jjohncar

Correction I her name is *****

The instructors seem much more lenient in the Fall. You will have much more time off in the Fall as well so you will have more time to study for your exams. Just to backtrack a little you will have an online class between spring and summer, but it's easy and only two weeks long- your break between those semesters is also two weeks long. One bonus of the OU program is that you have the opportunity to be ACLS certified during your critical care rotation. You will have the option of choosing ICU, OR, ER, or cardiac step down for your critical care rotation. I enjoyed my time in ICU and the mental health rotation was a nice break from hospital nursing. You will also attend an osna convention in Norman, which is a lot of fun. When the Fall semester is over, you will have an online course to take, again it is pretty easy especially if you work with your group to get the work finished. In the beginning we had 21 students and now we have 19. I know our cohort definitely raised the bar with our GPAs and I think that it will only get more competitive. This is purely speculation but the program might be accepting less students from now on because of issue with students overwhelming the resources within the program and at DRH. I'm thinking that 14-16 students is what they might be shooting for. Anyway, the instructors are all amazing and are willing to do what they can to help you succeed. While they expect you to be flexible, they are flexible as well and will work with you if you have scheduling issues or need to miss clinical or lab days. I can honestly say that throughout my education, my nursing school instructors are my most favorite instructors. And Ms. Cooper is actually awesome. Just some miscellaneous things... you will have ATI testing at the end of every semester. These are mock NCLEX tests on specific subjects that indicate how well you would do in those subjects on the actual NCLEX. Be prepared to do some studying on your own for some of those tests, like nutrition, fundamentals of nursing, and pediatric care because a lot of the material on those tests aren't covered in in your courses. Also, when you get to your floors to do your clinicals be ready for some grumpy nurses with bad attitudes, just keep your head up and do as much as you can to learn as much as you because that's what you are there for. By the end of your first semester you will understand what it means for nurses to eat their young. All in all, I've enjoyed the program and can't believe it is almost over. The last year has gone by so fast. I've learned so much in such a short time and have made some amazing friends along the way. Shortly after I began nursing school and was feeling overwhelmed, someone said to me that being in nursing school was like being up a creek without a paddle but that fortunately I had 20 other people in the boat with me. I couldn't agree more. If it wasn't for my nursing school buddies I would've lost my sanity long ago. Carly-- I know that science gpa plays a big role in the selection process, I think that if you have a lower cum gpa than you would need a higher science gpa to offset that. I know that you definitely need to do well in A&P and micro, I don't think the other prereqs matter as much. I had a 3.25 cum gpa and a 4.0 science. I know someone in our class had the bare minimum cum gpa but a 4.0 science gpa and was accepted. Apparently there is an unpublished point system that they use for selection. **** at OUHSC would be helpful in answering your questions.I hope that helps.

Sweetlo and Carlygh, I will be starting my last semester of the Duncan ABSN program next week. It's a fast and furious program, but definitely worth the time and expense. First, be prepared to be flexible, can't stress that enough because your schedule will change a lot throughout the program- which can be either convenient or not. There is not a lot of time to study for your tests because you will be very busy. The first semester is front loaded, so you will have a lot of tests. Around March or so you will have a test every other week, and your online class should be finished. The content of the material for the tests isn't hard to understand it is the wide breadth of information that you will have to retain, and apply during your tests that will make the courses harder during the first semester. Your tests throughout the program will have between 65 and 75 questions, you'll have between 3-4 tests and comprehensive finals. I suggest taking the time to do the study guides because they will help you immensely. Not all the test materials are on the study guides. A lot of the tests will have questions that aren't in the reading or powerpoint slides, those you will have to think through logically or guess at. A good idea is to form a study group early, this is especially beneficial during the first semester. Once you find a study group you work well with you can work with those people to complete your online class busy work, and do assignments because you will be overwhelmed with busy work, studying, clinicals, papers, and care plans. Your care plans will a take significant amount of time the night prior to your clinicals, during your first semester so be prepared. The summer is pretty intense, you have a test every week plus 250 clinical hours and labs. Acute and Chronic I during the summer is probably the hardest class because there is not much time to study, the questions involve much more critical thinking than rote memorization, and the course grade is based only on 4 exam grades and a comprehensive final, the easiest test is worth the least amount of points. The summer clinical experience is amazing because you will rotate through the cancer center, family practice, hospice, home health, and wound care in addition to your regular clinical hours in OB and Med Surg- this opportunity exists only for ABSNs. The pace slows a lot in the Fall when you will be integrated with the traditional students from both Duncan and Lawton. You have the option of attending either campus. In the Fall, you will do your clinicals in ICU and psych....

oops, drips and gases.

