Vivi

Hi Jenny, Congratulations! I graduated in 07. My clinical rotations were at: -the VA in SF 1st semester -UCSF med-surg -CPMC in SF maternity and pediatrics -Mills-Peninsula in Burlingame, and Rypins house with the Progress Foundation for mental health -Kaiser in Oakland for sr preceptorship in med/surg Others went to Laguna Honda and Seton (reported they did not like); SFGH, Kaiser San Francisco, John Muir I think, children's hospital in Oakland, and ? ... You just need to make sure to register quickly on the computer as soon as U can do so to choose the clinical instructors u're interested in following. If the system is still the same, u may need to as to the coordinator where those instructors teach. Recommendations: study from a drugs calculation textbook well in advance --give yourself a good month, because u will have tests right off the bat as soon as u start the semester. I think those who did not pass the 1st time could retake it, but only once. A few students had to leave the program because they had not well prepared for it. Before U start your clinicals, u may want to purchase a nursing software on ur phone device. I used Nursing Central from unboundmedicine.com and Psychiatric nursing constellation from skyscape.com. I liked all my clinical rotations. All the best to you!!!

31 y old is still very young. My advice, is to be patient, and rejoice for the other people, who got in, even if you feel it should have been you instead. No need to feel bad about yourself or others. What counts is the present, not the past. Take everything as a blessing in disguise, and that's what it will turn out to be. I think it would have helped me to start as an LVN or a CNA first, rather than directly as an RN where you have to apply critical thinking while jumping into various clinical procedures, etc... I could be wrong, but I think it may be easier also to find a job as an LVN, especially in psych for instance, rather than as an RN? You also have an opportunity to learn more gradually. As a CNA, you learn to do a lot of basic needed procedures, which are not necessarily obvious when you start as an RN. You get an opportunity to learn from other RNs onsite, experience relating with patients, make work connections, see how a unit atmosphere is, and it also looks good on your application later on to get accepted as an nursing student. You may want to take a class in Spanish. If you're bilingual, it usually improves your chances of being accepted. Relax and visualize yourself smiling and holding a letter of acceptance from a school that you like.

Is nursing possibly in your heart? When there's a will, there's a way. It's not because of repeated setbacks that it means that you're not going to succeed. If I were you: - I'd sign up for that A/P lab class again during the next semester. - you may also want to expand/stretch your searches of nursing schools, and apply to as many as you can. If you have a bachelor degree in something else, you may want to study for a master degree instead and become an NP or clinical nurse specialist --if that possibly interests you. Keep the faith, All the Best

Thank you so much you all for your supportive messages!!! I really appreciate it!!! I feel I will be happy working in maternity or pediatrics after reading your messages. 46 years old is not too old to study pre-nursing. I had seen another thread in this forum from nursing students, who were also wondering if it was not too late, and there were a lot of positive responses from nurses, who started their studies also late as a second career. It seems to be more and more common. There is a student, who is in her fifties in my class and she is doing remarkably well, better than most students; there are also several other students in their forties as well in my class, although the majority of students are in their twenties. The age difference has not been a problem for me. I actually don't think I could have studied as well in my twenties. My friends in the nursing school are from all different age ranges. I must say the nursing studies (as well as the prerequisites) have been more challenging than I had expected. If you can find the time and energy to study on a regular basis while allowing some rest, you will be fine; it is feasible! Some students have been working while studying. A friend of mine in her early forties has been working on 3 different kinds of jobs while studying. Some students also have kids to take care of at home. All the best to you!!! :yelclap:

