marmic

Thank you for your response, but I can't see your PM! My inbox says: Members are required to have a minimum of 15 quality topics in order to use our Private Messaging (PM) System. Since I have only written a couple of times on here, I don't have access to it. Would you mind writing the basics here? I can't think of how else to contact you since I can't put my email on the thread!

Hello nurses! I am a new grad (from an accelerated BSN program in Illinois) that recently relocated to San Francisco. I want to work in pediatrics and think I would really like working in peds rehab or peds long-term-care facilities. Things I like about this area of peds: being a part of the transition back home from the acute setting, developing longer relationships with patients/families, the idea of growing/learning/regaining skills lost in an illness/traumatic event, a more home-like environment rather than acute hospital setting. I am actually just looking for part-time work right now because I have another part-time job that I really enjoy. So my questions are: 1. What are the names of pediatric LTC/rehab/recovery facilities in the San Francisco Bay Area? (I know of Subacute Saratoga and Children's Recovery Center of Northern California, both are about an hour from the city, closer to San Jose) 2. What's a typical "day-in-the-life" of a pediatric rehab or LTC nurse? 3. Are these types of facilities more likely to hire a new grad than a big hospital? (I did an accelerated BSN program, have a 3.84 GPA, worked as an in-home caregiver through IHSS for a quadriplegic adult for a year and a half, worked as a transport in a hospital for about six months, and have lots of experience with children through coaching and babysitting) Any info or advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!!

Maggus, Thank you so much for your help! When you say 90% of German-speaking Switzerland nurses obtain a non-academic degree, is this similar to an RN in the US? In the US, you can be an RN and practice, and there are also programs where RNs can earn their Bachelor's of Science in Nursing (BSN) as well. If this is similar, perhaps I could look into the non-academic "RN" programs in Switzerland - I wonder if these would translate well enough to the NCLEX and RN certifications in the US... I'll have to do a bit more research into that. Also, I'm a bit unsure of how the whole education system functions, but are the Universities of Applied Sciences the only ones that would have nursing, or do other Universities as well? Thanks again for all your information and help!

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone had info about regular or accelerated nursing programs in Switzerland. I was born and raised in the US, but also have Swiss citizenship. I'm conversational in Swiss German (mostly just day to day stuff though, so my vocab isn't great) and can read some German (would have to look up a few words if I was reading the newspaper, for example). I am looking into accelerated BSN programs here in the US, since I already have a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and have done the nursing pre-reqs. I was wondering if there is anything similar in Switzerland. I did find 3- and 4-year BSN programs, as well as Master's programs. However, 3/4 years seems a bit long since I could do it in the US in 15 months. And the Master's program requires a Bachelor's in Nursing, which I don't have. One school I was looking at is the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (http://www.zhaw.ch). Their english site can be found here: http://www.gesundheit.zhaw.ch/en/health-professions-g/study/bachelors-degree-programmes/nursing.html Their German site says the program is 3 years long, with the first two years in classes on campus, the last year in clinics. It would be nice to live in Switzerland because I have a lot of family there, it would be a great opportunity to improve my language skills, and it's so much cheaper than the US (about $500/semester vs. about $5,000/semester)! Any info would be appreciated! Thanks!

Hi everyone! I'm looking into the Summer 2012 Accelerated Nursing Program at Illinois State University. Applications are due this coming January 15th, 2011! So I'm on a bit of a time crunch... ISU appeals to me because of location (near my hometown) and cost (can't find the exact figures on their website, but I have heard figures between $20,000 to $30,000 for in-state students). A little about me: Education: B.S. in Psychology University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign December 2007 Urbana High School Graduate May 2005 Scores: ACT - 34 Total, 36 English, 34 Reading, 34 Science, 32 Math GPA at UIUC - 3.87 Nursing-related Background: EMT-B certified March 2009 6 months (Jan. 2010 - June 2010) as Transport in Surgery Day Care 1 1/2 years (Jan. 2009 - June 2010) as In-home caregiver for Quadriplegic Woman 3 months (April 2010 - June 2010) as Live-In caregiver for Leukemia patient after Bone Marrow Transplant Questions: 1) How competitive is the Accelerated BSN Program at Illinois State? 2) I didn't find any mention of the need for recommendations or patient care experience in the application. However, it seems like many second degree BSN candidates have a medicine-related background. Will my application still be competitive with my main experience being in-home caregiving? 3) What other options do I have? (After considering Med school, PA school, Direct Entry Masters Programs, RN Programs, etc., the Accelerated BSN sounds like the best option since I have NO nursing qualifications - RN, ADN, CNA, LPN, etc. - and if I'm going to put in the time becoming an RN, I might as well get the BSN too. Direct entry Masters Programs seem to be too much of a jump, since I don't know what I want to specialize in, and also want to experience working as a nurse before considering grad school in nursing.) 4) I took my pre-reqs at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, except for Medical Terminology, which I would have to take (community college?) before classes started at ISU. I'm pretty sure they will transfer to ISU, but does anyone have more info about that? Another Pre-req issue is that my first semester at UIUC was Fall 2005 - will they still accept those credits since they are over 5 years old? 5) Is there a supplementary application for the Accelerated BSN program, or is there just the ISU Undergrad Application? (I assume I would also need to send in my UIUC transcript and other paperwork...) Okay, that's all I've got for now! Thanks in advance for any comments, suggestions, information or advice!