saymo82

I work in a pretty busy ED in the STL area and it seems that lately (since January) we have a ton of tele holds everyday! Any other hospitals experiencing this? It's so bad that we're holding some tele patients for nearly 24 hours until a bed opens up. Today we had 24 holds at one point. It's getting insane and frustrating, I'm starting to dread going into work. Most days it looks like an episode of ER because we're having to put patients all over our hallways since the rooms are being used by the holds. Just wondering if this is a common problem or if it's just us!

I did all of my clinicals for nursing school at Barnes and Children's and when looking for a job I really wasn't too interested in working for BJC. I felt like they had an arrogance about them because of their name, and the environment wasn't very welcoming. I took a job with SSM in their Futures nursing academy program, and from day 1 at SSM I felt like I was in the right place. Everyone was really nice and welcoming, they made you feel like even though you were new, you were wanted and important to the future of the organization. I've been with SSM since August and still feel like I made a great choice in working for them. I now have a permanent job at DePaul and it's working out great. I get great benefits (which are insanely cheap!), and I feel like I am getting very competitive pay. Anyway that's just my two cents. Hope your job search goes well!

I know this is a little long after your post, but I thought I would chime in just in case you hadn't made a decision yet... I graduated in May '10 from BJC's accelerated program and I would recommend going there since it's cheaper than SLU. I got a job not long after graduation, and everyone else I know also got a job in time. I work with some people who went through SLU's program and I don't think they had any more doors opened for them because they went to SLU. I also feel like I got an equal education, and it was significantly less money. Both programs are not cheap, so why spend thousands more? Anyway just my two cents. Hope this helps a little if you haven't made up your mind yet!

I just started working in the ER and have been thoroughly enjoying some of the "chief complaints" that I have been reading. One I remember from the other day is a female with UTI symptoms that states: "I have a lot of pressure down there when I go. It's like my pee hole is going to fall out". This isn't the best, but it's one I can remember off hand. Anyone else have some good ones to share?

I just graduated from a one year program, that was really more like 10 months when you take out winter break, spring break, holidays etc. My GPA in my program was 3.9, which is way higher than my first degree. I think maybe because I am a little bit older and I am paying for it myself (no help from mom and dad on this one) that I took it more seriously. Also I was way more interested in what I was learning about. It is possible to do very well in an accelerated program. It's hard work, but I still was able to have a social life. I don't regret doing it at all, however I also don't have any kids and didn't work during the program. If you have a lot of outside responsibilities you might want to consider that. However I know a lady who spoke English as a second language and had young kids who still did as well as I did! She spent a lot more time studying than me, but it can be done!

Don't refuse an ambulance transfer to the major hospital in your area when you're having a heart attack at the local rural emergency clinic, but if you do decide to leave AMA and have your wife drive you to the major hospital, don't make her stop at the Burger King drive thru for a double whopper extra large value meal for your ride to said hospital in the midst of your heart attack. Don't bring your snotty nosed wet coughing 5 and 6 year olds to the NICU to visit their baby sister with gastroschesis, and don't be upset when they aren't allowed to come back to visit when the baby mysteriously comes down with RSV. Don't use plastic grocery bags as diapers for your 18 month old child, this in combination with whipping him with a leather belt for "not using the toilet" may result in a nasty abscess infection on the child's butt, and may also result in you losing parental rights. (Also turns out when the baby is losing weight in the hospital, don't be surprised the nursing staff has figured out you're stealing his food) - don't worry, she was preggers with another one!

I just took the exam this morning at 8am and got cut off at 75 questions. I was sure that I was doing terrible on the test and was terrified to try the "trick". I went home and tried it and got the good pop up! Hoping to have confirmation of the good news in a couple of days. For now it's not even 11am and I've already poured my first rum and coke for the day, I'm going to celebrate!

Almost every teacher I have had there has been friendly and supportive of students. Yes, not all of the instructors are great instructors, but there are some that are excellent, and overall with good or bad instructors I feel like I have gotten a pretty good education and I am confident that I will pass the NCLEX exam on my first try. Also the workload is manageable, you just have to manage your time wisely, of course you are busy, it's an ACCELERATED program, that's kind of the sacrifice you make when you cram so much into 1 year. Not everyone is going to give a glowing endorsement of course, but know that a vast majority of the students at the school feel the way I do. It's a decent school and I know in the end I'll be just as prepared as anyone else who is a new graduate in nursing.

