SuzyQ2011

Poor staffing/unsafe patient-nurse ratios (and I feel like I am lucky based on some of the ratios I see posted on this website), out of touch upper management

Eight patients in an acute care setting....that's insane. Is 1:8 the standard assignment for your floor? Hang in there

It would be nice if this got as much attention from nurses as the whole The View fiasco. spread the word!

I have a hard time being hopeful as well. I think the only way to make headway (if any) is to raise awareness of the general public. There is so much emphasis on patient satisfaction now and one would think that a big part of the discourse would be patient safety as it relates to appropriate staffing. When the agencies that are tasked for looking out for the public (funders, licensing and accrediting agencies, professional associations) do not seem to advocate (that strongly anyway) for appropriate staffing, I can only see that a push from patients/"consumers" might make healthcare agencies change

Got one recently. In order to get a temporary license, you need to first apply for regular license. Here's the catch-in order to apply for the temporary license, your application for regular license needs to be in the DOH system and the federal background check completed. It took 2 weeks before my application was in the system (even though I hand delivered it at the DOH and got finger printed at the same time) and I could apply for a temporary license. DOH said they have a bunch of applications so it's taking longer to process them. Depending on your state (if you are doing this through endorsement), the state background check might come in fairly quickly and you would not need a temporary license.

I would love to hear back from others who have gone through the program and hear their thoughts. There are lots of threads on getting into the program but none on the program and working at WHC in general.

How do you like WHC so far?

I also have a question about infection control. For droplet and airborne, is it mask/N95 respirator plus gown and gloves? That's how I saw it done in the clinical settings, but I was not sure if this is the case in the NCLEX

Anyone?

For those accepted, did you have clinical experience prior to nursing school (i.e., as a CNA, patient tech, etc)? What are the things that are weighed most heavily (GPA, experience, recommendations)? Thanks!

How are students placed in preceptorship? Do you pick areas you want/do not want? Do they try to honor requests or do they place students based on experience, GPA, etc?

so for those of you who have just graduated. what did you think of the program overall? how as preceptorship? NCLEX? and most importantly, how is the job search going for you and your classmates? thanks for giving your feedback throughout this thread and good luck in your nursing career!

I still haven't decided what to do for parking yet. $600 is hefty but the general parking lots seem far away..especially at 7:30am!

According to website it's $600.00 Yikes :Parking Services - George Mason University

Are you guys just getting the standard parking pass? Can you use it in most parking garages? I'm hoping since our classes are early parking will not be too much of a hassle.

Is it the clinical site assignments that are not organized? Do you get to pick preceptorship area (both location and area of interest)? Does the school address the current job market? This forum and other articles I've read have definitely left me discouraged as far the job market for new grads. Good luck with rest of program. You are almost there! :)

Book list is posted! I don't even want to know the total price tag of all the books :-O

Do we need white lab coats as part of the uniform? I thought I had read that somewhere before and now per website, it seems we only need the scrubs (green top, khaki pants) or am I missing something?

sKris-If I may ask yet few questions regarding the academic calendar since you have been so helpful. I'm thinking about logistics because I have kids. I was trying to find an academic calendar but I only see one for general GMU not nursing. You mentioned we have a 3 credit class during winter. Do we still have time off between Christmas and New Year's? Also classes are done in May but we then have community health (which runs from when to when--June to July?) and then preceptorship class goes from about what time to what time? I know I will find this info soon but I like to plan in advance. Thanks!

Did you guys receive the email from the nursing dept today? So we do have a week long orientation prior to classes starting. The email/letter says to go to myMason/Blackboard to get more info, but I don't see anything posted yet.

I registered for the email account, etc. I think I saw that you can register for classes at orientation but remember reading on letter sent by Nursing Dept to drop classes until after July. So can we register during orientation? I can't wait to register for classes!

Thanks for the link. I signed up for one of the orientations in June. I hope to get some of the requirements like immunizations and physical out of the way by the orientation.

No, maybe it's something you do at the orientation? I did receive an email from the Dept on my regular email account yesterday just saying they received my intent letter to enroll in program and that to expect further communication mid-summer regarding immunizations, physical, registration for classes, and criminal background check. I was hoping we would get information on that sooner rather than later. Congratulations!

Congrats! Does the nursing school require additional immunizations than the general school? I would think I would have to do some of the immunizations and physical at the same time. Does GMU have a physical form?

sKris-do you know how soon the Nursing Dept communicates with students? I sent my signed acceptance letter certified mail so I am pretty sure they got it...I am just anxious to hear that they indeed did receive it . Do we get to enroll in classes at the transfer student orientation? is there any benefit to attending it sooner rather than later?