NetteNurse

Hi all, Question... I'm confused as to how to transfer into a specialization as a diabetes educator. When I look at job postings, it seems every potential employer wants somebody who is already a certified educator. However, when I look at the qualifications to become certified, you need to be employed in a position in which you provide direct diabetes education for a minimum of 1000 hours. How do you obtain that experience if you can't be hired in that role until you're certified? Or would working as an RN in a hospital setting, in which you frequently encounter diabetic patients count? In a similar vein, a while ago, I'd looked at Infection Preventionist as a potential career option, and seemed to be faced by the same conundrum Most employers want to hire somebody with Infection Control experience, or prefer somebody who is certified. However, to become certified, you need to work as an Infection Control nurse/preventionist to even qualify to take the exam. I like both potential career options, but a Diabetes educator is a bit more interesting to me as I'd spend a lot of time educating patients, something I love to do! Thanks for your input!

Hi all, I'm reading through the WHC scholarship contract and it trying to sort out if maternity leave is covered during the program. I think they said so during the Q&A for the WHC scholarship, but can't remember specifically what was said - does anybody else know? Thanks!

Thanks, very helpful!

Hi Pokytrokyt, Quick question - for non WHC scholars, would you say you're very likely to find alternative funding for the program (i.e. other loan reimbursement programs) or are most stuck with the full cost of the program? Do the bulk of the loans wind up being private loans with the higher interest rate? I can't imagine having to pay $800 in loans per month on top of a mortgage and other bills for the next ten years when I also plan to make babies after I graduate from the program... :)

Hi all, I'm trying to decide between Marymount and Georgetown. Couple questions... 1) Without the WHC scholarship, I'm thinking Georgetown is way to steep, but they did impress me with their simulation facilities. I haven't been over to Marymount yet, but can somebody talk about the new building, any simulation facilities/robots they have? 2) Is the job outlook seeming any more promising for those currently in the program? Georgetown grads seem like they do very well with placement, an earlier post indicating only 8-9 people in the latest graduating class had jobs is kind of concerning to me. 3) How much is the total tuition for Marymount - is abotu $48K accurate? Did those in the program primarily have subsidized loans, unsubsidized or private? Have you worked out what your weekly loan payment would be? I'm terrified of paying like $800 per month on top of my mortgage. 4) What other loan reimbursement programs with local DC/VA/MD hospitals do you know of? Thanks in advance!

I don't think it would be as late as August... The brochure indicates mid-April for issuing the decisions. Granted, they are behind just in getting out the admissions decisions, but I don't think they'd make people wait that long to issue scholarship decisions - they know people have to make decisions based on that. At least I hope they wouldn't wait that long!

Not sure about the decisions - supposed to hear back before the deadline to submit your decision and deposit, but that's late May. I already have a deposit into one school I'm guessing I won't get back as it's non refundable after May 1.

In as well - but not letting myself get too excited as the scholarship makes or breaks whether I go there...

Can I ask - which other DC area school did you get into?

me either

Adding to what I wrote before...I do think one other major advantage of Georgetown is that they would potentially make you better prepared to feel like you have some semblance of knowing what you're doing than other schools. I assume I'm going to spend my first year as a nurse feeling like I'm clueless a lot of the time as there is just so much experience to gain. That said, the extra $30K that Georgetown costs ($70K for them vs. $40K-ish for other local programs) is a huge financial burden... if any of you plan to buy a house, have kids, yadda yadda yadda. It's just unrealistic to me to incur that as a loan. Without the scholarship, I can't reasonably attend Georgetown.

i question how useful those rankings are. if you pass the nclex, you pass the nclex. for instance, i've heard much, much better things about marymount's program that they overhauled in recent years vs. catholic's program (and that includes input from nurses at the hospital where i volunteer), yet marymount's ranking is far below catholic. marymount's pass rate is above 90% and i've heard most people get jobs there and that clinical sites find the program reputable. as for creating nursing leaders, i've been in the supposed "real world" for long enough to know that your school name usually just gets you the foot in the door. once in the door, it's how you handle your job when you have it that helps to push you towards leadership; where you went to school really doesn't matter much, though i can understand that georgetown may help get you started by gearing coursework in that direction. but really, after working (and making hiring decisions) for long enough, you start to see people don't care where you went to school vs. that you seem like you do your job well. seeing comments from existing nurses throughout this forum and others only confirms that sentiment to me. i've hired people and so i speak from experience when i say it's interesting to note somebody's school on their resume, but what sticks out when you make a decision is how articulate and smart they seemed, and whether they seem personable, and if they’re confident without seeming arrogant. ultimately, georgetown gives you the name and an edge in getting your first job. however, without the whc scholarship, $70k in debt for 1.5 years of school (and that's not counting the loans for housing and living expenses) is not worth it to me, to live in debt for many years. i'm over the age of 30, so i've had it with debt. further, it would actually prevent me from being able to afford to pursue higher education.

I thought Marymount can be done in less than that? The website vaguely says four semesters, but I've read elsewhere on allnurses.com that it can be done in 16 months as one of the semesters is usually over the summer. Are they no longer doing the summer session? Also, Marymount undergraduate tuition is listed as $23K per year, is it different for the school of nursing? I am not including room/board in any tuition calculations.

Thanks... unfortunately, moving is not an option as my fiance and I bought our home and put a lot of work into it over the past year, and prefer not to sell. Looking at google maps, and considering traffic, I'd anticipate the drive to be an hour and fifteen minutes. Not too bad, but if classes start that early, and clinicals could potentially start that early or earlier at places out there in VA, may be tough. I'm just trying to be realistic as being chronically exhausted and spending a lot of time sitting in traffic is going to make it difficult to get the optimal learning out of the program. I was just accepted to Marymount, so wondering if GWU is worth it when they are both roughly the same price and amount of time. GWU has a good name, but the program is younger.

Does anybody have any opinion on how commutable GWU's nursing school is from DC? I live in the city and cannot move, and Loundon VA seems a far drive when some of their classes start as early as 7:30am. I'm also worried about whether I'd have to do clinicals at distant locations as somebody metioned most sites are in VA. I haven't gotten a clear answer from the school if you can prioritize sites close to where you live.