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I'm starting Block 1 at SCC next week. Did anyone on here take NUR 104AB, the optional nursing review? Was it worth it? I didn't realize until today at orientation that it is mostly online with only a few in class dates.

I got my Hep B, MMR and Varicella titer last week for $139. I had my blood drawn on July 15 at 11:20 a.m. (Arizona) and the results were reported on July 16th (per the lab report) at 20:06 ET. When I checked my email in the wee hours of July 17th, I had a link to my results. :) I went through requestatest.com/immunity-panel-testing. The price is normally $187 which was comparable to a couple other places I checked, so the discounted price of $139 along with an additional 5% off code (TITER%, only good thru July 31st) was a significant savings. I paid online and waited about 15 minutes for my order confirmation to be emailed. The draw site was a LabCorp right down the road from me. There was a short wait, it was super clean, and they were very professional Unfortunately for me, one part of my MMR, the Rubeola Ab IgG, came back low and I don't have my vaccination records so I will need to repeat that shot.

Nurse Residency Program at Mayo Clinic in Arizona Nurse Residency Program Arizona - Nurse Residency Program Arizona - Mayo Clinic They still have the 2014 info up, but if you click on "How to Apply" it says this Please visit the Nursing Jobs Web page for available programs. Search using the position title "RN Residency." If this program is not available, you may click "Email jobs to me." You'll be notified via email when future Nurse Residency Program positions become available. Since applications for this year were only open for three days, I would either sign up for the email option or watch like a hawk in early spring for updated information. Or both :)

On the Arizona Board of Nursing website, there is a CNA Education Waiver Nursing Student form (under Other Forms Downloads) that your school would use to document that you meet the following criteria: Nursing students who, within the past 2 years, have successfully completed a nursing course as part of an approved RN/LPN program including: didactic content relating to Long Term Care clients; 40 hours of patient care in a long-term care (LTC )or comparable facility; and documentation of meeting requirements from the course instructor or nursing program director/designee. You would then include that form with the Arizona Nursing Assistant (NA) Examination Application. Are you a Maricopa nursing student? The 2013-2014 Nursing Student Handbook says on pg 10 that after Blocks 2 or 3 and completion of NUR 191 (Practical Nurse Transition), students qualify to sit for the NCLEX-PN exam. Since Block 1 is Fundamentals according to the Curriculum model chart on pg 2 and it's my understanding that block 1 clinicals are in LTC facilities, I would imagine that Block 1 alone qualifies for the CNA education waiver. Do you remember how many clinical hours you had and were they all in the same LTC location?

For Spring Entry in the CEP with NAU, students finish their Maricopa nursing courses in a fall semester and then have 3 NAU courses in the spring to complete their BSN one semester later. There is one summer semester in the schedule (between block 3 and block 4) with no courses at either school. Vacation anyone? For Fall Entry in the CEP with NAU, students finish Maricopa nursing courses in a spring semester, have the summer off, and then have the 3 NAU courses the following fall to complete the BSN. So it is only one semester of classes left, but because of the summer off, it's two semesters after you finish your ADN to complete your BSN. Having that summer off to totally concentrate on the NCLEX might be really nice though! I had created a spreadsheet for the CEP with ASU and NAU (both standard and fast-track) that really helped me to see the programs side by side. I thought about posting it here but I would need to make sure there haven't been any changes since I created it, and maybe I should add a column for UOPX. I went ahead and applied for the CEP with ASU last week (I would still need stats and two gen eds to apply for NAU), but now I've also been looking more closely at GCU's program too (I could apply in the fall for spring entry with stats "in progress"). MrsBond sent me some great information and I could be done with the BSN in only 4 semesters (traditional school year and fast-track (with summers) available). It is nice to have so many options, but it can be daunting to sort through them all, and I've never been great at making a final decision.

