gdnurse

I agree! Epic is what I used to use in Cardiology and it was GREAT. We are now using Allscripts and I don't like it. NOT user friendly, does not do much, their Tech support is AWFUL! Our training was via WEB! I had to have my staff log in and listen to their pre recorded training sessions for HOURS upon HOURS after work, during work, weekends, etc. It was miserable. The girl was on site for 1 day and she spent it mainly with my PR rep and one doctor. If we call them, we get prompts and then a call center who will send a message through to a tech to 'call us back' about the problem. I also have an issue with their server going down a lot and running slow and freezing up on us and giving us errors and losing data we entered such as my consents and discharges for procedures! If you can, I'd say stay away from ALLSCRIPTS! Epic is one of the best!

I like Chamberlain over all but it is expensive. However, when I looked into Lewis University, UOP and others, they are all about the same price. Chamberlain gives ASN 81 credits I believe it is just for having your RN currently. That helps a lot. I had started in a BSN program when I graduated HS but getting married and having a family took priority. So I had a lot of hours already going into this RN-BSN program. I wanted to do the MSN so I can get my NP but I can't afford it right now. This was expensive. And I worked full time while I did this. It is tough but do able. I gave up a lot of personal time for this though. I started 7/5/2010 and I graduate soon. I have 2 more classes left NR449 and my Capstone. I graduate in October with a 4.0!

The ASN programs here in are DIFFICULT and picky to get into. I have jumped through the hoops and still yet, another hoop pops up! FRUSTRATING! So, 3 years ago, I started Excelsior College. If you can read a book front to back and pass a 160 pass/fail test, then go for it. It was NOT for me! I need classroom. The Clinical portion is a killer and demanding. If you screw one thing up, you are done. And you have to travel unless they have a proctor in your state. I would have to travel 6 hours for an all weekend fri/sun clinical in a hopsital I was not familiar with and no one I knew. I have practiced in 2 hospitals and 1 urgent care and they are ALL Different! and in 3 different states. I have heard horror stories and success stories from EC, but it was not for me. I did do my Microbiology on line through BYU and I found out from the LPN-ASN program I am trying to get into that the micro and computer class I took on line are NOT accepted and will have to REPEATED at my cost! I live 40 mins from Indy and checked into the ISU LPN/RN program and be careful! There is some classroom work involved per their director.

my clinic pays up to $2000 per year. we use to have to pay up front and then send in our grades and bills and they paid us what we requested up to $2000 as long as you did well in school. we had to sign on for so long if they did that and we had to "ask persmission up front for reimbursement" now they will give us 1/2 of the costs up front if we chose to but now get paid by grades a=100%, b=75% c=50%. so if you are strapped for cash, it is helpful. still have to sign on for whatever amount you are getting. ie $1500 and up you have to commit to 18 months, $500 is 6 months, etc. but i got $1700 back last year after i paid it all in. helped me out.

i am starting nc1 over. i started it 2 years ago and stoped. could not do it alone and just by reading book front to back. i am going to try to really hit it hard and get done! i would love to chat/discuss with anyone else in here interested in a study group? i am on yahoo groups for the boards, but there is never any chat going on. same with ec site, really. i live in indiana. anyone interested?:caduceus: :sofahider

I did not know Illinois would not allow you to practice either! I just heard back from my State Board and they said they accept EC graduates and allow them to take the boards and be licesened here. Thanx for all the input.

I read on the Excelsior web page that Ca has brought to the Board the decision to not allow RN's practice in CA who have gone through this program recently? Is this true? Excelsior has a blurb on their web page to not apply if you are planning to work in CA as an RN. Thank you for your input! Did you like the way your education went? Was it hard to work with them or are they helpful and lookig out for you?

