Teeanne

Personally I picked NIU. For me, a lot was financial - the transfer scholarships brought the price of NIU to about $1k/semester less, but the program is 1 semester longer, so it still kinda tips in Aurora's favor. But I worried if I had a bad semester, losing Aurora's scholarship would be a much bigger hit. I'm still glad I don't have that extra pressure on me. Many of my classmates have degrees already so transfer scholarships weren't even on the table. But I work with folks going to (or went to) Waubonsee, NIU, and Aurora, and we're all pretty happy with our choices. Every program has its advantages and disadvantages. So far, no regrets! Loving it here.

93-100 = A 85-92 = B 77-84 = C (No rounding, so a 92.9999 is a B) Below 77 is failing. Also getting below a 77 average on exams is failing, even if the overall class grade is higher.

I just finished mine earlier today, it went well. For the second half of the semester, occasionally I did some practice HESI quizzes for fundamentals on the Evolve accounts the school had set up. The Saunders formerly-yellow-now-blue book is nice too - yellow book has CD for practice q's, blue book has online access code (you don't need both though, the content is very similar and same questions, as I learned by buying it before there were reviews). Other than practicing the question style, not sure there's a really efficient way to "study" for it, because there's just such a broad base of information that it could take from and many of the questions are more about judgment. I went into the Saunders book to go over an area I felt a little weaker in since they break it down to the essentials, and it didn't end up coming up at all in a question. (But hey, trying to understand something better that will come up in the future is still time well-spent!)

I have not taken the PAX-RN, I did take the TEAS for Aurora earlier this year and didn't think the test was bad at all. The science was a little hard if I remember right. People I've talked to that have taken both have said the PAX is more challenging. Most people I know still pass - the one friend I can think of that failed did study, but unfortunately test taking isn't really her strength. I didn't apply to WCC, I did my prereqs there and applied to AU and NIU. The AU application process wasn't bad. The day of the TEAS you also fill out some essay questions for them, but they were pretty straightforward. Pathophysiology is one of the classes first semester but can optionally be taken ahead of time if you are done with A&P II already. Some people took it over the summer before the semester started. At least on our set of questions, they ask you when you plan to take patho so that's something to think about in advance!

I'm using an full size ipad with a bluetooth keyboard and the Notability app (recommended to me by a friend that was already in a different nursing program). My profs generally put up lecture notes online so I export them from there into Notability then add notes to them. I type most things I add, but the app I use for notes does let me switch to drawing and I can add lines, stars, etc with my fingertip to help, plus you can also use a highlight pen to trace over important words. Personally I've never had a problem recording while typing when I've tried. I wouldn't mind having a stylus though so I could just write a quick word next to something. Notability does let you open up a "text box," type what you are going to say, then move that box around so you can put it next to your existing notes - it's just a little more involved than just writing something quickly. I don't often use pen and paper anymore. But I would say there are far more people in class with paper and pen than with laptops and tablets - even some of my friends that bring gadgets don't like to use them for notes, so really just depends on personal preference!

Med/Surg I Med/Surg I clinical Mental health Mental health clinical Research Second semester of the program, looking forward to it!

My fundamentals, health assessment, and patho classes all go out of order in the book. It hasn't really been bad to jump around so far and the material hasn't felt hard, I'm just getting used to the trying to soak in massive amounts material in a short time and feel like it's really solidly retained. That's not going to change no matter what the corresponding chapters are. Colorful post-it tabs are my friend! Our instructors try to complement each other as much as possible, which is really nice. But cardiac, for example, might be in the beginning of patho, end of health assessment, middle of fundamentals textbooks, etc. I'd rather attack a single topic from multiple dimensions like that, vs going linear through the books.

I'm a student right now, but I work at a nursing home as a CNA that's pretty highly regarded, more rehab and acute care than long term. The turnover is pretty low, for my shift anyway. A lot of people don't quit, they just cut their hours or go to PRN, but then when openings arise, they might have a change of heart and want the steady work. Even CNA applicants that have friends working here seem to have a hard time making it in the door for an interview. A good chunk of the CNAs are either in a nursing program or doing the prereqs to get into nursing. So out of the several months I've been there, I only know of one new hire RN on my shift. And she was a CNA there already, and graduated from a selective BSN program. I think right now, the only thing HR even wants is housekeeping and dietary staff. I imagine it would be very hard as an outsider - it's probably hard as an insider too. New RNs take a while to train and they have to pay for that, and if there's only 1 opening and 5 CNAs just graduated their programs, there's just not room for everyone. Pretty black/white stuff like degree, seniority, etc probably gets applied as a filter pretty quickly. But really, there are no guarantees in anything. It just has to be something you really want to do. So many people I think got into nursing for a guaranteed job, and this economy really doesn't afford that luxury to anyone anymore. My brother got his bachelor's in psych, because it's what he loved, and he thought he'd at least be able to get an entry-level counseling job. He qualifies on paper, but they probably get some amazing applicants with extra experience or education that they can pay for the same salary. So he has to work in another area, for now anyway. One of my profs says it's typically the hardest in the suburbs. He applied for 120 jobs, got calls back from 2, and the one he accepted was a 5 hour commute round trip. But once he had that training and experience under his belt, it opened up so many doors.

