ScarletFire

Hey Chicago, Glad to hear you're almost at the end! It is a great feeling to come home from work and realize you don't have to take a quiz or write a discussion. I'll be around if you have any questions about this class. It's sort of a pain in the orifice, due to the fact that the instructions for the assignments are sort of vague (what a shock). But hey, in 5 weeks, it will all be a distant memory…... ScarletFire

Hi RNsRWe, So, sounds like you will have 12 nursing classes to take at GCU. Compare that to UTA's 8 nursing classes plus Texas Gov and 2 nursing electives. So, that's 11 classes total. You're right, at a minimum, you would have to take Texas Gov as a general course at UTA. Some people I know didn't have to take any electives because they had enough science courses in their past academic history to suffice; hence, you potentially could only have to take one elective, or none. Since you said you never took any poli science classes, you may have to take US gov as well. So, yes, this adds another class to the total, which contributes to time in the program and money. As I said, I took the 8 nursing classes, one elective, Texas Gov, US gov, and History and finished up in one year. You said you don't see yourself being able to double up at GCU due to the papers; however, it is very easy to double up with certain courses at UTA without much difficulty. And, everyone I know has done so and some even take 3 or more at a time, as well. With regard to group work, my friends at GCU said that there is group work involved for every class they take. This is NOT the case w/ UTA. I'm sorry if I didn't make this clear in my previous post. As I said before, only Nursing Research has group assignments. Everyone hates group work, so to me, the fact that there is only once course that follows such a format, is a big plus. Each course is also 5 weeks in length but not all are 3 credits; a couple are 4 credits and one (Capstone) is 5 credits. So, I guess your choice would be dependent upon how many gen courses you have to take and I certainly understand that. I felt like I got off pretty easy with only having to take 3, but I would have been unhappy had I needed to take any more, and you'll probably feel the same. So, maybe you could take a look at UTAs web site with the list of the gen courses and make a determination yourself about what you think you may need to take to fulfill the requirements. And, if it seems like you might have to take many more than about 3 of them, then stick with GCU. Just a thought.

Hi RnsRWe, There is a Texas state law that requires anyone graduating from a school in Texas must take this class; so that's why. I agree that technically we aren't really attending school in Texas, so, to me, this mandate should have been waived, but that's Texas for ya. I know many girls from my work who are in the the Grand Canyon program right now, including both of my charge nurses. It is significantly more expensive than UTA, even with the books included in the UTA cost, just FYI. Plus, the length of time for the entire program is longer as well. I'm not sure if you are allowed to take >1 class at a time or not, but I finished in about a year and the Grand Canyon girls are still going. There are no tests at all, but lots of papers. (UTA has some tests and some papers). I believe that they have 12 nursing classes to take, though. That may not be exactly accurate, but I know for sure they have more than our 8 (or if you have to take an elective, 9). And, there is no mechanism to use any certification you might have to waive a nursing class like we can do at UTA. They also have 2 discussion board questions per week, while most of our classes have only one. One really negative aspect is that every class assignment for every course is done in a group. I don't know if that would bother you or not, but this it a factor to consider. At UTA, only Nursing Research is based on the group-thing and it is horrible. I was glad there was only one class with this format. I know that GC does accept a lot of classes to transfer in, though, so that may be a positive for you, I don't know. UTA accepted every single class I previously took, also, though. I took the basic 8 nursing classes, used my PCCN to waive the nursing elective, took Texas Gov (because I had to) and US gov (because I never had a gov class before) and that's it. If I were you, I would apply to both schools and then you would have more data to use to give a fair comparison. I know it sounds like I'm trying to get you to come to UTA, and I'm really not. There are many frustrations with this school, for sure, but I liked that was fast, cheap, and only moderately hard. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Hi RnsRWe, The real story is: it depends. Everyone who responds here will tell you something different with regard to what transferred and what didn't. Here is what is true for all of us: Everyone must take: Prof Nurs A/B, Holistic Care of the Older Adult, Health Assessment, Vulnerable Populations, Health Promotion, Research, Leadership/Management, and Capstone Plus 2 nursing electives. If you have a national certification such as CCRN, or PCCN, that can sub for one of your electives. Some people can use a previous science class such as chemistry or biology to sub for the 2nd elective. You can take Legacy of the family as one elective or Cooperative Work Experience for the other, OR a 3-unit Medical Terminology class will work for one elective. The cost per credit of each of nursing classes is $257; thus a 3 unit class will be $771. Regarding the gen courses, well, this is where it become less defined and will vary from student to student. There is a list on the web site of all the general classes required, so I won't mention them here. If you haven't taken it already, you will be required to take Texas Gov as a 3- credit class, no matter what other gov classes you've had before. The only way to find out exactly what YOU have to take is to send in all of your transcripts along w/ your application and see what they say. Some people have successfully negotiated their way out of certain classes that they believe should have transferred, others have not been so successful. If you want, you can CLEP out of a certain gen class by studying on your own and taking a standardized test which will enable you to avoid having to take the class. Some people do this for Algebra, history, etc. The cost of each gen class is $168/credit. So, for example if you have NO general classes to take, the 8 classes listed above, with 1 nursing elective (35 units total) would cost you: $8995. Obviously, the cost goes up the more classes you have to take. The length of time for completion is up to you, meaning that if you take 2 or even 3 classes concurrently, you can expedite things considerably. Most nurses on this site doubled up at some point and some even took 3 or more classes at a time. Just depends on you and your schedule and how sane you want to remain. I started in mid Aug 2012 and finished the first week in Sept 2013, so just over one year. I doubled up a couple of times and once I took 3 classes together and I work full time. Hope this info helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Hi brookeycookie, I sent you a PM the other day regarding this assignment; I hope it helped you. The person who wrote the first post above mentioned you could make your presentation as long as you want as long as you meet your objectives, but this is not the case.....at least when I took the class a few weeks ago. The instructions tell you that it should be 12-15 slides in length, and my AC was strict about this. Longer is not better. Someone in my class made 22 slides and she was told to reduce the number to comply with the instructions. Don't forget you need a title slide as well as reference slides. I put 3 references on each slide for a total of 3 slides to contain the 9 required. (And, BTW, the instructions say that you cannot have >9 references for this assignment). So, you could have 8-11 slides with content and you would be in compliance w/ the instructions. Some people in my class put all 9 on one slide, but that meant that the font had to be very small. Since this is a PP presentation, the font should be keep larger. There is a PP example in the Resources sections in Blackboard to show you font size and colors. You do not put the evaluation items such as the pre and post tests in the PP; they go in the evaluation APA paper along with your cost analysis, handouts if you have any, etc. You have to have an evaluation for the presenter and another for the content itself. The person above wrote that you could use a template for the presentation evaluation from the internet. My AC told us specifically that we were not allowed to use forms from the internet, any educational session we actually attended, or even from our own work place; they had to be original and specifically our own creation. Look in your research text (Burns and Grove) to remind you what a Likert scale is and you could create yours using something like that, for example. PM me again, if you have any other questions.

