susnam

I know many RN's who work at Medical Center of Aurora (MCA or AMC). I don't know of any of those RN's who are happy there. -S

Ummm... sorry, they just BOUGHT the robot (it cost like $10,000 or $20,000 or something like that). Since we are getting ready to graduate, they wanted us to go through some scenarios with the robot and give them feedback. We all hated the thing. It has lung sound settings... clear, rhonchi, wheeze, etc. But guess what? These are text book cases, nothing like I've ever heard in real life. They are too perfect. And all the rhonchi the robot has all sound identical. And for shots? The thing has an insert that you can feel so you know where on the robot to give the shot. How does that help? You need to feel flesh and bone to learn landmarks. ANyway, everybody gave "Shelby" the robot a huge thumbs down. They are going to use it for L&D, too... add "lady and baby" parts. THere is no way it can take the place of a woman in labor desperately panting and holding your hand and the excitement of a live birth. The drop out rate for the first year is over 50%. That means look around your first class and 1/2 or more won't be there for more than one semester. Advice? Don't drink the water there. It's brown and nasty. Don't expect the bathrooms to be in operation, they go out of order once every month or 2. There is only 1 bathroom upstairs and 1 downstairs. Usually both aren't out at the same time, but that has happened to us. When I was there on Monday, the windows are broken out in the cafeteria. The microwave on the far right doesn't work. Other than that, just grin and bear it like we did. We're done as of September 30, so I will be floating around. What days are your classes? Oh, that reminds me. They frequently change classrooms. You may meet in 108 one day, then 104 the next, etc etc. Just roll with the punches. And, as I prepare to graduate and my employers ask me if I got education in this or that or this other thing, I have to tell them no. Hopefully my employer will bring me up to speed with what they didn't teach us at CCD. Susan

I used to live in Boulder and now am in Castle Rock area. Everything said here is true. :-) Susan

Emily Griffith is a very good LPN school. I have friends that graduated from there and they have gone on to get RN's and BSN's, one even an MSN. So, no worries about getting your LPN from there and then moving on. http://www.egos-school.com/Catalog/prog_view.asp?pid=1042 Front Range is awesome, but they do have a long wait list. The website address where you can get more info and apply is: http://www.frontrange.edu Front Range has both LPN and RN programs. They have many campuses to choose from, each has its own waiting list and some of them aren't too bad. Another school that has a great reputation is Pickens. http://www.pickenstech.org/Programs...al.nursing.html They have an LPN program and the students love it, do well, and go on to get good jobs and have a good success rate in passing NCLEX. I don't know anything about the wait list. Another nursing school that is good is Arapahoe Community College. Their website is: http://www.arapahoe.edu/ They have a pretty long wait list, too. Aims Community College has both a Practical Nursing and RN program. Their website is: http://www.aims.edu/academics/healt...cc_index.htm#rn Pikes Peak Community College has both Practical Nursing and RN program. Their website: http://www.ppcc.edu/CatalogSchedule...fm?Program=Nusp A new school that probably doesn't have much of a waiting list is the Denver School of Nursing. http://www.denverschoolofnursing.org/ Another nursing school is through University of Colorado, CU. No wait list, but they only accept "the best". I had a 4.0 GPA going in but they turned me down because I didn't have enough community involvement. http://www.cu.edu Regis University offers RN only. http://www.regis.edu/regis.asp?sctn=apg&p1=ut&p2=nr Good program, but expensive. Does have a reputation of being "stuck up" among working nurses. Lots of extra work and projects, helps learning but takes more time. I personally would try Denver School of Nursing. I know some of the faculty there and they are awesome. They are new enough they haven't had time to develop a wait list. At least not as of a few weeks ago. Definitely do not go to CCD. Email me privately if you have any questions, I am still a student there now.

I'm currently in an accelerated second degree program and will be finishing up a the end of September. From start to finish, it was 16 months with no prior nursing education or knowledge. As far as I know, ours was the last class at our school. Sorry I can't help you more! ACC (Arapahoe Comm College) had a couple accelerated programs, I don't know if they still do or not. Susan

A new school that probably doesn't have much of a waiting list is the Denver School of Nursing. http://www.denverschoolofnursing.org/ Emily Griffith is a very good LPN school. I have friends that graduated from there and they have gone on to get RN's and BSN's, one even an MSN. So, no worries about getting your LPN from there and then moving on. http://www.egos-school.com/Catalog/prog_view.asp?pid=1042 Another school that has a great reputation is Pickens. Last I heard, there was only a 3-6 month wait list and you can still take classes while on the wait list. http://www.pickenstech.org/Programs...al.nursing.html They have an LPN program and the students love it, do well, and go on to get good jobs and have a good success rate in passing NCLEX. I don't know anything about the wait list. Another nursing school is through University of Colorado, CU. No wait list; they only take "the best". http://www.cu.edu Aims Community College has both a Practical Nursing and RN program. Their website is: http://www.aims.edu/academics/healt...cc_index.htm#rn Pikes Peak Community College has both Practical Nursing and RN program. Their website: http://www.ppcc.edu/CatalogSchedule...fm?Program=Nusp Regis University offers RN only. http://www.regis.edu/regis.asp?sctn=apg&p1=ut&p2=nr Good luck! Susan

