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Pre-Nursing student here. I have an opportunity to choose between three hospital wards to do my PCT clinicals. Does anyone have any insight or suggestions as to what I should consider in making my choice? Choice 1: Cardiac Step-down unit at Hospital 1 - the same floor I've volunteered at last semester and already know some people that I like. I still volunteer at this hospital, but in a different ward to get some different volunteer experience this semester. Choice 2: Surgical Step-down unit at more prestigious Hospital 2 that is hard to "get your foot in the door" at Choice 3: Medical unit at Hospital 2 I hear Hospital 2 is a better place to work. And I for sure want a job ~somewhere~ after I'm done with my class. My thoughts are do my clinicals at Hospital 2, since I've never volunteered there and don't have any contacts there. If I did clinicals at Hospital 2, I'd have contacts then at both local hospitals. But I already know and enjoy working with people at Hospital 1 unit.... then again, maybe if I want to eventually work in Hospital 1, I'd prefer the unit supervisor doesn't see me making all my first blunders in my clinicals? So choose Hospital 2? What do you all think?

Thanks for the reply roma4204. I appreciate your insight!

I called the department, and the nurse on the phone recommended me any night from 8-midnight. She said that if I was the kind of person who wanted to volunteer and learn (which I am!), then there would always be things for me to do during that time. Thanks for all your input. This morning, I put in for Saturday nights, since that just worked best with my school/social/work life.

I also cannot think of anything bad about volunteering. I say go for it and be eager to learn!

I'm a comma nazi and have some other run-on sentence, grammer and stylistic advice. But it's just my advice, take it or leave it. I also suggest perhaps getting an English major or maybe your local librarian to read it one last time before you send it. There might be more errors that I overlooked. Here's my suggestions from my first read thru: 1) You use both "Bachelors" and "Bachelor's". Pick one and stay consistent. You also say it 7 times. For as short as this statement is, I suggest cutting down on the repetition. You could also call it "my BA" or "my degree" or something like that. You've already referred to it once, you don't need to repeat the exact phrase. Also on repitition, if you could cut down on the use of the personal pronouns, the overall tone would be kicked up a couple notches. For instance changing "Therefore, I decided to apply for an internship at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. My hope was for my experiences at Hoag hospital to further secure my decision in becoming a nurse." To -> "Therefore, in the hopes of confirming the decision to become a nurse, I applied for an internship at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach." or something like that. I tried to keep the same gist of the two sentences, but only used one personal pronoun instead of four. 2) "Your program is designed for students with a previous Bachelor’s degree and a nursing graduate that is liberal and provides the community with professional practice." Very awkward sentence with lots going on. Maybe split this into two sentences. I don't really have advice for it, because I'm not too sure what you're trying to convey. But I might just not be reading it correctly on my part. 3) "My strong background in Psychology taught me to listen, understand and provide patients with the help they need to handle any difficult emotions and behaviors they experience during their illness." The list of things in the middle is kind of confusing. I suggest "... taught me to not only listen to patients, but also understand their needs and provide them with the help..." 4) "I studied numerous psychological ... disabilities and diseases." I suggest "I studied numerous psychological disorders, such as anxiety and depression, that often coincide many physical disabilities and diseases." or "I studied numerous psychological disorders that often coincide many physical disabilities and diseases, such as anxiety and depression." 5) "However, mental and emotional demands are half the battle, my next step was to understand medical equipment, vital signs, medication and so much more." Kind of a run-on. I suggest a sentence break at "... battle. My next step..." 6) "A few weeks later I was accepted..." -> "A few weeks later, I was..." 7) "It has now been close to a year and a half and I have rotated..." -> "It has now been close to a year and a half, and I ..." 8) "I have specific duties such as: bathing and ..." -> "such as the following: bathing..." or just get rid of the colon. 9) "All experiences that continue to reinforce..." -> "All of these experiences continue to reinforce that this career..." 10) "a healthier life, however my" -> "life. However, my" 11) "...is there to help and no relationship goes one-sided." -> "...is there to help, and no relationship goes one-sided." 12) "...interact in and I ...." -> "...interact in, and I ...." 13) "I strive to help people, I am a hard-worker, I am always ready to learn more and most importantly I am patient with those around me." -> "I strive to help people. I am also a hard-worker who is always ready to learn more. Most importantly, I am patient with those around me." Good luck! It looks like you have great experience and qualifications!

I know 71 won't make the cut, there's so many people that applied last year with more points than that that didn't get into the program. And their points have probably only gone up in the past year. I should have at least 85 points for next year. Hopefully that will be enough. But by applying this year, at least I'll have all my information together and know how the process works when I reapply next year. Good luck to everyone who has worked hard!!

Hi Crystal, I am! But as I think I will only have 69-71 points for their traditional program, it would take a miracle for me to get accepted. Next year, tho, I know I'll make it in. Unless they drastically change their entrance points system for 2011. Next year I'll be able to apply to the accelerated program as well as the traditional. Good luck to everyone who is applying this year. I know that all of you who get in this year will be the highest qualified entering class ever!

