Michaela, RN

Graduated May 2014 with BSN NCLEX June 2, 2014 I was offered 4 jobs (in 3 different hospitals) prior to graduation :) I am in the Kansas City area. Almost all of my classmates have jobs in the hospital environment

You will definitely do perform EKG's but on the job you will not be required to interpret them. That is outside your scope of practice. The extra certifications are great and will help you in school, but if you were just planning to get those for the job I wouldn't suggest it :) Good luck and I'm sure whoever trains you will be nice! They have been in your shoes and it really seems to me that most employees in hospital settings are team players! If you have any questions I'm happy to help

I'm assuming you are going to be working as a CNA? If so, I am currently an NA on a world known Medical Cardiac Step-down unit at a large hospital in a metro area. I also float to CVRU, and a post surgical cardiac unit. It is a great position and I absolutely love it! I graduate with my BSN in May and hope to work as an RN there. As an NA you will have nothing to do with reading the monitors, except for maybe checking the patient's pulse on them if the dynamap reading seems inaccurate, so don't worry about that. At this point, I would not take any extra classes such as ACLS, PALS or and EKG class because as an aid you are not able to utilize any of this knowledge and they are very expensive classes. Your main job duties will likely include VS q4h, very strict I&O because many of your patients will likely have HF and will need to be closely monitored for fluid retention, daily weights (same time/scale/clothing every time), assisting with ADLs, ambulation and possibly finger sticks for accuchecks. Aside from this, you will answer call lights and be responsible for keeping patients safe and comfortable. It is likely that many of your patients will be fall risks r/t hypotension, so make sure their bed alarms are on and they are not walking to the bathroom, etc, without your assistance. As an NA you will not be responsible for any patient teaching or assessments -- those will be left to the RN. What your main priority is, is to notice any changes in the information that you gather and reporting it to the RN for further evaluation. Hope that helps!

acarson, Hi, I'm glad you have found this forum helpful! Getting into nursing school is definitely a nerve wracking time! Being #14 on the waitlist is promising, in my opinion! I have a friend who was waitlisted and she actually started class a couple days after the rest of us did. Several factors go into the waitlist, such as students who are accepted to multiple schools and choose an alternate route, financial aid issues and inability to pay, etc. I'd say your chances are great! As degratrj said, if I were you I would get started with your background check, immunizations and certifications now. You will NOT be allowed to attend clinical until all of that is complete. I would begin, because you don't want to be accepted and then have difficulty attending because of that. I will keep my fingers crossed for you! Let me know if I can help with anything!

Totally understand! It is super nerve wracking.... It is very frustrating but unfortunately that's how they are ran

St Luke's financial aid is done on a much slower timeline than any other school I have attended. They have a small size in relation to many other colleges so they start later. I typically don't receive my financial aid award letter until 2 weeks prior to class. Also, the deadline for the scholarship application was Dec 2, so it will probably be a month before we hear back about that.

my email is [email protected] Feel free to email anytime! Nadia- If you could email me here also, I'd be happy to give you some insight to St. Lukes!

Post lab? That must be new.. We didn't do that, but it sounds helpful! No, my class was the first with 96 and although this semester isn't quite over, we'll most likely be headed into the final semester with 91. 96 to 79 would be an awful drop! No worries though, we've lost probably ten but gained a few from the class ahead of us. Our schedules are pretty opposite-- class on Monday, clinical Tuesday and SIM on Wednesday, so maybe we'll run I to each other on a Wednesday!

Haha, well thank you! I just remember how clueless I felt before school started and figured if I could be of help to someone I would love to be! Glad I've made your journey a little simpler. Let me know if you need anything else. What days do you have classes in the Spring? Also, I can PM you my email address in case you'd like to contact me that way... I would probably respond more quickly. Have a great night!

ajf77820 - Have you enrolled in classes yet? If so, I can tell you how to access your book list.

I didn't have health insurance either. I also did not have a copy of my immunization records so I actually just got the majority of mine redone because it was cheaper than getting titers drawn. I highly suggest contacting St. Luke's Hospital Employee Health because they will do it all free of charge after you receive your student badge...if you can wait that long and still be safe for clinical. Luckily, first semester we didn't start clinical until about 3 weeks in so that gave me extra time. If that doesn't work, I also got some of mine done at the health department, which still costs... but not nearly as much.

The first couple of semesters I had to purchase my books through the bookstore because it allowed me to use my loans to pay for them. They were EXPENSIVE compared to other sources. Third semester I purchased them from a friend who is a semester ahead of me. For the final semester I am going through Amazon. When you get your booklist let me know what you need and maybe I can sell you some of mine!

The foundation scholarship is anywhere between 1000-2000 depending on the funds available and the year. My first semester I got 1000 and its gone up each semester since. I don't know about the auxiliary.

I will be beginning my last semester in January (@ St. Luke's), If you have any questions about ANYTHING feel free to ask here. I will be happy to answer!

