bravera

I believe the nurse-patient ratio on the floor is around 5:1, but I've seen it as bad as 7:1. It's in the older part of the hospital if I recall correctly, so the rooms are a little bit of a tight squeeze. I think the floor also does oncology patients. Other than that, I don't really know much. Sorry! Piedmont is in the process of taking over, so things are changing a lot.

futureRN2015, I was interviewing for CVICU and was told they were no longer accepting interviews after the group before me finished. I was pretty bummed and they offered for me to interview with MICU/SICU or neuro ICU. My first choice was MICU at that point, but I guess it just wasn't in my cards!

I interviewed with critical care yesterday and was offered a position in the progressive care unit today. I turned it down, so hopefully one of you guys will be offered the spot!

I also have an interview there this week, so I'm not really sure about how much they pay! I know Rockdale typically pays nurses a little more, and they start new grads around $23. I've been involved at Newton for around 5 years and can tell you that most of the nurses there seem very satisfied with their work. It's a tight-knit community and everyone in the hospital seems to know each other and treat each other like family. :) Good luck!

Newton Medical is a small community facility with only three floors and nothing too ground-breaking in terms of technology. 3 floors, typical units (med surg, tele, micu, pacu, er, etc.). That doesn't make it a bad hospital, though. The staff is wonderful and very welcoming, and there's a huge volunteer presence on the campus. It's your usual community hospital with a family-centered care philosophy. Their new grad residency is open now and the interview also consists of a med calculation test. If you're a new grad, you typically start on med/surg and advance based on your skills, hospital need, and performance.

Rockdale is 21-23 base pay depending on the unit from what I've heard

Piedmont and Rockdale still have their residency applications open

@breezy7 I applied in January to the Clifton campus and haven't been scheduled for an interview yet.

No, they want to be an L&D nurse but are having trouble getting interviews for the specialty, so they branched out to med/surg. L&D apparently very rough competition with limited available slots from what I've heard from my cohort!

Was it for Atlanta? They have multiple campuses so it could have been for Fayetteville. A friend of mine just interviewed at ATL for Med Surg today so the ball is starting to roll!

I've been told that Piedmont and Emory are the slowest in the Atlanta area to get their process rolling. Many of Piedmont's residency applications are still open, so I'm guessing it'll be several weeks before they start making calls. No one I know has been contacted by Piedmont regarding the residencies, not even friends who work at Piedmont as externs.

I suggest using ATI's RN Adult Medical Surgical Nursing Edition 9.0 review module book from the content mastery series. It gives you the bare-bones info for what you need to know in each med-surg topic along with a lot of NCLEX-style practice questions. I really liked it and managed to get an A in my med-surg course along with a level 3 on the med-surg ATI exam using it. I've seen a couple copies on Amazon for $10 or less.

Hey there, I'm a senior at GBCN and pretty much everything meeep said is 100% accurate. My class started out around 140, but I believe we've dropped down to about 130 or so. The class before us was a bit smaller, but it still seems to stay around that range each semester. Also, Mercer does look at volunteer work and holds it to a high degree...in fact, you're required to do volunteer work your first semester for two of your classes. I honestly cannot remember my stats when I was accepted (95ish on TEAS and 3.9 GPA I believe?), but everyone in my class had different stats, including TEAS scores as low as the mid-80s (but with awesome hospital + volunteer experience to make up for it). Admissions is based on more than just test scores + GPA, hence why our "average" GPA may seem lower than that of other schools.

Just search for the "GBCN Class of 2016" group and request to be added. The cover photo of the group should be members of the senior class holding signs that spell out "GBCN" in black and orange. I believe we got our financial aid award letters in mid-June last semester, so I'd imagine it'll be about the same time. Just keep checking in MyMercer and make sure you're up-to-date on OSHA, HIPPA, and your vaccines/titers so nothing gets held up.

Congrats :) Welcome to GBCN!

You'll find out mostly everything you need at orientation, don't worry too much :) Just make sure you are BLS certified through the American Heart Association, your titers and vaccines are up to date, and you've had a PPD done (and chest x-ray if it came back +). If you have any questions about the classes/program, feel free to ask!

State will not take your nursing courses and you will have to restart within the program. I'm fairly sure this hasn't changed since I was there a year ago. So, yes, you can transfer, but you will have to start over.

Don't stress about registration, it's impossible to not get your nursing classes. You'll find out which classes to register for at orientation, most likely, or you'll receive an email with instructions :)

Last summer, we were able to choose which orientation we attended, but we had to sign up in advance because they can only accept a certain number of students per orientation. I would double check with Mrs. Flemons or Bailey about it, because I know the school has gotten more strict regarding compliance with vaccinations and might be using it as leverage.

I actually just shot you an e-mail :)

A lot of us are paying for part of our tuition out of pocket or with loans. Some of us have HOPE, which covers a small portion, and I know pretty much everyone gets an equalization grant worth around ~$500. Many of us, myself included, get need-based Pell grants. There will be opportunities to join organizations and societies once you start at GBCN to receive scholarships through the school, but most people I know didn't get one until after their first semester. A couple of my friends also have part-time jobs in our admissions department that net them a little cash on the side. My suggestion is to apply for as many scholarships as you can, reapply for HOPE if you are eligible and don't already have it, and be ready to take on some loans and have emergency money set aside. I've heard of people having to pay anywhere from $500 to $4k to cover a semester. Financial aid is all based on the individual, but I'll tell you that I have HOPE, the equalization grant, a Pell grant, and a small independent scholarship. I still take out around $3k in loans per semester and paid $1k out of pocket for tuition my first semester and $700 the second. I have been given the opportunity to join different societies that offer scholarships, but didn't have the time to commit myself to them (meetings, traveling for conventions, etc.)

Just to confirm what meeep said, faculty or GBANS will set up the Facebook group for you, and you can take your CPR course anywhere as long as it's BLS and American Heart Association certified. The card will be white and blue with the AHA symbol on it. You can find providers through AHA's web page.

A&P is a lab course, and some nursing schools in Georgia will not accept online lab courses. I would take it in the classroom setting just to be safe.

Professor Kamp will either give you information at orientation or during the first week of classes about nurse packs, since she's dependent on the company that ships them. And yes, the other professors don't mind if you record at all! They keep a table at the front of the class by the podium for you to put recorders on. Laptops and everything are fine as well, and each seat has an outlet for you to plug into.

You'll receive instructions on how to order your nurse pack, which includes all the medical supplies you need for campus clinical and validations. I believe the first semester pack was $75 if you ordered it early at the discounted rate. You also need a stethoscope, which you can order through the school at orientation or independently. Most people bought the MDI steths through the school, but I and a few others went with the Littman Classic II, which I got on amazon for $65. Some students bought a manual blood pressure cuff as well for practice. If you order the stethoscopes through the school, I think you can get a bundle deal with a cuff through MDI. I bought mine separately from MedLine for about $35. Hope that helps! For class...you'll need a printer and computer access for sure, since your patho-pharm lectures will be pre-recorded online. Get some comfortable headphones and a ton of highlighters :)