I may not be on here much until May....life is a bit crazy right now:wink2:

I was at work last night trying to finish the reading from this week @ 2 a.m. when I clicked on module 3...yikes! I did nearly have a coronary (no pun intended:)) I actually enjoyed chapter 8 but chapter 9 gives me a headache:confused: I have taken ACLS before but this is *a lot* of information to be tested on. I'll tell you after the test how much I :heartbeat cardio:wink2:

Have you taken 450? and if so have you graduated from ISU or are you about to graduate? Chelle

You are funny...my friend April, who is also in our class, told me that it is really hard...I'm still working on finishing my Stats for this week...frequency distribution tables....ugghh and then I am starting on 424....sound like a fun Saturday huh? To be quite honest cardiac stuff is one of my least favorite things:rolleyes:

Check and see with your clep, I believe the one you want to schedule is called Freshman Eglish Comp...there are a couple different english exams and according to to transfer sheet I think the Freshman is the one you wan to take...just check it out. I was told that it is always a good idea to get email conformation from ISU that a credit will transfer. I always email Joe Taylor, he is great about getting back to me quickly. I didn't think the Freshman English Comp was very difficult...of all the cleps I took the english was the easiest. Good luck!

Yes, they had said that 450 would most likely be offered in the summer but then Jeanine looked at the number of people who had completed their test outs and said that it didn't look likely...there had to be 15 people who wanted to take the course *and* had their test outs done in order for the summer course to even happen....when I talked to her there was less than 5 including myself. I had to have 450 complete in order to take 470, 484, and 486 this fall and graduate and I was not willing to risk that by waiting on 450 this summer. So...I am taking 424 and 450 together along with Stats...very busy so far...14 credit hours, 180 clinical hours and working full time:crying2:

Most definately the CSM will be enough...just know it well and study the practice exams. The exam was tough but after taking it I realized that the material I needed to know was all in the study guide.

What do I mean by a "test out"? There are four courses, challenge exams, I call them test outs that you study for (either on your own or by buying the CSM material) then take an exam (you have two tries) and if you pass you essentially "test out" of that course. Does that make sense?

Is 106 the Mental Health test out? If so, then yes, I used the CSM material and did fine...study the material and study the practice exam...I think quite a few questions were the same. I have applied for a fall '09 graduation....I am taking 14 credit hours this semester and have 180 hours of clinical to complete but I am so ready to be done:D

When I went to school to become an LPN our IV therapy class was very basic. We practiced on a dummy arm but were not allowed to practice on each other. My real IV experience came from working. There is really nothing like the real thing and practice, practice, practice. With ISU you do have real clinical experience, IV insertion is something that your preceptor can work on with you. Watch the reivew in the LPN to RN transition course and then let your preceptor know that IV insertion is something you want to work on. Chaxanmom-Were you ever planning to take 450 in the summer '09? I am receiving an answer of "most likely" as to whether it will be offered and that is jut not good enough. I either need to take it now in the spring or get a definate answer that it will be offered in the summer. A "maybe" leaves me with the possiblity of not graduating this fall. Chelle

Chaxanmom-Do you mind if I say that I think you are nuts:D Do you work too? I work full time and I really don't think I can handle 424 and 450 at the same time....I am also finishing my last two prereqs (spanish II and statistics) so two heavy nursing courses are out of the question. Kudos to you, I hope you do ok, that work load gives me a headache thinking about it. Chelle

Hi all...just checking in with my fellow ISU classmates:wink2: I am so excited to be starting class this spring, I will be graduating this fall, Dec. '09 and I feel like I am finally on the home stretch. It has been a long road but one that will be so worth it once I have BSN behind my name. Chaxanmom-Are you taking 424 or 450 this semester or both? I am taking 424 and planning to take 450 in the summer but I have not officially heard that they will be offering it. I have heard "most likely" but not an official yes. I really don't want to take them both this spring with 90 hours of clincial each. Are you planing to attend graduation? My friend and I (who is also graduating in December) are driving up. Anyone else getting close to graduating? Chelle

I have questions for those of you doing clinicals at your place of employment. I have done mine so far at the hospital I work at, I am in NUR324 right now so I have the 400's to finish, but the director at my hospital is not wanting myself and another girl to continue to do clinicals there. Her concern is a conflict of roles with nurse/employee and nurse/student and a violation of some sort of labor law. I am doing my clinicals on my own time but she is still against it. I have had the guy who arranges clinicals talk to her and I don't know if she doesn't understand what he is telling her or if he isn't being clear about how the clinical works? Has anyone else had difficulty at their place of employment? I have an excellent working relationship with my hospital but the manager is just leery of a violation of some sort of law and liability issues while I am a "student" vs. an "employee". I would really like to finish my clinicals there because it is within 15 minutes of my house...the other sites are over an hour away and that will kill me with 180 hrs of clinical to do this spring....ugghh.

