TXGRRL

Hi NewsomeATX, Sorry I am just now replying - I didn't see your response until today. Yes I did find the info session informative. I can't recall if they talked about the profile of the students admitted. Since I am now postponing to the 2014 class (either here or Texas Tech), I am considering attending another info session to learn if there are any changes. It only takes a couple of hours of time and is worth it considering how much time and money we will spend on nursing school :-) Good luck!

Hi Mamatara, I'm not a nurse yet - just a student, but have the same vision for using music to help patients as well. I worked as a tech/nursing aide on a smaller ICU unit and we had small "boomboxes" in each room. Each player was about 12 inches long by 6 inches wide and 6 inches high - small enough to fit on a shelf near an electrical outlet. They each had a CD player and radio. We kept the CDs (donated as copies by the nursing staff) up at the nursing station. This hospital was a not-for-profit and older - so it did not have ipods connectivity in the rooms. One advantage to these portable CD players is that due to their size they aren't easy as an iPod for patients/families/staff to take home. So depending on how many rooms you want to put music in - this might work as an inexpensive alternative. Another idea, not sure if it will pan out: 1. Contact a music shop that installs home systems and get a short course on the options for homes - they might have options for corporate buildings as well. 2. Find an aspiring grant write who would write a free grant proposal for me (they would also identify potential donors as part of the grant writing process :-) to purchase and install the equipment. Good luck!

Hi aldrummond, Sorry my comment wasn't clear on the pre-reqs. What I meant was that your pre-reqs did not have to be completed within a certain number of years before your application. For example, there are some schools that require your physiology or other classes be completed within the last 5 or 6 (or other number) years - and they will require that you retake the class(es) regardless of the grade you made, to comply with the time requirement. The ABSN program at A&M does not have this restriction. However, I think the ACC ADN and maybe the UT program still have those types of restrictions on prereqs - but would need to confirm. Like you - I considered the Tech program - it is definitely shorter. I have a friend who completed the Tech program 2 years ago and she loved it. But I think I'd rather do the classroom version even if it takes longer so I'm leaning towards A&M. There's also an Alternate Entry Master's Nursing Program at U.T. Austin that is supposed to be great - I've met some students in that program and they loved it - they get their RN at the end of the 1st year and then continue their MSN studies for 2 more years. There's even an NP option as part of the program - but only an NP for mental health - you can't get a family or other type of NP in this program. Regardless - lots of options for us nurse wannabees :-) I think the ABSN A&M application period for the Jan 2013 start is open now - check their website, it's very informative. (I'm not applying until next year, for the 2014 class) Whichever program you choose - good luck to you! Let me know if you have any more questions - be happy to help.

I attended the info session for the 2nd degree BSN at the Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMU HSC) Round Rock campus today. A few stats to share with the community, followed by one question at the end: This program is "on-land", you attend class (usually Mon, Tue, Wed from 8 to about 4) and clinicals are usually Thu & Fri from around 7 to 2 but can sometimes be on the weekend. I ask for the total number of clinical hours but they didn't have that number. The classes include video-conferencing at the campus but there's always an instructor in the classroom It is 15 months long (Jan to May) Their clinical space includes Scott & White Round Rock, Seton Williamson in Round Rock, St. David's Round Rock Medical Center, and a hospital in Georgetown. Tuition is $18,000 - not including books, uniforms, etc. You have to have a laptop, but you don't have to buy theirs. I think they are accepting 20 students in Jan 2013 in Round Rock. They can get 200 - 250 apps. I can't remember how many students they are accepting in College Station There is no time limit on your pre-reqs You don't take the TEAS V, but you do take the HESI A2 to apply You don't have to have your CNA You don't have to take pathophysiology as a pre-req, it's part of the curriculum Their app period is May 1 - Aug 1 Their NCLEX pass rate this year was 100%, last year was also 100% although on person had to do a retake to pass. They really emphasized community involvement and previous healthcare experience/work/volunteer as important Sounds like a really good program, but after much searching on the site, I've only found a couple of comments - which sounded unfavorable - posted in 2010. My main concern is the comment that there wasn't enough clinical space for you to finish in 15 months. Is there anyone who is/was in the program in 2011/2012 who can comment on whether the 15 months is realistic? Thanks!

I am in nursing school pursuing my ADN - love it - we started clinicals very early and the program has been around for a long time so we have great connections with the local hospitals. I have a previous bachelors degree in liberal arts but I chose the ADN for the reasons posted by "craigRNsince1986". I will be able to get an online BSN (RN-to-BSN) in a year or less after getting my ADN, while working as an RN. I didn't read all of the responses so you may have already heard this, but there are a couple of RN-BSN programs in Texas that cost less than $7000 (UT Arlington, Texas Tech). You may be able to get tuition assistance to pay for most of an RN-to-BSN while working as an RN (hospitals in my town provide this benefit). Here's the math: My ADN tuition is about $2500 - $3000 for the entire 2 years, add that to the RN-BSN cost ( Also - the hospital where I work as a tech (very large hospital network) in Texas just hired 3 new grads in my area (critical) care. Two of them are ADNs and one is a BSN - so yes they still hire ADNs. We are being told that they want us to have plans (as in a projected date) to finish our BSN when hired as an ADN - but that we don't need to have a BSN or even be working on it yet to get hired. Good luck!

