RaspberryTX

I'm going to play the devil's advocate here and show you what the elder care woman is seeing from her side of things. She couldn't contact you or your sister because it would be a HIPAA violation. She is also probably wondering why you never checked up on your father. You said yourself that he was living in horrible conditions and you only found out about these horrible conditions when you saw a *photo* of it. I'm sure there is a valid reason for this, you said he was a hermit and maybe he didn't let you see his house or maybe you and your sister live out of state. But, the elder care woman did nothing wrong. She probably looked after your dad to the best of her ability and as much as the law would allow her to.

I wonder if an addict would be tempted to just dig the implant out from under their skin. Neat idea but I have to admit that I'm skeptical that this will provide long term results. Of course, if it works for even a small percentage over the long term then that's a step in the right direction.

If any of you are looking to save money, I would skip buying Tour Guide to Nursing School and Test Success. Maybe one of my classmates will post if they found them to be helpful. But to me, they were very common sense and a waste of money. The nurse practice act is another book that's required (if I remember right) and is something you'll need to know but it's available online for free so that may be another book you might consider not buying or at least not now if money is really tight.

I'm not really sure of everyone's age. It seems like most of the students are in their 20s. But there are a few in their 30s and 40s. There are probably some in their 50s as well but I am only familiar with people in the first semester. Not so familiar with the other people in 2nd to 4th semesters. Whatever your age, you'll fit right in so don't let it worry you.

Hi, Just wanted to say that I'm in my first semester at UTHSCSA also (hmm guess I should probably start thinking up a new username since I'm in the program now). About the TEAS test, it isn't that bad at all. A lot of people get the study guide and they found that helpful. I just took the online sample test and used that as a guide. It has English/grammar/spelling, math, and science portions. As far as what the first semester looks like for us: Monday and Friday we have class from 8-10. Then we have a skills lab that's 2 hours. You are assigned 10-12, 1-3, or 3-5 on Monday and Friday. Some people have the same time both Mon and Fri and others have say 10-12 on Mon and 3-5 on Fri. But, either way on Mon and Fri you'll be in one of those three skills labs that are 2 hours each. Then you have your clinical days where you go to an actual hospital which are 6:30 to 3:30 on Tues, Wed, or Sat. Thursday we have class from 9-12. Then some have another class from 1 to 3. The other half that doesn't have that 1-3 class are the ones that take that class online. We have one day off during the week depending on when your clinicals are. For example, if you have clinicals on Tues then you'll have Wed off. If clinicals are Wed then you have Tues off. Sat clinicals means you have both Tues and Wed off. On your clinical skills labs days you'll wear scrubs of any color/pattern you want. On your one clinical day you'll wear an all-white uniform (yeah, I know it's a bummer). The uniform is supposed to change to black and orange but I think that won't take effect until Spring 2010 (correct me if I'm wrong someone) The other school day you can wear jeans or whatever you want. I think you will be pleasantly surprised with how nice all the students and faculty are at UTHSCSA. The schedule may change when you start but our schedule can at least give you an idea of what to expect. Good luck getting in. We'd love to see you in the fall. Let me know if you have any more questions.

Or you can just read about it on CNN. You can start with this CNN story: http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/02/18/mexico.drug.violence/index.html?iref=newssearch Then you might want to read up on how the threat of possible spill over violence into Texas is significant: http://www.themonitor.com/articles/violence_23502___article.html/border_plan.html Then go here to read about how it's only expected to get worse. Here is one quote from the article: "I think the situation in Mexico is very, very dangerous for everyone, including the United States," he said. "The situation hasn't yet registered in the mindset of Americans, but it will, especially when Americans become the target.

