amandakash

The second degree program at UK is NOT accellerated. It takes 2.5 years to complete. If you want an accelerated program look at EKU, U of L, NKU, or Bellarmine.

If you're going to do the UK program - have you thought about their second degree option? It's not accelerated so you would still have more time to spend with your girls. I'm in the ABSN at EKU right now and I'm also in Lexington and I'm struggling just to spend time with my boyfriend, and we live together. The course load is set up so that you only have one class a day, but you're there for like 8 hours, at least the first semester. And our clinicals are 12 hours either in Danville or Corbin the first semester. Later they're in Lexington for the most part, and shorter but right now it's pretty tough getting through the week. Anyway, like I said I would consider UK's second degree option if you're not concerned about how long it will take you to finish or you'd rather not do it accelerated so you can still have a life. I don't blame you. Or if you have any specific questions about EKU's programs I have friends in both the ADN and traditional programs as well.

Congrats CestLaVie! Where are you right now for clinical?

Yes, you have to take BIO 137 and 139 though. There is a lecture and a lab component for both of them. Shirley Whitescarver is the best. Hands down. I love her. There are separate classes you can take but I'm pretty sure that EKU needs you to have a lab for at least one of them and you really get a better understanding of the material if you have the lab. Which you will need once you're in nursing school. Hope this helps! Let me know if I can help with anything else!

I don't know how much they weigh them against each other if that is what you're asking. If you are apply for the 2nd degree you have to have all of the pre-reqs done before you start the program and I'm pretty sure that they only enroll in the fall. I was missing physiology and I know two of my classmates were missing microbiology, but I don't know about everyone else (there are 24 of us). If you have a chance I would call the office and talk to Theresa Dunn and maybe set up a tour or something. That way they will know who you are and that you're interested in the program.

I've been watching Hawthorne from the beginning and it's good. I preferred Mercy only because the acting was 1000x better. I'm not a nurse yet, but I feel like the roles in Hawthorne may be more accurate. But, I could be way off base.

That's great since I haven't been able to find an AHA offering within an hour of me in the time that I need it completed. Grrrrrrr... But that's another issue for another day. Red Cross is good enough for my program and I need to complete that before I go getting jobs anyway!

Just FYI - UK's BSN program is NOT accelerated. I was deciding between UK and EKU and that was really the dividing line for me. EKU is much cheaper, and even though I will be driving from Lexington, it's not very far. Especially when you take into consideration that it takes at least 20 minutes to get anywhere in Lexington because the traffic is always bad (poor road planning). UK also will not accept your application if you are still working on pre-requisites (new rule), but EKU will. I got into EKU's ABSN to start in August 2011 and I will be finished December 2012. At UK I wouldn't start until January 2012 and wouldn't finish until May 2014. Since I'm leaving the job market to go back to school, I wanted it done as quickly as possible while still getting a good education. For me, it just fit. I actually had my heart set on U of L, but the way that their program is set up, I couldn't take all of the pre-reqs without being in a nursing program in Lexington, and I wasn't going to drive an hour and a half each way for two classes before I could even apply to the upper division.

I'm enrolled in a Red Cross CPR for healthcare professionals class for my nursing program. The cert. is good for two years and it costs $80. The AHA BLS for healthcare professionals isn't as readily offered in my area. Our program will take any CPR for healthcare professionals cert. and we do clinicals in several hospitals throughout the state so I'm not sure why a hospital would prefer AHA over Red Cross.

Thanks for your input so far. I think I'm going to stick with BCTC. I was just wondering if there is a fundamental difference between the BLS offered at UK and the CPR for healthcare providers that I'm signed up for with the Red Cross. I'm sure there are some threads I can check out to answer that question!

This is so great!! I was admitted to an accelerated BSN program to start this August and I could not be more excited/terrified. I'm always looking for tip sheets so this is fantastic. Thank you so much!

Hey all - I'm currently signed up to take BCTC's CNA class in the fall but I know that UK offers one as well. It's more expensive but it includes BLS which BCTC does not. I'm already planning on taking a CPR for healthcare providers through red cross - but if I didn't need to that would work too. I'm just wondering if anyone has gone through either or both of these programs and has any advice on which one is more worth my $500 - $700. Unless there are glaring reasons to change, the BCTC one fits in better with my schedule (M W all day for about 8 weeks, UK is M W R at night but it's shorter in length) and all of the experiences I've had with UK so far have been subpar to say the least. Thanks for your input!

WOW! Thank you so much for your response! It was all I could have asked for and more. I'm just so nervous about starting that I'm trying to be all OCD and being as prepared as possible. I hope things are going well for you over at UK - maybe we'll see you when we start our rotations!

!! I didn't mean to bring up such a sore subject! I am already enrolled in a BSN program so that's not an issue, I just didn't know if it made a difference to employers, just out of curiosities sake. ...I'll search my question more thoroughly next time...

I'm going back for an accelerated second bachelor's in nursing. I've been hearing a lot about how there is no difference in pay for ADN vs. BSN since they are both licensed RNs. I don't much care about a pay difference, but for me, I can get a BSN in the same amount of time I could get an ADN. Has anyone noticed a push for more or less BSN nurses? Does it matter which degree you have?