MBA2RN

Dana1969, it sounds like things haven't changed in the FNP program at Holy Names University. Wish it were otherwise, as I believe FNPs are the bright stars of our profession that nursing needs to promote better in the public eye. I hope HNU can turn it around.

RNs in the acute setting are treated as Disposable. We are regularly forced to work in unsafe/hostile conditions, where we face patient assaults, verbally abusive doctors, and relentlessly hostile management. The RN is the Point of Contact for almost all the care given in the acute setting. And as such, receives almost all the blame when that care falls short. Patient receives wrong breakfast - blame the nurse (not Food Services), doctor didn't round today - blame the nurse, doctor forgets to write orders - blame the nurse, doctor writes the wrong orders - blame the nurse, doctor does something really stupid and the patient is hurt, watch out...that doctor with 10-15 years of college level training and $200,000 in student debt to prove it, WILL NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY for their errors) when there is a convenient punching-bag RN who can take the fall (and loose their 2-year ADN job/license). I've seen it happen too many times. A career in nursing means you have a accept the blame for every shortfall in the system, up to and including the bedside. Go be a PA, make more money, and forget about playing the blame the nurse game.

Nathalie, the average home in the SF Bay Area just topped $650,000 ($1,000,000 in SF city), we pay 9.3% in state income tax (the highest in the country), 9% in state sales tax, I just paid $4.30 a gallon for gas (at Costco), and I spend at least 90 minutes each way in my commute (assuming no accidents, earthquakes, protests, or rap concerts). I made over $100K last year, but after taxes and putting a little away for retirement, I'm left with enough to pay my mortgage and drive my 12 year old car. I'm a typical RN in Norcal. Not upper class, not even middle class. I'm a working class guy.

Anyone looking into this program should be warned, it is completely unorganized. No, unorganized isn't strong enough...a logistical TRAINWRECK is closer to the truth. Not enough seats for the number of students enrolled, shifting between the live instruction classroom and the tele-classrooms every two hours, understaffed, there wasn't even a departmental secretary to field questions or direct inquiries. $800/unit? They didn't put a fraction of that tuition into the program. I enrolled and went to the first few sessions and saw "COMPLETE WASTE OF TIME" as the only possible outcome. There are much better values out there.

Just left Holy Names University's MSN program, and can't rate it low enough. It's a hybrid (part online/part in-person) program, charging $800/unit and they can't do anything right. EVERYTHING!!!...from registration to getting a room large enough for class, to making sure that books are available for purchase in the bookstore at the start of term, to running the video equipment nessesary to broadcast their classes, seems it be beyond their competence level. They are completely inept. However, the one task they seem to accomplish adequately is charging fees. They have that one down pat. Don't waste your money on HNU. Sooner or later, CCNE will get around to shutting them down.

I worked as a CPA/Auditor for 15 years before making the change to nursing three years ago. It has meant less money, but much more job satisfaction. I believe that I make a bigger difference for my patients, than I ever did for my clients. The job is much more physically demanding than I was prepared for. Three years as a Med-Surg RN, has boiled 25 pounds off my frame, and at times shocked me with the outrageous demands of patient families. But I love the job :) Semper Curatio, R

Foothill College in Los Altos has a Chemistry Survey Class series (Chem 30A&B) for pre-health majors which keeps you out of the mainstream chem major track. It wasn't too hard. Also, for any of the soft-skill classes (communications, psych, sociology, etc) I would recommend Barstow College. They are a California community college located near the Barstow Marine Base, and offer a great selection of online courses at bargain prices (about $20 a unit). Cheers, :)

Until you hit the five year mark, you are still considered a relatively inexperienced nurse. As a Bay Area new grad, I put in approximately 130 apps, up and down the entire pacific coast, and finally got as position in med-surg. Now it's three years later and the job market has gotten worse not better in the Bay, as most hospitals have canceled their new grad hiring. Until the economy turns around, hospitals are going to continue to try and do more with less. You might try signing up with a nursing registry. They might be able to get you some shifts. You get to see what a unit is like and they (the unit) get to see what you are like. I've seen lots of nurses get hired this way. Good Luck

Will do :)

Hi, I'll be attending in Jan-2012 and has hoping to get first hand info on the FNP program and financing options. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

I completed a 12-month accelerated BSN, and it was 12 months of hell! The first seven months, I had to cutback to four hours of sleep a night, just to keep up with the reading/term papers/presentations. I got an apartment 2 blocks from the campus, didn't work, and lived/ate/breathed the program for the entire year. It's paying off now, but for 12 months it was like an earthquake/tidal wave/rap concert all rolled into one massive hairball. Prior to that, I'd earned an MBA, and the 12 month ABSN was much more difficult than graduate b-school.

Highland Hospital in Oakland has several OR positions posted.

OP, it sounds like the counselor may have been misinformed. College counselors in CA use the CAN (California Articulation Numbering) system at (ASSIST website http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html) to determine which courses at one school "articulate" (re: are equivalent to) courses at other schools. Also, the poster above showed how to translate from quarter to semester units. All you have to do is go the site above, select the preqrequisites that LACC uses for it's nursing program, then select CSU-LA and the site will show which courses translate. It'll show the CAN course number, and each institutions individual course number. It's easy, just let the website do the work for you

wrxstiPSYCHERN - Before coming out to CA, I would suggest having a job lined up already. As the state is significantly oversupplied with experienced RNs and new grads. Making RN jobs few and far between. Also, there is a statewide hiring freeze at the eight state mental hospitals which has been discussed exhaustively on this forum. The CA prison healthcare system might be hiring soon, as they under a federal court order to spend an additional $8 billion to upgrade prison healthcare. But the governor/legislature has been fight this in the courts for the last two years, so it may not happen soon. One of the posters above mentioned the George Pavilllion in Concord. There is a John George Psych Pavillion in San Leandro that is Alameda County's PHF (Psych Health Facility). I had a clinical rotation there, and the clientele were mostly inmates from the local jails, and transients/homeless. It was roughhhhhhhh. I was constantly being pulled into dangerous situations, and I never felt safe there (and I'm a pretty big guy). There is a Private Psych hospital in Fremont named "Fremont Hospital" which occasionally posts jobs. And John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek/Concord has a Behavioral Health Unit which I've heard good things about. If you are okay with working in a prison, then San Quentin State Prison is almost always looking for nurses. They are on the Bay, just a short ferry ride from Vallejo, and they have pretty attractive compensation packages (w/bonuses, pensions, etc). The hiring process takes about six months. I have a friend working there. and she likes it. Good Luck, R

Hey, it took me four months and approximately 120 apps to land my first job. So don't feel bad, you're still early in the process.