frogger32091

I am glad you got lucky. My research has shown differently. I am not sure why we have conflicting information, but it is a fact.

I checked the Florida Board of Nursing website and Virgina College is listed as is Keiser University. (which is different than Keiser Career College) those are the only two in Jacksonville listed besides the actual already known universities and community colleges. Of course I did not like Keiser because they want you to complete an entire class in one month. I like having three classes at a time and having the normal semester to complete them in personally.

And you guys did not like when I generalized. I cannot speak for every school listed, and I have seen some crack pots in Jacksonville when it came to schools, but I happen to attend Virginia College and I find that it is an excellent school. Yes they may be slightly more expensive than say what former FCCJ is but unlike some of the traditional college, Virginia (again, I cannot speak for the other schools) actually wants their nurses to succeed. And no it is not a line I was fed, I have seen it first hand. The PD (program director) is a nurse that has been in the field for over 35 years and finally retired to take the job at VC. I have checked their accreditation and they hold the same ones for their nursing program that former FCCJ holds for theirs. The laziness of a nurse is not from the school, it is from the person. An uneducated nurse could be either the school or the person. However, generalizing and saying that all career colleges (or for profit colleges) are bad because a few people are not learning what they should from them, is as wrong as me saying that all nurses are mean. My father is a nurse and has been since Vietnam. He is all the time getting students from UNF, UF, and former FCCJ that do not know how (or do not want to) do their jobs. It is higher education. There comes a point where you have to teach yourself and be responsible for what you learn. I am a very hard worker, and should I ever get the chance to meet any of you in the hospital setting, I can tell you that I will be johnny on the spot with the help. I know that I will not come in there knowing everything, but if I can be shown how to do something, then I am willing to do it. No matter how small. I picked Virgina because I do not have two years to wait for former FCCJ to decide to let me into their nursing program because they have such a long wait list. I have a friend that did all of her pre-reqs there and got a 4.0 in all of her classes and has been waiting over a year to even be allowed to take the TEAS test to see if she can be added to the waiting list. I am sorry that you all have had some bad experiences with for-profit student nurses, but if you are going to bad mouth a school, then you should at least make sure that you know something about the school other than how much their tuition is for the program. And for the record, my tuition is higher than the school that the OP posted about, but I do not have to pay for anything else, everything is included, so for me this just works out better. Plus I like going to school with other people my age instead of going to school with a bunch of fresh out of high school students who do not have a family that they have to work their school around. I am not trying to be controversial, nor do I mean any disrespect to anyone. I am not even trying to start a debate about which schools are better. I am simply stating that it is not fair to classify a school as bad just because others like it are bad. If you assume that all for profit schools are bad then what happens to those students that come into the hospitals where you work? If they get assigned to you and you already have your mind made up that they are not going to know anything because of the school they attend, how is that fair to them? I know I would be highly disappointed if I did not learn anything in clinicals because my assigned nurse assumed that I knew nothing and refused to let me do anything just because I attend VC. I want to learn. I want to work, and I cannot wait until I get to clinical.

Ok so let me first say that I am in no way connected to AT&T. I am not an employee, customer, or even a solicitor. I just found out some cool information today and wanted to share it with everyone on here. I found out that the smart phone through AT&T offers a pharmocology app that some students and current nurses might find useful. I am sure that all of the smart phone out there have some type of nursing app, but if you currently have AT&T you might not know that there is a pharmacology app offered for free on your phone. Just wanted to inform everyone. Again not trying to sell anything or get you to switch users, or anything like that just passing on the information that I learned today. Also, not sure how your computers are with added programs, but I found a really good interactive computer program that I can add to my computer for Anatomy and Physiology. It is a little more in-depth than what a nurse really needs, but it is still really cool and was only $20. So if you need some extra help in that area, then you should check around for this and other software to add to your computer. This is just my little FYI, in case anyone would benefit from it. Thank you :)

I was told ( and I have no evidence to back this up, it was just something that I heard) that for a nurse to turn into an MD they had to start all over again with school no matter how much schooling they have. Again I have not verified my sources because I do not now nor do I ever plan to be an MD anyway, but if the OP is interested in looking into it, it might be nice to know what to ask. It could very well be that you have to start all over again.

