gkling33

Hey guys, we are close to (choosing and) announcing the date for YOUR Orientation (Nursing - Class of 2014). Looking at late July in Concord. Stay tuned...you'll get an email with details.

No problem. As far as the semester vs quarter system goes, I was always on quarters, so I didn't have to adapt, BUT, I know that it was kind of a shock for those coming from semesters to our quarters. You are going to LOVE this program. I want to say that first. When you arrive, you'll probably know a couple or a few people from your pre-req classes, but if your class is like ours, it'll have students from everywhere! All over the bay area and beyond. You'll have about 63-65 classmates...and even at Orientation it may seem like a bunch of strangers, but I guarantee you that your class will be close knit before half the first quarter goes by. You'll be having classes together (first quarter is Pathophysiology and Nursing Theory)....and you'll have a couple of classes where you are broken up into four groups of about 16 (Nursing Skills and Nursing Seminar). As far as the difficulty goes, Pathophysiology is a real challenge (as is the next quarter with Pharmacology). We formed study groups, and we also broke up some of the required objectives and made study guides we all shared within our study groups. Makes things alot easier. There is alot of work to be done....alot of reading. The key is to not get behind. All the classes are important, but I'd say most of us spent about 70% of our time studying for Pathophysiology and the rest of the time on the other 3 classes (its that demanding). But, don't be nervous. Patho is a super interesting class, and you will use that info every single quarter of the program, even though the class is only one quarter long. Doing all your pre-reqs your job was to get into the program. Now you’re in. Now your job is to learn everything you can from books, from lectures, and hands on in skills lab and simulation lab (which is awesome…you’ll see on Orientation during the tour). We do have some people who work, but I can’t speak about that, as I only go to school. We can have you talk to those students at Orientation…they can tell you what they think about working. I don’t think anyone works a lot though…some do part time. I found that I probably could have worked maybe 8-12 hours a week and still done OK. But I don’t. I focus all my time on school. It would be nice to have the extra money, but I’m okay with my tight budget and having more time to study. The second quarter you’ll start clinical at a Senior Nursing Facility…you’ll do about 6 weeks of 2x per week (5 hours per day). This is our third quarter, and we are now in regular hospitals (John Muir, Kaiser, Sutter Delta, etc). Its so different, and exciting. We do care plans for our patients (which take a lot of time to prepare, but they’ll ease you into that, so don’t freak out). We I get the list of students who have decided to attend Concord, I’ll send out invites and give your class its own email group and Facebook page…it’s a great way to communicate with your classmates and share info. We use ours all the time. Teamwork is gonna help you all a lot. What I mean, is if you take the time to make a nice study guide for a test, share it with some classmates…people you study with, or with someone you know is having a tough time. Trust me, it’ll come back to you later…when maybe you are behind, or struggling, someone will send you a study guide that saves your butt. We share a lot. There is no more grading on a curve…so sharing doesn’t hurt you…it only helps you.

CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who has been accepted to the CSUEB Nursing (Class of 2014). I'm in the class of 2013 (at the Concord campus) and know how anxious I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the acceptance email to come...and how unbelievable it felt to finally get it!!! There has been some discussion here about which campus to choose (Hayward vs. Concord). Most people will choose based on which one is closer for them (shorter commute). I took pre-requisite classes on both campuses, and I can tell you that Concord is much smaller, parking is much easier, but both are great places. Concord is small, but in a great rural location (cows on the hillsides, turkeys wandering around campus...we even saw a coyote run across the hillside outside our classroom yesterday during Nursing Theory lecture...very cool. As the class one year ahead of you guys, we'll be putting together an Orientation day for your class....mostly likely to happen in early July. You'll be notified of the date as soon as we have it confirmed. It'll be a fun (full) day to meet your fellow classmates, tour the campus, meet the faculty and level II students...play some games, buy books, order nursing patches, sweatshirts, etc. Anyway...congrats again...this is a very competitive program (getting in)...you should feel very very proud of your accomplishment. See you soon!!