So in addition to the Maricopa County Community Colleges, there are several other options here that really vary in requirements and cost. Nursing accreditation links: CCNE & ACEN (formerly NLNAC) Arizona State University's main campus is in Tempe, but the nursing department is on the downtown Phoenix campus. To apply, you have to have 13 of 17 critical course requirements completed. They do not use a cumulative GPA, but require a minimum 3.25 select GPA (calculated from 13 of the 17 critical course reqs, but MUST incluce ENG 101, ENG 102 and 3 of the 4 science courses). Certain science courses have to be taken within 7 years of program start. It is a highly competitive program and surprisingly costly for a state school, I thought. On top of ASU tuition, there is a $1750 surcharge every semester for the nursing dept. The nursing program has CCNE accreditation. Grand Canyon University is a large private Christian University with a highly respected nursing program. Their campus is beautiful, like "you will almost forget you're in the desert beautiful!" The nursing program has CCNE accreditation. Chamberlain College of Nursing has a long history as a nursing school that was bought out by Devry. They are spendy, upwards of $80K, but their BSN and MSN are accredited by CCNE. (They don't show up on the CCNE site for AZ programs because their parent school is in IL.) Brookline College is a private, for profit school. Spendy like Chamberlain. Their nursing department earned ACEN accreditation last year. Carrington College offers an ADN and is accredited by ACEN. I thought they also had an affilition with Devry, but I couldn't confirm that now. Spendy. Maricopa County Community College District has ten campuses and the nursing program is offered on eight. The nursing program has ACEN accreditation. The CEP allows you to complete your RN to BSN with a partner university within a semester or two of finishing your ADN. There are of course Everest type offerings like Pima Medical Institute and Brown Mackie. There may even be an Everest here. Before I start getting angry replies from graduates or attendees of those programs, let me say that plenty of people are very happy with their education and have found jobs with ease, but if higher education/degrees are your goal, those credits may not transfer.

As far as I know, no school here requires a CNA license or gives any extra points in the application process for it. The system I transferred from required the license and gave extra points for actual work experience as a CNA, so I am familiar with that in other states. The Hesi A2 is an nursing school admission exam like the TEAS or the NET. ASU uses TEAS, but the community college system (here in Maricopa Co) uses Hesi. They do not currently require all the sections, only the enlish (reading comprehension, vocabulary grammer) and math. They do not use the biology, chemistry, or anatomy and physiology sections. There are also two non graded sections: learning style and personality style (which reveal sometimes suprising, or interesting at least, results). There are extensive threads here on both the TEAS and Hesi. Happy reading! As far as grades, the community college system here is non-competitive to get on the wait list. The CEP (which you can apply for if you're on the wait list and have completed additional requirements) is technically competitive using grades and hesi scores with an extra point given for a prior degree. I say "technically" because at both information sessions I attended, they emphasized that so far, they have been able to place everyone who has applied who meets the minimum requirements. GPA is based only on certain pre-reqs. They don't use cumulative GPA - thank goodness;)! Do you have pathophysiology yet?

Hi stephatron289 I was right on the verge of applying to programs in Salt Lake City...and then my husband's department closed and they offered us a transfer to Phoenix. I had to learn about all the options here and figure out which worked best for me. I'll try to help you as much as I can, but for now, start with Maricopa nursing and click on the link to Concurrent Enrollment Programs (CEP). There's a waiting list for the traditional ADN, but for the Concurrent Enrollment Program, they partner with Arizona State Univ, Northern Arizona Univ, and Univ of Phoenix. You can work on your RN to BSN at the same time you're getting your ADN, and it is GPA and Hesi based - no wait list. I also looked at the university offerings and some of the private programs here. Where are you in your prereqs?

I could see from the other thread that the wait after the Feb. application sessions was hard for everyone! SCC hosted the CEP information session yesterday and said that for the application sessions this month (May 20th & 21st) notifications would go out mid-June. I hope they are just being conservative and giving themselves a little extra wiggle room. Then, if they notify in early June everyone will be so happy. I just finished my last two prereqs at SCC and now that ASU has partnered with SCC, that's my first choice, MCC 2nd, then GWCC. I have everything finished for ASU's CEP, but I would need another semester or two to do NAU's additional prereqs. If I was going to go with NAU, I would definitely do the fast track. I'm not sure why the standard track has an entire semester with no classes. In yesterday's CEP information session at SCC, they said almost all of their NAU students have chosen the fast track. I wonder if in the future they'll do away with the standard track and just make the fast track the norm.