I'm hoping to be a CRNA and it's not for the money. My mom is a retired CRNA and I have never met a person that loved their job more than she did. Growing up, I had the opportunity to be around her practice and see how much her patients (OB type) loved her and colleagues respected her. While she was an advanced practice nurse, and most her job was technical in nature, she always went out of her way to provide the care and comfort of a nurse to her patients and their families. Stressful yes, challenging yes, but worth every minute- so she says. I promised her I was never going to be a nurse, went to college got a B.S. in Computer Science, spent some time as a stay at home mom, and through it all decided I wanted to be a nurse. I'm now back in school in an ABSN program, working my rear off to maintain a perfect GPA in hopes of going to anesthesia school, and nothing has ever felt so right. And it has nothing to do with the money. I want a technical, challenging career as an advanced practice nurse. The thought of titrating gases, epidurals, and intubations is exciting to me. I understand that their are mundane aspects of the job but those stressful intense moments will surely make up for that. I want the challenge, the autonomy, the stress, the respect all while being a nurse and providing the patient cre that only a nurse can provide. =)

To everyone that was accepted,can you please share your admissions stats- gpa, years exp, GRE or MAT scores. I'm very interested in Raleigh School of Anesthesia and would like to know how competitive the program is. My spouse is in the Army and this is one of very few options that I have to go to anesthesia school (without having to live apart). Also, I live in an area where the only hospital within a 100 mile radius is a trauma 3 center. Does anyone know how much that might hurt my application. Thanks in advance.

Hi guys. Congrats on your acceptance. I was just in Duncan today and there is a nice gym at the Simmons Center that is about a mile away from where we will be going to class. If I have enough time that's where I will be going after class.

Congrats!! After I saw your post to the other thread I went to the mailbox to look and my acceptance letter was there. It looks like orientation is January 6 from 9am-1pm. I'm really excited. I was worried about the cpr courses but the letter states that there will be a sign up for cpr classes at the orientation. I was hoping to find someone to carpool with, so I'm definitely interested.

I got my acceptance letter today as well. Carpooling and studying would be great! I'm an Army spouse. Do you live on post or out in town? I live out in town.

I meant, the end of November.

I'm going to have to drive up there as well once I find out. I live in Lawton, OK and I'm having trouble finding a cpr class that I can take between now and the deadline because of the holidays. I'm thinking I'm going to have to go to OKC for that as well. I haven't checked the mail yet but I'm pretty sure there isn't anything there. This has been driving me nuts, I actually looked on the boards and I found a thread from last year where someone received a denial letter at the end of December. Well, good luck to you, maybe we'll get something tomorrow.

I specifically asked about the enrollment requirements because I was concerned about being able to fit in a cpr class, immunizations, and background checks prior to January 7th (deadline listed on website). If you go to the website, select current students->orientation->Lawton/Duncan. They are allowing almost no time to complete the enrollment requirements, especially for those out of state. Plus, I don't want to sped the money on all of these things if I don't end up being accepted. Just as a heads up, if you don't physically go to OKC to get your state background check, it takes about 4 weeks to get it in the mail.

I contacted the admissions coordinator again and she told me that they are hoping to get the letters out this week. Apparently, the board met and the application review needs to be signed off by the dean of nursing. She said that once they get the dean's approval they can draw up the letters and send them out. I was told that we should start looking at the enrollment requirements and start to get the immunizations/ background checks squared away. She also said that they may or may not extend the deadline for those requirements because of they delayed notification.

I just found out from the admissions coordinator that they aren't reviewing applications until December 9th and that we should be receiving letters around the 13th.

I have B.S. in computer science-military science minor. I was a hospital corpsman in the Navy. I spent most of my time at an isolated duty station with minimum personnel so I did a variety of jobs (EMT,ambulatory care, lab, pharmacy, public health) But most of my training/experience was geared towards troop medical care- field and emergency medicine. Very technical not a lot of theory. How about you?