I just took and passed 224. It wasn't too difficult but the study guide is a huge help. I was lucky enough to find someone locally who let me borrow theirs and it made all the difference in knowing the material that was on the test. I have two more test outs, 5 more nursing courses and my foreign language and I am done:-) I can't wait, this program has taken longer than I had expected and I am ready to take a break from studying.

I satisfied my computer information systems requirement by taking a course at Ivy Tech Community College, CIS101, very easy I thought. Sometimes I have found that it is just easier to take a course for a semester then to spend tons of time studying for a test out that I may not even pass. Chelle

If I could get the CSM for phase II I would be really excited...has anyone seen those on Amazon? I looked but didn't see them. Michelle

They are available at the ISU library to be copied but I have not found anyone willing to do that. Some people have them but they are apparently thick and would be difficult to copy. I simply cannot afford to buy them, the College Network wants to charge me $635 each since I didn't buy the rest of the study guides from them. Right now, I am just going over the objectives in each one and studying from the texts they use. I am almost finished with phase II, I will be completing my gen eds this summer and testing out of 224, then taking the final course NURS324 this fall. Michelle

It depends on which GE credits you are testing out of and where you will be testing. For instance, if you are testing out of Lifespan Development, you will be taking a CLEP test, CLEP test centers can be found at www.collegeboard.com which is the CLEP home page. I took my CLEP tests at my local Ivy Tech college. If the test you will be taking will be an Excelsior test you will go to https://www.excelsior.edu/ which is Excelsior's home page and has listings for their test sites and tells you what their fees are. The middle man is The College Network (TCN) who will try to sell you materials to study for these same tests. Not that their study materials are bad but you will pay thousands directly from them and can often find the used or new materials on Ebay for little of nothing...or you can study your own materials on the subject and then test. I have taken four four CLEPS and did not study anything, just went and took the test. They are hard but you only need a 50-52% score to get credit and you can try twice. When I last talked to someone at ISU they had had less than 10 graduates so far but there should be a slew coming up. The program just started a few years ago and it takes 2-3 years to complete it all. Are you enrolled in the program yet? Hope this helps... Michelle

I would talk directly to ISU about it but a friend of mine had a similar situation and they did not accept any of her nursing credits. My friend had completed Excelsiors program and then failed the clinical, as so many do. She then started the ISU program and still had to take all of the same courses that I did. There are a few Excel. tests that they accept for gen. ed. requirements but I don't think they will accept the nursing courses. Michelle

Linda, I am glad to hear from you. My name is Michelle and I am a current BSN student. There are a lot of new students but very few who are further along in the program. When I talked to ISU @ 6 months ago I was told that there had only been @ 6 graduates so far. Those numbers should be growing as those of us who have been doing this for a while *finally* gradate. What nursing courses are you currently enrolled in? I have completed up to 324, I will be enrolling in that for the fall '08 semester. I am finishing up gen eds this spring and summer semester. Was the test out you passed NURS106? I tested out of that one, I am studying to test out of NURS224 right now. If you have tested out of 224 I would love to hear more about it. I have been studying the course outline becuase I cannot afford the CSM modules either. I called TCN a couple of days ago to inquire about them and they told me that since I was not buying any other study guides from them the modules would be $624 each! I said thank but no thanks, I think I will take my chances studying. Geez, for that price I could just take the class. Looking forward to hearing from you.... Michelle

When I started I had part of phase one complete, but still had a few prereqs to do. To complete phase one, two, and three will probably take me close to three years in the end. I have taken 2-4 courses each semester but what really starts to slow you down in the end if you aren't careful is a) nursing courses are only offered in the spring and fall (no summer courses) and b) alot of the nursing courses must follow each other i.e. you cannot take four at a time, sometimes one at at time and sometimes two, possibly three. This is especially true for the ones that have a clinical component, quite a few of them have 90 clinical hours. Finding a clinical instructor was not difficult for me, I live in IN and often use a nurse at the hospital I work at, depending on which course I am taking. Maybe someone else can chime in with info on the clinical setup for other states. Good luck! Michelle

Just heard back from Dr. Miller, they will accept Dantes Stats but...I did some reading and I don't think statistics is an easy course to test out of....not impossible but not a breeze either. Ever heard of this site http://www.instacert.com/ ? I think it is the coolest thing. I just enrolled. For $20 a month you register and they have online study questions for lots of test outs that we need. I am studying for the Gerontology test right now...there are four hundred questions for it and from what I have read on the forums at the instacert site the system works really well. They have a 30 day money back guarentee if you don't like it too. Michelle

Dantes offers a Statistics test out. I am emailing Dr. Miller right now to ask and see if it will be accepted. ISU accepts other Dantes exams so I don't see why they wouldn't accept this one. Michelle

I believe someone recently said that were getting ready to take the test out for NURS224? Did you ever take it? I want to get my last 3 test outs done by this summer and 224 is next on my list. Michelle