Since you're in the Phoenix Metro area, consider the Concurrent Enrollment Program (CEP) with the Maricopa community college system and their partner universities (currently ASU, NAU & Univ of Phoenix, more coming). There is no wait list for the CEP; it is competitive entry. You do have to be on Maricopa's wait list to apply for the CEP, but you get on the wait list as soon as you've completed only four classes: CHM130 w/lab or one year of high school chem BIO 201 Human Anatomy and Physiology I PSY 101 Intro to Psychology (or PSY 240) MAT 120 Intermediate Algebra (or higher) To apply for the CEP, you do need to complete additional Maricopa co reqs CRE 101 Critical Reading (or test exempt on placement test) ENG 101 ENG 102 BIOL 202 Human Anatomy and Physiology II BIO 205 Microbiology (with lab) any humanities elective AND the partner universities additional prerequisites, which vary. For ASU (which does not allow HS chem for application to the CEP) you only need two more: HCR 240 Human Pathophysiology MAT 142 College Mathematics (or higher) Compare that to ASU's requirements for direct admission to their BSN. All of the above, PLUS: HCR 210, 220 & 230 NTR 241 statistics another psych (requires both PGS101 and CDE232) Most nursing programs require those first four courses at least. Registration is still open for summer classes. At only $81/credit hour, it's a significantly cheaper way to get your prereqs done for any program you end up applying to later anyway.

Hi scrubgirl16! Earlier today I read some of your posts on the CEP Feb. Applicants thread. That was/is a great thread! Very helpful in figuring out what to expect after the application sessions two weeks from now. Any advice for those of us about to apply?

The Spring 2015 Concurrent Enrollment Application was posted today on Maricopa Nursing. I thought before the ASU CEP was only available at Mesa (I could be wrong), but now it shows ASU as a partner for Mesa CC, Gateway CC, Scottsdale CC, Estrella Mountain and Phoenix College. Anyone else out there happy to hear the news?

Spring 2013 is the first cohort for applicants accepted under SLCC's new competitive entry process! Did you get accepted (or not)? What was your GPA? Hesi A2 scores? Did you have points in other areas (additional classes completed, CNA experience, etc)? Share your experience in the application process here. Because the change to the competitive entry process is so new, there's no historical data for other pre-nursing students to figure out how likely they are to be admitted. Share a little, learn a little, maybe meet some of your upcoming cohort!

Are there refresher programs after being out that long, or do you just have to do it all on your own?

There is a good book by Amy Glenn Vega that addresses lateral violence within the nursing profession. http://www.amazon.com/Lions-Tigers-Nurses-Violence-Novellas/dp/1933638435/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323184074&sr=1-1 It wasn't available through my library, but they were able to get it on an interlibrary loan from out of state. It says on the back cover that it also qualifies for 3 CEUs. It's worth reading and I believe it's being used in some nursing programs as a textbook. I am 41 and finishing up the prereqs to apply to nursing school. I spent some time in the Air Force and the last nine years with the Postal Service. I remember in my late twenties when several friends returned to school for nursing and I couldn't figure out why they would want to do that. I have bad memories as a candystriper in the early eighties and one of my worst memories was the lack of respect the nurses seemed to get. The pay and flexibility was appealing, but I couldn't get over the stress factor. Then three years ago, my daughter was born two months early. She spent 4 weeks in the NICU at University of Utah Hospital. The nurses were amazing and for the first time I could see myself in nursing. The nurses literally got us through that time. We also had a wonderful resident who really encouraged me to consider nursing. He had tremendous amount of respect for the nurses and really stressed the need for capable, mature people to fill the shortage. Still it took a couple of years to build up the courage to leave my federal job with great pay and fabulous benefits and start over. If I get in on my first try, I'll be 42 when I start and 44 graduating with my ADN. If I start an RN to BSN program, well I could be closing in on fifty by the time I finish that! I fully intend to work into my seventies too. And I could really see myself spending some time working with Doctors without Borders, once my daughter is grown. Starting over is scary. But I think I'll be so much happier looking back and saying I was a nurse at least for part of the time.