Having any experience as a tech should be helpful, so if you don't end up working while in the program then you at least have that going for you. Having said that I would still recommend trying to get a tech job while in the program. Like I said before even if it's just one shift a week, or PRN it's good to get your name out there, especially if you can get on a floor that you're really interested in. I know a guy who worked as a tech on the floor he really wanted for like a month and was offered a job as an RN on that floor, and this was before we even started the 3rd semester. So it's definitely worth it to make those important contacts while you're in school!

With 4 kids I would definitely not recommend trying to work and do this program.... Are you going for the accelerated program or the upper division program? If you're doing accelerated I will warn you now that it is just about as intense as they say it is. Every semester you get busier than the last, plan on not spending much time with your husband and kids... I know a few people who's spouses get pretty upset because they spend so much time at school and often on the weekends need to get out of the house in order to be productive at studying. It's definitely time consuming. If you think you'll need to spend more time at home because of your kids I might recommend the upper division program because it's not as intense, the downside is, is that it takes longer to complete. However there are always people who fail the core classes in the accelerated program and must repeat them before moving on to ANY of the other classes, so if you feel like you're not going to be able to commit the time that is necessary for an accelerated class then don't attempt it. You end up spending thousands of dollars to retake it and push your graduation date back anyway because once you fail a class there is no way that you can graduate with the rest of your cohort, you're automatically pushed back to the next one (assuming they have a spot for you in the class you need to retake). This is part of what is so scary about this program, and a legitimate reason for having to dedicate so much time to it. I really can't speak for the upper division program since I am not in it and don't really know any of the people that are, but I know they don't go to class as much as we do during the week, so it's more spread out. I know that there are some people in our class that wish they had done the upper division instead of accelerated because of time issues and because your core nursing classes are really difficult and they would have preferred less pressure while taking them. If you're deciding between the two I would strongly recommend talking with the staff there and being honest about what you can and can't sacrifice with your life right now. It would suck to work so hard only to be left behind at the end of the semester and then have to dish out more money for the same damn class! Good luck though! I am done in May, and cannot wait. It's been a tough year, but it has flown by and I have made some great friends who are suffering right along with me. Overall I have no regrets!

I am graduating from May from a 1 year accelerated program, and am scared I will be left behind when it comes to finding a job... get a tech job! Grades are important, but if you can manage to keep up decent grades and work as a tech (even if just 12 hours a week) then do it! They told us not to get jobs, they said it would be impossible to work and make it through this program, but you can do it! I know plenty of people who instead of focusing solely on perfect grades decided to get a tech job, and a lot of those people have jobs lined up already for after graduation. I chose to focus on grades, and am now worried that it's going to bite me in the *** in the end. Get that experience, we get such limited time in clinicals that you are going to be so far ahead of the curve with that extra time as a tech. Just a word of advice from a near grad with good grades, but little confidence in my skills or ability to compete for jobs... especially ones I might really, really want.

Once I completed my application and sent it in I think it took about 2 weeks to get my acceptance. I had all but 3 of my pre-reqs completed at the time, but I know some people who got their acceptance with less classes completed than I had. In hindsight I wish I had applied a bit earlier because I was accepted for a semester later than I had anticipated starting and therefore when I was done with my pre-reqs had an entire semester's worth of time with no job and no classes to take! Also I don't care what they say at GSON, try and get a tech job! I know a lot of people who already have jobs lined up just because they were a tech, and we don't graduate until May. A couple of people had accepted RN jobs in November and it was only because they were already a tech! Biggest mistake I made was worrying more about grades than experience, and now wish that I had gotten a tech job instead of focusing on getting all A's, I think it would have been time better spent so that I could be guaranteed a job upon graduation.

