SailorVee93

Hi all! I'm currently attending an RN-BSN program in MA. One of my courses regards Pharmacology. We have the option to either pay to take a pharm class or pay to take a challenge exam to earn the credit for pharmacology. I would rather pay under $100 for an exam than over $1,000 for a semester. I have been trying to find ways of studying for this exam online. Apparently there are no official study guides from the NLN (or other book companies). The study guides I do find are unofficial ones posted on StuDocu or similar sites. I'm just curious to know if anyone has had to take this challenge exam? If so, how did you study/prepare for it? I only want help/guidance, no test questions/answers and no spamming of shady websites asking for money for study guides or test answers. Any and all information is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance! (I did post this to the student forum on here back in November in the ADN/BSN section with no results, unfortunately.)

Hi all! I'm currently attending an RN-BSN program. One of my courses regards Pharmacology. We have the option to either pay to take a pharm class or pay to take a challenge exam to earn the credit for pharmacology. I would rather pay under $100 for an exam than over $1,000 for a semester. I have been trying to find ways of studying for this exam online. Apparently there are no official study guides from the NLN (or other book companies). The study guides I do find are unofficial ones posted on StuDocu or similar sites. I'm just curious to know if anyone has had to take this challenge exam? If so, how did you study/prepare for it? I only want help/guidance, no test questions/answers and no spamming of shady websites asking for money for study guides or test answers. Any and all information is greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance!

Hi @Caroline Sheppard! I will say that I do believe you will be able to find a job as an RN here in Massachusetts. I live on the eastern side (Boston) and have worked with ADN/new grads at my hospital. Some hospitals will require that you plan or be in the process of getting your BSN within a certain amount of time after the date of hire. For example, I know that at Boston Medical Center (BMC) they stipulate that you have 36 months after hiring to get your BSN while you work for them. Other options for employment include psychiatric nursing, home health nursing, nursing homes, rehab hospitals/facilities, and skilled nursing facilities. You do have options, regardless of whether or not you move to Boston. Also, have you looked into other schools that are closer to Boston? UMass Amherst is on the western side (Springfield, Holyoke, Agawam, Westfield, etc.) of the state. I only ask as I have heard of some RN-BSN programs requiring their students to have a community health clinical incorporated into their learning experience before they graduate. I hope some of this information is helpful. Best of luck and stay safe!

Salem State has a part time LPN to BSN program

Hi kjs! I actually made the same exact assumption as you. Being new to Massasoit, I had to go register for class in person. I also did the orientation online. I didn't know about course registration until I got that phone call a few weeks ago. Also make sure that all of your paperwork has been turned in. Lastly, be aware of tuition payment dates after you've registered for the course. I hope this helps! :-)

Hi my fellow future classmates! Please make sure to get all of the necessary materials in by their respective deadlines. The administration is basically waiting to hear back from all of the currently accepted students so as to make room for any waitlist students. I only know about this as I received a phone call about my course registration and some missing paperwork at the start of this month. I do not want for anyone to miss the chance of losing their spot in the program. I also do not want for a waitlist person to miss a chance at being accepted off of the waitlist if they have that opportunity to join our current nursing cohort. I hope your summer is going well! :)

Hi kjs91, Have you considered looking into being a Unit Secretary/Coordinator? Although you will not receive any experience with direct patient care, you are able to see how things work from an administrative persepctive. In this sense, you will have the opportunity to see how orders get put into the system and still work closely with the RNs when needing to get in touch with other departments in the hospital. I just wanted to put out that suggestion if you're still looking to get some healthcare experience. If not, then my best advice to you is to stay with your job if it will pay you more and allow you to cut back on your hours. In the end, do what works best for you.

