nbrody

bellin is a very good nursing school, no wait lists. a great way to get in and get your nursing degree without all the frustration of the tech school wait lists and their constant changing pre-reqs. however bellin is very expensive. i would live to do their 15 month accelerated program (i have a ba in business), but am not willing to go $60k in debt to do so. so i have resigned to the fact that i will have to remain on the wait list at nwtc until i finally get in, earn my adn and then go on to get my bsn.

Thanks for the info. I will take your advise and contact my local hospitals regarding internships.

i know this is several months after these posts were made but i have a couple of ?'s....you said that you just graduated from excelsior and you are teaching yourself how to be a nurse because you were not a nurse before. don't you have to be an lpn/lvn to go through the adn program at excelsior? maybe you were a paramedic before? just curious. secondly, has anyone that has graduated with their adn from excelsior and obtained their rn had a problem getting hired by wi hospitals? was anyone able to get an internship while doing the excelsior program, or do wi hospitals tend to cater to the wi nursing schools?

I currently have my BA in business. I have been struggling the CC to get my pre-reqs for their nursing program, they keep changing the requirements, so I feel like I have constant set backs. The LPN program is a lot simpler, they do not have as many requirements, so I have been thinking about just taking the LPN program and then finishing the RN at Exelsior. What worries me is I have read some posts that some states, CA in particular will not license an Exelsior grad. I live in WI. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated. Also I worry that if WI will license an Exelsior grad, if they change the licensing requirements later, can they revoke your license?

In the first year of the ADN program at FVTC about how much time is spent in clinicals? What time of day do the clinicals typically take place? I am just basically wondering if I would be able to work part time and ballance school. I know I can take a lot of the core classes on line, but I just wonder about the clinicals. I know NWTC has a lot of the clinicals starting in the afternoon. Thanks in advance for any input.

Thank you for your reply, that helps a lot! :)

That is really disappointing given the national average. I would not mind working for a staffing co. such as PRN though and I know they pay more, I assume I would need some experience of 1-2 years before they would hire me.

I knew about the 1-2 years of experience. I do plan on getting a nursing job at a local hospital and then start traveling from there. Thanks for the info. :)

The Wisconsin technical system offers almost all of the core nursing classes on line. Has anyone taken them online? What are your experiences, thoughts, etc.? I have taken many on line classes before and have always had wonderful experiences with them. I was just surprised that so many nursing classes are offered on line.

Thank you for the suggestions. I took many on line classes while getting my BA, so I think I will try A&P online. I think if I can pass this class I can pass it online. One question though....why does everyone say that A&P is so hard? Isn't it a lot of memorization? Is it hard like Gen. Chem.? Chemistry was hard for me concept wise, I just don't see A&P being a difficult class, time consuming yes, but not hard so to speak. Am I wrong?

I am just curious what the starting pay is for a new RN in the Appleton, Green Bay, and Oshkosh areas for Labor and Delivery. This would be nice to know so I don't get all the way throught the program, and then realize, I'm not making as much as I hoped. Thank you!

Thanks for the reply. So do you get to pretty much go where you want? What types of places have you been to so far? Are the accommodations that they put you in really nice? Do you know if there is a lot of job location options with American Mobile for a Labor and Delivery nurse?

I will keep you posted. I don't have my pearson vue exam scheduled yet, I have my final on Tuesday, we will get our registraton for the certification then. I am so looking forward to Aug. 1st, last day of Chem!!!

Thanks for the info. I will look into other companies as well. :nuke:

The time frame for the class you outlined is the norm. The CNA class is not at all difficult as long as you enjoy being very "hands on" with people, just very time consuming. The clinical portion is generally done in a nursing home environment so you are basically taking care of elderly people; bathing, changing, feeding, walking (ambulating), etc. In my nursing program at NWTC you do not need to get the state certification to become a CNA in order to get into the Nursing/RN program you just need to complete the Nursing Assistant course with a C or better. If you want to sit for the state exam you pay an extra $115 for that and take the exam when the class is over. The state exam is usually scheduled after you complete the course, you fill out a registration and make your payment. The company, Pearson Vue, that gives the exam will send you the date and time you are to come in and take the exam. At my school, NWTC, they do come to the school to give the exam. I assume it would be the same at your school. The state exam consists of a written and skills portion. If you fail, you can re-take it, I believe as many times as you want, you just have to pay each time.