Hi, I'm 48 and a nursing student and wonder if I should work in maternity, or pediatrics after I graduate despite what I experienced, or in mental health. I decided to go to college 5 years ago to take my mind off and explore another career option. I had moved to the West coast to live with my husband; I had become unemployed (was an office manager before), and experienced a 3rd failed pregnancy 3 days prior to starting college from scratch for the first time. I had an abortion at age 21 (my companion was on drugs and alcohol and I followed my parents advice); I had a miscarriage on my 2nd pregnancy at age 42, and a terminated pregnancy at age 43 because the fetus had down syndrome. After much hesitancy, seeing a career advisor in college, and almost opting to become a psychologist, I decided to study prerequisites for nursing, and then nursing partly because a classmate I liked chose nursing as her major and an instructor had told me that there were more psychologists than clients out there. I am now in my 3rd semester of nursing studies. I did not like my med/surg clinicals too much last semester; my instructor was unpleasant particularly with me because I lacked confidence and was fatigued with the prelabs/care plans and studying pathophysiology, med/surg, pharmacology, technical skills all at the same time while doing the clinicals. I'm going to start my maternity and pediatrics clinicals this semester, and I think I may enjoy these more than med/surg; unless working in psychiatry would be better. Anyway, it was of course frustrating and sad not to be able to give birth and have children in the past, and I've often felt envy seeing other pregnant women while being happy for them or at least not jealous. I must say that I am quite happy most of the time anyway, and feel very fortunate with my husband. We do not miss really not having children because we enjoy each other's company already so much, but it would probably have been nice to have kids. I did have some ambivalent feelings prior to my pregnancies as to whether I would feel overwhelmed taking care of children all the time at home. My husband and I may or may not decide to adopt after nursing school although it may be late in the game, etc. I just attended a childbirth workshop with couples and I felt some envy, but also some relief that I woud not have to experience pain and give birth; and some joy for them. I was very interested and moved by the topic of childbirth, and I feel it may be a good area for me to work in possibly in the future. I am curious to know if there are any positive stories despite similar challenges as mine: if any women have been able to enjoy working in maternity or pediatrics even though being pregnant and giving birth has not been an option for them? Thanks in advance! ---- Place your burden at the feet of the Lord of the Universewho accomplishes everything.Remain all the time steadfast in the heart, in the Transcendental Absolute.God knows the past, present and future.He will determine the future for youand accomplish the work.What is to be done will be doneat the proper time. Don't worry.Abide in the heart and surrender your actsto the divine. -- krishna das

Thank you so much for all this great info!!! :thankya: I may get the treo or tungsten; they both look very good!

I'm a 2nd semester nursing student; I have a Microsoft Windows PC, and I am thinking of purchasing a PDA to help me later in my career as a RN (I don't know what specialty yet). -What are you favorite PDAs? Can you add a memory stick to it, or do they have a large memory capacity? -I'm also wondering whether to get one, which can also be used as a cell phone as well. I suppose cell phones cannot be used in hospitals because they may interfere with the equipment? Is that the case? -can you listen to MP3 music (in particular from Yahoo Music Engine) on your PDA? (not in the hospital of course) -also, what programs do you recommend? Thank you all very much in advance!

Hi Jackie, I chose the SFSU nursing program because SFSU accepted me before CSU Hayward did, who put me on a waiting list. They told me that I was the next one to be accepted when I told them I was going to attend nursing training somewhere else. What I like about SFSU is that it is on a semester basis, so you get a long summer break and more time to study the textbooks I think. Last semester, I was in the group that studies only two nursing classes: Nursing Processes and Healthy Aging; my other classes were an Enlgish 214 composition class with James Boyd, and two general education classes (Meditation, Imagery in Healing with Adam Burke, and Perspectives in Chinese Medicine with Briahn Kelly-Brennan). I liked all my classes, except a theory class covering nursing history etc. I liked one of my two nursing theories classes better than the other one. The other group studied Health Assessment, and some other nursing classes and started their clinicals last semester, which is what I am going to do next semester. Most people seem to be happy with the program. One woman I know was shocked at how miserable were elderly patients were in a East Bay Kaiser hospital. Many others liked their clinical experience. Most people's grades went down the hill in the nursing program, but had high GPAs before being admitted. Most people I know seemed to have worked in the field or volunteered and have multicultural experience. I am bilingual and have multicultural work experience outside of healthcare though. My GPA was high. CSU Hayward requires a NLN pre-entrance exam, which I found very hard. I got a high score on the science part, but got low scores in English (although I got As in my English classes) and math because there was not enough time to answer the questions. Nevertheless, I was put on a waiting list, and was going to be accepted when I decided to study at SFSU. I think CSU Hayward has also a good nursing program, but it is on a quaterly basis, so I guess you have to read your textbooks faster, and have shorter breaks between quarters. If you're not bilingual, don't have a high GPA and multiculral experience, you may want to you may want to volunteer somewhere, e.g. the "free clinic" in Berkeley, Alta Bates, etc. to increase your chances of being admitted. I am not sure what your friends mean by "it is really difficult to get classes". Do they mean to get general education or English classes outside the nursing program, or to choose the instructor they prefer for their clinical experiences? Once you're in the nursing program, you can attend the nursing classes. I heard that some people will have to repeat their classes or drop because of their low scores last semester. The official requirement to get in the nursing program is not officially 3.5 GPA (I know a nursing assistant who got in with a 3.45 GPA), but there were so many candidates over 600 I heard last semester that they took the better scores of course. I heard that a few people they had not accepted previously, who did not reapply were contacted and accepted last semester. Overall the faculty and director look good at SFSU. For more info go to: http://nursing.sfsu.edu/ ; they have information meetings. I wish you the best, Vivi

