StarofLifeRN

UVM has transitioned from a master's entry program to a direct entry doctoral program so there have been changes to the curriculum. Although I withdrew after starting the NP studies, I did complete the RN year - if you read my earlier posts in this thread you can find out a lot of info about my experience. I can't imagine they're changing much of that. For the RN year, if you live close enough to UVM, you don't need a car. But, once you start the NP portion of the program you will need reliable transportation because everyone goes their separate ways, and the clinical sites are all around the state.

We do a BID med pass as well. Unless there is a good reason to deliver a med at a certain time (cardiac, insulin, # hours between admin), AM meds can be given at any time on the day shift, and PM meds can be given at any time on eve shift. We also factor in resident choice - ie they sleep in but want meds before getting out of bed, they want their Miralax in cranberry juice on their way to breakfast and everything else after they eat, they take oral meds while in their recliner after dinner but hold the eye drops until they are in bed. Yes, this is a skilled nursing floor, but the model is that it's their home first, so we cater to their wishes, not corporate needs. Although admittedly this isn't your typical LTC, there are a lot of practices that could easily be adopted by others that would make for happier patients and allow nurses to care for people instead of feeling like clock watching pill pushers.

If you're feeling incompete and believe more training is the answer, then why not consider taking the next step and becoming an RN?

I can't help gagging a couple times when it comes to vomit or a particularly smelly BM. I even did it with my own kids! I carry a small tin of Altoids in my pocket - I find that having one in my mouth and breathing through my mouth helps get me over the initial reaction. I've also gotten creative at positioning myself so they can't see my face for the first 15 seconds or so. Then I'm fine. I don't think I'll ever get used to it.

Worked for me on Monday (8/19). Took the exam at 8:00, done by 9:00, checked from my phone before I left the parking lot and got the "good popup." By 10:30 the Vermont BON had my license # posted!

Although the first semester of the second year looks really intimidating (advanced everything!), it's only 12 credits and it's scheduled so that there are at least 2 free days. We're all hoping to work as RNs this fall!

Blizz, I wouldn't give up yet. Some of my classmates got later acceptance letters - like April or May later. Congrats on Simmons in the meantime! Tess, here's a link to a resource at UVM about off-campus housing that will give you an idea about the kind of housing available. The University of Vermont | Off Campus Housing Search There are often post-baccs and med students looking to share housing.

