Gregorach

I know this is pretty belated, but I feel Chenoaspirit hit the nail on the head! This is just a virtual link between REAL people. Awesome ideas! When do we get to see the new commercial? Any production timeframes/estimates? Best wishes making the new advert!

I definitely agree the voice on the old commercial wasn't effective. It sounds too flat. Get a soothing voice that conveys passion for nursing but also compassion and empathy. In a female-dominated field, why not have a woman provide the voice? But it should be engaging, not so infomercial-ish. I felt like I was in an elevator listening to it... or at the grocery store at 2am or something. I'm a student but have friends, acquaintances, and some family in nursing, and the ones that visit allnurses.com use it for peer support, professional advice, and lately, job networking. I'd also sell it on the students; if you get the nursing student to use it, and they find it valuable, they'll continue to use the site during their career. With thousands of new nursing students starting school every year, you could market it to veteran nurses, new nurses, as well as nurses-to-be, who will find it an invaluable tool for information, perspective, support, and networking. And definitely show more than just the website forum links; perhaps intersperse images of nurses (standing there with the steth over the neck, arms folded, smiling in slo-mo like the hospital commercials do; doing patient care, and maybe have 2 collaborating over a chart to stress the networking aspects?), maybe fade out with a couple nurses walking down the hall with an arm over each other's shoulder, alluding to real, tangible support that one could find on the website? Just n00b ideas!

Hi MyTwoGirls2010, I'll be in the lab around 09:30, after turning in my weekly clinical paperwork and returning the wheelbarrow I used to deliver it back to the shed. Just kidding, it's not that bad, and you get a bit more used to the paperwork, and better at it, as time goes on. I'll see you Friday! Gregory

For Collin Applicants or anyone considering Collin for an ADN, here is a reply to my inquiry about our accreditation status. The original email was: >>>>Dear NLN, Thank you for promoting high standards and excellence in nursing! I have a quick quick question that hopefully can be answered without too much investment on your part. Per your website, Collin College, formerly Collin County Community College, is accredited and has been since 1993. Has the school ever been on probation or had it's accreditation suspended? Please let me know. Thank you in advance for the time and effort! Sincerely, Gregory The reply from the NLN Accreditation Committee was thus: >>>>NLNAC is unable to provide the information you are seeking. Since NLNAC neither "suspends" nor puts programs on "probation" you will need to contact the program directly or their current accrediting agency. NLNAC can provide you information on whether the Collin College was NLNAC accredited in a specific year and you can search our website at www.nlnac.org under NLNAC Accredited Nursing Programs to find out if the program is currently NLNAC accredited. JG [privacy respected, name withheld] Administrative Assistant to the Office of the CEO Collin College's accreditation status is already provided above. This is the last I have to say to defend the program and the professors I've come to know thus far, at this time. *group hug* Let's move on, in a positive, productive manner. CONGRATULATIONS LGrotjan!!!! I'll be there Friday, feel free to stop by and see the lab if you have the time. We have an awesome new birthing mannequin in our sim lab. I'll be in the hospital lab or across the hall doing laundry. If only that glass slipper had fit.... Gregory

I agree with Kaybee24, the local county health dept. is great for this. Depending on where you are, I had better luck getting all my shots in one visit. Well, you get series, but they had them all onhand, just had to wait in a longish line. The shots are pretty inexpensive, I think my 1st series was around $180, and that was the front-heavy 1st series plus TB screen. To get blood titers to see if you have the antibodies because you don't have your vaccination records, it's a lot more expensive. Even with most insurance, from what those that went that route tell me. Best of luck on your career aspirations!

