luvthahustle

I read your posts re: UAB and the VA. I just finished my practicum at UAB on a plain ol understaffed surgical floor. Last week I interviewed for a Baylor there (while I finish my MSN) and the NM would only offer me base pay with regular night diffs. She has a poor rep, but would she really rather pay the pool nurses and experienced staff OT pay than to pay a new grad the normal "work 2 & get paid for 3" weekend deal? Anyway, I have also been looking at the VA, and wondered if you liked it or not?

Just wanted to warn those of you just beginning or planning to enroll in USA's Accel MSN program for people with a non-nursing BA/BS: it is being marketed as a 2-year program, but those of us who just graduated with our BSN after completing the first year have just been informed that it will take 2 more years to complete the MSN specialty component. It's a 3-year program now. We were informed this past week, after it was too late to apply for another school's online program. We were also promised during the entire first year that during our second "MSN" year of the program all of our tuition and fees would be covered by a Federal Nursing Traineeship grant. Wrong again. They informed us that many wouldn't get any grant money on July 29th, when it was too late to apply for other MSN grants/scholarships. I'm obviously very disappointed to find that after finishing this gruelling year of work my school has let me down like this, and I just wanted to vent.

I'm in the Accelerated BSN/MSN, and it's A LOT OF WORK, so think seriously about how much you're willing to sacrifice before enrolling in it. But the school is great, and I'll miss the faculty when I'm gone, so I totally recommend going to USA for nursing. (We're off-topic here, so if you'd like lots of USA info you could start a new "USA" thread on the AL nurses forum and I bet you'd get several replies--just a thought!) :wink2:

I'm graduating from USA in Mobile with a BSN in July, so I have some current info from local hospitals' recruiters: Springhill pays 17.53, $3-4 diff on evenings/nights USA Med Center/Children's & women's pays $20 for BSN, $3 night diff Infirmary Health System pays $21.10 for BSN, $3.50 night diff Provdence is paying $19 and some change with a $2.50 (I think) shift diff (info not from recruiter) Also, South Baldwin in Foley states they start at "17.53-25.53", and even though 2 people asked them to nail down a figure for a new grad BSN they remained vague about it.

Correction to what I posted: USA starts at $20 for BSN. Also, South Baldwin in Foley states they start at "17.53-25.53", and even though 2 people asked them to nail down a figure for a new grad BSN they remained vague about it. It would only be worth your time to drive down there for PRN; or to do their weekend-only schedule, which has no openings now anyway. To elaborate about summers in Mobile: I have only lived in AL, FL, and Guatemala in my life, and Summer '07 in Mobile, AL **with air conditioning** was more insufferably hot/humid/mosquito-infested than Summer in the most scorching part of Guatemala without air conditioning. But there are plenty of jobs and if you move here you will likely love the town anyway, so don't let that stop you. When my friends from SF, Miami, NYC, and DC visited they all envied my lifestyle here (yards galore, sloow pace, recreation, affordability, mild winters, very friendly people (the elderly patients here are sweethearts). I dread moving back to Bimingham next month, it seems like such a rat-race, comparatively. Hope that helps!

I'm graduating with a BSN in July, so I have some current info from local hospitals' recruiters: Springhill pays 17.53, $3-4 diff on evenings/nights USA Med Center/Children's&women's pays approx $19.45, $3 night diff Infirmary Health System pays $21.10 for BSN, $3.50 night diff I love Mobile, but living downtown close to the old College of Nursing is not recommended (lots of homeless and prostitutes, my house has been broken into twice, my mail carrier was knifed in the neck on my street, etc). The summer heat and humidity and mosquitos are something to consider. The town is laid back, sometimes too much so. Overall its charm has more than made up for its shortcomings, though. If you have specific questions let me know, good luck!