i have been looking into this and found a company called american mobile healthcare. http://www.americanmobile.com/jobsearchresult.aspx just wondering if anybody has any comments about this company, good or bad? any other ideas for traveling companies? they make it sound so good, you can go anywhere, live there for a month or two, then go somewhere else, they pay for almost everything. is it really as good as it sounds? any advise would be appreciated. one more thing....how hard is it to get in with a traveling co. and when you do get in how hard is it to get a location that you want?

My clinicals are going really well. I have two left. I am excited for them to be over though, I am exhausted! This fall I am taking Gen A&P as well, I am taking it on line through Moraine Park Tech. I am also taking Bio Chem at NWTC, I'm taking the blended class, and I am taking Developmental Psych on line through NWTC. I will be busy! I've heard Gen. A&P is tough, but it is mainly memorization, so it really is not "hard" in the sense that it is difficult to understand, it is just time consuming to memorize all of the body parts.

Thanks for the advise. My first clinical went well on Thursday. I had to give a bed bath to a Man which I was dreading, but it went well and I wasn't at all as squeamish as I thought I would be. Some of the clients there are so sweet it is just heart breaking that they are there. I feel so much more compassionate than I thought I would, which is a good thing I guess. I like our instructor, her name is Melissa. I have clinical tonight so I hope it goes well. :wink2:

I see what you are saying about the cost of living, and you are probably right in the nursing field. However I worked in CA in the job I do now in the insurance industry and I actually made more in WI than I did in CA...go figure!

Thank you everyone for all your posts. I cannot tell you how releived I am! Gen. Chem is really a struggle. It is nice to now that if I can pass Gen. Chem, I should not have a problem with BioChem!

That is really disappointing. I moved to WI from CA and nurses out there are starting out anywere from 60-80K/year. I hear that because there are so many nursing schools in WI espeshially the GB and Fox Valley areas we don't have a shortage of nurses, and therefore the pay is much lower than other parts of the country that do have a nursing shortage.

Anyone take this class on line through any of the WI Tech schools? I know they offer this online and just wondering if there are any pros or cons to taking this online as opposed to in the classroom.

I am currently taking General Chemistry which is required to get accepted into the Nursing program and get on the wait list. I am doing ok in it. I have a B average right now and need to pass with a C or better, so I think I will make it. My question is this...I have to take BioChem before I can start my nursing classes. There must be a big differnce between Gen. Chem and Bio otherwise why else would they make you take both, right?? In general what are your thoughts on the level of difficulty between the two? Thanks in advance for any answers I get.

I am in the CNA class at NWTC right now. It ends on July 22nd. I start my clinicals at Green Bay Mental Health this Thursday. I plan on getting on the wait list for the ADN program this fall. I have heard nothing but good things about the program at NWTC. I have found the staff to be much friendlier than at Fox Valley Tech. I live in Appleton and am willing to commute to avoid Fox Valley. Anyway good luck. I hope I'm not on the wait list too long!! Any advise for the clinical portion? I am not sure if I will sit for my Pearson Vue test or not. I don't plan on working as a CNA when I am finished and you don't need the certification to get into the ADN program. How was the test? Was the skills portion as hard as the instructors make it out to be?

I plan on applying this September for both the full and part time ADN programs. I have been told that I should apply for both programs at the same time. Apparently there is a 1-2 year wait for the part time program and a 2-3 year wait for the full time program. If I get into the part time program within a year, which is 4 years long as opposed to the 2 year full time program I would finish at about the same time as if I waited for 3 years on the full time list. My question is this....does anyone know how long I "really" will wait. I know they say 1-2 years, but is is usually shorter or longer? I am taking the CNA class right now and Chemistry, so as long as I pass both classes I should be good to go in the fall to get on the wait list!