juniataemt06

I took the HESI yesterday and passed! A lot of weight is now off my shoulders. Now onto the NCLEX!

Pupule, We didn't have anyone from Hawaii in our program but we did have about 4 people from California, 1 from Washington, and 1 from Oregon. The large majority were from PA, DE, and NJ. Curiosity, I believe we started with around 88 or so. We have about 75 right now. A lot of people quit early on like after the 1st quarter. It either wasn't for them, they failed out, or had other issues. I know some people had family issues and others had financial issues. 1st quarter was an adjustment phase but it wasn't hard. 2nd quarter academics were kinda challenging with maternity (me being a guy), mental health, and adult. A few people failed adult, and maternity. I think one failed mental health. 3rd quarter adult and peds were challenging but others were pretty easy. This quarter was 23 credits but a lot of BS busy work. We lost probably 10-15 people from our original group but then others joined that had failed previous quarters and will graduate with us. We also had some CO-OP students from Drexel's regular 5 year BSN program. The big question is the comprehensive final HESI test that we take this coming Saturday. It's a computerized standardized test that's designed to mirror the NCLEX. We need to pass it with an 87% or better. We have another chance ten days later. If we still don't pass it, we need to sign up for a review class next quarter that meets once a week where we will have two more chances to pass it. If we pass this test, we're pretty much gonna pass the NCLEX--that's why Drexel's NCLEX pass rates are so great. Drexel however does not advertise their HESI pass rate the first time through!

I have a big foot and the XXL crocs fit me well. They say they're for 12-13 shoe sizes. This post was started a year ago by me. I went with a pair of all white Nike shox which have served me well. I'm beginning to search for jobs because I'm graduating in two weeks. I hope employers aren't as picky about shoe colors as the school was. . . I checked out the website for those zcoils talked about in an above post. They're ugly as sin! I don't think I could bring myself to wear them!

Oh yeah I forgot to add, I'm not sure about placements for the last graduating ACE class, but I have ran into a lot of past ACE grads at hospitals where I had clinicals. They were all great nurses and have all said that their employers love ACE grads.

Pupule, We have about 3 weeks left in the program right now. A couple already have jobs lined up but I've heard they have good connections that got them in around the philly area. No matter what school you're from, job placement in the philly area is VERY tough right now. There are so many nursing schools in the region pumping out a ton of nurses that the job market is tight and with the economy it's even worse. The great majority of the people in my program are from the philly/nj/delaware area and want to stay. Personally, I am not from the philly area and just came here for school. I'm returning to my home town and have applied to some graduate nurse internships (20 wk ICU program with job offer at the end). I've heard that some of the big hospital organizations in philly aren't even holding internship programs this summer because they don't have any openings. If you're looking to move to areas where there are jobs, ACE grads (along with other accelerated grads) are supposedly well received by employers because of our past experiences (2nd degree ) and ability to learn new things quickly.

Pupule, I had a good experience with the ACE program. You'll hear a lot of people complaining about it but I just chose to distance myself from them. Any accelerated program requires 100% commitment from the start. You can't let yourself fall behind at any point. As for ACE, it's the most accelerated program in the country as opposed to Jeff or Penn at a little less then 12 months total. They say 11 months but they don't take into account weekends, breaks, and holidays. Be prepared to put your life on hold for those 12 months for the most part. I didn't kill myself at any point but throughout the program you definitely have to "buckle down" as they say. I found that I had a lot more free time in the beginning of the program. At times I definitely felt frustrated and second guessed myself for being in the program but I just kept plugging away. As for NCLEX pass rates, we are the best in the state. Here's a recent article from the Philly Inquirer: http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=doc&p_docid=12E1E8D5ABC0D228&p_docnum=1 Let me know if I can answer anymore questions. I was in your shoes a year ago and know how overwhelming it all can be. There are so many schools with their own positives and negatives. I just wanted to get done fast! I'm tired of being in school that's why I picked Drexel. They have a great reputation (stats don't lie) and the program is the fastest.

I'm ready to graduate from an accelerated BSN program within two weeks. Out of 70 people, we have 8 guys so

Good luck with your decision. I've been on the floor with students from both schools. Both schools have a great reputation. I'm in my last two weeks of the ACE program at Drexel Univ.

Just talked to the director of public safety at HACC. . .he said that HACC tries to do a PHRN program every two years. If interested, call and put your name on the list. They will run it as soon as they get enough people enrolled in the class.

To any ACE'ers entering their 4th quarter. . .any advice for 2nd quarter? I can tell already that Monday's and Tuesday's are going to be loooooong days. The classes don't seem too terrible (so far) but it looks like there's going to be a lot of work to do!

I heard that Harrisburg Area Community College has a PHRN program don't they? Or they had one in the past. . .

You will learn about it during orientation. The lady who's in charge of insurance does a big talk about it. No matter what, you must have health insurance prior to starting the program. I kept my own insurance rather then taking theirs because I thought mine was a better deal. You just have to fill out an online form for one or the other and show proof of insurance by a certain date after starting.

I graduated three years ago with an Environmental Studies degree. Worked for two years for State government and wasn't happy. I've been an EMT for a hobby for 6 years and figured why not pursue healthcare a few steps farther? I'm now in an accelerated 11 month BSN program and hope to have my RN by April 2010. Hope to one obtain my PHRN after the program and after some ICU and ER experience hopefully become a flight nurse. I haven't read all 6 pages of posts to the original IT career so I don't know if the subject was touched upon so I'll say it again. . .right now I'm taking a mandatory class that is now considered a nursing speciality--Nursing Informatics. If you still want computers plus nursing, it would be a perfect mix.

Scrubs01, I'm wearing the navy Landau cargos now too and I love them. I'm a big guy and they're comfortable.

Fayemotui, I'm just about ready to finish my 1st quarter. I've only had one clinical site so far which was Lankenau Hospital, on the outskirts of Philly (actually in Wynnewood, PA). I drove but others road the train with some walking involved. Next quarter, I will be in the 3 different hospitals three times a week and only have class mondays and tuesdays. I haven't found out where I'll be going for mental health, adult I, and women's health yet though. I moved into Stiles Hall at the end of march two days before the spring semester started. There are only 3 or 4 of us from the ACE spring start that live in Stiles. There are however a lot of other ACE'ers that live in Stiles that are farther along in the program. They didn't have any orientations associated with Stiles Hall in the spring but maybe they might in the Fall when most people move in. It is a mix of ACE students, Rad Tech students, other graduate students, and students trying to get into Drexel med school. It's a very quiet building. No parties or much socializing. There's definitely an "academic" err to the building if you want to call it that. Everyone is really serious especially the kids trying to get into medical school. It's like a hotel. You never really see a lot of people walking around. There is a social lounge room on the first floor that a lot of people use. If you're around the campus, you can arrange for a tour of the building if you're considering it. It's just so convenient for class compared to living anywhere else, especially since it's only for 11 months.