CSLee3

oh yeah, Texas Orthopedics is always looking for good pacu nurses, they have several surgical centers in austin area.

prob 25-30 hr plus diffs. You will have to barter with them. Also, those hospitals take a while to get through HR. Another way to speed up process is meet dept managers in person or call/fax resume, kind of sneaky around HR. Check www.statesman.com for jobs and craiglists.

Hi....Austin is an awesome and beautiful town. Healthcare jobs go up and down, but there is always something for experienced nurses. Lots of agencies and home health. The big hospitals...St. Davids (HCA owned!!!!) Seton (Catholic owned, not for profit) S&W Hospitals (not for profit research/med school) have campuses all over. I live Northside, like it better than south. Also you have UT health center..big. Heart Hospital, Ortho places, lots of surgical centers. I have worked in all three at one time or another, the non profits S & W and Seton are much better in my opinion. Seton has magnet status. Look at Round Rock Seton WIlliamson hospital and Round Rock Scott and White Hospital, you will love them. Just run from the HCA facilities. understaffing and corporate bottom dollar at its best. You can PM me for more info. Happy hunting, go get them. Brackenridge is the Trauma Center run by Seton, owned by the city if you like that environment. If you like BIG, go to Temple, just up the road to S & W. one of the largest level one hospitals in the state with med school ( A&M). ERDude

There is no such thing as "ADN". It funny because nursing programs all refer to the ADN department or ADN program. The Degree you are pursuing is ASN or AASN. If you go to a University, you will be pursuing a BSN not BDN. See....kind of silly right. It actually takes away from the validity of the degree earned! ASN or AASN is a degree. ADN is just a generic term for 2 year associate degree program usually taught at community colleges and some universities. Hope that helps. Peace

If you get tired of fooling with ACC, check out Temple College @ Taylor, just up the road in Willimason County. Excellent School and track record. Cheaper, smaller classes, more clinical time in more area and 4:22 faculty teaching ratio.

Temple College @ Taylor has the one of the best if not the best LVN programs in the state with an unparalled nclex and hesi pass rate. No traffic as you are going away from Austin. Small classes and excellent clincial sites. Tuition is reasonable. Nursing Faculty to student ratio is about 4:22 Hope that helps... ERDude7

EC grad here....funny how people ramble on about EC.....HELLO, they started distance learning and have been doing this since 1973! Now all the major Nursing programs in the USA have some form of distance learning and brag about their program and how they are "leading the way" or "new technology"....please! EC grads show the world every day...we can... and do ...prepare for just about anything!!! We rock! ERDude:)

LVNs at Scott & White Hospital have to wear Royal Blue scrubs. Not sure about S & W UMC (Round Rock ) Hosptial. ERDude

LUNAHRN....since so many of us did A & P and Micro through EC....look at University of Texas @ El Paso (UTEP). The give RN's (regardless of where you got your ADN) lots of credit, NO MATH, A&P or MICRO! The Distance Learning Department is really nice and will actually talk to you on the phone, email. etc... http://nursing.utep.edu/onlinenursing.html ERDude

Texas Tech Health Science Center University of Texas @ ElPaso UT @ Arlington Texas A & M @ Corpus Chrisit

MamaX2...here is my 2 cents....Look at the tuition cost per school. 2. look at the driving distance to each from your home and or work. 3. check with your state board of nursing and look at thier pass rates (nclex) for each school to see if there is a school that consistantly puts out higher scoring students.4. Look at their clinical sites, compare the experiences you would be getting at each site.5. Do they have an up-to-date Simulation Lab, Computer Lab and Smart-Classroom, Pod_casting, etc. for student support? 6. Check the reputation of each school with REAL practicing people like nurses, therapists, mangers and such. With all that you can make a choice. One I didnt mention, but depending the competition level is what are your odss of getting in to school A versus School B. Getting in to a sunpar school and becoming a nurse is better than waiting on a waiting list somewhere for a dream school. Good luck. Don't let anything stand in your way. Go for it!!! ERDude

