lklin09

my family is also relocating to jax. i think we are looking at the mandarin area. i will be graduating nursing school in sept here in va. i am wondering if i would be better off staying in va for a year to get experience as a nurse or if i would have a chance of getting a job in jax as a new nurse. the decision is really scaring me. my husband is ready to move back to his home town but knowing how the nursing field is right now i am a little hesitant to move. right now we do not have much of a hiring freeze in my area and jobs are still here for new grads

I am still in nursing school but also have trouble with the pronunciation of drugs AND with medical terminology in general. I did find something that is helpful to me. I use Webster’s Medical dictionary. It allows you to listen to the pronunciation of terms. I have been able to look up many of the drugs to help teach myself. Here is the link…http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical

I attend a night and weekend accelerated program here in Virginia. My classes are 5 weeks long. In the beginning my classes were M-R 5:30 - 10:30 with the weekends off. Now my classes are twice a week same hours with 12 hour clinicals on Sat and Sun. I work FT M-F. I basically only have time to eat, breath and study. I rarely see my family (husband and 2 kids). I do not have time to help out with the house or with the kids. My husband does it all. We are lucky in that his mom is also helping by feeding them every night and helping with the kids. Because I have to work while attending school, I only receive between 4 and 5 hours of sleep since I have to stay up to study. I am in a ADN program that lasts 15 months. All i can tell you is make sure you have a support system in place. You will need it. You will spend more time with your classmates than anyone else. It can be done. You will be exhausted and question your sanity at times. I will be reducing my hours at work to 30 when my next class starts. Just so I can have more time to devout to studying. I am almost done, 4 classes to go! It is worth the scarifice and my children are old enough to understand why they don't see mommy as often. Good luck!

We had a drug dosage class. It basically went through how to calculate drugs. My teach was not that great, so I had to teach myself the different ways to calculate the drugs. You can pick up a book on how to calculate the drugs at any book store if you want to get an idea on what you need to know. It really is basic math. I am the worst at math and it came easy for me.

i will send an email out to my class. many of them have friends that have already graduated. Can't make any promises but it is worth asking.

we have different scrubs for clinical...all white. they get washed right away with bleach in hot water. no need to bring home unnecessary germs.

You can purchase more from the school. I have used the 2 pairs i got for the last year. Because I am only wearing them for 5 hours at a time, I wear them twice before I wash them. Now when I had Micro and A&P lab I would wash right away but we didn't have a lot of labs so I rarely had to do that.

Well I am starting in may. I am finishing in April! We started with 3 guys in our class and now we are down to 1. He gets lots of attention since he is the only guy and he has become one of my best friends! You should have a great time! Good luck! The program is tough but very rewarding especially once you start clinicals.

I can't believe the RN program is 80k at MCI!!! That is outrages. I am attending there now and I knew the program had gone up to what I thought was outrages, 40k. But 80k is way to much. I am paying 27k for the RN program that started last Jan. I have heard some great things about riversides weekend program. It was were I wanted to attend but I couldn't make it across the water in time to make classes. I still work fulltime and have 3 classes to go. I am seriously thinking about reducing my hours before acute care. Good luck to you! You will find a way to make it work.

When you normally apply at VB campus, there are 3 interviews. The 1st inteview is with your rep, the second is with the rep's "boss" (not really sure of the title) and the 3rd is with the DON/ADON. Everyone interviews with the DON or ADON. The interview is usually in Dec or beginning of January. I know of noone in any of the classes before mine or since that did not interview with the DON/ADON. Also, you may have a student nurse conducting the interview with the DON/ADON since it can be part of the diminisions class. Just want you to be prepared.

i saw cheating in my a&p class. our teacher was very nice and would review the tests with us, letting us each have a test to review in class that then was passed back in. i found out after the class had ended that one student was keeping the tests to review for the final. our teacher had already told us that many of the questions on the final came from the tests we had taken. i didn't say anything since the class had ended. i am not sure if i should have said anything. i would love your thoughts on that. also, my classmates and i have discussed sharing an excel spreadsheet of meds with reason for taking the drugs, reactions and side effects, nursing implementation and pt teaching for our care plans. we have also discussed sharing nursing dx (without the r/t and evidence by) with interventions and rationales. the meds we already just copy and paste from our drug cd and the interventions and rationales we get from our care plan books. we have not done this yet because we are all unsure if this would be considered cheating. what are your thoughts? is this cheating or just wisely using resources?