Thanks for all the great replies! I feel fine volunteering Fri/Sat from midnight-4 am or something, but I'm just worried about it being too hectic and that I'd just be in the way. It's interesting to think of Monday afternoons as a good time! But it makes sense. I work 8-5 every weekday and then have class 5-10pm Tues-Thurs and then Sat 11 am-2 pm. I already volunteer Sundays 1-5 pm at the hospital in question, so Sunday evening would be convenient for me in one way because I could just grab dinner in the cafeteria, but I figure it would be dull that time slot. I think I will contact the unit and ask. I'm still interested in everyone here's opinion, though. So thanks again!

I spoke with a representative recently. His suggestion was once you are accepted into a Nursing program, whenever that is when you have an acceptance letter, go to your local MichiganWorks! office and get a caseworker assigned to you. He said the specific NWLB money might not specifically be around, but that NWLB was really just a fancy name for a bunch of initiatives and monies that MiWorks already had. He said each county/office has different rules, but if you jump through all the hoops, he assured me if you are accepted at a Nursing school in Michigan, it's worth your time to work with the MiWorks! office. He isn't in the county where I'd be going to school, but he said as long as I could attend all his b.s. resume writing and aptitude seminars, I'd probably qualify for lots of help through their office. That's what I know right now, so I thought I would share the info with you. It doesn't help me with the cost of my prereqs though!

Greetings! I will shortly be signing up for a 4-hour block of time to volunteer at a hospital as a student. My question for y'all is what days/times would you recommend I put in for if I can get assigned to the ER? They'll take volunteers 24-hours per day. I have work and school to arrange volunteering around. I'd like to really get a feel for the ER, but I don't want them so busy they can't let me peek in on gross/interesting things. But I don't want to stand around, either. Duties in general include running around dropping of labs and picking up meds or radiology, for example, getting ice water, pt transport, rearranging rooms... mainly I'm just not allowed to do direct patient care. But if the doctors and patients are ok with it, I can watch just about anything and learn what I can. I don't (yet) have any fear of blood or intense situations. I can't think of anything I'd want to avoid seeing. But this isn't the busiest of hospital in town, either. What day/time would you suggest I sign up for? 8 pm-12 am on a Friday? 4-8 pm on a Saturday? Thanks in advance for your opinion F

My experience was the same as yours. I got 100s on all the lab tests. I didn't do as well in the lecture portions. I'm a little bit more worried about Physiology since there must be less rote memorization. I also have to take a different prof for Physio than I did for Anat. I loved my Anat prof, and I'm bummed he doesn't teach any other class.

Hmm. I've always been told by financial advisors that student debt isn't forgiven in bankruptcy. Unless they put their tuition on credit cards...

UM-Flint? Does that mean you are located closer to Flint or Ann Arbor? If you're in Flint, I think UM-Flint works a lot with Hurley. I personally would contact the nursing program at UM-Flint and ask if they have a suggestion if they know what hospitals accept college student volunteers. Or you could start at the Hurley website here http://www.hurleyfoundation.org/?id=700&sid=4

go to ratemyprofessors.com and read what previous students have said about that specific instructor teaching that specific course. Look for things like "his lab tests come straight from the manual" or "she lectures on one thing but the lecture test is on things he never covered!!" or "just attend every class and pay attention and you'll do fine." I'm not saying these things are for sure the case, but you can use these as clues as to how you should study for the first test. After the first test, you should be able to gauge not just how the prof tests and what's on the test, but where you need to focus your energy on during your studies.

Ok, I'm sorry for overreacting. I'm glad you're ok. Don't give up though. It is next to impossible it seems to get into an RN program right now. I'll be applying next year, but I'm trying to prepare myself for all the rejection letters I'll probably get! If you don't give up, I'm sure you'll get in somewhere.

I reread your original post. I find this troubling: "denial from school and life" Not to make a mountain out of a molehill here, but are you okay? "Denial from life"? It sounds like you've had a rough year. I glanced at your previous posts, and I didn't see you mention other aspects of your life. You've got to feel awful that you've been putting so much hope in these programs to accept you, and then you get the disappointing news. But is something more going on? You don't have to disclose anything here. This is just a forum of strangers. But do you have someone to talk to about everything? A friend or counselor?

Working full-time, taking prereqs and volunteering all at the same time is hard. But you *can* do it. Even if it's just 10 hours/month driving blood across town for the red cross. Wanna know what my first volunteer gig was? While I work full time, I drive the free "Meals-on-Wheels" to elderly shut ins over one lunch per week. I give up my lunch hour, but 50% of the time I get a free lunch!