My comm college required having a recent reading placement test on file or any associate degree (or higher). My placement test was 5 years old or something so didn't count, but fortunately I had the associate's degree. I took ENG 101 and 102 through them too, and found it a little silly that those wouldn't suffice for proving you were literate enough for a CNA class, but oh well. :) Mine didn't have an interview/orientation though. They are all so different!

My school requires health insurance for all FT students regardless of major anyway - but it offers a plan for $500/semester if you don't have your own. They auto-bill for insurance, which makes it easy to throw into financial aid and loans, then people that have their own insurance can go through the hoops to provide proof and get the charges removed. My nursing program includes the liability insurance in the fees tacked on to our bill. I had a bit of initial confusion with that as well since it was listed as a clinical requirement, but didn't actually involve any action on our parts like the other items on that list. So definitely check that out before you get your own. Good luck!

It seems like the programs that require TEAS score and designate it to certain days will use the paper and pencil version. When I applied to Aurora this year, I took the paper and pencil version in January. They only offer it around that time of year though. If I recall right, they won't accept scores elsewhere. But looking at the ATI website, other programs like Joliet, Olivet Nazarene, etc are talking about needing #2 pencils and have testing dates in the nearish future, but I've never really looked at their programs so not sure. It might be worth seeing what's close to you on ATI's site and getting more information to see if they're really the paper and pencil version. I imagine the scores could be sent to another school via ATI. Just make sure your program isn't picky about where you take the test!

I work evenings and it's LTC and rehab, about 2/3 rehab 1/3 LTC, but all but one wing have a mix of both. It's up to 8 per CNAs usually depending on room occupancy, isolation, etc. Though one assignment can get up to 10 residents. Sometimes they cut one of the CNA assignments too, then a few other CNAs can end up with 10 residents as well (doesn't seem to happen often). Anywhere from 1-3 shower or baths. Usually when a CNA has more than 2 showers/baths, others juggle around to try and help out with the third one. Tonight I had 7 people and 1 shower - that's pretty average. The other night I had 2 showers with my 8 residents, and someone else on my hall kept sweetly offering to do my second shower because she didn't have any that night. (I did both fine myself, but it's nice that people are so willing to pitch in if you get bogged down.)

I took the CNA class in the spring semester and applied to work at the place I did my clinicals because I thought the staff was so terrific. Having good people with you really makes a difference, and if you have a better relationship with the people you work with, it makes it easier to ask questions and learn from those around you. Even though I feel pretty settled in with most things, other senior CNA's love to helpfully give their little tips and advice when we work together on a resident, which I appreciate so much. And most people I work with have no problem picking up the slack because they know others will do the same for them when it's needed. It's a terrific environment. I hope you find something that's less toxic so you can really enjoy what you're doing.

I'm doing the BSN because I had an associate's degree (not nursing) already so it would take 4 semesters for an ADN, or 4/5 semesters for BSN depending on the program I chose. So for me it would take me the same amount of time for an ADN as a BSN basically. Most of my friends are going for their ADN though, because it will take them less time and the ADN program seems well-liked in the area. I also went with the BSN program at a state university, so more expensive than comm college, but not obnoxiously so. I do see a lot of listings in the area either preferring or requiring BSN, but I'm sure a strong candidate with either degree will figure something out just fine.

I don't know, around here anyway, I think 4 weeks is the shortest I've seen, and that's basically 8-5 M-F. Usually my comm college does it in 8 or 16 week formats. We were told the mandate was 40 hours of clinicals, so our class had 44 hours built in to allow for one class cancellation/absence if necessary. And on top of that the lecture, which we also couldn't miss more than one of and still pass the class. I don't see how we could get all that in in 4 days, 9-2. But every state is different! My program cost $850 through my comm college. The CPR class, exam registration cost and background check were included in that, but those being included might be pretty standard. The clinicals were really valuable, I wouldn't have wanted to skimp on those at all. On the last day of clinicals, only two people "had" to be there because the rest of us were signed off on our skills and hadn't missed a clinical yet, but every single person showed up anyway.