I work as a tech at a hospital here in town - many of the nurses I work with have their ADN, but not their BSN. This includes nurses in ICU, Intermediate Care and ED, as well as medsurg. In addition I know nurses at 3 other hospitals in town that do bedside nursing and are ADNs. You don't need a BSN to do bedside nursing. The nurses tell me that starting out as a new RN, an ADN gets the same pay as a BSN. I'm in the ACC nursing program and love it. Although ACC does have a great reputation for graduating nurses with strong clinical skills, I don't think you can go wrong with any nursing program here in Austin - whether it's ACC, UT, or TX State - or whether you go for ADN or BSN.

MDG5 - I am a nursing student so don't yet know enough to help you on your question. But I know that MIT has free open courseware available on the internet and one of the courses has to do with healthcare technology for developing countries - it looks fascinating and it might have some resources that could help you. Here's the link to this class: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/health-sciences-and-technology/hst-939-designing-and-sustaining-technology-innovation-for-global-health-practice-spring-2008/ It looks like the class consists of several lectures (mostly pdf format) - which I'd love to read if I can find the time someday between nursing school and working as a clinical assistant. If the link doesn't work, you can find it by googling on "MIT Open Courseware", then look under the "Health Sciences and Technology" course list for a course called " Designing and Sustaining Technology Innovation for Global Health Practice". You'll know you're there when you see the picture of the bicycle ambulance :-) Good luck!

Ditto - the math is much easier on HESI - if you study the guide you will do fine. A couple of notes - on my HESI exam there were a lot of questions using Roman numerals - I was surprised how many! The questions weren't difficult - but it did seem that the test covered every single Roman numeral in my HESI guide. So be sure to study these carefully. And the other surprising item on the test which was not covered in my older HESI guide was the 24 hour time clock which is used in hospitals and by military (example: 6:00 p.m. = 1800 hours). Fortunately I was familiar with this already. Good Luck!

A $1000 fee is excessive, especially for a 4 day class, that's $250/day. We have a full-semester long phlebotomy class at my local community college and it cost less than $300 - this class meets two days a week for 2.5 months plus places students in a 3 week long clinical environment to practice. I recognize you may not have this option available where you live - but I think the class being offered for $1000 price is really taking advantage of you (shame on them!). At $10/hour you would have to work >100 hours to pay for the class that will give you the same skills you'll get in a nursing program. I'm in a nursing program also right now (Associates Degree for my RN) and I also work as a tech for a hospital (combo ICU/IMC unit). The pay is low, like yours, but I love the work! I look at it as paying our dues and getting a leg up over those students who finish their nursing degree with no healthcare experience outside of school. It's tough - we don't have much money - but I live in a city full of high-tech workers I know who have been laid off and have no job at all - at least I have a job and am getting a skill that will serve me well and allow me to do what I love. You are getting a lot of valuable experience right now - hang in there - just be the best CNA you can be - the time in school will fly by and soon you'll be making better money!!

Thanks vjune - I found the class and am also signed up - thanks for the tip! Looking forward to meeting you at class.

CPR Renewal Question - I have to renew my BLS CPR cert for school (it expires in Sept) and noticed that a couple of the providers listed by the ACC ADN site provide online renewal for the test with an in-person skills test required. Wondering if anyone else has ever tried the online renewals and what you thought? Would I be wiser to just go ahead and do the in-class renewal (my current cert is almost 2 years old - not sure how much has changed). Also does anyone recommend any particular provider from the ACC list for CPR cert or recert? Thanks!

I got hybrid too. Email said our orientation will be at the new RR campus (that's awesome!) Looking forward to meeting Purkinje and GeekGirl and everyone else who will be in my hybrid class. Congratulations to all of you starting this journey - the next two years will be amazing, I'm sure.

I haven't heard yet either - just checked my email again. My "provisional" email acceptance letter also said "after" June 4th - so maybe we'll all hear on Monday.

Speaking for myself - I never expected this thread to be 100% accurate - I expected it to be a forum for all of us "wannabe" nurses to share our fears, expectations, experiences, and anything else - including what we've heard "on the grapevine". I have found this thread to be just that - and I appreciate all of the people who have taken time to share - whether they were accurate or not - they shared - what they felt, thought, and heard - and I value their willingness to share. So thank you all for sharing so willingly :-)

Just wanted to share my application experience to ease everyone's worries. Last year I applied for Spring 2010 class. I received my ranking sheet in July of 2009 but did not receive my official admission letter until November 2009 - for the class that started January 2010. So you can see that there is typically a long time between the ranking letters and the official admission letter - and that the admission was pretty close to the class start date - just a coupla months! I had to defer to save money (been doing the high-tech gig and although it has put me behind a semester from starting - it will make the difference in staying in school) - while all my Nsg Skills buddies went on to start in Jan this year. But I'm looking forward to meeting a bunch of new nurses-to-be in the Fall 2010 class (hey - think optimistically :-)