In my personal experience, I would suggest that you try to work in psych. I know it is not a popular field, but I was not certified when I got my first job at a psychiatric hospital. I ended up on the dementia unit and loved it. You can get a lot of training that can help you to learn the skills that go along with being a CNA/PCT. You can also learn a lot from the nurses on the unit. I have learned a lot and I'm still learning. I was even able to use that experience to help with my CNA certification paperwork, which was accepted and I was able to test and pass for it. There are other avenues, you just have to spend some more time looking. I will say that you have taken a great first step by asking for help and guidance on this board :)

Hi everyone! This is for future reference and for anyone who may need to get this done: If you need to be certified or recertified for CPR/AED, Carney Hospital in Dorchester offers the cheapest courses in the Boston area. It costs $40 and you can receive your card right after training has ended on the very same day. It is the course provided by the American Heart Association for Basic Life Support CPR. Courses are offered every week, either on Thursday or Saturday, with the days alternating between each other each week. The Thursday courses are offered in the evening (6 pm - 10 pm), while the Saturday courses are done during the day (10 am - 2 pm). I have done my certification there twice and have enjoyed the format they present to their students and how they teach it to the students. (I always do the Saturday morning option and the class tends to end early... ) If you are looking for an affordable option, try looking into it. Here is a link to their website, as well as their other course offerings: https://www.cprboston.org. Newbies and experienced health care professionals are all welcome to take part in these classes!! I hope this helps!

My rubric was roughly at a 60.5 before the personal letter/statement. With the letter, my final rubric score was between 63.5 and 66.5 (very rough estimate). I just checked my mailbox. I got my large envelope and acceptance letter. Now it's officially official!! :)

@Jamie try to look at your unofficial transcript or your transfer credit. It will list your major on it.

I feel the same way! I need physical proof, lol

@kjs91 Thank you! I checked it; now it feels official! I'm so excited to be on this journey. I am throwing out good and hopeful vibes for everyone else on this board!!

kjs91, I woke up to the same email. I guess we're officially classmates now :) How were you able to check your status? I couldn't check DegreeWorks. I had to look at my unofficial transcript in order to see my major, lol.

Hi LPNfutureRN, Welcome to the thread! I applied to day RN program as a new/transfer student. You are lucky enough to have access to Degreeworks; I'm going to have to wait for an answer via snail mail, lol. Good luck with your application! :)

Hi eye2change, There are many schools in Massachusetts that offer programs to help you advance your degree. Here are just a few that friends have told me about: UMass Boston and UMass Dartmouth both offer accredited RN-BSN online programs. They will be more affordable as they are state schools. Framingham State University, another state college, offers their RN-BSN program in a hybrid format, meaning that it is both online and on campus. Also, you can look into what Regis College, Simmons College and Curry College have to offer. They are more expensive, but their reputations are well-known! There are many more schools in this state than the ones I have mentioned in my reply to you. Good luck with your search!

Hi kjs91, The woman at my info session said they accept 56 students for the day program. When its time to have a new evening cohort, they accept 32 students to that program every 3 years. I didn't know about the number of students who make it onto the wait list. Thank you for that info! Also, I do agree with you: there are certainly a lot of great candidates posting on this board =)

Hello all! I also applied to MCC. My very rough estimate for the rubric puts me between 63.5 - 66.5 points. My individual adjusted score on the TEAS is 76.7, although I wish I retook it before the Feb. 26th deadline. A woman in admissions and at the info session I attended in December said that you could take it at least twice with no time limit in between and that they would accept the higher of the two scores. I really hated that exam, lol... The waiting game really stinks. I'm wishing all of us here lots of good luck :-)

I think you need to request for this discussion to be moved to the Massachusetts nursing section. You'll probably get a lot more posters and comments in that area ☺

I live in the eastern part of Mass and I can say that you can get jobs in nursing homes over here. You just need to make sure it contains a rehab floor/unit since that's the experience you'll need above all else. My suggestion: don't call them or apply online. Instead go to them directly because they are always looking and will take you as long as you meet the criteria. Pounding the pavement and seeking employers out directly impresses them and sometimes they give you an interview and a job offer on the spot. In terms of hospitals, there are a select few that are open to hiring ADNs. One in particular hired my friend within a couple of days. My sources: personal experience with helping friends get jobs. One of them got multiple offers and went with the best one for her needs and schedule since she's starting her BSN classes in the Fall. I hope this helps!

