sbfairy

I would take all of my pre-reqs at a community college. I took developmental psych and college algebra at my local community college and both classes, including books, only cost about $100 more than one UTA class. I would particularly look into taking college algebra elsewhere. A lot of nurses at my job go to UTA and I heard the same complaints about the math class over and over. Poor instruction and the cost of taking proctored tests.

I agree with making up your own mind. My first job was at a hospital in a small town with very poor reviews. As it turned out I had an incredible experience there. Staffing wise this hospital was stretched thin but they had a lot of experienced nurses and a 4 month new grad program. I was mentored not only by my assigned preceptor but other nurses on the floor had no problem pulling me aside and showing me how to do things or giving me information and advice. The hospital was pretty flexible and allowed me to cross train on 2 other units and I was able to work those units for extra money or if the census was down on my own unit (rare). The downside was that patient loads were high, sometimes 7:1 on a med/surg floor. So, yeah, there were a fair amount of dissatisfied patients in terms of customer service. I am sure more than a few of those people complained online. Won't hurt to see with the facility has to offer you.

I think it depends on where your online degree is from. Some schools, like UTA and Texas Tech, have online programs that any employer will accept. Degrees from schools that advertise on TV during the Maury Povich show probably won't be accepted. I work for a large hospital system in Dallas and they do have a written policy that they will not accept nurses with degrees from diploma mills. However, they do not define what a diploma mill is. I am unsure if they would hire an ADN to BSN from a school like University of Phoenix. It has a brick and mortar building but some think of it as a diploma mill.

Math 1301 and 1302 are both college algebra classes. There is a difference between the two but I don't remember what it is. I think 1302 is the longer version. I had to take 1302 because it was the only thing offered during the summer. I thought it was a lot of work. You will still spend hours trying to get through this class. I got a tutor, a co-workers kid that I paid in cash and food.

Hey MissyRN. I took Math 1302 at Brookhaven Community College in Farmer's Branch. It's totally online and pretty inexpensive. I'm pretty sure they offer 4 and 8 week classes and semester long classes as well. If you live in Dallas/Fort Worth or surrounding areas I think there are a few other community colleges in the area that offer it online as well.

Do yourself a favor and take college algebra at your local community college. I live in the dfw area and took math 1302 at Brookhaven Community College. It was online, cost me approximately $400 including My Math Lab and book and it was not proctored, so no worry about those fees.

Patient families. I get that having a loved one in the hospital is anxiety provoking (I've been there). However, when the patient is calm and accepting and the family is freaking out I find that hard to deal with. I really want to focus on the patient but I can't because cousin so-and-so is in the corner telling me they are going to call the BON if I don't tell them what the patient's H&H is (true story). Dealing with families is especially hard when their wishes are contrary to the patient's wishes. Now, before anyone gets nuts, I will say that most of the time families are fine and keep the patient calm or they can be a buffer when you get a patient you would rather not have.

Okay, I just went back and looked at my old assignments. I actually went on vacay that second week and not the third. I think this may be doable but you will absolutely have to be on top of things. I submitted my week 2 assignment on a Friday and got feedback that Monday. So, not too slow. If you can get a draft done ahead of time you will probably be alright. There is no week 4 assignment so no stress there. Hope this helps.

I totally bypassed uta and took math 1302 online for 8 weeks at community college. It cost me about 200 for the class and the book (book + math lab) was around 150. No proctored tests. I got my co-worker's kid who is studying to be an engineer to tutor me for $200 (and a meal) for 4 sessions in which he would help me with things I found difficult, totally worth it. Cost me 550, less than uta and I got a B.

Ok, I just looked at some old emails from this class and the quiz is due on Sunday night at 1159. I don't remember when it opens though.

I too went on vacation the third week of this course. The third week is pretty intense. There is a quiz but I don't remember what day it has to be done by. I think Saturday or Sunday, I'm pretty sure the quiz is only open for few days. I believe it's open from like Thursday until Saturday but don't quote me. There is also a discussion for that week that requires a little bit of research. The assignments are research papers that require a lot of statistics. Each assignment builds off of the previous week. It is possible to write up a draft but you will have to use your feedback from the previous week to make corrections on the assignment due. What I did was turn in the discussion question and responses before I left to visit family, worked on the assignment for week 3 while traveling, made corrections or additions at night, took my quiz and turned in my assignment that Saturday, and worked on week 4 on the way home. It's pretty time consuming but doable.

I too needed college math but I heard so many bad things about 1302 at UTA from 2 co-workers that I decided to take it online at a local community college (Brookhaven). It cost me $208 for the class $130 for the book and Mathlab access. I also paid my friend's son a total of $100 for some tutoring (the kid's in high school). They do not requiring proctoring for exams. I took a 4 week class but I'm pretty sure they have longer options. There are examples of problems in the book and videos on Mathlab of how to do the problem. Each problem has a corresponding example problem that is very similar to the problem you are doing. It was time consuming. Because I took it in 4 weeks I had took a few days off from work and worked non-stop on math. I am not great in math but I passed with a B.

I think working at a partnered hospital helped me get in. When I told my manager I was applying at UTA she gave me a code to call and give to them so that they knew I was with a partnered hospital. They did ask me what location I worked at and who my manager was. I think you do get some priority for working at a partner. Now, I also had a high GPA as well so I was not accepted solely based on my employer. Since I work at a partnered hospital I end up precepting some of the UTA students so I guess I see it as more of a trade off. Also, keep in mind that it's not as if every nurse at a partnered hospital is going to UTA. I'm the only one in my department. Anyway, good luck getting in.

If you decide to go into PACU please get some ICU experience first. Although I went to PACU from med/surg, I actually did spend a little time in the ICU/CCU and ER of the hospital I worked at as a float. Most places require critical care experience or they require you to go to critical care training. The hospital I am at now will not hire you without critical care experience. Make no mistake, you will get ICU patients in PACU. I have had patients who were scheduled to go to med/surg and ended up going to ICU. People do go bad in the PACU and when that happens you don't get to stand around and think about it. I've been bought patients who have had MIs and strokes right in the PACU. You need to know your stuff because your crna and anesthesiologist will expect you to know what to do until they get there to manage the patient. You also need a working knowledge of anesthesia drugs and know how they effect the body, what reverses what, different levels of anesthesia, etc. We get patients on drips and on vents and you will be required to titrate those drips. I can also tell you that having two people yelling for pain meds still sucks. Even on a regular day there is a lot of time management and trouble shooting that has to be done. PACU is not easy, it's just a different kind of challenging. You have a limited time to get your patients in an out. If your turn comes up and someone has to take a patient out of turn because you sat on your initial two patients, you will hear about it. Also, if you do not give the floor a patient they feel is acceptable, you will be bringing that pt back down to PACU and taking care of that patient along with the patient that will be waiting for you. There are a lot of positives to PACU and I love it, I just want anyone who is serious about going into PACU to know that it is challenging and at the end of the day you come home exhausted.

Hey tarotale, I live in Irving too!!