SDMamma

Craziechiq-- Yes I got in through Scripps. From what I understand, if you completed all youe prereqs---just the sciences I think , (u can still have general ed unfinished) you get on the waiting list, submit your app to Scripps, along with 2 letters of rec (one must be from your manager, the other from another coworkwer) and just write a "200 word statement about why you want to be a nurse..blah blah blah (the usual hoop with any program :). You turn it into HR and its actually SCRIPPS who picks the candidates, not Grossmont. But each semester, Grossmont has 40 total slots, including the LVN-RN step up, and 30 of those spots are reserved for Scripps employees. So...I would say she has an excellent chance of bypassing the waitlist alltogether if she gets in through Scripps. Tell her good luck!!

Congrats on City, Fairewand!!! So proud of you. I just finished my first semester of nursing at Grossmont and boy was it tough. I got a high B in fundamentals and an A in Pharmacology. Woot!!! 1 semester down, 3 to go :)

Im sorry but on what planet and in what scope of practice is an RN EVER allowd to remove a cyst an suture them up??? I sincerely hope you are grossly exaggerating. As for your clerical experience, I type 50 wpm but seriously doubt that a typing test is even a factor in the screening process. Med. terminology should not be an issue, as the ap 1/2/micro/chem pre- req's should more than suffice.

Just to update, Grossmont got back their accredidation with the National League for Nursing (NLN) as of FALL 2008. We also just got CA-BRN approval for 8 more years!!! WOOOOT1111

Hi Bubbles! I am not in the NU program, I am in the 2 year ADN (RN) program at Grossmont College. As a mother of a 4 year old and a 20 month old, I can tell you that Nursing school is difficult, but entirely doable. I also work 24 hours a week as a CNA, and I have come to find out that being successful in this program is all about prioritizing your time. If becoming a Nurse is important to you, you will find a way to make it work. I am not going to lie, you are going to have to dedicate all your free time to school/clinical and many times, family life takes a back seat...but if you have a good support system, anything is possible. That said, if having a family is a priority now, I say go for it. You will know within the first 6 months if you'd like to add school into the equation. Everyone is different, and it is hard to be away from your little ones, especially when they are only infants/toddlers for such a short time. You may not want to miss out on all those precious moments. Anyway, Good luck to you on which ever path you choose.

Thank you! I know what you mean about the balancing act of work/kids and school. For the first week of school, I worked nearly every day after class just so I could rake in hours for these first 4 weeks of class which are so intense. I planned my work schedule so that I would have the next 2 weeks off to focus soley on school. So thus far, I had only to balance the kids and school part. I go back to work this weekend so I will keep you posted on how difficult it is working/schooling/child reering :) As for the midterm, I will be taking it with the Friday group, as I have clinical orientation from 1-5 thursday and lab 8-12 that day also!! Yikes its coming up quickly isn't it. I really like the response time though on our pharm quizzes and it looks like we just need to know classes of drugs "adrenergics, anticholinergic, antihypertensives, antiarrythmics,...etc" and not actual drug names except whats specifically mentioned on the quizzes. I also think those 2 study guide worksheets (the ungraded ones) will be very helpful. I have not started them yet as I have been so overwhelmed just getting in all the reading and submitting everything on time. It would be awesome if the instructors actually post the answers for those but I don't think they will. I have heard from other students that Pharm is easy so hopefully that is the case. Anyway, good luck to us both and feel free to PM me on here if you have any questions.

Hi Fairewand! Grats on taking the TEAS!! Were you asked to take it...perhaps that means you are getting close to getting in!! About the Science part. Do not stress. I scored about the same as you on the online cummulative part and completely biffed the science portion. My overall score on the TEAS ended up being in the high 80's% and I was fine. I guarantee you will find that you OVERSTUDIED for the TEAS. I will say that there were 2 or 3 geometry problems on the test, but very basic ones like. 1/2 base*height, a^2 + b^2=c^2, and finding the perimeter. Remember, you only need a 67% and I am certain you will do much better than that. Good luck, you will do fine. Don't stress!! Oh ya, one thing I forgot to mention....I actually did worse on the English portion than I did on the Math so do not neglect that in your studies as I did.

It has been soo long since I have even had the time to log on to allnurses. The reason for this is obviously that the Grossmont Nursing program has been eating up 95% of my time between work and kids. The amount of reading we have in the first 4 weeks for Nursing 120 alone is in excess of 25 chapters so far. Then there is Pharmacology where we have already had to read 12 chapters for the upcoming midterm next week. All I can say is that this program is not for the faint of heart and I applaud any nurse who has survived the Grossmont program :) I will also say that the teachers are excellent and the simulation labs are amazing. I have never been in such a well equipped learning environment; we have mannequinns that you can actually hear heart/lung/bowell sounds, and even take a blood pressure on. Everything in the lab is filmed (under surveillance) for broadcast on the web so that other nursing students around the globe can watch our skills check offs. In just 3 weeks, we have already learned: 1. Head to toe assessments 2. 2 step BP and apical pulse 3. Urinary Catheterization This program really makes sure you are competent in your skills before advancing you to the next semester. I cannot believe how much I have learned to do in so little time, and that in just two weeks I will have learned how to start and IV. Again, I am loving nursing school and cannot say enough praises for the Grossmont program.