Hi Tess! This is a career change for me - I worked at a small college here in Burlington for 21 years before deciding to make a mid-life career change. I am enjoying the program so far. There are 15 people in my cohort (we started with 18). My classmates are from all around the country including a couple from Cali and one from Alaska. I'm the oldest at 47. The youngest is 23 and just graduated from her undergrad program. We've got a variety of backgrounds including landscapers, someone who worked for the state department, a social worker, a yoga instructor, someone who worked in San Fran at a clinic for transgendered patients, and me from higher education. Some of us had some prior medical experience (I'm an EMT) and others had none. The first semester was really intense. We had Patho, Pharmacology and Med-Surg on Monday and Wednesday, clinicals on Tuesday and Thursday, and post-clinical conference plus Nursing Issues on Friday. For clinicals you start out with four weeks in the lab learning skills. Some of the labs are with standardized patients (real people who are trained to act as patients), which makes it feel more real than practicing on your classmates. UVM has fantastic sim labs and equipment, so you get hands on right from the start. Our first clinical was at a local long-term care facility - some of us were on the subacute rehab wing and others with the permanent nursing home residents. We starteed out doing the basics like personal care (bed baths, toileting, making beds, ambulating, etc), we did catheters and wound care, attended the patient's appointments, and closer to the end we were doing med pass. We would have one patient each per week, and did chart review the night before to learn about our patient's case and meds. We wrote a nursing care plan that we had to follow, and we had to know our meds inside and out. UVM has a four-week winter break, but we only had two weeks off because the other two weeks were spent doing an 80 hour clinical at the hospital. Half of us were on the neurology floor and the other half on general surgery. This semester we're taking Women and Newborns, Pediatrics, Mental Health, and Pathophys Phenomena. For clinicals half of us are on the cardiology floor and the other half on hemotology/oncology. We are now up to 3 patients each, and we're doing almost everything the RNs are doing, plus helping the LNAs. We have clinicals all day on Monday and Tuesday, classes all day on Wednesday, and one class on Thursday which just wrapped up so we now have Thursdays and Fridays off. (Woot!) In April we switch clinicals to mother and baby for four weeks. This summer we will have one class, and do clinicals in Mental Health, Peds, and Community Health. If you think it sounds like there's no rest for the weary, you're right! It's exhausting, but it's also fun. You'll get to be very tight with your group as you spent a LOT of time together. And you look forward to being together. For example, we're on spring break right now, but we have an assignment due next week to watch a movie and do a writeup. Nine of us got together last night for potluck and drinks and watched the movie at a classmate's home. Burlington is a great city, and this part of Vermont is not representative of the rest of the state (more urban, less rural). I've lived here more than half of my life. (I grew up in Massachusetts and came to Vermont for college and never left.) There are five colleges in the immediate area, and a vibrant downtown (lots of restaurants, bars, theaters, and shopping). It's right on Lake Champlain which you can look across to the Adirondack Mountains in NY. If you enjoy outdoor sports, there's a couple of bikepaths in town, and this area is close to great hiking and skiing. Lake Champlain has some nice beaches in the summer time, including right here in Burlington. Montreal is 90 minutes north. You can take a megabus to New York City from campus. You can drive to Boston in under 4 hours. As for housing, it's a college town, so there is a lot. It depends on what you're looking for and whether you have your own transportation, prefer to walk, or will use public transportation. (Your UVM id lets you ride the city busses for free.) Some of my out-of-town classmates looked for apartments on Craigslist. The nursing department can also put you in touch with the folks at UVM that have the housing leads. I also think there is graduate student housing. Getting around campus is easy between walking and the shuttles. All of our classes are on the medical campus, which is literally connected to the hospital, so when you're doing second semester clinicals you can use your same parking routine. You'll need transportation to the first semester clinicals, but if your class is like mine, you'll have local students who are happy to carpool. The weather may be quite an adjustment if you're coming from a warmer climate. It can get below zero in the winter. We've had a pretty mild winter in terms of snow this year, but you never know what you're going to get. One hour south of us got over a foot of snow this week. We got nothing, and in fact today it will be in the 40s. On the flip side, it can get into the 90s in the summer. I would say by mid-April we've ditched the North Face parkas for sweatshirts. Tips for starting... If you can take some time this summer to relax, DO IT! You really hit the ground running on day one. I had just taken A&P the prior year so I was current on that info. If it's been a while since you've had that, you might want to do a quick review of the body systems. If your instructors provide a syllabus before the first week, do the first week's reading before classes start. The volume of reading is crazy, and it's easy to get behind. They will likely do an orientation for you guys the Friday before classes start. We met with some students from the class before us and they gave us some good tips on supplemental books that will be helpful. They also had a "yard sale" which was a good opportunity to pick up some used scrubs and books. The MEPN scrubs are wine colored, and they have a vendor come to campus to take orders so you don't need to do anything special there. We also have white lab coats for the times you need to be at a clinical site but aren't working (like chart review, or if you're shadowing in different areas). One of my classmates started a closed Facebook group once we started to get our acceptance letters. She gave the name of it to the UVM student services contact who shared it with other new admits. It was a great place to "meet" each other during the summer. We still use that group today to communicate amongst ourselves. If you guys have other questions, let me know! If you want to private message me, I'll be happy to share my personal email address if you have questions you'd rather not ask in a public forum. Congrats again on getting accepted. It's an exciting time! I know August seems a long time away, but it really goes by fast.

Hi guys! Congrats on your acceptances! I am in the current MEPN class at UVM and would be happy to answer any questions about my experience.

It's vomit for me, too. Cleaning up after my own kids or even hearing someone retch on tv makes me dry heave. I have worked on an ambulance for three years and although I haven't overcome the response yet, I get through it by chewing on a strong piece of gum on my way to every call (just in case) and breathing through my mouth. I can usually move out of line of sight of the patient until my initial reaction passes, then I'm fine.

It's disappointing but it doesn't have to be the end of the line. I only applied to one program last year (MSN) and was denied. I hounded everyone I could find at the program to get advice on how to improve my chances for the next go-round. For this year I re-applied and hedged my bets by applying to three other programs. I got accepted to the MSN program (master's entry leading to nurse practitioner - highly competitive, few spots), a BSN program and an AS program. But, I was NOT accepted to the LPN program at the community college. .. You can't take it personally. But you can keep at it. Wishing you luck for the next time!

Although it's uncomfortable to respond to these types of things, being direct is the best way to get the point across and establish boundaries with your classmate. Tell her, "Sharing work could get us both in trouble, and I'm not willing to do that." If she tries to make you feel bad simply say, "I'm sorry for your situation. If you need help, you should talk to the professor." Or, if you are willing to help, and it's not against the policies, you could offer to proof read a draft and provide her with feedback.

I'm glad to be in such good company! I'm 46 and left a 21 year career in higher education last fall to focus on my prereqs. I was accepted to a master's entry program (adult nurse practitioner track) for this fall and am very excited for the chance at a second career.

I have been a volunteer EMT for two years and that inspired me to make a career change to nursing. I was a college administrator with an MBA, so it's a big change! I've spent the past three semesters doing my prereqs, and am starting a master's entry program in August. I, too, have been warned about keeping my EMS experience on the down low. I can understand why, although I do hope it helps some. Best wishes to you!

We put personalized plates on our kids cars and told everyone what they were. The kids thought they were super cool with their vanity plates, but little did they know it was the best way to keep tabs on them. "I saw [insert kid name] here, there, doing XYZ..."