Why would a school not allow tape recorders? (Please understand that I am not trying to be controversial, I have just never heard of that and am curious.) I am calling my school Monday to make sure that I am allowed to use a tape recorder. I am glad you made this post because I never thought about the possibility that they may not let me use one. Past colleges that I have attended have always allowed them. That sucks if they will not let me have one, and I am sorry that they will not let you have one, they are great.

I bought a voice recorder from BJ's Wholesale, which is a discount club like Sam's Club and Costco, it was only $30. I have found some on Amazon for about the same, but I did not want to pay shipping and handling. For me my learning style is some of all of them. I learn best by tying all three together, hearing the lectures, taking notes, and studying or reading. I have to have all three to learn. So I want to record my lectures, that way in class I can just listen to the lecture and then take notes from it later. My voice recorder plugs into my computer so that I can store my classes on my computer and review them all before midterms or finals. It really helps me to go back over my notes while listening to the instructor again. I guess my advise is that if you want to buy one then buy one, but if you don't think you will really benefit from having the recorded lectures, than don't buy one. Start your classes and see how it goes.

Thank you for clearing that up for me. As for what I pay for school, I guess it is my decision. I am sorry that people seem to have a problem with me paying so much for my nursing degree. To me it is worth it. However, I can say this I think what we pay for our tuition is different depending on what type of school we attend and what area of the country we are attending said school. However, if I were to go out and buy a $300 stethoscope I expect it to take the heart rate, blood pressure, and breath sounds on its own and also log it into the patients records for me. I spent $20 on my stethoscope, and though I will upgrade it once I am done with nursing school I have not noticed where it is any less effective than the $300 ones. I listened to both in the store before I bought one, and to me (and of course I am untrained so this opinion could change once I am done with all of my schooling, but I have worked as a CNA and liked my $20 stethoscope just fine) it is just as good. I see no reason to go into debt over a piece of equipment that can be lost or broken when a cheaper one will do. Again I understand that my views might change once I graduate but for now I do not see where that kind of expense is needed.

Ok first off I am not understanding why everyone keeps referring to the OP as a troll. I am missing something. Someone please tell me what I am missing here. Second, what I never understood about nursing (and yes I am just a student but I have gone through the CNA course and worked in hospitals before and been exposed to nurses all my life because my dad is one. I remember him coming home day after day complaining about the other nurses.) is why we cannot get along with each other. I mean for a profession that everyone supposedly enters to help people, they are so mean to their fellow co-workers. I don't understand it and if some vet. nurse could explain it to me that would be great. I keep seeing over and over again how nurses are being stabbed in the back by their co-workers, why? It is my opinion that when we, the nurses, take our attention and energy and put it towards attacking each other we are wasting a valuable resource that could be used to improve patient care. I know that all professions have issues. I have worked in an office setting for the past 10 years, and they are the same way. When we are mean and back stab each other, we not only make nursing look bad, we also make women look bad as a whole. It took me years to enter nursing school because I did not want to work in a career that was predominately by females. Yes I have worked in offices, but most of those I chose jobs (back when there was enough jobs to chose from, lol) that did not have many other women working in the office. Not because I hate other woman but because I do not like dealing with drama between co-workers when I have a job to do. And yes for the record I am a woman, but woman can be so mean to each other in the work place. I just don't get it. Now that I am a nursing student and heading into the viper pit so to speak I am concerned for the fact that I will be working with women who hate their jobs, only went into nursing for the money and spend all of their time trying to stir up crap instead of worrying about their jobs. But that is just my 2 cents on the matter.

