mamakac

Anyone else been called back for a second interview with Legacy? I have a feeling I will get a job offer next week, but would prefer to do the residency program-- however, I would also prefer to not turn down a job offer if I am not going to be offered a position

I sat for the different floors for Peds and then for PICU :) Hopefully we hear something soon! I had another interview today with Clackamas county and likely will interview next week with Doernbechers (fingers crossed!)

Do you know when Randalls called her? That was my second choice unit that I sat for....... dangit!

Has anyone heard from any of the pediatric units? I cannot believe how many applicants there were-- and we thought nursing school was a competitive market!

We just made our own groups last year-- a combined Fall/Summer group, and then a Fall specific and a Summer specific one. It wasn't set up by the school or anything-- just FYI :)

If you have to switch out of one ABSN cohort to another you have to go on the waitlist-- we had a few who did this (switching from Summer to Fall) and it worked out OK. They won't let you just switch out with someone for Fall........ we never figured out why. Congrats to everyone-- and stay hopeful if you didn't get in this round, since we had someone admitted the day our classes began last Fall. Look forward to seeing everyone at the 2 orientations!

Congrats life is good!! I am in the Fall cohort now-- you will LOVE it!

All at the same time :) we also had someone taken from the wait list the first day of class!

Last year they sent us e-mails before letter paper mail :) That was helpful, and if I recall, around this time.

I have heard around 30-35 members. You guys are the first year doing the ABSN down there-- but they have a lot of experience with the Portland ABSN's groups (Summer and Fall cohorts now) It is challenging and intense, but life-changing and amazing all at the same time!

Just Portland- sorry This is the first year for the Ashland Acc Bacs-- good luck!!

Not a lot of jobs since we have quite a few local colleges that graduate classes all throughout the year. Most hospitals are magnet or trying for magnet status, so they require a BSN at least. It is a tough job market here with a higher cost of living-- so I would advise moving only when you have secured jobs. And look into the areas (including rural) around Portland for more jobs, with some decreases in pay.

If anyone is looking for housing, I have a connection to one of the study-co-ops next to the School of Nursing. Just PM me on here for info!

Priorities-- they do admit students directly out of BSN programs for PMHNP and Midwifery, so it is worth it to apply! They do encourage you to interview in person since that is a big factor in the application process, but can do skype or phone interviews. Several ABSN students applied this year :)

First day of class is June 23-- orientation is typically the week prior. I will see y'all there as a volunteer and tour guide :)

U of P is a longer program-- our Acc Bac is 15 months, so you pay less as well. Clinical experiences vary since U of P uses Legacy and Providence mainly, whereas we use OHSU and just one Providence site. I have also heard that both UP and Linfield are more writing intensive, we do a fair share of writing and a lot of group projects, too. OHSU has the most clinical hours out of all Acc Bac programs, which was a big deal for me. The Providence scholarship is a big deal and would cut down on costs a lot, so that could be a deciding factor for some-- OHSU doesn't have any internal program like that, but you can apply for a lot of external scholarships and smaller internal ones, too.

OHSU is really into students that want to serve under-served, rural, or local populations- as well as students who are themselves part of those populations. They also take into account those that have unique perspectives and stories, people who haven't always lived inside society's box and who like to explore. The essay is HUGE- it is your chance to let them know you and your story. GPA is important, but there is a range (I had a 3.89) The program has emphasized to us that nurses do a LOT outside of the hospital and that we serve our communities in a variety of ways. Your first clinical term at OHSU in the Acc Bac is health promotions- so shot clinics, healthfairs, community events. Lots of in class time and skills/SIM lab. Second term is in the hospital one 12-hour day a week, in a variety of settings in acute care. Mostly at OHSU, with some at Providence. This upcoming term for us is more acute care at OHSU and Providence, but 3 12 hour days a week. The following term is population- so out in the community! Your final term is the integrated practicum- so you basically get your choice of sites, and work a full nurses schedule, eventually taking over her patients as much as you can. Lots of hours that last term, and very little classwork. I enjoyed my clinical site this term, the instructors, the nurses, everything was great-- I feel like I still have quite a ways to go, but so does everyone else. There is never enough time to see all the skills or practice them, and it just depends on where you are what you get to do and see. OHSU does have grants and scholarships, but most of us took our private loans-- I did mine easily though Wells Fargo. You shouldn't have a problem getting a private loan. Hope that helps-- brain is tired from homework and projects this week!

Take into consideration the commute from where you do decide to live-- there is NO student parking up on the hill or on the waterfront. We all commute by bus, bike, or a combination of things. Just a FYI :)

The 3 year BSN program at OHSU this year as close to 40 students in it, counting the VANP students. So the 24 number might be a bit off, just FYI

The cohort this year had around 13 ABSN-MSN/DNP for Psych and around 14 for Midwifery, I believe. All of those students begin in the Summer and graduate at the end of the next Summer. Being in the Fall cohort, it is nice to hear about their stories to prepare for our next term :)

For the OHSU ABSN clinical experience, the first term was pretty low key and mostly in the SIM lab doing skills and assessments, witha few community events thrown in there. In our second term (for the Fall cohort) we are doing chronic illness in the hospitals (OHSU and Providence), which is interesting and we are enjoying putting our skills to work. Lots of long lecture days, reflection writing, and a lot of research exploring why nurses do what they do and how we can shape our own practice. There is talk of next year doing the chronic term half in a clinic in the community and then half in the hospital, tracking patients on the course of chronic illness. Our third term is spent with acute illness and leadership, our fourth term is population/community/public and more leadership, and then onto your practicum term. We did not have a choice as to where you were placed for chronic, but for the other terms you do have input about your placement and type of work. Typically we have one day off a week (but this term we are going 5 days a week for a few weeks to complete our skills and SIM labs) Some days are half days, others are all day- plus studying, tutoring, etc. Awesome, supportive, wise faculty- amazing resources and opportunities, lots of networking- and I love my cohort, they make this experience what it is.

I did not interview since I chose to only complete the ABSN portion, I wasn't interested in the ABSN-MSN/DNP route (for which you do interview and you also find out quicker if you are accepted) School is challenging me in ways I could not imagine before starting this program. We have amazing, supportive, wise faculty- and my cohort is such a kind, compassionate group of people. Currently we are in class every day why we complete skills, and then we have one day off a week. One or two people might be working, several of us have families, but beyond that no one does much besides focus on our studies and the program itself. We just began our hospital rotations this term, which is interesting and we feel like baby nurses for sure. I feel like the most important aspect of the application, looking back, was the essays. Sure, we all had higher GPAs, were successful in other programs and school- but we all have had experiences which affected us and led us to this path, and we wrote about those moments. So spend time there-- have close friends (and english majors!) edit them. Ensure that your voice is heard and that you actually answer what they are asking. Let me know if you have more specific questions-- and I look forward to seeing some of y'all on campus and being a peer mentor next year!

Good luck guys! In my second term of the ABSN program at OHSU now :) The waiting is the hardest part during applications!

Yeah you do have to have at least a 3.0, and on average we had in our cohort this year a 3.8 I believe. We have a great mix of people, from a variety of backgrounds, and I have enjoyed my time thus far-- now onto our first term of hospital clinicals and being 20% complete already :) Feel free to ask specific ?s though if anyone is applying to OHSU, specifically the ABSN program

Don't discount OHSU even with a lower cumulative GPA-- a few of my cohort members had lower GPAs but wrote an descriptive, stellar essay that boosted them. Plus there is 2 cohorts (summer and fall) so you do have a chance :)