Hey Collin Applicants, I apologize, in the pile of paperwork that you'll have to get used to (yeah, sadly we are all siblings in mountains of care plans, care maps, and other tools that are geared toward helping you think like a nurse), I posted a non-working link. If any considering Collin have any doubts about our accreditation status, follow this link http://www.nlnac.org/Forms/directory_search.htm and enter Collin County Community College. See you on campus or in the hospitals! Gregory

Christine, There isn't a program out there that's perfect. Including ours. It's not deplorable as you've suggested. I'm sure most if not all programs have quirks that make you cock your head like a puppy and wonder, "Why on earth..." I work in the lab to help my fellow and following students be more successful. I have a history of success in teaching others in a variety of theaters including IT, music, martial arts instruction, mentoring future nurses that were struggling through and failing out of A&P I & II... I decided to apply that penchant to benefit my program, my school, and the possibility that one of these students might be the first face I see upon waking in the hospital after something traumatic. I'm NOT all that, but one HELPS where one can, assuming you have the wiring. I don't NEED that job. My loyalty is not financially based. I don't OWE any college my welfare or wellbeing. And as an officer of my class/cycle, I challenge the status quo when appropriate and when it will benefit my friends and beloved classmates. Yeah, we all suffer through NSG school. Every one has its stories, many of which I'm sure are in common. I'm not biased because of where I work. I left a different job making more money to work in that lab doing what I do. I work there because even very good things can be made better. We're not above that by any means. What makes Collin a great program is a persistent, constant drive to improve the program and the breadth and depth of the students' education. You can rationalize why you didn't complete that program. Baseless accusations wherein you refuse to support your assertions with facts says a lot about one's character. I'm not attacking your character, you seem like a very nice and giving person. I'm calling you to task on the insistent negativity. I'm not engaging in character assasination, you're already doing that yourself. The statistics quoted are referenced in the links accompanying said statistics. Scroll up. Also, as previously stated, we were awarded 3rd in state not based solely on 1st-time NCLEX pass rate, but a function of that AND retention. That was also in my preceding post. As I do with anyone that likes to make unreasonable and spurious claims, please show me your source of information about the accreditation probation, from a reputable source. Otherwise, your assertions are groundless, something any aspirants to Collin or any of the other excellent N. Dallas (or N. TX, for that matter) colleges will realize. Please support your defamatory remarks, or better yet, promote the laudable parts of your almae matres and abstain from the petty and unprofessional bashing of one of the shining stars in the constellation of Texas NSG schools that insist upon the very best from, and for, their students, in the interest of improving this honorable profession.