I have the Saunder's NCLEX review book, and I feel like the questions are not challenging enough. I used these questions to review for my HESI exams at the end of last semester and figured it would be decent preparation for the questions on the exams. I was wrong... the HESI questions were way more challenging, and I while I did well on my HESIs I left wishing that I had had a better NCLEX prep book- something that more closely represents the actual questions. I feel like the Saunder's questions are quite obvious, even with material I have not been taught yet. There are no questions where I feel like 2 of the answers could be correct and I must pick the best one. So, I am wondering if anyone has a suggestion for a more challenging NCLEX review tool. I just want something that it is closer to what I am going to see in real life so I don't get a major surprise when taking the actual exam! Thanks in advance :)

I just moved back to the mainland from Oahu in August and was weighing my options for nursing school if we had stayed in Hawaii. Based on what I learned I would highly recommend not going to HPU. KCC and UH are way better options, you might have to wait to get into the program, but it will be worth it later on. The only thing HPU is interested in is your money. Red flags went off for me when I was accepted into their program immediately upon applying when I knew that KCC and UH had a wait list. This to me was not a good sign... I took a few pre-reqs at KCC and loved the school, but if I had stayed in Hawaii I probably would have tried for the UH program just because they offer a BSN instead of an ADN. Since I already have a BA it didn't seem to make sense to me to do the ADN. I also hear unless you are a LONG time resident of the state it's pretty much impossible to get into the KCC program. Don't know the validity behind that, but I do know that everyone I met that was in the program there was born and raised on the island... Anyway the pickins are slim in the islands, get the best grades you can and stay away from HPU!

Just wanted to post on here and tell people that I just finished the dosage test prep class at STLCC (Forest Park), and it was totally worth taking. The class is called NRSG 704, it's 1 day a week for 4 weeks and the cost is $29. Book is optional- we didn't use it in class. Anyway I heard about this class on this forum and it was an awesome suggestion so I thought I would share in case anyone else is looking for some help prepping for their dosage tests. I am going to be attending Barnes and I know we have to take a few of them, and I am assuming that every other program out there makes you take them as well. After this class I have a lot of confidence in my ability to do dosage calculations, and feel I am prepared for the tests. Definitely look into it if you feel like you need some help!

Wow, good luck. I hope you can do what's best for you and your daughter.

Oops, sorry!

I took half of my pre-reqs in a different state, so the only ones I took here in St. Louis were A&P II, Nutrition, and Growth and Development. I took them through STLCC, A&P and G&D at Forest Park, and Nutrition at Flo Valley. I very highly recommend the professor I had for A&P. He was an excellent teacher, but he is also a medical doctor so he really knows how the concepts are applied in a clinical setting. I thought he was probably the best teacher I have ever had at a college level. The teacher I had for G&D class was very, very easy. It's pretty much a guaranteed A. The teacher I had for For Nutrition I was pretty good, and again the class was easy. Hope that helps!

I too have been seeking info on this topic since being accepted this summer. Not much luck with recent posters. I start in May and plan on posting (if time permits...) on what it is like so that other people will have at least one opinion to go by. Stay tuned....

I get what you're saying, I just mean in terms of forming study habits for the vast amount of material covered in a short time, not necessarily the material itself.

I also would recommend FP for your pre-reqs. I took my A&P II class there and loved it. I might have had the most challenging prof there, but he was awesome and I left the class with confidence that he was helping to prepare me for what was to come in nursing school. I'm all about the easy A in non science classes, but for the A&P and Micro I think the easy A is a detrement to your future success in nursing school.

Robinson at FP for G&D

They have their pre-reqs listed on their website. For the accelerated program you have to have a bachelor's degree. They offer a BSN upper division program also, and I don't think you have to have a bachelor's for that, but I am not sure.

I would say psych, human growth, and nutrition online would be feasible... although honestly they might be more challenging online than in a real class setting. I took nutrition at Flo Valley and it was way easy. I also took growth and development at Forest Park and that was the easiest class I have ever taken in my life... honestly, we had 1 test which he gave us half the answers to. I am thinking that online classes would have to contain more content from the books, homework, etc in place of "in class discussions" which accounted for most of the grades in those classes.

I know that Barnes, UMSL, and SLU all have accelerated programs. Barnes also has a 2 year program that isn't accelerated, but you still earn your BSN. As far as pre-reqs go it should take about a year for most of the requirements (it varies depending on the school). I started mine last January (2008) and applied for the accelerated program at Barnes in June with about half of my pre-reqs to go. I was accepted in August for the May 2009 class and in the mean time finished pre-reqs in December. Hope that helps :)