The best advice I can give to you is for you to either find classes that will boost your GPA or suggest that you retake some of the courses you've already taken. Majority of the time, retaking some courses can change your GPA drastically, plus, you will be able to better understand and retain the knowledge you gained from those classes. You can take other classes to boost your GPA, but that might take longer for your GPA to climb and be more expensive, depending on how many classes/credits are needed to boost up your GPA. I hope my suggestions are taken in the way that I intended them to be. As long as you don't give up, you can and will succeed in your path to becoming a nurse.

It applies to any Mass State college/university. I believe it will only work if you are transferring from your ADN program to an RN-BSN program (the same goes for if you are transferring from a biology ASN to a school with a bio BS and so on). The max amount of time you have to apply is up to a year after graduation. If you Google MassTransfer, a lot of information will pop up for you and should help to answer more of your questions.

UMass Boston is 2.5 years and 100% online. I have heard that Framingham State has a full time (1.5-2 years) and part time (2-2.5 years) program that is hybrid (both online and on-campus courses). From what I've heard, they are much cheaper than UMass. Also, if you got your ASN from a community college and plan on attending a state school, you can get a 33% tuition discount (and other perks depending on your GPA) as long as you apply either a semester or a year after you graduated.

First off, I would like to say that I hope my posts have not offended anyone, be they reader or responder. It was never my intention to write my posts in that manner and I hope they have not been read in that way either. Second of all, I can understand the curiosity behind the hospitals that I have or have not mentioned. This is more out of privacy and courtesy to said hospitals, as this is a public forum and I will not post the names of these health care institutions in such an outward and open way. If you wish to discuss the matter further with me, I would be more than happy to do so via PM. Thirdly and lastly, I find it hard to have a discussion in regards to the job outlook for ADN/ASN graduates. The way I am interpreting and internalizing this discussion makes me feel as though I am being ganged up on (again, this is how I am reading into this even though I know it is not anyone's personal intention). I have no qualms with the honesty and the realism you are trying to impart to me; however, I feel that this discussion will not continue on in that manner, nor will it be as respectful. I do not wish to say anything that may offend someone or hurt another poster's feelings; I also feel as though this could turn into an argument which is not something I wish to do. My goal has and always will be to give information and provide that 'light at the end of the tunnel' for anyone needing information or some sliver of hope. Again, I do apologize if anything I have said has offended anyone. Thank you again for all of your input as I do appreciate it (just like everything else I read on this website).

BostonFNP and KelRN215: I have had several job offers in many Boston area hospitals, of which I chose to decline due to schooling and scheduling conflicts (they were willing to hire me with my eventual ADN regardless). Also, I have many high school and college friends who have their ADNs who work at the aforementioned, as well as the unnamed Boston area hospitals. You have to do a lot of research and talk to a lot of people to get the information I've obtained (years of research). Not to mention metro area hospitals hold job fairs on the campus of my community college to recruit student nurses and always go on to hire them. Community college nursing programs work hard to make connections with Boston hospitals to help their students gain job experience and eventual placement. My community college alone has partnerships with 3 magnet hospitals to get students hired (and they are continuing to add more hospitals each year). What a lot of students have to realize is that these magnet hospitals will never publicly advertise that they hire ADNs; everyone knows that a hospital appears to look better if only BSNs, MSNs and the like are hired by the HR staff and nursing manager. Many individuals like yourselves have told me that hospitals don't hire ADNs. For a time I listened and believed, but because I didn't try to seek out the information on my own I would've stayed hopeless. The information I attained not only gives me hope, but gives my friends and classmates hope that they can get great jobs without having to wait to obtain a BSN in the process. Many other states in this country hire ADNs in their respective hospitals, why can't Massachusetts do the same? (Being known as a 'medical mecca' of the U.S. should not be a valid excuse either.)