Emily Griffith is a very good LPN school. I have friends that graduated from there and they have gone on to get RN's and BSN's, one even an MSN. So, no worries about getting your LPN from there and then moving on. Front Range is awesome, but they do have a wait list. The website address where you can get more info and apply is: http://www.frontrange.edu Front Range has both LPN and RN programs. They have many campuses to choose from, each has its own waiting list and some of them aren't too bad. Another school that has a great reputation is Pickens. http://www.pickenstech.org/Programs/programs.practical.nursing.html They have an LPN program and the students love it, do well, and go on to get good jobs and have a good success rate in passing NCLEX. I don't know anything about the wait list. Another nursing school that is good is Arapahoe Community College. Their website is: http://www.arapahoe.edu/ Aims Community College has both a Practical Nursing and RN program. Their website is: http://www.aims.edu/academics/health_professions/health_occ_index.htm#rn Pikes Peak Community College has both Practical Nursing and RN program. Their website: http://www.ppcc.edu/CatalogSchedule/Programs/Program.cfm?Program=Nusp A new school that probably doesn't have much of a waiting list is the Denver School of Nursing. http://www.denverschoolofnursing.org/ Another nursing school is through University of Colorado, CU. http://www.cu.edu Regis University offers RN only. http://www.regis.edu/regis.asp?sctn=apg&p1=ut&p2=nr

Originally Posted by jeanylorenz Funny though, I have talked to her via email and was told it would be in the mail 3 weeks ago and still have not received anything. I am clueless and getting very frustrated. Although I am going to Westminster, Co August 11 and apparently I will have to go there myself. And think about it... you are trying to get in... trying to give them your money and they say one thing and do another. Think about what it will be like once they actually get your money and have you trapped in their program. My advice truly (and sadly) is to run away now. Susan

I'm very sorry to hear that. I am finishing the nursing program there, unless CCD finds another way to mess up on us. Are you aware they are trying to get the state to approve them to not do as many clinicals as the rest of the world? They want to use a robot instead. We already worked with it, and it is so limited it's sad. We ran through all the programs in 3 hours. How you would do 200 hours of clinicals on it is beyond me. You need to work with real people to develop interpersonal skills, patient care skills, and to learn to deal with real people, not a preprogrammed computer that keeps saying, "Help me, nurse." In addition, because there is only 1 robot, they want to do clinicals in groups of 4 people caring for RoboMan ("Shelby") at once. You will never as a nurse collaborate with 3 other people about what to do. If you have any questions about my personal experiences, please email me and I will be happy to share. Oh, and if anybody reading this would like to do some research, check out CCD's rate of people failing the NCLEX compared to other school's records. Susan

That's nothing! Take this as a warning sign. CCD is NOT the place to go. I have a list of 16 people who will be more than happy to tell you why not. Susan

You can probably go to the websites for the schools to apply. Front Range is very good, and they are in Westminster. Their website is: http://www.frontrange.edu Another school just opening that doesn't have much of a waiting list is the Denver School of Nursing. They are downtown Denver, not an easy place to get to or to park, but that is an option. We also have Pickens Technical Center, that is offering an LPN degree. They're in Aurora, probably about 30-45 minutes away from Westminster. There's Regis, too, but they are really expensive. Good luck! Susan

CCD has more problems than I can ever list. Please email me privately if you would like more info. Anybody who chooses to go to nursing school there will seriously make an error about their nursing career. Susan

We have a choice of 8 hour shifts or 12 hour shifts. We each get 4-7 patients, depending on census. We may or may not have a CNA, but usually there is 1 CNA to 20 patients if they are available. We are responsible for getting the patients to the dining room by 8 a.m. for breakfast, then there's the 0900 med pass. Then we have to make sure they are premedicated for their therapies, we do assessments, offer ADL assistance, do weights, specimen and lab gathering as ordered (we do our own blood draws on the weekends when phlebotomy isn't there). We get the patients back in the dining room by 1200 for lunch. We assist with toileting and transfers and also answer call lights. The patients reconvene in the dining room at 1800 for dinner. The night shift is responsible for showers, based on odd rooms get baths/showers on odd days, even rooms get showers/baths on even days. Days are easier because the patients have at least 3 hours of therapy a day. You can leave a patient in a chair and know that therapy will come get them and take care of whatever needs to be done with them, with the goal of the patient becoming independent. On nights, we nurses do it all. We earn that shift differential. The hardest part of the job, without any question, is transferring the paralyzed stroke patients. We have a hoyer lift, but when you get somebody who is 200+ pounds, any method of transfer is difficult. I love developing relationships with my patients and it is so exciting and rewarding to see them blossom with PT/OT/ST/RT/TR. Our food is outstanding and our patients frequently tell us they enjoy being in our hospital. We nurses get lots of candy, cards, and flowers. Susan

I am an LPN and I work in rehab in a rehab hospital. I do everything the RN's do with the exception of being charge or hanging blood. I can do all the assessments, pass all the meds, do the IV's and central lines, and I have the same patient load as the RN's.