Hi, I am trying to reorganize my papers, before I start school tomorrow, and found an e-mail about www.iefa.org You may want to look in there. It seems to be for foreign students who want to study in the US. Also, look into www.discovernursing.com and www.rn.ca.gov if there's any info for you in one of these websites. Least expensive courses are in community colleges for associate degree programs; but I don't know how it works for non-residents. For scholarships, you generally have to be a permanent resident or a citizen I think, but there may be something else for foreigners too? It may be feasible to get a loan to study for your BSN, and to reimburse after you finish your studies; or better have the employer cover part or the entirety of the loan when you're hired as an RN. Working while studying for the BSN should be challenging, but may be OK, I don't know. I know there is something going on to bring foreign students to study nursing here in the States, but can't remember what the web site was. Bringing yourself and your family to live here would require adaptation among other things. A lot of people do not adapt that easily. I was lucky to travel all the time as a young age, but I still had an adaptation period of 2 years after I came to the States. I've met a lot of foreigners, who said they did not really like it here, but some do. I think that it's harder for adults to get used to a different culture than their own. I guess it depends on individuals. Take care Vivi

Thanks, that's interesting! Anyone knows why so many nurses have quit their jobs in nursing homes?

the next rn adn program that starts the soonest for which you could apply is at the city college in san francisco. www.ccsf.edu/ you have to go there on the first day that you are allowed to apply (sometimes in august) - you could go now and get all the info. their 2 year program starts in january 2005. you most likely won't be able to get any info by phone or to register for nursing by mail either. for other adn programs, i heard that college of marin is good www.marin.cc.ca.us/ , as well as chabot college in hayward chabotweb.clpccd.cc.ca.us/ chabot does a lottery however to select qualified applicants, and they rejected me, because i was not a in-district resident (i think they made a mistake); but they accepted someone else who leaves in alameda. and contra costa college in san pablo www.contracosta.cc.ca.us from all the things i heard, and their results at the nclex exams, i do not recommend merritt college in oakland (not to confuse with samuel merritt in oakland, which is a good program). these may not be the fastest program in your situation, because you say you're already an lpn; so i don't know what programs are available in your situation. i believe that for bachelor degrees in nursing, there are faster programs for lpn, so it may be worth it to apply to bachelor programs. samuel merritt in oakland www.samuelmerritt.edu may still accept applications for the fall 2004, and may have a special program for lpn, i don't know. samuel merritt is associated with holy names college in oakland, or st mary's college in moraga where you'd have to take some general education classes (you don't have to be catholic.) they're expensive, but good, and i heard that several employers, incl. kaiser and a hospital with a catholic name (catholic west or something like that) offer to reimburse education loans when they hire. you may also want to check what kind of programs ucsf in san francisco has for lpns at nurseweb.ucsf.edu they're also expensive, but apparently very good. the other bachelor in nursing programs that i know are at san francisco state university, where i have been accepted. www.sfsu.edu and csu hayward www.csuhayward.edu (there is a pre-entrance nln exam to take). when you apply, make sure to fill out two applications one for the school, and one for the nursing program. if anyone studied nursing at hayward university or san francisco state university, i'd be interested to know if they liked it or not, and why. for more info on nursing programs in california, you can go to: http://www.rn.ca.gov/nursing/nursing.htm