I'm so glad "God" posted. This is exactly what we've been talking about. Oh the valley is fine. All those bad things, don't mind them, it's "just the valley way!" And to quote "God", "it cant be any worst than chicago." Emphasis mine on the poor grammar/spelling. God also said, "maybe that's your problem. your bigoted feelings have skewed your comments on this board. what's wrong with working with flips?" Emphasis mine on how God tries to accuse Bortaz of being a bigot yet uses the term flips in the very next sentence. Nice. Thanks. You just proved our point entirely. There is a reason why only a couple of people come to the defense of the valley while the majority of every one else tells you to stay away. If are you interested, then by all means check it out. But absolutely do not take a job down there until you have spent some time down there. I think you will find the majority of "sour grapes" happen to be the ones speaking the truth. Just my 2 cents.

Our clinical and skills lab schedules are now posted on ereserves.

As far as I can tell it's somewhere in the Nursing School building. I can't find anywhere that shows what floor etc. I was also wondering what we were supposed to wear. I'd really like to wear jeans but I don't want to if everyone else is going to show up in slacks.

Does anyone know the bookstore hours? I went there yesterday and they were closed. Called today and get no answer. Their website said they are open on Fridays and Saturdays but I guess they are following a different schedule since it's between semesters. I think the bookstore is supposed to be open tomorrow during the heart to heart but I can't seem to find the sheet of paper that had the hours listed on it. I'm thinking maybe it was on the sheet of paper that we had to mail back to the school.

FYI--In order to get your parking permit they want you to bring in your vehicle registration. I didn't bring mine and had to drive all the way back home to get it. Then when I was standing in line person after person came in and said they didn't have theirs. One person working there said they would go ahead and let you get it without it but the person I talked to the first trip said you had to have it. Just wanted to mention it in case it might save someone a trip.

Stay away from the valley (Brownsville, McAllen area). You do NOT want to work there. It's not safe for you or your license.

hehe only someone who lives in Houston would refer to San Antonio as dry. As far as humidity in San Antonio you're looking at ~80% in the mornings and 50-60% in the heat of the day. Corpus is a little more humid than San Antonio and then Houston more so than Corpus and San Antonio.

lancer, I haven't bought any of my books yet. I would go with whatever the UTHSCSA bookstore is saying. I think they are probably more up to date than L&M.

I was told by one of the faculty that the clinical assignments are random. She also said the scrubs for clinicals are still white. Edited to add: I decided not to go to the Heart to Heart. My family has already seen one family member go through nursing school so I think we all know what we're in for.

If nursing school is really as demanding as I hear it is, we may also feel like prison inmates White is so bad about stains and undergarments showing through (even if they are white also). Glad to hear they've changed to another color.

I'm so sorry to hear this. I'm glad you aren't going to give up and will reapply. Hope to see you in the fall. Good luck to you.

That's good news. I am out of shape big time. And if I'm able to attend the one close to home, my family can get their own membership and go with me.

Is it only the Prue Spectrum? There is another spectrum much closer to my house. It would be nice to be able to pick which spectrum since we're being forced to pay the fee.

I'd continue to take the prereqs and then reapply to SAC. I'd also look into retaking the NET if it's possible. You have decent grades so I really don't see any reason why you shouldn't be accepted. Also, look into Austin Community College. I think they have nursing class available in Kerrville and Fredericksburg. If gas prices stay low, driving may be something worth considering if you don't get accepted here in San Antonio.

I took off some of the books like your road map to nursing school (or whatever it's called), test success, and then the publication thing. I'm not going to buy those unless we absolutely have to. But yeah, even with that and used when available it was around $900. I wish they'd list the ISBN so we could compare prices with other places.

If you are allowing someone to force you to go 8 to 12 hours without a bathroom break, you have no one to blame but yourself. I'm always amazed at what some people will put up with.

I think tuition is around $2100. Then we have fees, books, parking, scrubs, etc. No idea what it would be with all that added to it.

I believe Spring 2009 is the last semester UTHSCSA will be offering admittance to their bridge program. I don't know if this is going to be permanent or if they are just going to make some changes and then bring it back.

I already completed the training. It doesn't take that long.