HelloRose

After a phone interview, the hospital is flying me crosscountry so I can have an in person meeting with the manager and do some job shadowing with the nurses on the unit. I have no illusions that this is a sure thing, but the recruiter suggested that I take one of the days while I'm there to look into housing. Is it inappropriate of me to ask if relocation assistance (I'd definitely need it if they do offer me a job...) is available for new grads since I don't have a job offer? This is all very new to me, it'd be my first real job. Thank you. :)

For the residencies, the application is just the one online, right? Am I correct in that there's no way to attach a cover letter? It seems like an awfully light application... How can I make this personal?

I don't know if you'll ever check this again but if you do, could you empty out your Pm box? I'd love to chat with you more about working at the hospital!!

Can you really only apply for one of the internship/residency positions? I'm interested in both OR and ICU but don't want to get myself on the naughty list for applying to both. Also the online application is very spartan. I can't even attach a cover letter.:uhoh21:

I'm so upset. Summer III was the reason that I pushed myself since I started NS -- when I learned about it, I thought to myself "This is what I want to do!" I had a solid application and excellent GPA, and thought that I'd add diversity to the program. I know that it, and the other 3 programs that I've applied to (and been rejected from) are ultra, ultra competitive but I'm heartbroken because I'm looking at a summer unemployed (the hospitals around here won't even hire NS to be care techs), trapped at a broken home, and likely unhirable after graduation. I have two more extern applications out but at this point, I'm giving up hope. Between this and having my car fail on me yesterday has brought me to my low point. Congrats to those who got in, I wish I knew your secrets.

Hello everybody, I'm a BSN student graduating in May of 2012 and am seriously looking at the USAF as my future. Problem is, nobody in my family has a history of any kind of military service so I have no clue about military life, let alone nursing in the military. Would any of you be willing to answer some questions I have? I have the number for the health professions recruiter for my region, but honestly, I'd like to get a more personal opinion of life in the AF before I start working on a package. You can email me at [email protected] or send me a message here. It would really mean so much to me.

My mom works tele and I had some classmates on that unit last semester so I have some insight. Its a very interesting place and you will learn a lot about all the rhythms -- my classmates know much more about cardiac than I, who worked on a surgical-oncology unit. Lots of AFib, AFlutter, heart block, MI and depending on how the facility chooses to do things, you may see a lot of cardiac cath patients. The tele unit also recieved CABG pt down from CCU, so my classmates even got to see lots of chest tubes. Figure that any pt with a condition that is related to the heart you could see. Review your cardiac drugs, especially the antidysrhythmics, nitro, and anticoagulants. In our state (and probably most others) students can't admin. IV push medications, and lots of cardiac drugs are IV push, so a common comment from my classmates was that they didn't have pts with PO meds that they could pass. I'm done with med-surg and am moving on to maternal/infant and peds... Kind of terrifying because I'm not a kid person at all.

I overnighted my application to them yesterday. My school fails at getting official transcripts out (submitted request on December 6 and I'm still waiting) so I sent it with an older transcript and my unofficial to show the grades from my last semester. I'm from California and I've been building my involvement specifically for this, so I think that my application is quite strong. Right now I'm just hoping and praying. That said, I'm distracting myself by filling out applications for two other externships and a scholarship, so that'll help keep keep my mind off of it. Good luck to us all!:heartbeat

Our school requires we pay for our ATI modules and tests each semester. It's worked out to being over $110 each semester so far, and I'm just finishing semester 2 of 6. It's a steep price to pay, especially since the only reason they added the program is because NCLEX passing rates dropped to below 70% a few years ago. Yup, the director of the school had to answer some uncomfortable questions from the BRN. That said, I really do like the modules, and last fall's NCLEX pass rate was 93%. So the the changes to the curriculum must have helped somehow, though the expense is a very pretty penny to pass onto students. EDIT: Our total ATI fees (exams and modules) will end up around $500, so the number your school has quoted you seems to be accurate.

