txakolina

The Far West area is great. Only about a 15-20 minute commute to the hospital, a nice mix of apartments and homes. I lived in several parts of the city during college, and that neighborhood was always my favorite. Good luck! I think you'll love Aust...

Hi Carrie, I had no trouble getting a job at the hospital where I did my clinicals because they knew me and felt invested in my training. They had hand picked my preceptors and had an opportunity to see my work for months at a time. I had three job ...

Hi, I graduated from the program in May '09 and feel that the CNA experience is extremely vital to success in the program. More traditional programs have time to cover CNA skills, but this program does not and expects you to be proficient in those sk...

Ah good point about trying to raise the grade. I don't know how it was calculated into the admission process - that'd be a good question for Sue. I looked on my transcript and it was just calculated with the credit hours but no grade was listed, so...

I would recommend buying a development book (I got a used one for about $15 on Amazon) and then taking the CLEP test for the Growth, Development across the Lifespan course. I was also working while taking my pre-reqs and working per diem as a nurse'...

Oh, and we also do ATI testing throughout the program and take a NCLEX prep course. So if we aren't meeting the standards it will be clearly evident, just the same as any NS.

I'm not sure where you got your stats, but they simply aren't true. I'm just finishing up the program, and I have found it to be fantastic. The NCLEX pass rates are about average for any NS, and you are NOT setting up your clinicals on your own. T...

Congratulations! You'll do great :)

Congrats! You will love it and be amazed at how much you learn in such a short period of time!

I know that having CNA work experience strengthens your application, but I imagine that how much weight they put on it depends on the pool of applications. If a lot of other highly qualified applicants have more experience I think they would have th...

I was required to buy one for NS with Pepid Student RN, but I've found that I only use the drug guide on it - but most of the time that isn't even necessary because the clinical sites always have drug books laying around. In my opinion, they are def...

It is competitive, but I think you have a really good chance. Your GPA is good and experience as a CNA defiantly helps. As for boot camp, it is split into two groups; half of the cohort starts and ends two days before the other one. I was in the se...

From what I understand, what they offer really depends on how much you already carry from your previous degree. I don't remember the exact amount, but the total for stafford loans that you can have as an undergrad is something like $46k. They offer...

Hi Marci, I was there from Aug 11th to the 25th. A few people stayed in the dorms on campus, but the vast majority of us stayed at the holiday inn, which was great because we could share rides (which was especially nice for us out of staters who had ...

Hi Scout, Just think about why you want to be a nurse, think about your support system, and make sure you read the information they sent you about the program. Good luck!

I use flags on my books to help me locate key points, important tables or information I am sure will be on the test quickly when studying/reviewing. Like you, I started out by highlighting a lot and then quickly realized that I would never have time...

I got into an accelerated BSN program with a 3.32 GPA with a 4.0 on my prereqs. Each program is different, and while mine looked at the entire GPA picture, they put more emphasis on my prereq and science grades. Since you did so well on your prereq...

My program required that we buy a PDA with Pepid RN Student software. Before I started clinical, I could hardly imagine I would use it and thought it was a big waste of money. Was I ever wrong! I always have it in my pocket now, and it is so easy t...

When every dream you have at night has something to do with a procedure you saw or a disease you read about.

Last October when I did mine they notified me of the phone interview schedule via email about 3 days after my email interview and then the phone interview was the next week. It really happens pretty quick once it all gets started. Good luck both of ...

Oh I almost forgot, I have the Littmann II S.E. Lightweight stethoscope. A lot of my classmates have the Littmann Classic and they like that too. Our instructors recommended the Littmann because it's a good, solid stethoscope. Mine was about $60 I...

Hi Courtney, I wasn't able to get any scholarships, but I probably didn't try as hard as I could have either. From what I can tell though there isn't a lot of help out there for 2nd degree people. The financial aid office was able to give me enoug...

I'll be honest, it is difficult. But I imagine most accelerated programs are. The biggest thing is to always stay on top of everything, read ahead, and practice those time management skills because you'll need them! I probably put in about 8-10 hou...

I'm in the program right now. I love it and would highly recommend it :)