hilzaberry

...there are HUGE lists right now and all the cleaning out of the "accredited-ish" schools is bombing community colleges on top of the 4 year university schools. You might be able to challenge the denyal if you can prove that your class description is eqal to their school's, I did this a few times since completing classes for "tech" skills (like emergency medical terminology) could count towards a fourmal degree. Any other options people could suggest out there apart from military? International?

I have taken every test required with acceptable scores, have obtained all of my pre-req classes with a 3.7 GPA WITH recommendations and have applied to over 15 schools...and have been placed on the waiting list...for 15 schools. RANDOM LOTTERY LISTS. UCLA has 10 spots on their whole list PER YEAR! State Colleges all appear to also randomly pull names or refuse to look into possible factors for advanced students. I'm stuck! Private is too much or too seedy and public seems locked! I just don't know what to do!

**ANXIETY ATTACK!!** I am getting pretty freaked...I can't finish school and if I can't work enough to support myself when my parents insurance support ends I'm SCREWED! I have SEVERAL genetic issues that would be terminal without EXTREMELY pricy health insurance. I NEED TO GET THIS DONE!! I'M NOT SLACKING AROUND HERE!!!

o_o ***head desk*** This entire nursing school application carnival show has been such a nightmare for me I'm getting ready to throw in the towel. The ONLY reason I have my EMT/Medic cert is because I initially wanted to go to medical school and felt it would be silly to let them expire. I am 100% done with my schooling but because I made the mistake of going to a seedy private college I have been financially bled dry, black marked by both schools/employers due to my schools illegal conduct, AND have only JUST gotten on lists thus I am now stuck waiting for +3 years. I moved from AZ to CA and still got nothing...even with my 3.2 gpa, certs, recommendations, and prior experience I get no where!! I cant even get a job!! Im 24 already and this is retarded. I refuse to attend another private school but I will move pretty much anywhere at this point...

Okay, now I'm confused... Perhaps I should clarify first what my "dream" career destination is...When all is finally said and done, I want to become a nurse/nurse practitioner who specializes/certed in midwifery/prenatal/doula. I love working with the labor and delivery teams and wish to be able to travel abroad to teach the practice. I am pretty much locked out of nursing schools on +2 year wait lists so getting these certs to get experience seemed like a good idea. I only keep getting more certs because I cant find work!! I also see postings online now that require even MORE certs IN ADDITION to the ones I have to get a job! Now your saying getting certs hurts my job potential??

I am a nursing major in CA and because of the backup in the schools out here (and everywhere) I thought it might be a good plan to collect as many certifications as possible to attempt to start my medical career early. I already hold an EMT, Paramedic, and CNA cert so I thought that an LVN could be a good next step. Thoughts? I'm still stuck on this list for 3 more years unless I land a hospital job or move out of state :-/

I had a REALLLLLLY bad personal experience involving psych facilities when a family member went to one for emotional problems. She has Celiac's Disease and requires a modified diet in order to eat without getting sick and no matter WHAT we did the staff at the facility REFUSED to modify the meals so she could eat. We even had her gastroenterologist call in to the facility and though they sent in a dietician they STILL didn't change her diet...we had to take her home in the end because she became so ill that she was sicker IN the ward that OUT because of her Celiacs! It was NUTS!!

But it's no excuse for a nurse to treat one of their patients like an animal! I'd NEVER treat another human with that kind of disrespect and people who work in places like that who do don't need to be nurses! There is no way their actions are legal...

I have just finished up getting my CNA certification and decided to do some volunteer hours at a local long term care facility to bulk up my resume (and due to the lacking jobs). The facility SEEMED pretty nice and well maintained however I was somewhat horrified by the total lack of respect some of the healthcare workers had to the facilities elderly residents. Just because some of them act especially needy or act inappropriately due to a elderly disorder (in my mind) doesn't mean a staff member can just sit around talking on their phones about going out to the bar later while they ignore their patient! Most of the staff also was totally nasty looking too...Some of the employees smelled like alcohol/cigarettes/B.O. I don't think I saw ANYONE wash their hands ONCE, their clothes had sweat stains and other crap all over their scrubs IF they were wearing scrubs. It was pretty dang nasty... Their behavior didn't seem much better...I didn't say anything though because I couldn't tell if I was just being overly critical. I got upset however when an elderly woman wet herself after she was ignored by the nurses at the nurses station while trying to get their attention. They were too busy talking about their boyfriends or some crap..it was just sad Then there was this other woman who had a nasty cut on her arm which she was scratching. It was bleeding everywhere and when I told the RN he said that it "wasn't a big deal" since she did it all the time and didn't even wipe her off! I even asked if we could clip her nails or something and he said it didn't matter because she would just do it again eventually. It was just so so sad...I don't know if this is how it usually is at a long term care facility but if it is I'm not sure if I want to work as a CNA at one because I can't deal with people around me treating others so horribly!!! Am I being too sensitive????? I never had this type of encounter while I spent time working as an EMT/Paramedic however that was obviously a totally different type of healthcare setting...At this point I'm ready to get a lawyer to legally note in my will that my kids are never allowed to put me in one of those places I'm so freaked...

Getting screwed by my private college selling out to Apollo is far from a story it's a FACT. I would be DONE by now if that hadn't happened and facing people with attitudes like yours is the reason I keep seeing freshman nursing students who ONLY have book smarts take spots and drop out EVERY CYCLE.