Evergreen Valley College is also lottery. A friend of mine from SJSU was rejected at SJSU so she applied at EVC and got in on her first try. Then again some people wait at EVC for a few years, so your experience may vary. SJSU has no waitlist or lottery per se, but it is all merit based so provided your prereqs are done with a high enough GPA you're in. ~60 are accepted every fall and spring semesters. Another option for you would get your LVN from any vocational school then do an LVN to RN bridge program. HTH and good luck :)

Thank you everybody for your expertise! I think I'm going to go for it -- if the book does happen to be missing some pages, I'll just ask my friends if I could borrow their books for an hour or so. I also sent the seller an email asking about the pictures but my mind has been mostly been made up by now. :) Haha, awesome! When I was doing the math last night, I determined that I'd be able to get all of the required books (I'm choosing to NOT get any of the recommended books) online through ebay or half or Amazon for LESS than what my school is charging for a bundle of TWO new books! Do you think using older editions of books would be okay? One class has two books that are new editions (came out last summer) that I will be purchasing, but if I could get away with using an older edition that'd be awesome. :)

Hello! I have the opportunity to purchase my MedSurg book for 1/3 of what my school is offering the bundle for, but the catch is that it's the international edition. That means it's softcover and can't be resold in the US (I think). My medsurg book is one of my nursing books that I don't plan on reselling, so it seems like a win/win for me. Would you do it? This book is used for two semesters so I'm willing to forgo the online access code (not one for ebooks anyway) and I'm trying to keep costs down since my parents are buying books. :) Plus I write everywhere in my books so I'd feel less guilty about highlighting and underlining. Here's the link to the book if anybody is interested... http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Medical-Surgical-Nursing-by-Linda-Bucher-Linda_W0QQitemZ250488811207QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Nonfiction_Book?hash=item3a524beec7 ISBN# 0323036902 (7th edition)

I'm not sure about SFSU, but SJSU is a "5 year" program. That's means it's minimum 2 years prereqs, 3 years nursing classes. The nursing semesters are typically less than 14 units each, so it's not a terrible class load. They dropped their accelerated program a few years ago because funding ran out. Currently, the SoN offers a BSN, RN to BSN bridge program (2 semesters I think), and MSN. :)

I was pretty much a straight A- student with a few A here and there. Since sjsu is impacted, they take three factors into account. 1) GPA of the 5? Prereqs (anatomy, physio, chem, english, and micro). 2) gpa of last 30 units 3) teas score. That way if you goof up in one area (a c in a prereq, for example) the other areas can make it up. My teas score was something like 84, but my gpa helped make me competative. Sjsu school of nursing has a rolling admission schedule, so every fall and spring a new class is admitted. I'm not sure what admission to the university is like anymore since the university keeps placing new restrictions all the time, but if possible I would check the sjsu nursing website (http://www.sjsu.edu/nursing) and check out the group advising dates. The undergrad coordinator will present all about admission requirements for the school and the university and it was pretty helpful for me. I'd say that more than half of my class of 70 were transfer students so they are very used to answering questions about transfers.

I'm a new admit to the SJSU nursing program, and the undergrad coordinator told us at advising (when many of us were just starting our prereqs) that "You need a lot of A's, and very few B's." You need a minimum GPA of 3.0 to even submit your application, but I imagine that you're probably looking for a GPA of 3.3+ to be competitive. The school is heavily impacted so they make you jump through all sorts of hoops, but it's possible, I promise! They let me in, didn't they? The junior colleges in the area (as you found out ) are heavily slammed, so I second what mfrancisco said. Go to multiple schools if possible, and try to snag online classes for some of the GE requirements. For the sciences classes that are full, try crashing them for the first few weeks! There are always at least a few people that drop and if you're persistent and keep showing up, there's a good chance that that spot could be yours. That's how I ended up being the only freshman added to physiology, haha. Don't be afraid of it taking a while to get all the prereqs done -- it's better to take a few at a time and get good grades in those, then take all your sciences at once and do badly. I know it's kind of a scary situation for you right now, but hang in there and remember that it's one step at a time. You can do it!

