tsalagicara

Dilaudid is the usual drug given to pancreatitis patients these days. Of course, every person is different with how they can tolerate the drugs, but morphine does still seem to be the worst offender in causing more spasms of the Sphincter of Oddi (which are extremely painful and can make the pancreatic duct that much more plugged up). Toomuchbaloney is right about there not being many advocates of Demerol nowadays. I believe its respiratory depression side effects are worse than other opiates, but someone please do correct me if I am wrong.

As a pancreatitis sufferer myself (and a nurse) I can tell you that it is morphine that is notorious for causing spasm of the Sphincter of Oddi and Demerol is supposed to be the preferred pain med, but I am not sure if Demerol is used much anymore. At the very least, I have not been given it during any pancreatitis hospitalization. All opiates can cause spasm of the Sphincter of Oddi but morphine seems to be the worst as far as that goes. Maybe I can find some links to research for you that might help answer your question even better. If you have any questions feel free to PM me though! :-) Good luck to you for the NCLEX, and if you have already taken it I hope you passed!

Hello, I'm still just a student nurse but I had to reply to this. I'm really sorry to hear what a terrible facility you are working for (at least it sounds terrible to me...). I don't know how it is legal for them to withhold pay from you -- to me, that is a big tip-off right there that something is wrong with that company. As for that MD... as a nurse it is your right and duty to question those questionable orders, and you don't have to follow orders that you think are unsafe or extremely questionable. Your nursing license is something you worked very hard for, and if it were me I would not want to put my license in jeopardy that way. It sounds like your safety and your baby's safety is in jeopardy too. What you do is ultimately up to you, but I would definitely not stay and work under such conditions. That is me, though. There have to be other jobs out there, even if the pay and benefits aren't quite as good. I wish you the best of luck though and hope you can get out of that harmful, stressful situation soon! And congratulations on the baby!

Hello future LPNs! My name is Cara and I am starting the LPN program at Front Range Community College in Longmont, CO, on August 23rd. Just a week away!!! I'm very excited and nervous at the same time. My program is fast-paced and will be done in May 2011! Good luck to everyone here -- I know we will all do just great! :)

hoping_2b_rn, wow, thanks for that info!! How do you like the program at AIMS? If you're in your 4th semester, does that mean you're almost done? How are the clinicals -- do you have to go to other cities for any of them? Thanks!

Maghunter, that's very interesting. Thanks for sharing. :) I did wonder about the RN program there at Concorde, and I've heard it's much better in quality all-around than the LPN program. I did have a friend in the RN program who enjoyed it thoroughly and graduated with honors. I went there (at least, I started there...) for the LPN program and I can say that the LPN program's quality of education is not as good as other schools in the area (I can kind of compare because I switched to a different LPN program at a public school). Other schools normally don't overlook cheating on tests (some of which was done by students texting each other the answers during the test!), lewd & crude sexual behavior and comments from classmates, racist remarks from classmates, size discrimination from administration against a classmate, huge class disruptions, and much more... I was a stellar, straight-A student who did not cause any trouble, yet got chewed out or ignored when I brought some of those situations (and others) to the attention of teachers and the DON (that particular DON is no longer there, btw). Plus, other schools don't normally give a student more than one try to pass a class like Dosage Calculations, because dosage calc is serious business. For most other schools here, if a student fails the dosage calc final, they have to retake the class; if they fail again, that is that, they can't continue on. A student in my LPN class at Concorde got 3 chances to retake her dosage calc final, and did badly all 3 times. She went on to make a HUGE mistake in clinicals by miscalculating a dosage and giving a patient the wrong insulin dosage, which can be life-threatening. LOL... I totally agree with you, Maghunter, about the "sales associates" in the front office. They are called advisors but, just like you said, they are high-pressure salesmen/women, who often resort to using dirty psychological tricks to guilt people into signing up. I am very happy to hear that there are changes being made in the admin. offices. I wish I could have started in the RN program anyway... I scored very high on the entrance exam and was going to be given top priority for a seat in the RN program, but I could not afford the cost of tuition. I was barely able to cover the cost of the LPN program, even using federal grants, state grants, and federal student loans. When I decided I couldn't take going to Concorde's LPN program any longer, and left after the end of a session, they tried to charge me for the remaining cost of the program that I had not attended (roughly $6,000 they said I owed them). They claimed something about "proration" of the tuition, and for a while, I had debt collectors calling me every day from Concorde's main office. Why pay for classes I didn't attend? In the end, thankfully, I got the debt "forgiven"... but it was a huge hassle. I think that I have to agree with you Maghunter, that if a person can handle the cost of tuition at Concorde, the fast pace, and handle the crap that goes on there, then go for it. Not everybody, though, is able to "suck it up" and go for their RN the first time; not everyone wants to go for their RN the first time. Some people don't want to become RNs at all and would rather remain an LPN, and there is nothing wrong with that. It is really an individual choice. If you can afford to go the RN route at Concorde, though, that is the route I would recommend at that school. If you must (or would rather) go the LPN program route at Concorde, please proceed with caution, and prepare for a very bumpy ride.

It's too long of a story for me to retype right now, but I do have previous posts about it, in this forum. There were a lot of problems with some teachers, students, and other faculty. No nursing school is easy, but this was ridiculous. When you pay $26,000 (well, it's up to $28,000 now and will be going up again), you expect at least some quality, and you expect your concerns to at least be addressed. Just a few of those concerns were class disruption (by classmates), racist classmates, a teacher who belittled the students, cheating on tests... and more. The teachers (and the DON at the time) were no help at all. I'm to exhausted to type more about it, I apologize. I wish you all the best of luck on whatever decision you make and wherever you decide to go to nursing school!