did anyone of you study or know someone who studied or is studying at either san francisco state university or cal-state hayward university? i was accepted to study for the rn bsn program at sfsu and there's a chance i may be accepted at csu hayward also to transfer in the fall 2004. if that happened, i'd like to make the best decision. the only reasons that i am considering csu hayward as an alternative are because it's close to where i live; i saw that the results at the nclex exams seem to be better http://www.rn.ca.gov/passrates/passrates.htm ; and a counselor at merritt college told me that she had a few students, who tried to apply to merritt college adn program, and who had been studying nursing at sfsu. she said those students said there were too stressed out at sfsu and that the atmosphere was too competitive and too intense. can you please tell me: - what your experience has been so far. - if the hospitals you study at, are easily accessible by bart; or if driving is necessary. - if you like the instructors or not. - if you have any recommendations on the upper division general education classes and on which instructors to pick at either university. - if you were in my case (transferring for a bsn) and you were admitted at both csu hayward and sfsu, which one would you choose now that you know how either sfsu or csu hayward program is. - anything else you think i should know. i may not be admitted at csu hayward, in which case i'd definitely go to sfsu. thank you!

Hey Ryan, Yeah, I'm happy. An MBA, that's pretty good! If I had one, I think I would go for the nurse practitioner program directly, which is two years like the ADN program. Because you already have a masters degree, I am afraid that SFSU or CAL-State Hayward (?) would not let you apply for another masters degree in nursing. You could always ask if you thought that was a good idea for you. You could apply to Samuel Merritt though. They are expensive, but I was told they're a very good school, and Kaiser and West Catholic Hospital (I'm not sure what the name is) would reimburse students for their loans. If you're unsure, you could apply for both ADN and Master programs (have you thought of physician's assistant at Stanford/Foothill college, and Samuel Merritt). It's also a 2 years program. I forgot to mention in my previous e-mail that Chabot college (ADN program) selects students through a lottery at the end of April (need to apply in January). All the best to you in your endeavors!:balloons: Sylvie

Hi Lizz and "turbohound"! Thanks for your messages. You mention Ohlone college, which I visited. It's a beautiful campus, but a little far away for me. I don't know Modesto. Chabot college I heard is a very good college. I don't know what the wages are like unfortunately, but you may want to post a new thread asking that question. I've just been admitted to San Francisco State University, so I've decided that's where I'm going to go. I'm excited! I was not sure whether to get a BSN or an ADN, because I'm already 46; but I think SFSU is a very attractive place, although a little far away. CAL-State Hayward is closer to my home, but they're only going to give their answers in mid-June or July, and students at my colleges (Peralta) mentioned that SFSU is a very neat place and that this is what I should choose. I was thinking earlier that CAL-State Hayward might be better, because they have a higher passing rate at the NCLEX exam, but someone told me that the reason is that they require their students to have an exam at their university first, before trying the Board State exam. I think CAL-State Hayward is a very good university nevertheless. Contra Costa College seems to be pretty high on the list of success at NCLEX exam too. They did not admit me, because they had some prerequisites I did not meet like two courses in physical education and child development. I was admitted at Merritt college, but heard that their present ADN program is too tough. A student told me that only 17 students are now left in the second year of their ADN program. Thanks for responding Sylvie

Could you please let me know what are your recommendations or advices about one or all of the following registered nursing programs in the East Bay area. Which one do you think is best? Should I go for an associate degree in nursing (I'm going to get my associate degree in science this semester), or for a bachelor degree? - Merritt College in Oakland, - Hayward university, (and took their pre-entrance NLN exam). - San Francisco State university. - Chabot college in Hayward. - Contra Costa college in San Pablo. - Samuel Merritt in Oakland Thanks!