Dave 48103

Again, depends on where you are. In our PICU, they have 30 beds, but can only open 20 of them because of staffing. In our gen peds floor, we have 32 beds, but can only open 27 of them. problem is not a lot of people are flooding into Michigan, and not a ton want to stay here after graduation. There are also 3 major hospitals in the city. And they just announced the addition of 120 beds to the hospital. But again, unfortunately, our hospital usually doesn't hire ADNs

yes, i went back to school in the Second Career program

I am 48 and started on this new career 2 years ago. I graduated last August. Here in Michigan (Ann Arbor) there a a ton of jobs for new grads. Every one in my class is now working. Some took a few months, but most got hired within a month or two. I landed a dream job in pediatrics. Here we make around $27/hr, plus great benefits, and lots of OT opportunity. I will say that almost all of the new hires since I've started have all had BSNs. This hospital generally prefers to have the higher degreed nurses. Not sure about other hospitals or areas.

I did. I had a couple of really good letters. I attached them as PDFs with the application, and I also emailed them separately to admissions. I figure, better to be as proactive as possible, and I got in.

I work in peds and just picked up a couple of scrub tops with Marvel heroes on them. They were a HUGE hit. They are made by Cherokee

48 year old, just graduated BSN and start working in pediatrics in 2 weeks. Good luck in the program!

About 24K

That 21K number must be per semester. OUCH!!!. And actually, the $7375 number is a little low, because that's for up to 18 credits. Two of the 3 semesters it's actually about $8600 for instate because we are taking 20 credits

good attitude!! There are some rough spots in the program, and hopefully our class's comments to the school will help you guys. But in the end, it's a great school with a fantastic reputation, and I'm thrilled to be going here. You need to be flexible all through the program

The orientations have been moved to July. See keep on hoping for the best :-)

Yes, both, depending on what semester it is and where you are doing you clinical

livingk: yes, I'm the facebook guy :-) And i highly recommend that. I think you are right about what they look for in applicants. But only about half our class had any kind of healthcare experience, so those essays do count a lot. I read over some essays of people that didn't get in last year and I probably saw what the admissions team saw. I think most people wanted ICU just because it was different from the med surg floors, whether or not they wanted to go into the CRNA program. Also, there was some "trading" going on once people got their clinical section, another benefit of the FB page. I think the IV class is good for your own use, but I don't know how much help it will be, since, like I said, other than checking IVs, you really don't get involved with inserting IVs. But any extra knowledge you get is a plus. Skip the Math class. Anyone who understands basic algebra will do fine with medical dosage. There are some good websites out there for practice. About 30 mins of your time and you should be all set. Plus, in my entire clinical experience, I probably had to do math about 4 times. Shadowing is something I set up on my own. I have friends who are ICU & ER nurses, so I shadow them. It's a great experience shadowing someone you know because they really care about helping you understand what's going on. But you don't need to know a nurse. If you are interested in a certain area, just contact the nurse manager and tell them that you would love to shadow a nurse, they will be happy to set it up for you

livngk: Some students really wanted an ICU placement at UM Hospital, and there were only 8 students that got those. And 16 people had to go to Oakwood and Henry Ford, but it sounds like their experience there was just fine. Other than that, the remainder got close to their top choices at UofM. There were 16 spots in pediatric oncology, and the rest were cardiac step down units, so, while not ICU's, still a good experience. It's hard to tell how they will do it this year, for you guys, so really, just make the best of the situation. You will learn plenty from all the experiences. Also, many of us are shadowing nurses in ICU's. I am shadowing in the PICU, Neuro ICU, CCMU and the ER, so that's almost equivalent to the high acuity care semester. I say just register when you register, and let things work themselves out. As far as phlebotomy, they do not teach that at UofM. The nurses at UMHS do not start IVs, unless you are in a few select units. IV teams do all of that. I am going to take a IV class at WCC in June just to get some exposure. I think the skills blitz is a pretty good start, and you can always take advantage of open lab time to get additional exposure to some of the equipment. I can't think of any additional classes that I would take in prep for the start of the semester. We have given the school some pretty good feedback about things that we would change, so hopefully they will take some of those suggestions. BTW, the average GPA for our class was 3.5

Just a fair warning about registration. Unless they change the way they do things, the people that registered first during orientation, got first pick at clinicals, but then they got last pick second semester.

The orientation in August was for those remaining students that were pulled from the waitlist. Most of us went to the May orientations. The last 2 weeks in August are the "skills blitz" it's not orientation, it's a mandatory attendance to learn basic skills that you will need for clinicals. It is for ALL students, so don't plan any vacation the 2 weeks prior to school starting