Some of the BSN programs I've looked into are 3-yr things. But more than a couple are 4-5 semesters (2 years). The Freshman and Sophomore years in these programs are gen ed (like writing and psych) and nursing pre-reqs (like Anatomy and Physiology). But the last two years are the clinical years (nearly identical to the ADN program I've been looking into). And most of them seem to require a separate college application for entrance into the "upper" level of the BSN program. Sometimes it's stated on the websites as "transfer application into the upper level clinical sequence" or something like that. I'm not saying it's the right answer for you, I would just think it's worth your time to at least look at them. The downside to these is they seem to have a couple more prereqs for application than the ABSN programs at the same school. But you might already have those prereqs done; as each school is different.

At the CC I'm trying to get to in a Great Lakes state, most applicants have above a 3.5 at least in their nursing prereqs. 2.5 is the minimum required to apply. Half of my anatomy class was people retaking it so they can get a 4.0 GPA. I don't know what it's like in Cali, but here it seems that most places are upping their minimum GPA to apply.

Have you looked at traditional BSN programs? I've been looking at some in my state that would take about the same amount of time as an ADN program, but I'd have the BSN at the end instead of an Associates. (They're more expensive, though.) I, too, already have a Bachelors, and it seems like a step back for me to get an Associates. So I am going for the BSN programs, but also applying to the local ADN program just in case I can't get into a BSN or ABSN program.

Do you volunteer? I'd say go pre-vet or maybe Biology, but volunteer right now at a shelter. It's sad to put a lot of companion animals down, but it's usually so much better for them when they're sick. As a volunteer, you won't have to put animals down. And maybe you'll get some experience as to why it's so necessary.

Is this the first time in a long time that you've taken math? Have you ever taken algebra before? If not, I wouldn't give up personally. Math can be tricky. I know my school's math resources includes a variety of ways to take that class. You can take it traditionally, hybrid/online or self-paced. The best part of taking the self-paced or online versions is all the tutors you can get access to at the math lab. I HATED the traditional class. Homework 4 nights/week. It seemed I didn't learn anything, all they talked about in class was "can you show us how to do #7 on the overhead." And that was the entire class. The prof never had the time to lecture on how to do the next night's homework. So each night after class I had to teach myself how to do the next round of assignments, only to be faced with the teacher doing them on the board the next day instead of teaching us the NEXT night's work. Hated it. Personally, I'd say take it again and arm yourself with the knowledge that you need to take full advantage of all the tutors and supplemental instruction your school probably offers.

I'm sure you must be feeling anxiety right now about choosing the "right" path. But maybe you already know that in so much of life, there isn't just one right path. My feeling is that if I were in your shoes I would continue along one of the trajectories until I got a job as the MA. I would do my best to get a job or transfer eventually to a job where they'd pay for my school. And here's why, not just that you wouldn't then need to take out loans, but that if they're paying for it, then they'll be flexible enough with your work schedule so you can succeed at school. They'll ~want~ you to do well if they're the ones paying for it. You maybe already have a lot of the prereqs to get into a traditional BSN program somewhere. With your MA certificate, move somewhere within driving distance of 3 or 4 state universities (if you're not already) that have Junior level entrance into a traditional BSN program. After a couple more prereqs, you might only be 5 semesters away from a BSN. And if your employer was paying for it, you would also be able to work part time through a traditional program more easily than an accellerated one.

Excellent example of why a smaller class can be more advantageous!! [Though ~if~ you really kiss prestigious Uni professor's hiney (if they don't moonlight at the CC, I mean) that's a LOR that can make a HUGE difference if you're trying to get into prestigious nursing program... Don't construe this to mean I recommend Universities. I highly recommend quality CCs. There are tons of great CC classes out there.]

To me, I've found them equal but different. The classes at a CC are generally smaller, for instance. Does that make them easier? Sometimes if it's a class you're struggling with and the person who grades you has the time to give you individual attention. But the material itself isn't easier, it's the special attention that helps you get a better grade. Does that make sense? Also for example, the Intro to Chem 1 lecture at the local big 10 Uni is offered once this summer. At 10 am on Tues, Wed, Thursday. At the CC, there's 5 or 6 offerings of the lecture. Some in the morning. Some at night or on weekends. So the Uni lecture might be "harder" for some people in the sense of getting to and working into your existing life. But the material is essentially the same. My advice is if it's a class that really matters for you major, the prestige and HONOR of having a particular lecture professor is important, as well as being able to talk to someone from your same Uni years later and say "did you ever take Professor So-and-So for Intro to Philosophy?" But in general it doesn't make a difference. EDIT: Unless you're applying to ~some~ Universities. To paraphrase their transfer guide, you cannot ever transfer CC credit to them and have it apply as an equivalent to a 300 level+ course. And NOTHING transfers from a CC if you take it AFTER you've already earned 60 college credits and are a "Junior", no matter where and when you've been taking classes before. So my PHIL 201 class I just took this semester at CC ~might~ have transferred to prestigious state Uni nursing program, ~IF~ I hadn't already received a Bachelor's Degree. But since I already have a degree, I can't transfer my PHIL 201 class. Grumble, grumble ...