Sure. To be considered, you have to have the following: 1. Scripps employee for at least one year, with a "satisfactory or higher" annual performance evaluation on file. (they do this once a year to determine whether or not you are eligible for a raise) 2. Write an "essay" of 200 words max. (not much of an essay, more of a personal statement as its just 2 paragraphs) detailing why you want to become an RN 3. Two letters of rec from scripps managers who have worked with you 4. Meet the entrance requirements for Grossmont School of Nursing: --GPA (cummulative) of 2.5 or higher -- All science prereq's complete; ie ap1, ap2,micro,eng,math

I can completely relate to your situation of not taking college seriously the first time around. But fear not, there is hope. Most colleges have whats called an "academic renewal" policy where you may completely wipe 2 semesters from being counted in your GPA without making you retake the classes. They will do this for you if you complete 30 units with a 2.0 (C average) or 20 units with a 3.0 (B average). I know this because I was where you are once and had a bad year. My combined GPA when I graduated with my AA was 3.3, and I never had to make up a single class that I did not need. There were classes I chose to repeat to boost my GPA, us govt, and child development. Got A's in both :) P.S. I forgot to mention that the classes I used for the 20 units of B grades were from 3 separate colleges. So you don't need to worry about making up those classes at the original UC you attended. Just inquire about their academic renewal policy and send them your transcripts.

Thanks. I plan to cut back to only 12 hours a week, but I too have a family to feed and do all the the cooking, housekeeping, and child care so I will be pretty busy in either case. I can't wait though. I'm so very excited. By the time I graduate, my oldest will be just starting kindergarten so I'm really psyched that I will no longer be a student by the time my kids become students :)

Thank you so much for the advice....especially the "come humble" part. I hear all too often that students with medical experience show up to Nursing school acting like know-it-alls, and then they get reamed by the instructors. Great piece of advice. I am already reading like crazy. They just gave us our reading list that must be completed by the2nd day of class.....20 chapters!!! AHHHH!!

Here in CA and in Texas as well, we call LPN's, Liscensed Vocational Nurse's, or LVN. The following community colleges offer LVN programs at around $2500 for the entire program, or $20 per unit Mira Costa College in North San Diego County (Del Mar, Solana Beach, Carlsbad, Rancho Bernardo area) San Diego City College (Downtown, Central San Diego) Grossmont Health Occupations (East San Diego; Santee) Southwestern Community College (South County; Otay, San Ysidro, Chula Vista) All of these colleges also have the LVN-RN step up for when you are ready to go that route.

You are in my prayers and those of many others on this site. I just wanted to reitorate once more that your life is not over and many triumphs have been made for those with HIV. You can still marry and have children and surround yourself with a great support system. HUGS

They have acheived candidacy status with the NLN according to their website through spring 2010 and after that time, I would assume full accreditation. When I graduate, Dec 2010, I really hope they have full accredidation so I will surely post again when I find out the definite answer to this question.

Yes, I agree. One must be assertive and act on their own behalf to discern how this new partnership will affect their status.

I'm sorry, maybe I missed something; You feel that its MY responsibility to ask Grossmont to update their website about the Scripps thing and how it will affect the waitlist?

Well it depends. At my hospital, Scripps, we get 12 hours of straight time, so they must be applying the "anything over 40 hours per week" law. Either that or I'm just getting screwed, lol.

Thanks. My program is 2 years long, so I will graduate in Dec 2010. As a CNA in the hospital, your job will still include they typical CNA duties, q2 repositioning, bathing, bedmaking, etc. But you will learn alot more, especially in the ICU. You probably won't take many vitals because the patients in the ICU are on so many monitors that even their respirations are counted for them. And you probably won't feed many patients because many are comatose(sp?) or NPO, but you will get to look at alot of charts and see pic-lines put in and be witness to more than just your typical day in a LTC. I think you will like it, I would.

I worked at Sharp back in 2003-2004 and at the time, new grads made $24 and up so I am sure it has gone up significantly since then.

Thank you, that means alot. I sure will :)

Well at orientation on the 5th, a question was adressed to the class by one of our professors, "Can I see a show of hands how many of you are Scripps employees"? And when 22 hands went up, I heard someone 5 rows away from me say, SH*T, no wonder the wait is up to 4 years. And I can understand the bitterness, but with all the new nursing programs here in San Diego, (Sharps OU, PLNU, National, Azuza, SDSU, USD, CCSD) not to mention all the community colleges, people are bound to drop off the list way sooner than the estimated 4-5 year wait. And as you said, anyone, if offered the chance would take this opportunity in a heartbeat and I couldn't be more greatful after 5 years of CNA (ahem, cough, GRUNT) work.

Well if you dont have a previous degree, you can get a Cal Grant for school which you don't have to pay back...or call up a rich uncle or something, lol it will be worth it to finish that quickly. Just my:twocents:

National University in San Diego offers a 2 month Chemistry course that transfers to OU. I took my nursing prereqs here and had many classmates who went on to the OU problem that had to take Chem at National to apply to OU. The Chem class, called SCI 100 or 101, cant remember works like this. First you take the lecture, 2 nights a week 5pm-10 and 2 saturdays 8am-12 for one month. The lab comes in the second month and follows the same schedule.

Well, the patients are great, but the patient to cna ratio is awful. At my first hospital job on the 3-1130pm shift, the ratio was 14 pts to 1 cna, and that was because we did not have to give baths. After a year and a half I moved to day shift, 7am-330p, and my patient load went down to 11, but I was required to give 9 baths and do all the vitals q4 (every 4 hours), set us for new admissions, build trapezes for the ortho pts., not to mention making the beds for all my patients. Now I work 12 hour shifts, 7a-730p and that work is even more compounded because it never ends. Then theres all the menial little tasks the RN's dream up for you. Walk this patient around the unit, take so and so for a smoke (even though I can't stand the smell and we are technically a smoke free hospital) fill up the blanket warmer, make the coffee (please)..... So its alot of little stuff and feeling like I never have enough time to do it all for each patient. I want to spend more time with each patient, but frankly when you have umpteen beds to make, baths to give, and patients to feed, reposition on a q2-4hr schedule, its alittle hard.