Is it common to seem so isolated in nursing school? I'm wrapping up my first semester in a BSN program and had a huge breakdown this afternoon after a session in the sim lab with some of my classmates. It's not the content that scares me, it's the fact that I don't have any friends in the program. While I was working on my prereqs, I had a awesome group of like-minded friends and since we were working on all the same classes we ended up really close. It meant a lot to me because I'm a very shy and introverted person -- I love people, but I really value the time I have when I'm by myself. Well, I was the only one of my group that was accepted. This past fall has one of the most isolating and emotionally difficult times I've ever experienced. Full disclosure: I'm not a talkative person when I'm not busy doing something. I'm a very kind and positive person, but I think my quiet exterior is making people think that I'm a snob! At my job (I've been waitress and now I'm a receptionist) I'll talk up a storm and be all , which is the exact opposite of my personality, because I am so busy I don't think about how scared I am of talking to the people around me! Put me in class at school or social setting where I'm not fully engaged? I get so intimidated at the thought of having to speak up that I'm about as talkative and social as a pet rock. I'm sure that most of my classmates are very, very nice, but it seems that everybody was admitted with at least one other friend in the program. It makes me feel like I'm the odd one out because I don't want to break into their little social groups. It's almost to the point where I dread having to go into class because even though I'm sitting with people, I'm not a part of it. I'm starting to wish that I was a person who learned well in group study so I'd have an excuse to join one and at least be part of something. In the sim lab today there were 4 of us going through some sims, and 3 of the 4 were really good friends. They spent the time talking to each other and never even bothered to ask my name (we've been in the same skills lab for the whole semester... I know theirs.) or let alone include me, and I let myself feel intimidated and didn't say very much at all. I'm not an emotional person, but the second I walked out of the building I was in tears. I cried the whole time while my dad was driving me home, then when I got home I called a non-nursing friend and burst into tears again. I guess I still wasn't cried out after that, because my mom came home (she's a nurse) I cried on her shoulder. I almost started crying again while I was typing this, lol. I know this was really long, but now that the semester is coming to a close I'm scared that next semester will be even worse. I don't have any support system at school and now I'm entertaining the idea of intentionally failing a class so I'll be held back from advancing. I know several people that were just admitted for the upcoming spring semester so at least I'll have friends.

Wow, thanks for the great response! :yeah:I do take notes on my laptop, but I don't study straight out of the book like many of my classmates. And I've NEVER been able to read extensively on a computer screen, I'd rather have my huge, physical text with a highlighter in hand. The clinical companion handbooks sound like a great alternative, one that I didn't know of before. Thank you again!

I started buying my books online 1 1/2 semesters ago... WHAT A DEAL!! Half.com has become my best friend when it comes to buying new books. Sometimes I pay only 1/3 of what the campus bookstore is charging! For example, my first semester (Fundamentals) books were offered in a bundle by the campus bookstore for $700. Um, ew. Buying them separately, online through Half? $320. Money talks guys, and I saved so much compared to my classmates. One downside though. The bundle the school offers includes the eBook editions of all the books in the bundle, which I unfortunately did miss out on. I made it through this semester fine without them, but with med-surg coming next semester I think I'm going to spring for it so I can easily search for info for careplans etc. Anybody have any experiences with the ebooks? I'm hesitant about it because I'd be paying full price and I've been REALLY spoiled by buying online.

SJSU's nursing student uniform is navy scrub top and bottom, any brand. We don't have any patches or personalization. I really like the navy, and I picked out some Dickies that were 1) cheap and 2) flattering. When my mom saw me wearing them for the first time she was like "Oh you look like a real nurse!" :imbar We wear them for skills lab too, though I'm going to buy a second set so that I'm not wearing my clinical scrubs in skills. :)

I never thought that I'd be able to say this, but I am going to finally start nursing school! Orientation was last Friday, and my first Nursing class will be Tuesday at 1:30pm. Today I was so excited to start that I went out and got my BP cuff, scrubs, and stethoscope even though I won 't need it for another 2 weeks. :chuckle I chose to not buy the textbook bundle and instead bought the books individually online (all brand new editions) for a little more than half my school's price. I went with my mom (a nurse) on an errand to her unit today and she was so proud to introduce me as her daughter, "The one that's in nursing school!" :heartbeat

I took anatomy before physiology (they're offered as two different classes, one semester each), and I'm hanging in the class a little better then my friends who haven't taken anatomy yet. Anatomy was fairly easy for me, but physiology has been beating me and all of my friends up. If you have a chance to take them separately, I'd do it (anatomy first though). :nuke: