gwlarson

I graduated from SB in Feb of '11..took boards in May of '11..first time go with 75 questions on NCLEX. Both SB and Concorde are more expensive than FSC etc..but they lack alot of the snobbish pretense when it comes to getting enrolled. However....any program that is recognized by the Florida Board of Nursing still requires the student to put forth the effort to learn the material. In this day of the 'gimme', I saw many students that really didn't put forth the effort at SB and I am pretty certain that the other schools have similar students. Just do the work and study hard...SB also uses API to help students bone up for NCLEX..it is a great program, and really does help. Remember the pass/fail rates shown on NCLEX report from the state are not really all that accurate...schools use programs like API *(and others) to weed out those students that probably wouldn't pass NCLEX, so those students don't get the green light to sit for boards....so the total number of students sitting for boards is usually less than the number of students who complete the Nursing programs..so not really an accurate picture of the 'success rate' of any school....I realize that someone will probably say otherwise, but then it is what it is.

48YO Male Grad Nurse here! Army Veteran too! Working on NCLEX prep!

Here's another...well couple at least...Conservative and fellow Vet.. Welcome aboard. Just finished my last night of Precept last night...hitting the NCLEX prep hard now...Testing in Feb!

Am in the second SBI RN class...the information you get from the recruiters is often not quite accurate. Best thing is to talk to some of the current students..look for the white scrubs... Yes, there was a removal of some of the 'higher ups' at SBI. Not really clear as to why this happened, but, best guess, is the news stories in print about For-Profit schools. Interestingly enough, the stories seem to stem from actions made by a Not-For-Profit school here in Jax..i.e. FSCJ. I will say this about a couple of the other schools here in Jax.. Concorde...well...apparently the State of Georgia does not recognize the accreditation Concorde has...so could create some problems with Georgia students.. FSCJ...while the program may be cheaper..just TRY to get anyone, ANYONE...at that program to return a phone call...and the catch 22 with that is..if you can't get in touch with someone on the phone, showing up 'without an appointment' won't get you very far either...lol Bottom line is simply this...all of the RN programs here in Jax are recognized by the Florida Board of Nursing....so regardless of where you go, as of right now, you get to sit for NCLEX....and that is pretty much the most important part of it all.... One school may say it's program is better...but in the end, all the GN's from all the schools all sit the SAME NCLEX..

Going with a variation of the school's nursing uniforms....white shirt, white school-provided nursing coat..a blue pants...our clinical (and classroom) uniform is white scrub top on navy blue pants..so a variation of that works for me..they want something different, they can pay for it..lol

Cool..thanks for the tip..that is exactly what the women in the class have 'chosen' for me to wear...lol..now just have to get them all to agree on what they will be wearing..they have yet to agree on the female attire..

Here is a website that goes thru the Florida schools, giving information on accreditation... Thought it might be helpful.. SearchCriteria

Well...my two cents.... In a lot of communities, there are numerous nursing programs. With this comes a lot of students needing clinical sites. Sure, we all have our wants, but in the end it boils down to more students than available slots on clinical sites. In my case, there are around a dozen hospitals in our community. Some of these do not participate in being avaliable for clinical site teaching, some do. There are also about 8 accredited nursing schools in the community. This creates the problem of more students than clinical slots. So, someone will not get the site they want. My program is one of the newer programs in the area, and have had to take what we can get, but that is changing. This change is due to students from other schools not actively participating in the clinical teaching in a positive manner, meaning some students have preferred to stand around and not jump in to help (and in the process, LEARN). There was even an instance when I was assigned to work the ICU at our site, and assigned to a nurse that was coming on shift. With me standing there, she stated she doesn't 'do' students. After an awkward silence, she looked at me and asked "what school"...I told her and she said "Cool...I will work with students from your school" and the shift went great. I learned and enjoyed it alot. I did ask her about her reasoning, and was told that she had a bad experience with a student from another school. She explained that she needed the student to assist her in positioning a patient, only to be told by the student that he/she didn't have time since it was time to go to lunch. This would have soured my opinion of that school. With Preceptorship coming up, it is looking like my school is getting a larger share of the slots than the school Mr/Ms Lunchtime attends. Too bad for them.... Moral of the story: Your actions and willingness to step up and help on clinical sites IS noticed. It will also have an effect on the availability of clinical sites for you and your classmates.