hi there lgrotjan, as well as any others with collin college aspirations, my name is gregory and i work in our hospital lab at collin college. i'm by no means an official representative of the college, nor of the program, but please feel free to stop by and chat if you have any questions about the realities of our program. room #e316, its in the north wing of the school, opposite end from the elevators (also opposite end of the school from the nursing department, which you're probably familiar with if you took the psb at the central park campus in mckinney). as stated, i work in the lab, as a lab tech/assistant, mentoring lower-level students and occasionally peers on the 10 core nursing skills required to get your adn from collin college. i am finishing up my second semester in a matter of weeks. it is a very challenging program, but one that has rewards. there are a variety of reasons we succeed in the collin program, but none of them are because it's easy, and nobody is going to be easy on you. well, i will be, but i'm there to cement your core nursing skills, and give you a nudge in the right direction when you need one. we have very high standards and will not sacrifice them, in the interest of our future patients, our alumni, our program, or our professors. if you stop by you'll see that i'm far from sexy, blonde, young, extremely thin, or in any way resemble the protypical rn candidate/graduate. let me quote the aforementioned poster: "the director is a frightening little woman who will make your life hell if you aren't young and blond and preferably extremely thin. i have yet to meet anyone who likes her." well, we're all entitled to our opinions, aren't we? i find the administrators and in particular our director to be very sincere, pleasant, forthright and honest. the program is demanding, and unyielding in it's expectation of excellence. the program is founded on personal accountability, from the mandatory attendance requirement to the expectation that, like many other college classes, you know your material. attend lecture and pay attention. read the assigned material. there will be some overlap, yet neither alone is comprehensive. in my higher education experience, that has been consistent in every institution of quality education i've attended. please don't let the unprofessionalism of any pior students put you off. collin is an excellent program. we are in excellent company. any of the schools in the north dallas area will give you a quality education, i'm sure. here are some of our results, as we are taught to practice evidence based nursing, founded on evidence-based research: diploma programs - collin county community college 2009 97.22% (70/72) 2008 93.65% (59/63) 2007 98.28% (57/58) 2006 97.73% (43/44) 2005 85.42% (41/48) this data is taken from the texas board of nursing: http://www.bne.state.tx.us/nursingeducation/edudocs/rn-5yr-passrate.pdf let's compare our track records: excelsior college adn program, taken from: http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/nurse/nurseprogs-nclexrn2003-07.htm school name excelsior college 2007 85.4% - 1270/1487 2006 89.1% - 1424/1599 2005 90.3% - 1405/1556 2004 89.0% - 1184/1331 2003 89.9% - 1230/1368 ouch, in 2005 collin had a low showing like some online institutions. *tsk tsk* the percentage is the 1st-time pass rate on the nclex. what these tables don't show is how many are accepted and how many complete the program. collin college, last sept., was given a grant for being 3rd in a state with excellent schools, and that ranking was based on 1st-time pass of the nclex as well as retention. if we let any old chump in, we could have a high pass rate after separating the wheat from the chaff. we don't take chaff, only wheat. if you're wait-listed, that does not mean you're chaff. it means we have a nursing shortage because we have a nursing instructor shortage as well. the good new is, the state has mandated a significant increase in the number of acceptees in the *cough* accredited *cough* programs. collin accepts 48 each semester, but will soon be accepting 58. very soon. due to lack of quality classroom, skills, and clinical instructors, many schools and many states have to choose between quality and quantity. rest assured you'll be getting both when you attend collin. quality instruction for a larger group of nursing students than i saw when i lived in both atlanta and baltimore. we've also been invited to apply as a national league for nursing center for excellence in nursing education, which i am certain will follow in the immediate future. can the previous basher's alma mater claim the same? well? (insert excuses here) now, does that evidence really sound like the trash that the previous profuse poster was spouting? i'll make diligent inquiries into whether or not the program was on probation or almost lost it's accreditation. according to the nln, here's our status (that pesky evidence-based thing again, oh my!): accreditation status: year of initial accreditation: october 1993 continuing accreditation: last evaluation visit: october 2006 most recent action: july 2009 next evaluation visit: fall 2014 taken from: http://www.nlnac.org/forms/directorysearch.asp huh, oddly, we're up for review/evaluation, a standardly recurring event, in 2014, the same year the state legislature decides whether or not to continue reciprocal licensure for rns from other states that grant licenses to grads from programs that aren't up to the local snuff, such as online schools. i'd love to see some online nursing school grads try to pass skills scenarios in our hospital lab under the scrutiny of our challenging, yet fair and evidence-based instructors/assessors. i'll try to wrap this up so i can keep it professional and positive (as professional forums should be), a courtesy lost on a prior commentator. i chose collin over some big-name schools, including hopkins, u of maryland, baylor and twu. i have the academic record to get in. i had acceptance into a presitgious bachelor's to master's bridge nursing program contingent upon my performance upon the gre, but didn't want to get shot in baltimore so moved back home. local hiring managers/directors told me to consider collin based on their highly positive impressions of, and feedback from their staff relating to, collin alumni. why collect bachelor's degrees? collin provides an awesome foundation for a great nursing practice, then i can have a hospital pay for my msn bridge, my np, and whatever else i want to do in my career. you're lucky in that you have an awesome selection to choose from in the north dallas area for nursing schools. my mother went to brookhaven, el centro (yeah, we weren't easy to raise), and got her bsn from uta. between her and her friends, i've heard the good, the bad, and the ugly about most schools in the region, in addition to those from other states and even other countries (uk, australia, canada). i hope i can say "welcome to collin!" in person next semester, but no matter which program you end up attending, you won't go wrong attending any of the excellent and challenging schools in the area. best wishes and good luck! gregory