k8dubcoran

i dont know what i had exactly 'hoped' for. i just thought it seemed a little weird to jump into something like icu and not even have the basics down. i like doing things gradually, i dont like just jumping into something scary and learning it that way. i have definitly learned to balance time, prioritize, etc.. i have friends who went RIGHT to the icu from ace and say they cant imagine having 6 patients at a time like i do, so i guess it will be hard for them to ever leave ICU ( which you will eventually you cant do that job for life)...so i personally am glad i did it. it gives you more time to learn the basics and reinforce them. For instance my floor has telemetry so ive got to learn and see a lot of different rhythms and can pick them out easily now. `An ICU friend spends so much time learning way more complicated things so she is not exactly a pro at tele...but HELLO! that could be the difference between a patient living and dying that is so simple to comprehend with enough practice. to each their own i guess...

i personally waited until after i knew i passed the nclex before i applied. For one, i wanted some down time, for two, the application process is fairly quick....it doesnt take weeks and weeks to find a job. Some people did it different and had applied before they even took the final HESI. i didnt want to get a job and then god forbid not pass hesi or nclex and have to go to them and say i failed and cant start yet. I played it safe as far as finding a job went. A lot of the philly hospitals are glad to have ACE students...opinions are kind of skewed though. Some hosps see ACEers as hard workers, others see them as the 'neurotic head strong type a' personality that im sure youve seen during the program. But overall, it carries a good name. The NJ hospitals dont necessarily care that you were in ACE, they probably dont even know what it is, but they are glad to have nurses with a BSN since a lot still accept an associates. It was fairly easy to find a job at the time. However, im currently looking to move to a new field, so ive been job hunting as well. i did my med-surg year that i wanted to get done and now all of a sudden the job market is fairly poor. I dont know if the economy is to blame or what. I really only see generally ICU and ER jobs available that all want experience. Im sure that could all fluctuate by the time you are done though. Good Luck!

I graduated the drexel ACE program. The hospitals i was at were : In NJ - marlton rehab, underwood hospital, virtua hospital in marlton In PA- shriners hospital, Hosp of the Univ of Penn, hahnemann, nazareth hospital, watermark nursing home, 11th streethealth clinic, Yes youll take tons of HESI - the final comprehensive one being very difficult. There were roughly 130 in my starting class ( MUCH less as a final number haha) and for lecture we were divided alphabetically into 3 sessions. For the first quarter u are in class 4 days a week and 1 clinical The other 3 quarters are class all day mon and tues and 3 out of the 4 next days are clinical days ( meaning yes you could have a saturday clinical..but then off a tues or wed etc ) Looking back yea it was a quick 11 months, but i would not do the program again. For the amount of debt i am in from the program, it has completely hindered my life moving forward. Drexel tells you how much nurses make in the city etc and they always add an extra 10,000 to the actual number. Im a first year grad with a salary of roughly 48-49,000 with a takehome base pay of about 38,000. I work now in Camden, on the other side of the bridge outside of philly, and my philly friends only make about a dollar more than me an hour so its now that big of a difference. My hospital i work at is one of the only around who give a starting bonus to new grads 10,000 which i got and was glad to get. HOWEVER if i had went to the nursing school that school offered i could have had FREE TUITION with only a 1 year contract to work after. I definitly would have gone back for 2 years instead of just the 1 to not have this looming debt. Just so everyone knows - b/c people always ask me this : I have standard student loans through sallie mae and some state ones and pay about $500 a month in loans for drexel. And thats $500 a month for 30 years. ( i try to pay more each month, b/c if i actually took 30 years, with interest etc ill have paid almost 100,000 for drexel. MAY I REPEAT $100,000 for 1 year at drexel! i laugh at how stupid i was to sign up for that now. Its a quick fix to getting done school yes, but any regard for your future and you will not go here. Its a horror year that you have to give up your life for. In a crappy falling apart building in center city, its just a miserable year. I passed no problem, but many many people didnt make it out alive :) I only say this because i wish someone had told me before i decided i wanted to go there. I just want all to know both side of the story. Feel free to email me with any questions.

Yea you dont need a stellar GPA to get in...i belive mine was 2.95 and it wasnt an issue. they just care that u have ur pre=reqs done

So today was day 2 of my first job, im the first to admit i came out of school being a slacker and not knowing squat, so im not surprised that i dont know anything. But this question is really bugging me. My patients are all on Telemetry, so why would one patient be ordered a stat EKG? isnt that what Tele is?? theres a gigantic piece of this puzzle im not getting. someone help please!

the website of the place kinda sucks - but they do have a tab that says drexel ace to look at . its centraluniforms.com. the phone number is listed on the page.

