xoxo1981

I live on the East side of Tucson near the Air Force base... it's not too bad getting downtown if you live close to Golflinks Road/Aviation Hwy. - Carolyn

As far as I know, the only words of wisdom is to just stay away from the South side. I haven't heard very great things about the south side and it's not a very friendly area when you drive around it. There are TONS of new housing coming up from different companies so there's plenty to choose from. The highway system in Tucson sucks BIG TIME, so just make sure you look for your housing not too far from the hospital you will be working at. Hey Jessica - Has your husband every thought about working for UofA? There is also the Tucson school district and other charter schools around town he could try. Good luck on your move! - Carolyn

I've worked for UMC since graduating last December. So far the job is going great, I got 12 weeks of orientation and a 3 week critical care class. The other hospitals I know of as far as through the girls from work are.... Northwest, TMC, St Joes, St Mary's and the VA. There are various pros and cons but so far the one I've heard more cons on is Kino Hospital (county hospital). I believe most of the Tucson hosptial pays $19/hr for new grads to start off. I haven't heard of anything different. We just bought a house on the eastside and it's also working out great. When we were searching for a home, we looked in the eastside, cortaro farms area, and the northwest side. There's a ton of new homes coming up all over Tucson. Oro valley is a little bit far North but they are building a new hospital there (Northwest Medical Center #2). We decided on the eastside only because we got a great price for our perfect home. Try this search engine for Tucson homes... the company lists all home listings in Tucson, not just their own. http://www.longrealty.com

Oh I also forgot... fill out your FAFSA form ASAP. You can also fill out the form online which is much easier. And I swear this is the last thing... I talked to the financial aide advisors at ASU also (helped to get their input and assistance with all the paperwork).

alykat1 I recently just graduated from ASU's nursing college. I went to college straight after high school and it was a rough road. I lost my scholarship the first year I was at ASU and I ended up working full time during school in order to pay for the classes etc. While I was in the program, I did get student loans to help me during the semester since it didn't seem like you had a lot of time for work during school. But all in all I borrowed $10K in student loans and my payment a month isn't as bad as I thought. Some of my friends from school came out with about $20K+ in loans due to the fact that they live on their own. My parents lived about 15min from campus so I just decided to stay home while I was going to school. Good luck with nursing school! :) Oh yeah, one more thing... It would've helped me to more of my pre-reqs at a community college because it would be cheaper (only took 1 class at MCC), but oh well, ya live and learn :)

This was the ring I bought from the website.. err I meant he bought. I was very surprised that the company even did bridal sets.

Congratulations! :) :) Whoo Hoo!!!

iliel: I spoke to my other half today and he said he researched the whole titanium topic pretty well before buying the ring. He told me that the rings can be taken off with the cutters that are used for regular rings but just take about twice as long to get through the titanium. But he did say however that if they have an electric cutter that it's not a problem at all. As far as the rings go.. its on the site that I posted. I loved it, it's awesome :)

I know they have cutters for titanium rings but I doubt that most EDs have them handy. I like the titanium rings. Very light compared to the other sets they have at most stores. I don't know if you have checked out this site but this is where my other half got mine from: http://www.titaniumcommitment.com

7/10 Whoo hoo! I did learn something in school :)

I live in the Tempe area. I went to high school in Tempe and also went to ASU for college. My sisters and I grew up in Tempe and we find it very nice for families. My neighborhood has a lot of children around because our house is close to 2 high schools, 1 middle school and 2 elementary schools. The houses in my neighborhood right now range up in the 180s to 200s but I'm not 100% sure. We've lived here for the past 10 years and have had no problems with crimes or even parties for that matter. The only time I've seen cops in the neighborhood is when there is an accident out by the major street. If you have families, I would vote Tempe only because I'm bias :) I did my clinicals at Good Sam in Phoenix and also at Desert Sam in Mesa. I liked both hospitals but I especially liked working at St. Josephs in Phoenix. I did my externship at St. Joes and I loved it. From my house, the hospitals are within driving distance. Mesa is only 10min away and Phoenix is about a 15 to 20min freeway drive.

Nurse2be I took the NCLEX 2 weeks ago and I got 75 questions. I was a nervous wreck but in the end I did pass and I got my liscense 4 days afterwards. I wish ya good luck! And I'm sure you passed!

I don't know if this helps any but I got my hemostats for free at the hosptial. Most hospitals have 'instrument kits' that you can get for patients that are having sutures taken out... they usually have a hemostat, scissors, a safety pin, or other things. The nurses I work with usually use just the scissors so the hemostats from the kits are extras. You could also try http://www.allheart.com they have really great sale prices...

I'm in my final semester and they divided it into 2. We had 'clinical hours' with preceptors and our professor for 10hrs 3x per week for 6 weeks. And now we are all on our own with a preceptor for 156 hours. I think we total around 300+ hours total our final semester. My preceptor likes working 4-6 days straight. Whoo hoo, mini vacation for me :) That's if I get through it all though....