Mody

i work in the ER in a suburban branch of one of the big med center hospitals and we cant keep ER nurses!! We have constant turnover and are consistantly short staffed.

I was hired on as a new grad outside the typical residency/internship program and instead did a 3 month preceptorship with another nurse. I am with one of the major hospitals in Houston in the ER. I advise applying for any and every job posted, you CAN get hired on to the big hospitals outside the June/January internship programs regardless of what they post online.

well the pearson vue trick still holds true, I passed! Yea!

I took the NCLEX-RN yesterday and I'm also anxiously awaiting my results! My results should be posted tomorrow morning via the quick results. Good luck to you, based on previous posts the pearson vue trick is pretty accurate!

I tested yesterday and tried the "trick" last night. I got the pop-up which I take as a good sign. I'll update after I get my results tomorrow so we can see if the trick is continuing to work. (hope so!)

Katy, Sugarland and The Woodlands are all quite nice and are growing. The Woodlands is a master planned community which means all your shopping, entertainment and dining can be done without leaving The Woodlands. Sugarland is probably a bit closer to town and perhaps therefore more "cosmopolitan", if you mean that in the traditional sense. The Woodlands has a higher average house value than the others, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your budget. Missouri City has some nice sections and rough sections, I'd check that out closely before you enrolled your kids in any school there.

The requirements also depend on who you want to work for. You titled your thread "Life Flight" which is the name of a service in Houston which is run by Hermann hospital. In order to work for this orginazation they require several years as a paramedic AND RN experience in critical care. Other flight orginizations that I know of will allow you to be an EMT-B and RN as long as you have strong experience.

If you will be living in Spring you will be "in district" for the Lonestar College system. All of the colleges in the system offer an ADN/RN program. The application period for the fall has ended, or will end very soon. In order to have a chance to get in your fiance will need to take several classes and take an entrance exam. You can find the information on the lonestar.edu website. In addition there are several other 2 year colleges, and several 4 year colleges in Houston that offer ADN and BSN programs. It is probably too late for the fall semester for most of the schools, but maybe he can plan for the spring or following fall.

Not sure what part of Texas you are in, but the RN program at some of the branches of Lonestar college (in north Houston) offers weekend clinicals and we have twice a week classes either day or night.

The content doesn't get easier, but I think as you progress you become more adept at handling the program. Once you figure out how to balance taking a test every other week with skills lab and clinicals (and your life at home) the whole process is easier. Hang in there, and always feel free to reach out for help.

I'm nights with monday lab. How funny, it didn't occur to me until your last post that we were in the same program! See you in class tomorrow.

Hey soso, I don't know how I missed it before, but we must be in the same class. Are you days or nights at Kingwood??

Are you asking me if I'm in the nursing program?? If so then yes, I graduate this summer. Other people on this site are talking about submitting their Cy-Fair applications now. It would suck to miss the application period and have to wait another year, thats why I mentioned it.

Which school has an application period this summer? North Harris, Cy-Fair and Montgomery are applying now and Kingwood applies in the Fall. Maybe the application period has changed?

There are several threads on this subject where people share their exact points. I got into the transition program where the point system is a bit different. The point cut off varies each application period based on how many apply and how good their points are. Generally, North Harris accpets the most students and therefore they have a bit lower cutoff, I think in the past it has been in the 11.2 range. Kingwood and Montgomery are often in the 11.4 and higher range. Check out some of the other threads for peoples exact points and whether or not they are accepted. Keep in mind many alternates end up being accepted each semester so being just below the cut off doesn't mean you won't get in.

Wow, those are all over Houston. From Missouri City to Pasadena could easily be over an hour drive. I wouldn't rent any of those without seeing them first. They are mostly in neighboorhoods/subdivisions that have nice sections and rougher sections.

What part of town are the houses in that you are looking at? $800 seems kinda low for a house. I own in a mid-price area and the houses in my neighborhood rent for around $1100 and up. There are jobs to be had in houston, we have been less impacted by the economy than other areas of the country.

I'm pretty sure you can only take the HESI once during each application period, so they will use the score that corresponds with this application period.

Yes, the hospitals in the outlying areas do hire new grads, however I have not heard of sign on bonuses for new grads. Typically the bonuses are for nurses with several years of experience. I hope you find the exception though!

Lonestar college (previously North Harris college system) offers an RN refresher course. I think it is through the CE program and is 4 or 6 weeks long. You can look online at their CE course catalogue to find the details.

Yes, I am in the Kingwood program. I like it, it isn't perfect but I didn't expect it to be. The staff is very student oriented, they want you to do well and pass. The facilities are nice and the program is very do-able. It is by no means impossible. I think you will find the culture and general atmosphere of each program is a bit different in the Lonestar system, but in the end they will all teach you what you need to know to pass the NCLEX.

Kingwood students do clinicals at Kingwood hospital, Hermann Northeast, Conroe, Memorial Northwest, St. Lukes in the Woodlands and LBJ. Other facilities are visited for psych. rotations, nursing home rotations etc.

As others have said that is just the minimum to apply. You will need to have enough pre-reqs done to get the full 4 pts. on the scoring system to be competitive. Also, you will need to do better than pass the HESI, you will need to do well on it to be in the running. I figure its better to hear the truth up front so you know what you need to do to get in!

In addition clinicals are done at St. Lukes the Woodlands, Hermann woodlands and LBJ. The hospital choices depend on which college in the system you attend.

Lonestar The Woodlands is probably about 45min to an hour away from Huntsville. You would be out of district in Huntsville so your tuition would be higher, but I can't think of any other college that is closer that offers a nursing program.