It sounds like a lot of money up front, but when I graduate I will have my AS in Nursing. Now lets look at this rationally. I do not have to pay for any books. I do not have to pay for any uniforms. I do not pay for the state test, the school covers that cost for me, plus they are a qualified testing site so I do not even have to drive to get to the RN test. I do not have to pay for and lab fees and I do not have to pay for any transportation cost to get to and from the hospital where my clinical will be at. Yes it is a private school so it is a bit more expensive. But the local community college that offers the same two year AS program is 14,000 for the tuition of the whole program, roughly about $3,600 total for the books for the program. (that is an average amount it could be more depending on the cost of the books) there is the cost of uniforms which runs about $20 to $30 a pair that you have to buy. Then there are the lab fees which are roughly about $25 per class that you have to do labs for. And I do not know what the going rate for the state test are currently, but I know that for the CNA test (which is a much cheaper test, it cost $120 to take it and that does not include the fact that I would have to travel over three hours to take the RN test because the community college does not offer it and the closest test site is 3 hours away. Then there is the cost of gas for the car to get back and forth to and from clinical. If you look at them in comparison it only makes sense to go to a school that is all inclusive. Plus let us not over look the fact that unlike some students, I did not have to wait on a waiting list. I did not have to take my pre-reqs first then hope that I got into the nursing program. I do not know anything about the ADN, but I can tell you that I would rather pay a little more for my AS degree than the typical student if it means that there are no surprises later on down the line. I am a single mother, I can budget for a college where everything is included, but I cannot budget if I do not even know how much the books for a specific semester is going to cost. Yeah you may think it is a lot of money, and you might not think it is worth the cost, and hey there is a message therapy class at my school so I can get free back rubs, but to me it is better than what traditional students are putting up with. I have gone to a traditional school and had to drop out because my books one semester cost over $300 which may not seem like a lot to a person who spends that much on a stethoscope, but to me that was too much to come up with. I do not want my nursing degree to end because I lack the funds to pay for it.

I want to be a nurse because I love helping people too and I love learning about the human body and anything at all to do with medical. However, what is plaguing me is why if those are the only reason that we list as becoming a nurse, did you pick nursing over say Medical Assisting? I am not trying to be controversial here, really. I am currently writing an entrance essay for the nursing school that I have already been accepted to, so the essay holds no bearing on whether or not I get into the program, but like all essays that does not mean I do not want to do my best. So as I was trying to write this essay it got me thinking, all of the generalized reasons that we as nurses or nursing students list for wanting to become a nurse do not really tell the story about why we chose nursing over any other profession in the health-care industry. I mean helping people, learning about the human body those can all be accomplished by being a Medical Assistant. They can also be reached by being a surgical technician. Other than just to make more money, which is no reason to pick a career, have any of you thought about why you really chose to be a nurse I mean over other areas of health care that is. Like I said don't get me wrong, I am not trying to be controversial, and if someone can tell me how learning about the human body and helping people as a nurse is any different than doing it as a medical assistant, that would be great, I am just curious. And don't worry I am not trying to get help writing my entrance essay, I will be emailing it in this afternoon so this is just me wanting to know what really is the difference.

I have a supply question that may seem a bit strange but I wanted to ask it anyway. I have a small generalized calculator for doing quick easy calculations, it even came on a lanyard so I can always find it. However, I am going into College Algebra next term and was wondering if any of you that has taken it knew if you needed a special calculator for it? I remember in high school we had to have a scientific calculator and I know that it might depend on my school, but those are a little pricey and so if I am going to need one I need to start saving now. (and yes I know that everyone is going to laugh that I call a calculator pricey when most people are dropping $50 to $300 fro a stethoscope and $1,000 on books, but I don't have that kind of money to spend so everything I buy has to be planned a head of the game. The curse of the single unemployed mother attending school.) Thank for any information you can give me. Like I said I understand that you cannot say what type my school will want, but I just want to know if it is something I need to plan to purchase.

Thank you, I have the same trouble with some of the titles to post when people use abbreviations. I will open a post to see what it is about and have to read half way through it before I realize that it is about something to do with a particular school or state and I have just wasted my time. I know that sounds silly to anyone that is a forum pro, but I am trying to learn. Thanks for the help, and the lack of ridicule. :)

Sorry a silly question but I don't want to miss understand any post that I read and I am still new to this forum. When you say to the OP - what does that mean? Is that referring to the person that started the post and if so what exactly does the abbreviation stand for. I know I will probably get ridiculed for asking such a simple question, but I really do not understand all of the forum abbreviations yet, maybe there should be a class for it, we can take it right after Medical Terminology. LOL!!!!!

For the entire program it is 49,000.