PhiladelphiaLove

Working per diem at a nursing home I was getting 32.00/hr. Hospital pay, I'm getting 29.50/hr. These are locations in North Jersey.

Hi, everyone! I did my internship at Meadowlands Hospital. While I did learn a lot, unfortunately, they did not hold up their end of the deal and I was not willing to continue essentially working for free. I was supposed to do the internship for 3 months, and I did, however the 'internship' continued for longer and I chose to leave. My husband ended up getting me a job at a nursing home. I am working there per diem with pretty much full time hours. It is much different than a hospital but I still do a lot there and I find my job rewarding in its own way. I have learned time management there and how to prioritize. I do a lot of wound care there, I deal with several trach patients, and several peg patients. In December, I interviewed for a position at St. Joe's and a week later I was hired. I am starting my position there this coming Monday. I firmly believe that my internship and the nursing home job helped me land the hospital job. I have told many of my friends that are looking for hospital jobs, that if it comes down to it - you NEED to bite the bullet and go for the nursing home job while you look. It shows motivation. It shows that you WANT to work. I also firmly believe that if any hospital counts that kind of job against you, it is their loss. During my interview, the HR manager asked if I had anything else I wanted to say before we concluded the interview. I told her exactly what I have just said and made it very clear that although being at a nursing home was not my ideal place, I still found it was a great place for me to learn and get my feet wet and that I was grateful I had the chance to work there. For those asking, YES, it REALLY is THAT bad out there for jobs. I still have many friends who I graduated with that are having a very difficult time finding a job. Once you start getting some experience under your belt, it helps tremendously. I will be working with another friend on the same unit who I worked with at the nursing home. He has been at the nursing home for two years and just started his position at St. Joes in Jan. Hope this helps.

You are not alone! I also graduated in May with my BSN. I am from Philly but went to school in NJ so the license is there. However, I've applied to about 60 different positions throughout philly AND NJ (north and south). At this point, I'm planning on just doing an internship that guarantee's a per diem postion after the 8 weeks. Meanwhile, I'll keep try - that is really the best that we can do. Wishing you lots of luck - I hope you find something soon!! Also, I forgot to add that I'll be working at a nursing home until I get a hospital job. Sometimes you just gotta do whatcha gotta do and I'm definitlely one of those people. I swore up and down I'd never bite the bullet and work at a nursing home but the way that things are looking right now, I could care less where I'm working till the right job comes along.

Omyragrau, some advice: -be organized -be good with time management but remember to leave yourself alone time too -remember that just because you were an A student during your undergrad doesn't mean you will be one in nursing school and thats OK! -anxiety and meltdowns are normal - just remember, you WILL make it and you WILL be ok! The best part about the program? You'll become friends with some really, really great people!!

I think I would still go to UMDNJ regardless of the disorganization some of us experienced at some time. I still think that my clinical experiences with certain professors was a huge chunk of why I think I would do it again. They taught me a lot even if sometimes it was really difficult. They made it worth it. The most disorganization that I experienced was in the beginning. It just seemed like whenever we asked questions or tried to get some help regarding certain matters - nobody was able to do so. Deadlines got changed around a lot, sometimes we would be promised to get info by a certain date and then we wouldn't. Thing's like that. It's hard to remember because it was over a year ago now but as I said we learned to deal with it and it did get better over time. If you have any more questions, PM me anytime. There are several students from here who are in lower levels that I have corresponded with for a while about the program in terms of advice and even became good friends with some of them!

I agree with a lot of this, but I have to say that I do think there are some VERY intelligent professors there who do know what they are talking about. I am finishing level 4 this coming Tuesday so I do understand the frustration in the disorganization. We've all pretty much learned to just deal with it. I can't say the disorganization has been worse than I have had in my undergraduate schooling - its just as bad. Know which professors to watch out for and you'll be fine. Unfortunately, I have heard from other students at other schools (such as Drexel and Jefferson) that the disorganization there is awful too.

Echoing the others, the days that you have classes you'll usually always be there by 8 am. This past semester (my final one!) I had to be at one of my clinicals at 6:30 am which meant I was leaving the house at 5:50 am.

I wouldn't say anything, I'm just glad to be done soon.

No problem :) As nurse2013 has said, the info sessions are very helpful. I may be at the next one to help answer questions.

No problem!! Take a niiiiiice, long, deep breath and enjoy the holidays :) You'll be able to do it, promise. We have a lot of people coming from various situations and we've all been fine so far. I planned a wedding and got married and so did 3 other people :) It's all possible. When you think of more, ask away :)

Ok so, I personally think you'll be fine. I took those courses over the summer so they were 6 weeks long (imagine that....) and at the time I wasn't really learning much, I was just there to pass tests so I could start nursing school quicker. Well, that really backfired on me because I had a very difficult time in patho as a result. I have friends in class with me that took those classes over a year ago too, that excelled in those courses at the time, and did great in patho. Since I was having a tough time, I really just had to study extra and just take a page at a time to fully understand what was going on. Can't say we used much of micro though. Oh, and even though you may forget a lot of the teaching *now*, I promise it will start coming back to you as you start reading chapters :)

Hi! Here are some answers for you...just remember, this is from my own personal experience... The program is definitely difficult. It's no walk in the park and a lot of time and effort goes into it. However, I also make sure I have time to just relax on weekend nights. I still have a life, I still see my friends, family, husband and anyone else I want to. It's more about time management than anything else. We have people who have 4 kids at home and they are doing fine. So although its hard and a lot of work, it is doable. Each level has different amounts of coursework. Every level is A LOT of work and everyone has different opinions about which level was the hardest and which was easiest. Personally, the first level was most difficult for me as it was a very big adjustment. It was hard to get used to the style of questions, the amount of work, and the style of learning. Once I got into the swing of things, although things were still tough it also became easier in a way. Professors are knowledgeable. As usual, everyone has their preferences so I can't say much else about that since what I like you may not and vice versa. It's just something you'll have to decide for yourself but I can't say I haven't had any professor that didn't know what they were doing, they're all very intelligent and mostly all of them are very helpful and are there to help you succeed, not fail you. Parking isn't really an issue. Anytime that we are on campus, we usually have to be there before 8 which is when all the parking gets full. You will be given information regarding parking passes and there is a parking lot behind the nursing building that you can park at which is really close. You may be able to test out of informatics depending on what kind of course you took. If you mean "test" out as in take a test to get out of it, you can't. No idea about the TEAS, I was not there the day that everyone took them as I had an emergency situation but I can tell you that they are nothing to freak out over or get worked up about. Its there to see where your strengths/weaknesses are and honestly, none of us have heard a word about TEAS since they were taken....we have bigger fish to fry :) I am paying for tuition soley through loans as are many of my classmates. Hope this helps :) Let me know if you think of anything else!

Hi everyone! Congratulations to those that have been accepted so far!! I know a lot of you may have many questions (I did before I started the program!) Please feel free to ask and I'll answer what I can! I am almost done with the program and love answering questions so hopefully you all have some! Don't be shy :)

75 is passing at out school...

Honestly, before a test I usually spend anywhere between 6-12 hours studying a night for it. By the way, a lot of *how much* time you spend studying depends on your background, your type of program, your school, and you as a learner. Me? I cannot sleep at night if I don't know the information inside and out so studying a lot helps me. I'm in an accelerated BSN program so it is much more fast paced and it is a lot of hustle. Test every few weeks? I don't think so. We have a test on a weekly basis and I'm not talking just "eh...it won't be too hard" kind of tests. I'm talking major tests.