OhRN2

Hi there. I am interested in pediatric dialysis and was just wondering if you have any insight? I’ve done adult outpatient dialysis previously, but would love a brief rundown or “day in the life” if you’re willing and able. Thanks!

hope this helps!

Hi Bananaducks! The absolute best advice I can give to ANYONE is to study smart!!! You will get a list of required readings prior to orientation (hopefully you've gotten this) and this is what you should start reading (especially for your NUR 501 course). The instructor will DEFINITELY give you direction on what to study / what to read. Some advice from my perspective - and this is me personally, everyone needs to find their own groove - I NEVER study from the books (excluding Health Assessment - and this is just to visualize the "normals"). Otherwise, it is just incredibly overwhelming. And this process has worked out well for me - I have a 3.9 GPA. For patho specifically, study the clinical manifestations and the BASIC pathology of each disease and this should take you pretty far. If you have any more specific questions - please let me know.

You start as a floor nurse and you are called an advanced generalist. Because of your advanced degree history has shown you can climb the clinical ladder more quickly if interested. Or, you get several of your classes waived if you go back for a DNP or MSN advanced practice some you have taken them for your RN program.

That's the same prof we had - best of luck!

skeber - Good luck starting in May. That is when I started and I will be entirely finished this August!! :) The books that I bought/used for 501 are: Potter & Perry (you will use this every semester - hang onto it); Ladwig Nursing Diagnosis book (you will use every semester), Drug Book (every semester used again), Med-Surg book by Lewis (you will use it again for your 2nd Med Surg class), & the lab book. Most of these books are super useful for your clinicals so I would hang onto all of them as I have definitely referenced them since. If you aren't sure or are nervous about doing mind maps - buy a book or do some research on your own about working on mind maps. I felt that is the only area that wasn't covered well enough for me to feel confident. Of course now I feel like I could do them in my sleep. Anyway, your first clinical won't be until August - so there is plenty of time for that. Who is your professor for 501? That will make a big difference. This is your first NCLEX-style test - so I would recommend googling "Fundamentals NCLEX questions" prior to the test so you have an idea of what you're looking at. The content is not hard, but getting used to choosing the best answer out of 4-5 correct answers is a strange thing... that some are still trying to master! You will also have Health Assessment which is SOOOOO useful because you will use it everyday! And it is really fun. The tests are not bad in this class - straight memorization and a lot of common sense. For your research course and your professional roles course - get as many of those projects out of the way AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE because they will consume your time when you should be studying for tests! And, finally, patho is just plain tough for some people. There is a lot of content in this course so I would recommend focusing on the clinical manifestations and labs if they are provided. Otherwise, group as many things together as possible when you study. If you are a flashcard kind of person - this class and pharm are where you can really benefit from those I think. Like I said - I am finishing up my third semester (which everyone says is the hardest) so I can answer any questions you might have! Best of luck and congrats - it is going to be a craaazy 15 months!!! :-D

And for scholarships, if you are a minority or under-represented population in nursing (first generation college student, male, LGBT, etc.) then you should definitely apply for the Robert Wood Johnson Scholarship. You can find info on it on the colleges website. I am a white female and I got it because I am the first female on BOTH sides of my family to graduate from college and of course the first to attend grad school. It is $10,000 so paid for the first semester and some. There is also the Catherine Relihan scholarship listed on the website that is for people who want to be nurse leaders. It is $5000. Otherwise, look at the AACN and their scholarships. There are a lot of random ones that require essays for $1000 or so. I would get started now because if I remember correctly many deadlines were around the first of the year - February (that is, if you are starting in May 2013). Good luck.