Thank you all very much! I thought Excelsior sounded much better than Rue. And I talked to 2 nurses who went through RUE and disliked it and did not recomend it. And both took 2 times to pass clinicals. They said they made it difficult to pass???? I have all my general ed classes basically except Micro. That is, if Excelsior accepts my previous 2 years of college and a few college credits I got in my LPN program. I took an on line Psych class last year and passed with a B+. Goofed up on my final because the computer I took it on frozzzzzeeee up in the middle of the test and then 2 teachers were yelling about a student who made them mad!!! After 5 mins of listening to them yelling in my testing room, and re reading my question 200 times, I finally asked the one teacher to please take her conversation to the office or another room as I was trying to take a final!!!!! so, about 6 questions in a row got messed up there! Otherwise, I liked it. I want to succeed and get my degree! CONGRATS on you who have passed! CONGRATS on doing it in wholly cats!!!! 3 !!!! MONTHS! GEEZE OH PETE!!! thank you! I feel better about my decision. I will have to travel at least an hour to go to college traditionally. M-F 8-5 job, 2 kids and hubby who just took a promotion at his job who now be required to travel 2-3 x's week....dont' think traditional college is an option right now. Also, have you heard of any other states refusing to let the Excelsior grads practice besides CA that is?

I LOVE my job also. I am 31 and have been practicing for almost 9 years now. I am in Cardiology and NOW work in the office of a busy practice with 2 CV Surgeons and 6 Cardiologist and 1 NP. I worked in the hospital for almost 5 years. I LOVE the hospital setting but hated the hours and not being able to have a flexible schedule. I have 2 kids. I worked evenings with our first child so my husband could be there with her in the evening and me during the day while he was finishing his Engineering Degree. Then I had our son and we moved all within a month of his birth. I stayed at home for 6 months and then went back to working at the hospital on Sunday AM only. I still got calls to come in at night, evening and on my days off. It is sometimes hard to juggle both but a lot of us do it. With our recent move to a new state for my husband's job, I stayed home with the kids for 1 1/2 years. I missed working and looked into part time. Hospital was not being flexible and you still had to do holidays and such. But then I was called from my Resume by my current employer and they offerred me the job right away. It is full time, but when I found out about the job and benefits and pay, it was too good to pass up. 2 1/2 years later, I have gotten good pay raises and this year got a bonus for my dedication to my job. I even started the first Cardiac Nurses Society in my area. So, I stay pretty busy and am working on going back to school. I LOVE my job, but at times, the hospital setting is stressfull. Lack of nurses, difficult pt loads, holidays, weekends, etc. But if you go into it with an idea of what hours you can do, discuss it with your employer and see if they are willing to work with you on a schedule. I know 2 nurses who went back to work under their terms. They only work the days they say they can and no other days. If the hospital wants you enough, they will work with you. GOOD LUCK in your decision!

anyone have any comments, ideas, thoughts, info or know anything or anyone who has gone through this program? i just lack my advance nursing classes and micro to obtain my asn. i was in a bsn program but had to leave the college i was going to so my hubby could finish his degree. the nearest college that offerred an rn program was 2 1/2 hours away. being poor college kids with a 1 year old at that time,that was not an option for me. so, i went ahead and got my lpn with the goal of finishing my degree when hubby graduated. 8 practicing years later as an lpn, i am trying to find an asn program. i have 2 years of college and my 1 year lpn education behind me. i want to get going and finish this. my local tech school stinks to no get out! they give us all run arounds and it is getting frustrating. they don't even have a test (net) anymore for entering nurses in to the program! they are thinking of a new test, so right now, they are not accepting applications into the program. whatever! anyways, any help or thoughts would be wonderful! i especially wonder about the clinical aspect of it. i would have to travel 1-2 states away to do my clinicals. i heard the rue clinicals are near to impossibel to pass. are these clinicals the same way? help?????????

I was in a BSN program and completed 2 years plus 1 year of my LPN. Been practicing as LPN for 8 years. I was trying to go back to school for ASN as I only lack Micro and my advanced Nursing classes for my ASN. But my local Tech School is...well...let's put it nicely, STINKS! They told 5 of us LPNS who wanted in that the class was full and then we found out that the class was cancelled for "lack of intrest"???? And if someone says they want to go into nursing, they put them in the LPN program instead of the ASN program????? I was looking at online courses as most of the class time I will not be able to commit to a regular college path. I was looking at an online degree. Phoenix does not offer it in my area and I am not interested in RUE when I found out some of the info about the clinicals and talked to 2 nurses in my area who went through it. Both of them said they would not recommend RUE. I was hoping to do DIstance Ed (ie Online courses). I took an online Psych class with my local Tech school and loved the freedom from going to class on a regular basis with having a full time job in Cardiology and a family with a busy life style. Studing on my own time would be best for me. And the online course worked well for me. Anyone know of any that they would take if they were in my position? :hatparty: Thank you!