Dennis88

I agree. In school, everyone tells you to do a year or two of med-surg and then you can transfer anywhere. But a lot very good nurses don't like med-surg. My psych clinical instructor told us that if we want to go into psych, we should still do med-surg first so we don't lose our skills. Our reply was that we didn't have any skills to lose because you don't learn them in school.

The clinical requirement for nursing schools is less than 800 hours, and up to 25% of that can be lab simulations. (I know of at least one school in the Denver area that is doing simulations in lieu of actual clinical time because they can't get the clinical placements.) Hospitals are reluctant to hire new grads because they have to provide the training we should be receiving in school. Most practicums are five weeks when they should be a full semester. There was a lot to be said for the old diploma programs that were based in hospitals.

I haven't seen anyone comment on the biggest issue - nursing school today does not prepare you to be a nurse, it prepares you to pass the NCLEX. The experience that you can get through a good residency or the six- or 12-week new grad orientation is experience that student nurses should be getting in school.

Yes, you'll get the class/lab schedule in orientation. The first clinical isn't until after spring break so you won't get the schedule for that until later. Most of the clinicals have been on weekends (usually Friday-Saturday or Sunday-Monday) but there have been some on weekdays. There is one peds rotation that is going to be weekday nights, and I think that's the only night one (aside from senior practicum). My favorite rotation so far was med-surg 1 at Lutheran. We had a great instructor for it and the nurses were really good as well. I'm also really enjoying my OB rotation at PSL, again because of a great instructor.

I have had some minor adjustments to a couple of my clinical schedules - just a day or two that were changed and different start/end times, nothing too serious. It gets to be a bit frustrating that we don't get the assignments earlier, but it's the nature of the beast.

The schedule in the course listings isn't accurate, so don't make any plans based on that. You'll get the full schedule at orientation. We're in third semester and we finish in May.

It will be tough to fit the martial arts class in. There are a ton of labs the first half of the semester and then the nursing home clinical is in the second half. It's only 6 days, but you're not going to know the schedule until shortly before it starts.

Yes, that's a nice area to live. The buses from there to campus are very convenient. One of the school fees lets you ride the buses and light rail for free (aside from the fee). And bring your warm clothes for the winter :) It can get pretty cold, although it's usually sunny.

Yes, I'm in the current class. The clinicals are all over the metro area. Overall, it's been a very good experience. There have been some bumps in the road, but they really want you to do well and succeed. Ultimately it's like anything else - you'll get out of it what you put into it.

Do a google search for "auraria campus housing" and you'll find several options. You do need a car. As for the accreditation, the faculty told us that the people who did the site visit said they are recommending reaccreditation. They'll get the official word in April.

Regis is more expensive than CU and Metro, but it's also shorter. So you have five less months of not working, which more than makes up the tuition difference.

I am currently in the program. We are undergoing re-accreditation by the NLN, that's probably where the rumors are coming from. This is a standard process that every school has to go through every seven years, I think it is. There is no reason not to expect to pass the re-accreditation. As for the classes, there is more lecture time than lab time. The lectures are generally power point fests, although some of the teachers try to break things up a bit with group activities and such. There is a simulation lab with the dummies. They are upgrading some of the equipment (of course they had to raise student fees to do it :) ). There have definitely been some bumps in the road, but overall it's been a very good experience. It's still a fairly new program (we're the seventh cohort) so they are still figuring some things out. The faculty has been great for the most part.

I agree. There are two men over 50 in our class and they bring a great perspective. Of course, I'm 39 so I'm on the older side as well so I might be biased. And it's an accelerated program where everyone has previous degrees, so the "young" students are in their early to mid 20s.

Sorry to everyone who didn't get in. I'm returning my form declining my spot tomorrow, so at least one spot is opening up for the spring traditional program.

I really like it so far. The teachers are really good, and they do a great job of working the curriculum so you hit the same topics at about the same time in different classes. Like we cover something in patho and foundations and then the related drugs in pharm all around the same time. The teachers and administration are very supportive - they are very commited to making sure we all succeed. The first group starts clinicals on Monday (I'm in this group), the rest start in a few weeks. Of course it's not perfect, but it's been a great experience so far.