Very similiar to HESI but more thorough and more difficult. A good tool used by schools! Try this website, they might have something for you....free. www.testprepreview.com ERDude

Zoo*mom...you need a vacation...well deserved I am sure. Think about teaching LPN, CNA, etc. Sometimes you do not need BSN or MSN depending where you are at. Also consider school nursing, which is a specialty in it's own. The beauty of nursing is....you can do various things as you know. Just hold your head up high, as you have done the lords work. Med-Surg is the backbone of nursing and one of the most important roles in the biz! For every good med-surg nurse, there have been numerous new nurses, students and the like mentor and train and learn from that one good nurse.....the cycle continues. Don't give up. We need you in the business. God Bless you... ERDude

I too, worked for Brack (Seton system)...hated it. The not-for-profit status means less money, cutting corners and ducking benefits to stay afloat and continue to serve a large austin population that doesn't pay, make an attempt to pay, and in fact abuses the system. If you take that residency, you will always regret, what might have been. On the other hand, experience is awesome. I also worked for St Davids, for-profit, so they have their own problems. I will say this.....if Labor and Delivery is what you want to do.....then jump at the chance. NAMC is a nice, newer hospital. The equipment is top notch and employment with St Davids is what you make of it. Kind of like the army....make it work or hate it. The benefits with such a national company is so-so but they are national. You can go to any state and find an HCA owned facility for the most part. Just my two bits. I was once offered a job in the ER and I jumped on it. I never looked back. It something is calling your name...jump on it. The nice thing with NAMC is if you hate that facility or the personnel, you usually can transfer to Round Rock or Georgetown. My wife is a L & D nurse with St Davids..for 21 years. Good luck, Austin is an awesome city with it's own culture. You will no doubt like it. ERDude

TRACI JUST REPORTED THAT FIREMEDIC PASSED TOO!!!! 5 OF 7 PASSED IN RACINE! ERDude,RN

FAMILY GUY...BOY YOU KNOW HOW TO OPEN A CAN! LETS GET ONE THING CLEAR....There are THOUSANDS of EC grads working in California right this moment. Until a few years back, when the State of California noticed EC had an enrollment of over 5,000 student nurses from California, that they decided they would rather keep the TUITION money in the state and therefore denied further EC recipriocity students, however, if you are educated in the faulklands, russia, phillipiness bosnia, etc. have at it right. The "no clinical" roation is a smoke screen put up by noninformed individuals. EC has no "clinical rotation" but rather the CPNE, which I am sure you and the Stanford lady on the plane could not pass. Nonetheless, there is no clinical rotations as the EC student has already proven themselves by being an LVN/EMTP/Corpsman/foreign educated Doctor. THE CPNE is to qualify their skills, which takes months of practice to even consider applying for. IT is funny that a state with mandatory staffing levels and chronic nursing shortages is dictating where you can and cannot go to school from. We all pass the sames NCLEX boards and walk to the same drum beat. Isnt it funny that EC is rated Exemplary Nursing School and most community college and universities are not. Gee, I suppose they paid them under the table for that one. Isn't it funny that most LVN/LPNs schools have more clinical hours than ADN and BSN programs, and isn't it funny that ADNs pass the NCLEX at a higher percentage than the BSN grads... (source, NCLEX and Tx BON). I personally know of 5 or so great nurses that have worked recently in California doing travel gigs and all are EC grads prior to 2005. IF EC was so dangerous, why can't people prior to 2005 be banned too. Politicians my friend. A fact of life. Ca Politiciansdont want tuition money to leave thier state. ...Like Excelsior College's motto says...."what you know is more important than where or how you learned it" ERDude, RN

TRACI,LVN IS NOW TRACI GN...SHE PASSED, I JUST GOT OFF THE PHONE WITH HER!!!! ERDude,RN:yeah:

CLASSICDAME, I CAN'T BELIEVE A HOSPITAL PAYS YOU TO BE SO MISINFORMED!!! Excelsior College is part of the New York State University System and it's nursing program is over 35 years old! Not only is it NLN accredited, it is "Exemplary", is your alma mater "Exemplary" or merely accredited? EC has a very a strict Clincal Performance Exam (CPNE) that is very tough and designed to test the knowledge of potential Graduate Nurses. They offer ASN, BSN and MSN programs. The education is not "Spotty" unless you are "Spotty" as your courses are all done independently. They pass the CLINICAL Rotation minimal hours test in Texas as well as the nation because.....to qualify you must be an LVN/LPN or Paramedic, D.C., DDS, or other qualifying licensed individuals. Therefore, you already have say 900 (Texas) hours of clinical for the average LVN, so Excelsior verifys your license and your experience. BTW, LVNs in Texas almost always have more clinical hours than most ADN, BSN programs, usually around 1000-1200, plus 900-1000 classroom hours crammed into a year or 18 months. EC students must go to one of only a handful of Regionally accredited Testing centers at major hospitals with University affiliations. For instance, I traveled from Texas (Plano and Amarillo are Texas sites) to Racine WI, just to TEST. The Clinical Examiners are FULL TIME INSTRUCTORS for University of Wisconsion, at least when I went. Your are soooooo not informed. So before you further damage the reputation of the hospital you work for any further, please do a little research. You might be surprised how many bosses you have that may be EC grads! I know FNPs and MDs with EC degrees. EC is a college of choice for the US armed forces and a leader in Distance Education. Their NCLEX pass rate surpasses most institutions and only the strong survive. You wont find a better bunch of nurses than EC grads. LUBBOCK GAL.....welcome to the site, great question....is EC for you....hard to say.I am an Odessa boy and sure miss Taco Villa and the Red Raiders!!! If you are a indepedent learner and don't want to sit in a brick and mortar building for two years...jump on it. The thing you will find about EC is that there is a ton of networking, students helping students, alum helping students and so on. EC is great to work with and the cost IS NOT any more than a traditional college. I should know, I teach for an accredited nursing program. When you add up your tuition, gas, books, lab fees and such, you will run 10-20K at most public schools. I paid around 10K total, in which EC lets you finance part of your fees by spreading them out, plus you pay as you test, not all at once. Pay to register, then pay to test. Please call them and talk to them, the phone call is free. Visit their website www.excelsior.edu ERDude,RN:yeah: Excelsior College motto..."what you know is more important than where or how you learned it"

WELCOME to the site! ACC is a large program and does serve a huge city. There waitlist is been getting shorter and shorter. It used to be years to even gt on the list. A lot has changed in the past year or two. Personally, I say check out Temple College, they have a campus in Taylor (only 20 miles from Austin). It is well worth the drive and less applicants to compete with. Their pass rate is better than most schools in the state and they do require HESI score of 850 or you cannot graduate either the LVN or ADN programs. Check it out and compare. Sorry I can't a be more specific with ACCs wait list but a friend of mine teachs there and I know they have be increasing their classes each year to accomadate more students. ERDude,RN:cool:

YOU GO SPADEQUEEN!!! Those people should be in jail for extortion. Crazy pricing, crazy interest and taking advantage of people. I am glad I used Chancellors when I was in EC. Yes, I paid a lot of money but at least it was interest free and I have the week long careplan practice lab in Indy, paid for. BTW, it was awesome week and really prepared me. I know Chancellors and the like aren't for everyone, but the difference between them and TCN is you know what you getting with them at half the cost of TCN and no interest. PLUS they send you a book at a time, whereas TCN sends them all up front so they can say you have all the "merchandise" not "pay up". What jerks. I hope the taxmax gets them soon! How is YOUR Studies going SPADEQUEEN? Hang in there. One of my Pals, TraciLVN is in Racine today! Wish her luck. I taught her "everything" she knows...LOL ERDude,RN:clown:

TASHA, I happen to teach LVNs in Texas and I can say that your Fundamentals book is just fine. You would be shocked to see how little the LVN and RN program curriculum differ. Yes, the ADNs get more didactic in disease process, management, more projects and more non-essential nursing lessons. Nursing is Nursing. Some might disagree what I am about to say, but here it goes. I have seen this first hand in my computer lab. LVN student "accidently" signs on the RN hesi exam or NCLEX practice exam, and of course, passes. A good LVN can pass RN NCLEX any day, nursing is nursing. It is the little sheepskin that seperate the two jobs. Although I am an RN, I am always reminding myself where I came from and a strong advocate for LVN practice in this state. LVNs in this great state receive around 800-1200 hours of clinicals, depending on the college. This exceeds the ADN programs usually, in fact, usually exceeds the BSN clincals as well. I always say if you can pass LVN in 12 months (all that curriculum crammed in your head) then you can pass RN program with ease. Excelsior, On campus school, whatever. Use all your old books you can, save money CPNE, classes, CLEPs whatever. CPNE is an awesome experience and I am proud to have done it with no repeats. In fact, everyone in my group (8) all passed with no problems. Great bunch of LVNs and Medics we were! And when you get rolling and you need some CPNE lab help, I am not far from the "hood", feel free to PM me. ERDude,RN

I live in Texas, near Ft Hood, but went to Racine Wis. Short wait, heard good things and "surenuff" as we say down here...it was an awesome site. Many coworkers of mine ended up in Racine and all passed and of course loved it. Small Hospital, small town and great people and staff. Funny thing is that Plano Texas has been doing this for a long time but lots of Texans end up in other places. Two girls I work with failed in Plano, not once but twice, then they went to Racine and passed. You will always hear stories about different places but they all are fair if you do your part. Best of luck. Pick a spot and practice, practice, practice. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It it the best feeling for which I cannot explain, when you get on that aircraft headed back to Texas, knowing you are a GN and ordering all the drinks in the airplane!!!:chuckle

check out UTEP (University of Texas @ El Paso) all online and they give RNs CREDIT for algebra, statistics, micro, chemistry, etc. FOR BEING an RN from accredited ADN program. You can print the courses required online and check out cost. VERY friendly and effective website. Know 2 grads and one current student there and they all love it. ERDude, RN:loveya:

Greetings...Has anyone in Texas received notice from The College Network that they failed to collect sales taxes for years of doing business in this state and now are trying to collect from former and current customers? They are sending out letters, and several of my coworkers at the hospital have recieved them, asking for unpaid sales tax. WOW, this is sad and shocking. Imagine buying something from home depot or walmart and they failed to collect sales tax, then years later call you and say they failed to collect taxes and pay the state of Texas, therefore you will have to pay. INCREDIBLE... ERDude, RN

Congrats on getting enrolled! EC is a great program and it is what you make of it. That being said. I would recommend buying a "Chancellors" study guide online (ebay) or even new from Chancellors. Or you could buy The College Network, Rue, etc. These study guides are excellent and a shortcut to big text books. HOWEVER, you could pick up the recommended text used from amazon or yahoo discussion groups. What you will find is former Excelsior students helping new Excelsior students. Kind of Pay-it-forward mentality. At least it has been my experience. I completed EC years ago and wouldn't trade my experience for the world. There is support out there. Join EC dicussion groups, search ebay and other stores like amazon, half price books, etc. NOW, there is a lot of debate and basically opinion as to wether you should use a publisher, like Chancellors, to purchase your study guides from. Personally I purchased all my guides from Chancellors and never bought one text book. It was worth the money to me. Yes it is expensive, yes they finance and maybe yes, it is not necessary. But I prefered to have someone act in my best interest, keep my updated, sell me the most current stuff and oh yeah, provide me a week of CPNE training (boot camp) prior to my clinical exam (CPNE). Do what you think is right for you. I would buy a used guide first and see if it is a fit for you and you learn with that style. EC has pretty good telephone advisors that can answer most of your questions too. Good luck and hang in there. ERDude, RN