I hope he doesn't mind me passing this on. Here it is : "1. Admissions requirements are on the ouhsc website, but our ABSN class has 14 students and the max they can accept is 25. This is the 3rd or 4th year of the program and this is the largest class so far. I think if you meet the minimum requirements stated you will likely be accepted. Since it's such a small class you really get to know the instructors. 2. Clinicals are at DRH 1 day a week the first semester and then 2 days a week during the summer and fall semesters. During the final spring semester you work whenever your preceptor works and the program ends at spring break. First semester is rehab type floor. Summer is split between OB and another rehab floor and the fall semester is split between psy and a critical care area (ER, ICU or Surgery). 3. Curriculum is also on the OUHSC website (see below). I don't think there is a specific schedule on the site for the Duncan ABSN program, but the order of the classes is pretty much the same as the Oklahoma City ABSN program. Classes are mostly on campus, with usually one online class per semester. Usually 14 - 16 credit hours per semester, including the summer semester. The summer was 10 of the worst weeks of my life. http://nursing.ouhsc.edu/Current_Students/index.cfm 4. I don't really know how to explain the exams. I study a lot for exams and other people only study for a day or two before the exam. Just depends on how you learn best, but no one has failed out of our program yet. One thing about OU is that you must score a 75% on all areas of the course to pass the course. If you have a 74% average on your exams and a 100% on all of your other assignments and end up with a 80% for the semester you'll still fail the class. 5. Nurse tech program really only applies to the traditional program since they don't have classes during the summer. There's the option to work some during the fall semester if you want, but I don't think anyone in my program is doing it. I guess that's about it. Most of the instructors are amazing! Duncan is a real small town and there isn't much to do. I'm not from this area so it's a bit of a change for me. Other then that I highly recommend the program. Just know that it's going to be intense, especially the summer. Let me know if you have any more questions." If you don't mind me asking, what was your major?

Finally!!! I've been hoping to find others in the same boat as me. I received the same e-mail but apparently a good number of applications are denied due to ineligibility and incomplete applications- I spoke with the admissions coordinator. Last year, there were 59 or so applicants and only 14 of the 24 slots were filled. Are you in Oklahoma? I've put all of my eggs in this basket so I'm anxiously waiting to hear about my admissions status.I still have one science/four general ed courses still in progress and hoping that's not a deal breaker. I have some really great info from a current student. I don't have messaging privileges but I can copy and paste here if you'd like.

Is there anyone out there that has applied to OU's ABSN program in Duncan???

hi, i know this is an old thread but i haven't had any luck getting any information about the ou absn program at duncan. i was hoping to get more info about the program (schedule, clinicals, curriculum, nurse tech opportunities at drh etc.) i'm sure you're busy and appreciate any info/advice you could give me. do you live in duncan??? i live in lawton and was wondering what the current situation is for new grads looking for jobs in this area. thanks in advance.

Hi Everyone, I was getting ready to go to Ft. Carson and CSU Pueblo for their ABSN program and then at the last minute I find out we're staying in Oklahoma. Gotta love the Army! So, now I'll be applying the University of Oklahoma's (OU) ABSN program in Duncan and I was hoping that I could get some information about: admissions, the actual program, class size, instructors, clinical schedule, nurse tech opportunities @ Duncan Regional etc. I've spoken with an advisor, so I do know that 2.5 gpa is the minimum. That's about all I know about admissions. Is there a minimum amount of prereq credits that have to be completed by the time of application? How long does it take for the school to notify applicants of acceptance/denial? I'm currently waiting for the 2010/2011 application to be updated and I'm really excited about the program but I can't seem to find much information about it. Most of the information I was able to find at the OUHSC website pertained to the OKC program. Thanks ahead of time! Jenny

Sorry, for hijacking the thread. Pitaya, What was your schedule like during the Summer? When did your clinical labs start/finish and how many days a week did you do them? Thanks!

I was hoping to get more information about CSU Pueblo's Degree Plus program. I currently have a 3.6 in the pre-reqs and I'm pretty sure I can get it up to 3.785. I was taking statistics during data structures/algorithms and some other advanced programming courses for my B.S. in Computer Science and ended up getting a C in statistics- which, I focused less on. Anyway, I have A's in all of my other pre-reqs. And I'd like to know how competitive a 3.6-3.78 is for admissions? Also, I will be working on some pre-reqs in the Fall of this year ( at the time of application). Does anyone know if students with outstanding coursework (at the time of application) are admitted? Are those with a lower GPA and completed pre-reqs selected first? Thanks ahead of time. :) Jenny

Hi Pitaya, I can't send private messages yet. I will be applying this coming October for CSU Pueblo's Degree Plus program and wanted to know how competitive the admissions process is- what was your pre-req gpa? My pre-req GPA should be a 3.6 when I apply (A in micro,a&p I and II, but a C in statistics) and I will still be working on the other pre-reqs. Also, do they admit students with outstanding coursework around at application time- I won't be done with my pre-req's until December? I apologize for bombarding you with questions. I just haven't been able to find much information about the program online.Thanks! Jenny