Hey Folks.. Am in the 1st Night Class at SBI...we graduate in Feb 2011. Looking forward to it. I will say this, you guys/gals in the classes after ours will have a more smooth experience. New Programs have growing pains, and the is always the 'learning curve'. When considering any RN program, you, the prospective student, must do your homework. Look at the Florida Department of Health for the pass/fail rates on the RN-NCLEX. That is a good place to start. There has been alot of talk about Not-For-Profit schools vs For-Profit schools. There will always be this give and take over which is better. Personally, I wanted to check out the FSCJ program, but was NEVER able to get anyone to answer any of my questions, let alone return an email or phone call. I chose SBI over the other For-Profit schools here in Jax because I wanted to get my RN schooling DONE and with a schedule that would allow me to continue to hold a job. Face it, a man's gotta eat! LOL But going back to the pass/fail rates, the statistics on this report are a guide only. Both types of schools decide who gets approved to sit for the RN-NCLEX. Meaning, if you see a school that boasts about a large RN program be sure to ask about the number of students in the program, and the number of students who successfully complete it. Keep this in mind, as the number of pass/fails a school has is a snapshot of the number of students who are 'cleared' to sit for boards. In other words, if a program boasts that 100 students successfully complete the program, take that number (100) and compare it to the pass/fail report. If there are 30 pass and 10 fails, then this only accounts for 40 of the 100 students successfully completing the program. Not very good odds in my opinion. Anyway, from my prospective, if you, the student, think you are going to coast thru an RN program and be able to pass the RN-NCLEX, then you might ought to save your money and not even apply. Any RN Program requires the student to put forth the effort. Bottom line, you WILL need to study! Good Luck with the Program! GW

Grats to you Marine! OOORAAAH

Well...the end of the program is nearing pretty quickly. Am the only male in a class of 24 students. We are going to have a pinning ceremony, and the idea is to do it with class. We have been talking in class about what to wear. The women are going with old-school nursing attire, dress and nursing cap. But..being the only guy, am at a loss of what I am supposed to wear. Am thinking the old 'orderly' style white shirt and pants thing, but not having much luck finding it.... Any ideas? Thanks! Glenn

LPN's are great..but aren't they getting phased out here in Florida??

I can totally understand what you're going through. Was in a very similar situation last year. I had decided to go back to school for my RN. Looked at the schools in my area (Metro Detroit) and got started on the pre-reqs. Sure, I understood that it would take a while, due to the limited number of slots vs the number of applicants. I made a last minute decision to head back to Florida. Glad to be out of the cold...lol When I got here (Jacksonville) looked around and found several nursing programs. FSCJ, JU UNF, etc as well as some Career Colleges. Found that the programs at the 'normal' colleges are like those everywhere else...take the pre-reqs..THEN apply...THEN wait to see if you get one of the limited slots. I checked out the Career Colleges, same degree, same eligibility to sit for NCLEX, with the difference being cost, 'stigma' of not going to a 'normal' college, and NOT having to wait 2-4 years to get into a program... Moved down here in May/June of 09, started nursing school in July 09 and graduate Jan/Feb 10. I'll sit NCLEX in Feb 10. Sure the program price tag seemed high, but it included all classes, uniforms, books, online study materials (ATI Testing) etc..so when one looks at the cost of a career college vs a 'normal' college, the costs are actually fairly close, especially when on considers getting in and done in under 2 years...Isn't the whole point of going to school for nursing to get in, get through it, get the degree and sit for NCLEX quick so you can join the workforce?? My advice is to look at ALL the programs available in the area, and visit the campuses. Check out the NCLEX pass rates on the State website...you will often be surprised that the 'normal' colleges' pass rates are lower than some of the career colleges'. Sure, some student nurses may look down on you for opting to go to a career college, but..in the end, an ASN-RN from a career college vs a 'normal' college will start out making about the same anyway... Just my two cents....

Nursstud.. I am not a premium user....starving student and all..lol..but.. see if you can email me at g.larson8 at my (dot) sb-jacksonville (dot) com. I would be glad to show you around the facility and answer any questions about the program. I grad in Jan/Feb of 11, and just started my OB rotation. As a male in a predominately female field, I think the OB rotation, while interesting, will be spent more in the study room than in the patients room..lol Anyway, get in touch with me at the address above...I cannot respond to private msgs here... Oh...and FYI...SB offers both day and evening classes..Mon-Thurs Glenn:up:

Well...Good Luck to you! Hope you do well in the course..I am loving it!