You can apply for private loans that can supplement your income while in school. Talk to your financial advisor at school for recommendations. I know that Sallie Mae offers these types of loans.

that's great! one less stress for you. You will do great!!!

Also, you should have received a paper that outlines what they are looking for in your essay. If you did not get this contact your admission reps to get it. You shouldn't write the essay withour the guidelines they are looking for.

I had to write the essay on 3 questions. Basically things regarding why i want to be a nurse, why I would make a good nurse, etc. You might want to condense your essay to about 4 pages or less double spaced. 8 pages is a lot to read and you want them to remember you from your essay...just my thoughts though.

Our class only lost those 7 people because they failed the nursing math test twice and the test must be passed with an 84 in order to pass meds to patients. All that failed the test did pass the class we were in at the time. It is a tough program but you learn a lot that you must know to pass clinical. If you fail a class you do have to wait till the class is offered again. Usually around 3 months although it can take up to 6 months. If you fail the math test both times, you have to take a remediation class then retake the test in order to get into Pysch nursing. The program takes a lot of dedication. If you work and have a family, get used to not knowing what is going on with your family. Because once you are in pysch nursing (and in the night program) you are in class twice a week with off days studying and every weekend you have clinicals (Sat and Sun). Delvenia and I are now in Med-surg and I think she will agree that it is by far our toughest class thus far. I am lucky in that I have a great support system so that I can focus on school and not worry about my family or my marriage. As far as getting into the program, I was never told where I ranked. I did average on the TEAS and made a high B in chemistry. I had a great essay, great interview and great references. Do not stress over getting in or not, because once you are in you will start stressing over your classes. I fully believe that this school is where I need to be. It was the only one in area (on this side of the water) that offered a night program. I have learned a lot and know that I have the skills (and gaining skills everyday) to be a great nurse because of the instructors I have had. There are things that people do not like about the school but you will have that at any school you attend. Good luck! If you want more detailed info just let me know.

I just spoke with one of my instructors and she advised that CHKD hires a lot of MCI graduates. From what she said the hardest area to get into atr any hospital after graduation is L&D, nursey, and NICU. It can be done but it is rare. If your heart says you should be at CHKD, you will be able to do it. Good luck with school!!

What campus are you at? If you are at Va Bch, the new assistant direct of nursing works at CHKD. She could probably give you some insight.

Courtney, Just continue to do great in your classes. I scored pretty bad on TEAS and I only got a B in the chem class(i transferred in my computer and math). After all that I think it came down to the interview. I went in to it confident and being myself. I got in and have been in now for 9 months. You will do just fine. Don't think about your other classmates. Focus on yourself. Get fabulous reference letters and write a great essay. Good Luck.

Congratulations Siameser!! If you have Dr. Nik for your A&P, she is the best!! I really enjoyed her classes!

You have to have the shots and drug screen completed before your first clinical. Usually 3-4 months from when you start.

The RN - ADN program is 15 months long. I am not sure if there is a LPN to BSN bridge. I think that is only if you already have your RN license.

I'm in Va Bch.

You will have an interview after the prereqs. I only had one interview and it was with the director of the program at the time. Our director now is Mrs. Lipsmyer. She is great. When I had my interview it was with the director and a student. The students participate in the interview as part of their leadership training I believe. My advice for the interview is dress professionally, come with questions to ask them and be yourself. They will give you answers that the admissions rep can't. Try not to be too nervous. The program is very intense but so worth it. I am loving every minute of it. Your classmates will become your extended family and you will encourage each other to do their best.

I am in a night and weekend RN program (15 months). I am in school Mon-Thursday and Saturday(when no clinical) and clinicals on Saturday and Sundays. I work 8:30-5:00 M-F and school starts at 5:30. It can be done but it takes a lot of dedication and family/friend support. My husband has basically become a single parent. I see my children in passing. I study in the morning before work, during lunch hours, breaks at school, after I get out of school and any other free time I can find. It was a family decision to do this this type of program before I started. I am doing pretty good and loving school. I wish I could quit my job but I am not in a posistion to do that. Because of the type of hours I am in school and working, I am sleep deprieved and cranky but I have a very supportive family and great friends. That is what keeps me going. BTW, in my area you can be an ICU tech or patient care tech after you have nursing concepts. A lot of my classmates, quit their 8-5 jobs and became ICU techs, etc working 2-3 12 hour shifts around class. You will find the school that works for your situation. Good luck.