To Nursetobe1991 - a 3.0 should be fine. If they aren't comfortable with it, they will ask you to take the GRE. If you get called for an interview, ask if they see your GPA interfering with your acceptance. They will be very honest. But, I believe as long as you are above 3.0 you are fine. kespelage14 - Pharm Lab! Lucky you :) So I hear you guys get a couple of weeks longer than us which will be very nice!! I don't want to scare you, but a lot of the ppl did NOT pass ALL of the skills. And, there is a written exam at the end that you HAVE to get above a 75 on to stay in the program. I did fine on that but we had some who didn't. Otherwise, the quizzes definitely prep you for the exam. My suggestion is to practice each skill as you learn it. So, you will learn how to pass Oral Meds on day one. Come in on Saturday and practice that like three times. STEP BY STEP from the beginning through documentation. Then, the next week when you learn how to give SubQ and IM shots... come in on Saturday, run through oral meds once or twice (it takes the longest but is the easiest to mess up on I think) and then do your SubQ and IM several times. Then the same when you learn how to hang a piggyback or start a mainline or do a push. That way, when the lab is totally crowded the weekend before you won't be trying to cram everything in. Otherwise, have a wonderful semester :) I can't lie and tell you it is going to be super easy, but I got straight A's so it can't be that bad ;-) If you struggle - buy the Davis Success books - a lot of ppl in my class said they helped them a ton. Good luck!

Around 45-50 start in May... we had I think 46 start and by mid-second semester we are down to the low 30's (long story there). Your cohorts are a good size.... you'll be divided into two sections so we had about 23 in each class at the beginning and this is who you go through the entire program with. Smaller sections start in August and they are all one class.

To xInspiredx - I am getting your messages but can't reply to them! Either post your questions on here and I can reply or send me a private message with your email and I respond to all of your questions via email. So sorry for the delay - I didn't realize that these weren't sending back to you

To xInspiredx - I am getting your messages but can't reply to them! Either post your questions on here and I can reply or send me a private message with your email and I respond to all of your questions via email. So sorry for the delay - I didn't realize that these weren't sending back to you.

If you've already taken Pathophysiology you will be at a clear advantage. It's not going to be as scary as it sounds - I promise. Now, pharmacology on the other hand.... we just got our syllabus for that class and it seems a little intimidating :) We'll make it through though! Clinicals were great! We just started our second set of clinicals for Med-Surg and Mental Health. You go to all of the regional hospitals for your clinical rotations; it will vary from semester to semester and from person to person. So far, all of my placements have been awesome. You don't learn how to give IVs until your last semester (so for me, I will learn in May) in your Critical Care class. We are going to learn how to administer medications now so we will be doing that this semester in clinical which is going to make things a lot more complicated, but much more exciting! Let me know if you have any more questions. Good luck to you all!

Hey all. I am in the program as well - I started in May. The interview is a piece of cake... just why nursing, why this school, etc. They try to keep it very low key and they absolutely do not want you to be uncomfortable. If you're coming to campus for it, I would recommend business casual - no suit is needed. The financial aid works like any other financial aid. Submit your FAFSA and call the school and make sure it is for the correct year. It's a little funky since you're starting in the summer. So far I've had no issues with my aid and I've just had my refund checks applied to the next semester. PS: LOOK AT THE SCHOLARSHIPS and APPLY - even if you don't think it pertains to you. I was able to get a $10,000 scholarship through the school that is helping SO MUCH! Rent is not too bad - esp. if you stay in Delhi, which is ideal, because that will have you close to the school and pretty close to all of your clinical rotations. I would say $500 or so for a one bedroom? Maybe even less? Get all of your immunizations as soon as possible. We've had a lot of issues with this and some people are going to be excused from the program because of it - and it's the second semester! The Hep B series takes a while so if you don't have it, you'll want to go ahead and start it ASAP. I didn't get accepted until December of 2011 so I was rushing to get everything complete. They don't budge on the immunizations - they are a must have. Also, do your CPR and all of that. That is the best way to start out on the right foot. Otherwise, once you get your preassignments (should come in Aprilish), get started on those because once you hit class, you're off and running. No time to play catch up in a program like this! :) Good luck to you all! Let me know if you have any more questions.