All I want to say right now is be very wary of Concorde Career College. I had an absolutely terrible time in their LPN program. You can search my other posts on the subject, or feel free to PM me with any questions. Just be wary, and be careful.

Run, do not walk, as far away from Concorde as you can. I went there for one quarter of the LPN program and it was like being in Hades: Horrible, slanderous, racist and disruptive classmates (which nothing was done about, ever), psycho teachers (seriously), high turnover rates with all faculty/employees, astronomical tuition (right now the LPN program is sitting at $28,000) that they make you have paid for up front -- pell grants, state grants and federal student loans will not cover it all == and if you can't come up with the rest somehow, they expect you to pay them huge sums monthly, out of pocket, until it's covered; sub-par education, old lab supplies and much more... If you quit the program, like I did (because I was near an emotional breakdown from the awful stress of that place and the negative enrvironment, with chronic illness on top of that), they will "prorate" your tuition and try to make you pay them back for the subsequent quarters of the program which you would have attended... and I am not talking about paying back a Federal Loan (which is, of course, a given), Concorde expects money to be paid to them. I finally got that written off because I am disabled now and there was no way I could pay them, and furthermore, how could I owe them money for classes that I didn't take? Nonetheless, before that got straightened out, I had someone from their collections office calling me every day, and got a hit on my credit score due to that. Nothing was ever done about very rude comments or disruptions in the middle of class lessons (from other classmates), cheating on tests, and talking on Bluetooth cell phone devices during class, among other things... I could go on and on... the things I experienced were only during the first quarter of the program, so I don't know how the rest of the program would have gone education-wise. A classmate of mine, who finished the program, told me it was just as bad all the way through. She told me that she had only 2 decent teachers. The help and "job placement assistance" that Concorde promises to graduates of their programs is not help at all. My friend has tried for help through their "job placement assistance" and gotten no assistance, not even help with her resume or preparing for interviews. As far as I know, she still doesn't have a job yet. If anyone wants to know anything else about my experiences at Concorde, please feel free to private message me. I am not meaning to sound bitter or whiny by sharing this information; I just want to get the truth out. These are hard times for everyone and I would hate to see someone else pay almost $30,000 to go through all that. Best of luck to you all and I hope you all find the right school for your needs!

Hello! :) I have never been to Platt College before, but I have been to a similar college (another private, for-profit technical/trade college). As far as I know with Platt, you do have to go through interviews and testing. Platt's entrance requirements are different because the prerequisites are rolled into their BSN program. It's an accelerated, fast-paced program. Also, because it is a private, for-profit college, the nursing program is extremely expensive (I'm talking up in the $60,000 range, if I remember correctly). I'm not sure if they offer federal financial aid for their program. Maybe someone who is in the program or who has been through it can answer that. I can't speak for the quality of education at Platt because I've never been there. However, after reading previous forum posts about Platt college, I can see that some students love the program, and some hate it. I know this is not much help, so I hope someone who has been to Platt can answer. Good luck to you in your search for the right nursing school!

As far as I know, the price is now $28,000 for the LVN/LPN program, and $42,000 for the associate degree RN program.

An add-on about the education... when I was at Concorde, a classmate of mine had retaken the dosage calculation final 3 times. Yes, the test was retaken 3 times after the initial test was failed. I know that might not seem like a big deal, but, it was breaking Concorde's own rules. Not to mention, a nursing student needs to be competent at calculating drug dosages for the safety of the patients. It is in the writing that a nursing student, if he/she fails the dosage calculation final (and the score has to be very high to pass) may only retake the dosage calc final once. If it is failed again, the student is supposed to have to start over at the beginning of the first session. At least, that's how it was when I was there just a year ago. Any current Concorde students, please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide and hope that you find a nursing program that is right for you. Take care!

Hello, tlt0616, Since you're willing to drive, have you looked at Emily Griffith Opportunity School? They are a public trade school in downtown Denver and have an LPN program that's 10 months long. I hear very good things about the program and the teachers; plus, there's not much of a waitlist, and sometimes not one at all. Their website is http://www.egos-school.com. I'm concerned about you paying the exorbitant tuition and driving 60 miles for the kind of sub-par education, huge amount of stress & drama, etc that you'll most likely encounter at Concorde. If you'd like to know more about my experience, please feel free to PM or email me.

Is this at a private, for-profit vocational institute? If so, please be very wary of those schools. I started out at one like that and it was a huge scam. A lot of the for-profit schools have complaints lodged against them and a lot of those complaints have to do with money, among other things. Most of those types of schools (for-profit trade schools/colleges) penalize you if you have to withdraw early for any reason (the one I was at tried to penalize me for that by "prorating" my tuition and I've read and heard about the same thing from many others). I'm not saying all private for-profit schools are bad, but please just be cautious. Especially if they want you to have the entire cost of tuition covered up front, before you start, and pressure you to get a pricey alternative loan. I feel like some of those schools are taking advantage of people that don't have time to wait on a waitlist, to do a mile long list of pre-reqs or to get a perfect GPA for admission. Again, I'm not saying all private for-profit schools are scams. I just want to warn others about what happened to me and to be wary. And yes, I personally think $40,000 is too much for an associate's degree RN program. Good luck on whatever you decide and I hope you find the right school for you! :)

Hello! Regis University has an accelerated BSN program for people with a prior bachelor's degree. Front Range Community College's Larimer County campus has a separate waitlist (supposed to be shorter) for those with a prior bachelor's. I've taken CNA classes at Front Range (in Westminster) as well and they were pretty good. I was in a hybrid class, meaning that the theory portion was online, but we met in person for class one day a week to practice skills. It was interesting. There are a lot of other schools with CNA training around here too. I've heard Emily Griffith's CNA program is also good, as is their LPN program if you want to go that route. Whatever you decide, I wish you the best of luck on your search! Have a good week. :)