I was hoping someone could look PAST my GPA ONLY BECAUSE I was failed due to the BS caused at that **** school I was in which failed me. I can prove that without those stupid F's averaged into my grades how much my grades improve....You ALSO would think that being able to carry all those certifications would indicate that I'm pretty smart and aware of what I am doing. What student would you bet your money on passing through a nursing schools program? The student who has a high GPA but never done anything healthcare related or the student with a slightly lower one who has LOADS of experience under their belt, passed through other programs, and is missing out because of a fluke!

Wow...way for everyone to jump down my throat. I didn't want to divulge every detail via public form....Basically I possess/have possessed several certifications, finished all of my pre-nursing courses, and have the intelligence level to be in medical school. I think that it's REALLY EFFING DUMB that JUST BECAUSE my old school screwed me I should bear a black X on my head and be barred from not only attending school in a reasonable amount but the schools I'd really like to go to. My question is that if I wrote in an explanation with my application would it help with getting me accepted, however if this is going to be the attitude of all the people reading my application I might as well say screw being a nurse and become a Lab Tech or something. I've been in school TOO LONG and NEED to finish this crap so I can start my life as a working adult...parental aid ends at 26.

@Bugsy- 1) It WASN'T one of those seedy private schools until the merger with the Phoenix College/Apollo Group. The program was extremely competitive, you needed an exceptionally high GPA before and during the program and the only reason I found it particularly appealing was because it cut the nursing school time in HALF. I was cool with paying extra to be in an advanced class like that and in all honesty I actually got an EXTREMELY good academic experience BEFORE the stupid sell out! This is one of the MAJOR reasons why I immediately withdrew my classes and transferred them to the local community college once I caught wind of trouble...I didn't want the schools NEW problems to damage the education I got BEFORE the problems began. 2) Both my parents are lawyers and I have been to EVERYONE under the sun and there is NOTHING that I can do to legally challenge the school and/or force them to raise my GPA. They rounded the failed classes with the classes I re-took BEFORE I withdrew thus it does not SHOW that I took the class twice it only shows C's. 3) I don't have debt I had enough savings to pay for my schooling. 4) Wouldn't you think that all of my certifications and massive stack of professor recommendations would help?? I mean...I THOUGHT if I got enough extra certifications that it would in a way PROVE somehow that I know what I'm doing and that it's really stupid for me not to just be allowed to finish school! I mean I'm finished with EVERYTHING BUT THE ACTUAL CORE NURSING SCHOOL!!! Everything BUT that I'm done with!! The anatomy, chems, pharmacology, EVERYTHING!! DONE DONE DONE!! I'm just SITTING HERE!!

I have been in between a rock and a hard place in regards to getting my BSRN and pretty much EVERYTHING that could POSSIBLY go wrong has. My GPA is not high enough to get me into a University's nursing school program via the traditional application process HOWEVER I had a little thought light go off in my head recently and wanted to hear everyone's feedback on if they think my idea would work... Now stick with me because as I said my situation is VERY complex... I am currently 24 years old and have been working at this since HIGH SCHOOL. At the age of 18 I moved to California and graduated with honors from an extremely difficult EMT program with the intent of attending Loma Linda Medical School to get on a road to become a pre-med student. I worked as an EMT in Compton CA as I worked on my basic college classes however I had to abandon my plans suddenly because my sister killed herself when I was 19 and I had to move back to Arizona for my family. Soon after my move back to AZ I began planning to start working as an EMT and to continue my path to a career as an MD, it was then a new law passed which prevented those under the age of 23 to operate an ambulance or handle any narcotics thus I lost my license. At this time that I was about 20 and was REALLY antsy to get going on my education...Medical school seemed too far from reach thus nursing seemed to be the next best choice. I found a private college called Grand Canyon University and enrolled in their "fast track BSRN" program. I excelled with an above average GPA, worked as a laboratory assistant, and was zooming quickly through my nursing pre-reqs. Everything was fine UNTIL Grand Canyon sold out to Phoenix College, became money hungry, and screwed over the nursing students. GCU flat out failed me for 2 semesters of classes with 20 credits worth of classes EACH even though I had attempted to withdraw due to a medical reason. These Fs dragged down my overall GPA to a disgustingly low average...to add insult to injury...when I RETOOK the classes they failed me in they ROUNDED the F's with my A's making the grade a C...Basically it didn't help. On top of the whole issue with GCU screwing with my GPA it became apparent that the board of education was getting a little iffy about the Phoenix College/GCU merger and put the school's nursing school accredidation on hold. Basically it came to the choice of sitting in the school and risking loosing ALL my education or taking my credits and running before the school lost it's accredidation. So I picked up my credits, withdrew from the school and am now stuck in limbo. In the mean time I was able to regain my EMT cert as well as gain an CNA... THIS is my question... I CAN'T get the F grades taken off of my records to repair my GPA and THAT is what is screwing me...I have a CNA and EMT license as well as AMAZING recommendation letters from ALL of my professors attesting to my academic accomplishments and skills. Do you think that if I write some of the nursing schools that I WANT to get into and EXPLAIN the specifics of my situation I could have a SHOT at being heard??? I KNOW that I am smarter and can do BETTER than half of the kids that are applying to nursing school and it's BS that underlying misfortunes have effed me...I just don't know...What do you think? Do I have a snowball's chance in hell???

When in doubt ask for help...You are more likely to get into SERIOUS trouble doing something your unsure of alone rather than feeling annoying and getting someone to help. Don't be so worried about "bugging" more senior nurses with questions, just be honest about your inexperience/challenges with procedures so that they know to take it a little slower when showing you how do do something and don't act ****** thinking your trying to get out of doing icky work. :)