To kespelage14: I work about 12 hours a week right now and I had no problems doing so. I worked through my entire undergrad so I know that for me, if I wasn't working - I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Several people did either cut back significantly or quit their jobs; you'll know within about three weeks if it is feasible or not. A lot of people struggled in Pathophysiology or our skills class. I did fine in both, but skills was hard because there are NCLEX style questions - these are very challenging because there are several right answers and you pick the MOST correct one... fun stuff! There are a few papers to write for research and professional roles, but I think the longest one is 2 or 3 pages. To babyrowe, of course I think the MSN degree is legit - otherwise I wouldn't be in it :) I did a lot of research and talked to local hospitals and they all really like this degree and are quick to hire (this is local - I can't speak to outside of the greater Cincy region). The May class is shortened and it is does make it more challenging; I just went through it so I know first hand ;-) You would still need about two years to become an NP - it will only waive MAYBE one or two classes, depending on the school and the type of NP. I would not say you need to buy the books an entire semester in advance. They will send out a list of pre-assignments and there is a looooot of reading here. You will get plenty of time to complete it. You do not want to overkill it... you will burn out easy because it is intense! You will get in the class and realize quickly which classes you need to do the readings for and which classes you don't. For example, in patho, I realized right away that I was NOT going to do all of the reading (there is a lot). Instead, I looked up the diseases that we went over in class to get the full picture. Saved me a lot of time. In Health Assessment, I did the reading because the lecture was short and she flew through it - plus it is an awesome textbook. You will use this a TON in your first clinical so I would read it for sure. I would definitely ask the director of the program if you can observe a class. She is a super nice lady and very accomodating. But just FYI: classes are exactly like any other class - we just crunch A LOT more in lecture (and do a LOT more on our own outside of class). You will be starting when I am finishing. I have only been through my first semester and clinicals and I can already tell it is going to fly by. BUT, look at their NCLEX pass rates on their website and you will see that this is entirely worth it. Let me know if you have anymore questions!

Hey everyone. I just completed the first semester of the MAGELIN program - I started in May of 2012. I can answer any questions you might have. Just to clarify on the degree - they changed this right as we were beginning. You will receive an MSN, however, it is an entry-to-practice MSN, which means that you will, upon passing boards, be an RN who would be what you would associate with a 'floor nurse.' The benefits of receiving the MSN include you are getting a graduate-level degree; in some places this may mean slightly higher pay, but don't plan on it. Additionally, you can advance quicker to becoming a charge nurse or nurse manager (some have become charge nurse in less than a year which is really amazing). And finally, should you decide to go back to get an advanced-practicing MSN, such as an NP, you may get a class or two waived. As far as the difficulty of the program, it is tough. We had two sections in our group and between about 45 people, I think 7 were dismissed because of grades. You cannot go onto clinical if you do not receive a 75% or higher in all of your classes. If you receive below an 80 in what is called a 'tier 1' class, you are put on academic probation. Another C in the program gets you dismissed. It is really stressful but so far really great. From what I hear, now that I've gotten through the first semester, things will get easier. If you are scheduled to start in May - you will have a rough semester because it is shortened. There will be weeks where you have an exam in almost every class! I am not trying to scare you away because it is absolutely a do-able program. I am just giving you a heads up because I wasn't entirely prepared for the amount and intensity of the work. If you have any questions, let me know. I can tell you one AWESOME feature is the amount of breaks! We started at the end of May in 2012, got a week break off for July 4th. Took exams the last week of July. Had our first clinical the first two weeks of August. And we just started a two week break before fall semester starts. Then we get a few days off for Thanksgiving, a MONTH for Christmas holiday, a week for spring break, a small break for Easter and I believe a week between spring and summer term. Then we have six weeks of class, six weeks of preceptorship *with the July 4th break in there* and then we are finished in August of 2013!