Hi KRSLPN, Maybe I didn't make my note clear. It's not that we have to stand and chart; it's that we have to stand ALL THE TIME. Mgt took our chairs away from the hall where we have to use our computers on wheels and we aren't allowed in the nurses's station...oh, sorry, I mean clinical station, anymore. It's doctor's only. They, of course have chairs in there....and nice, super large computer monitors, which we do not have access to, so therefore cannot use. Yeah, this is us, a Magnet certified hospital.

Wow. I can't believe I found this thread! I had no idea other hospitals in various states are doing this. Just assumed it was only mine. Last year, in an effort to keep us out of the nurses station where we would sit and use the computers to chart, they suddenly made a new rule that they were for doctor's only. They sent us all out in the hall with computers on wheels. A few months later, someone from the CNO's office came and took away all of the chairs in the halls. No notice, no discussion, just took them away. One nurse was actually sitting on one in front of her computer and got up for less than a minute to get something and when she came back, her chair was gone. Of course, there were many times when it was necessary to use the computers in the nurses station, like if you were on the phone taking report and needed to look up details about the new pt or something like that, and lots of us did, esp when it was quiet and there were no doctors around. So, 3 months ago, they fixed it so that the computers there can only be accessed by swiping a hospital badge and only doctors have the type that will work. So, now we can't use them.....ever. Oh, and they changed the name of the nurses station, too. It is now called "clinical station". Someone came around to each unit, removed the old signs and replaced them with the new ones. We are a Magnet hospital and this is the way we are treated. We are due for re-certification soon. Lots of us wonder what the Magnet surveyors would say if they knew......Would be pretty funny if somehow they found out......hmm. p.s. we all work 12 hr shifts

Hi Krazylady, Congratulations to everyone also. In two hours from now, I will be drinking a glass of champagne and I will give a toast to everyone here on allnurses who helped me keep my sanity while going through some of the bad times. You know who you are. Love and best wishes to you all. ScarletFire

Thank you, Jadiva.:)

Hello everyone, I just finished Capstone so if anyone wants some clarification on anything when you take it, let me know. I'll continue to check in here for a while to see if I can be of any assistance to anyone. Scarletfire

People in my group were already posting their quotes for week #5 DB last week. Now, we have about 1/2 of the group has posting. It's funny b/c almost no one has bothered to follow the directions, either. One guy's quote was the preamble to the constitution ("we hold these things to be self-evident that all men are created equal....") and he went on to say that everyone has the right to healthcare. Huh? And, this has what exactly to do with your RN to BSN experience??? Hard to understand how you can get to capstone without knowing you are actually meant to read and then follow the instructions for the discussions....but whatever. Best of luck to you.

Hi Krazylady, I finished everything last week, but was delaying the submission until the due dates but 2 days ago, I figured, why wait? So, I submitted all 7 and now just waiting for grades. I have to clean my house, too, but will start that next week. Right now, I just want to enjoy realizing that I don't have to be a slave to this school anymore. Congratulations to you and everyone who has crossed the finish line.

Amy, MaryAnn, Rosemary, GREAT job.

Hi ilovebees, I see your point about doing the journey paper first. I'm going to do a lot of copying and pasting from that leadership paper re: short term and long term goals. I don't know why we have to continually tell them our goals in like 3-4 classes now. I keep changing them to fit the class. Whatever. Yeah, I just re-did my resume a few weeks ago for a different reason, so looks like I should be able to use that w/ a few modifications. I'm having a bit of a hard time w/ the project, too. But, I guess i'll figure something out; i always do. I'm just really sick of having to spend time trying to decipher what they want from us. I know I've complained about this before, but it really bothers me. p.s. do you really love bees or just the honey?

hi iLovebees, So, I see that as usual everything in this class is crystal clear. kidding. I've been through everything and still don't have a feel for the project except that it is in 3 parts and that there is an accompanying PP. This class might be easy in the long run, but I don't know why these profs can't seem to just tell us what the assignment is in simpler terms. We spend hours trying to just figure out what exactly we are supposed to do.