hi - i just finished the program. The orientation they will give you your book list - theyll prob send you something a few weeks beforehand about what scrubs to get b/c your lab coat gets your name embroidered and takes a couple weeks. FYI - theyll tell you you need navy blue scrub pants ( any) and drexels scrub top is yellow and has navy blue embroidery with the drexel logo and the words BSN student, and the white lab coat with the drexel patch - the place you order them is in center city - if you'd like to order them sooner (and avoid the mad rush) let me know and i can look up the name for you - if you know your sizes you can do it over the phone. All you have to tell them is you are in ACE and theyll know exactly what you need. The other things you have to buy from the scrub shop is a nametag, a penlight, and theyre going to tell you to buy plastic goggles - dont let them talk you into it mine are still in the original plastic. You dont need anything pre-orientation. Most teachers are great, some better than others. They are pretty organized and helpful - they know that the lives of ACE students are crazy so they try to work with you with what you need. Clinicals are just....clinicals. Incredibly early. but thats life as a nurse i guess. They do say they TRY to make them as close to your zip code as possible, i had no complaints mine were south jersey and philly (im from SJ). But there was always someone that got a random assignment out in the boonies. They do try to make it doable, but forget ever asking to be switched etc. Where you are is where you are, they act like its law. any more ?'s let me know! Hi, I will be starting the Ace program at the end of March and I am both excited and nervous. I was just wondering if anybody that has gone through the program can give me an idea of what I am in for? Will I be told at the Orientation (mid-march) what I need to buy (scrubs, books, etc) or should I already have that stuff? How organized, helpful are the teachers? Is there alot of help if you need it? How are the clinicals? Do they really try to keep the clinicals near where you live? Any info is much appreciated!! Thanks in advance!!

i BELIEVE its somewhere around october? i know i had found out in november that i was definitly in for the following september class. you can contact the school and theyll tell you.

thanks for all your input - i was looking for 3 12's just because of my commute to work parking is about $25 a day so 3 days would be 75 a week but mon -fri is 125. i hate the city! i do like 8's but sometimes once im at work im fine to stay a little longer. GETTING to work is the part thats annoying. i like my sleep. so the more days i can sleep in the better.

I have an interview for an OR position this week - i wanted to know what your typical schedule is? I had my heart set on working 3 12 hour shifts - since thats what almost every nurse in our area does ( not OR - i had originally planned on med/surg). So i assumed id most likely be working day shifts in the OR- but didnt know if id be doing the traditional 7a- 7p? OR always seemed more of a mon-fri job to me . is this the case? How many days a week do you work and how many hours on those days??? :cheers:

yea. i HATED those scrubs with a passion, FYI if you know anyone thats starting the program that doesnt have a lot of cash our class donated some to the CLRC ( youll learn what that is), i odnt know what sizes or what condition they are in, but they are def more expensive then theyre worth.

no class u wear whatever you wore to college before. jeans, sweats etc. people will prob show up dressy the first 2 weeks trying to make a good impression, but after the exhaustion kicks in and u realize theres no one to impress everyone is in comfy clothes. you just need the blue pants and yellow top for clinical days and lab days -first quarter you have a health assessment lab and then a principles clinical/lab - so youll wear them twice a week first quarter . i dont know why the email failed. you can try [email protected] also sorrry!

Honestly you could pull off a night of bartending during FIRST quarter, i know some who did, but prob not after, maybe, but i personally dont think i could have done. But yes we all had lives outside of drexel, whether it was working out, or being with fam, going out etc. Yes the people you have class with are going to be your new best friends b/c itll feel like you are with them all the time, but i still made time to do the things i wanted to do. I got lucky with clinicals, i cant complain about any, some students had awful teachers, but that wasnt really typical. First quarter you have one clinical, every other week ( the alternating weeks you still have school but you go to the lab and practice stuff). And the other 3-4 days you have class. 2,3,4 quarter you have class mon and tues 8-430, then clinical 3 times wed,thurs,fri or sat. ( so you could end up with a normal mon-fri week, or get a saturday clinical and have off a day in between). Clinicals are never on the same day as class, there are no night ones, theres mornings ( starting at like 615 ish, or theres a couple afternoon ones that start like 12 or 1). Starting 2nd quarter you have to prep the night before for adult health, SO that means if you had ur adult clinical on a wed, tues after class you have to go prep, or if it falls on another day you have to leave the clinical you are at to go to another hospital and prep. PRepping is by far the most annoying aspect of ACE, but it has to be done, u cant be giving meds the next morning having no idea what they are and what to monitor for. I learned a lot in clinicals. the only thing bad about them is they could be anywhere, so you could be in philly one day, nj the next, and bucks county after that. Drexel says they do TRY to make it so that you are somewhat geographically close, but its not a promise. Good luck to you, it was a long and somewhat annoying :) year, but im glad i did it. it still doesnt feel like its over ( my last day was friday). You can email me at [email protected] if you have any more questions.

Hey im graduating ACE in 2 weeks, if anyone has any questions for me feel free to ask!

Luxor - I am about to graduate ( in 2 weeks!). Yes its hard, yes a lot of people dont make it through the year and yes you will learn ALOT. Im in my young 20's with no young kids so in a way i had it "easy" since there are some people in this with 3 kids at home still able to pull it off. Its mainly just time consuming. You are doing schoolwork morning till night at least 5 days a week, but if ur not working (u cant and i believe they make you sign a contract taht u wont work, i forget) theres no reason you cant do it. Many ACE students are standard Type A people who have to study till they fall asleep in their books, i am definitiyl NOT like that, and would even venture to call myself a slacker, and i could still do it. You have to know how to teach yourself b/c a lot of teachers do nothing but read verbatim off powerpoints, but then again the tests usually only come from powerpoints so u cant go wrong. feel free to ask me any specific questions about the program you have.