Degratrj, On the dates, don't stress if you don't hear by then... Their processes are often a little slower than they anticipate. Scholarships are available to every student-- some are based on need, others on merit. The Foundation Scholarship application is usually available a month to two months prior to the start of classes. That would be your best bet in 1st semester. For the application, you write one essay and it puts you in the running for several scholarships. I have received one every semester, as do most students who apply. Financial aid was very helpful. The one thing to know about St. Luke's is they tend to process financial aid more slowly than other, larger schools, due to the smaller student population. Don't stress if yours isn't completed in the time you are used to. Although it is kind of inconvenient, if for some reason your aid is not processed by the first day of classes, they will not kick you out. Don't worry! :) (unless it's due to your failure to submit it on time lol) I, personally, don't know of anyone who could not attend because of funds. I, myself, have had to take out loans to live on -- I have a child, etc, and I am making it work! I'm sure you can too! :) The student population is outgrowing it's building. There is talk of adding on to the building, but I don't know for sure what their plans are. It hasn't interfered with my learning, however. I am happy with my decision to go to St. Luke's. There are some things I would change, but I would have found that in any program. The faculty are VERY responsive to student needs and have a very democratic approach to their program. The most frustrating part of the school, IMO, is that there are several online site you must access to complete assignments, and until you are used to that, it will frustrate you. I'm sure many schools are this way though. I would choose St. Luke's again. The workload is manageable for a mom -- I have a 6 year old and my fiancé has a 6, almost 7 year old. Honestly, we don't share much of the work in the house (I do it all) and I have a 4.0 nursing GPA. I would say the biggest thing is to not get behind in your coursework, as a matter of fact, get ahead if possible. That has saved me numerous times. When they called me, they just congratulated me and told me I had been accepted. They said I would receive a packet of paperwork to be filled out and returned, including immunizations, etc... They also told me when to return my acceptance fee by. Hope this helps, let me know if you have any more questions!

Oh, I am just as excited as you are!! I enrolled in my LAST semester of nursing school this morning! I will be taking Critical care (which is where id like to work) and capstone. I am beyond excited! I graduate in May and can't believe how fast time has gone! Good luck to everyone!

Hey guys, I will be beginning my last semester at St. Luke's in January... I'm more than happy to answer any questions yall might have about the school, supplies, etc. Just let me know! Also, Accepted applicants will receive both a letter and a phone call! Good luck!!!

At first, yes we all did. Now that I'm used to it, I actually like it because I can work more or less at my own pace. You do have to be self disciplined and motivated to learn the information, or you will not enjoy it. I think that's true for any nursing school though :)

I am a mother! I have a 5 year old girl and started my prereqs when she was a little under 2. I am now in my 3rd semester of a BSN program. It is defiantly not easy, but it is going to be so worth it! Good luck to you!

Alison6- I am in my 3rd semester at St. Luke's and unless things have changed, there is no anatomy test. Small portions of anatomy will be built into your pathophysiology classes. The first day of classes are mostly to get to know each other and figure out what is going on, although, it will take a couple of weeks to REALLY figure out whats going on. The reason classes are only held a couple days per week is because the school changed to a "hybrid" format. Meaning, part of your credit hours are attained online. It was a strange thing to get used to, but it is nice once you get the hand of it as it creates a more flexible schedule for you. The clinical and SIM times, however, are set in stone and you will not be the one choosing the hours. I honestly would not (and did not) review anything over winter break! I would just enjoy your freedom while you have it! :) Good luck!

I'm ready! I will be starting my last year in August... Graduate in May 2014!! I am trying to enjoy my time off, but I am just ready to get it over with!

I was 22 when I started prereqs and 25 when I started my BSN program... I am 26 now and will have just turned 27 when I graduate in May 2014! The way I see it is you will continue to age regardless of if you pursue nursing or not... might as well be older and doing what you enjoy! :) Go for it!!

@aubgurl My school does something similar! We got a med-calc packet on the first day of classes and we had a test over the information on the 4th week. You could not pass meds until getting a 100 on the test and if you failed 3 times you were kicked out of the class. I'm with you, I don't feel this practice is unsafe at all. It doesn't matter HOW you learn it, as long as you learn it! :)

We learned in nursing school, that when patients have some level of anxiety about there ailment, it facilitates better learning. Apply this to yourself. The fact that you are anxious shows that you care. It is actually a good thing. Just take a deep breath and remember that many others have succeed in nursing school, and I'd be willing to bet that 95% of them had no idea what to expect in the beginning either... myself included. It is not so much HARD as it is TIME CONSUMING. So prioritize, work ahead when possible, and allow yourself to get things done early rather than on time. This will allow you to sleep, have a life and actually enjoy learning about your passion. I am 26, living 4 hours from my family with 2 kids and a fiance. I work part time, I'm not super stressed out all the time and still have a life. I have been able to maintain a 4.0 in NS, so it is totally doable! Good luck!

@jesimskc -- To be completely honest, I was accepted into the Fall 2012 class with a 3.91. I believe that semester the average (or possibly the lowest) GPA that was accepted was in the 3.7 range. However, it all depends on who is applying when you do. The average changes for every class, simply because there are different applicants. St. Luke's is heavily based on GPA, but when I applied they did not require the TEAS. That is now required, so that will take some weight off of GPA. The fact that you have great reference letters will help you too. Even if you are not accepted, you will likely be waitlisted and several people in my class came in off of the list. So there will still be hope! I wish you the best of luck!! If you have any other questions, or need any help, please let me know!