dmrnurse

computer programmer for 18 years. Graduated May, 2007 and loving it so far!

Sister, I took the NCLEX on Monday, 7/23. I got 5 or 6 check all that apply questions. You are the first person that I have heard from that also got that many alternate style questions. I am still waiting for my results to be available on-line and am totally stressed. Good luck to you! I have my fingers crossed for you!! DMRNurse

I am currently a senior in the Emory SON, and I too would disagree with mt33133, or I least I would like to add my personal experience to what mt33133 posted. The Emory SON is focused on evidence-based practice rather than research for the sake of research, which is what I felt mt33133 was implying. The faculty strongly encourages (and usually requires) us to support our clinical skills and assessments with hard science facts and proven research. I think Emory has a challenging program. We are called upon often to use published clinical research to support our clinical decisions. Personally, I feel that having that knowledge and experience in my repertoire will make me a more confident and efficient nursing professional. The Emory SON does provide ample opportunity for service learning in underserved populations and community health learning, but my experience so far is that this is a complement to a sound core nursing curriculum and certainly not a detriment. Regardless of the clinical environment, we are still practicing and refining required nursing skills. Now, I wouldn't be surprised if we all have slightly different visions of how to succeed as nurses. So, certainly pick a school and eventually an employer that aligns with your vision. I am sure there is something out there for all of us!

Choanurse, FYI...at orientation one of the speakers gave the demographics for the new junior class at Emory SON. The average GPA is 3.43 for this class. Student ages range from 20 to 49. 62 students are traditional students, 27 are second degree students, and 20 students are Segue students. Orientation was great and the faculty seem really wonderful. They divided the class into groups of ten and assigned each group to a faculty mentor. The mentor will meet with us regularly throughout our entire program at Emory, both years. My mentor rocks. I really hope that you get into the program. Keep me posted! Darlene

My GPA for all of the Emory Nursing School pre-reqs was 4.0. My GPA for my first degree (Computer Science) was not that good -- definitely a few B's in there, but 10 years ago I did take some graduate level software engineering classes and had a 4.0 GPA in those classes. I think Georgia State (where I took the pre-reqs) calculated my overall GPA as 3.74. But the admissions folks at Emory seemed more focused on my pre-requisite grades than anything else. I don't know for sure if you *must* have A's in your pre-reqs. But I am living proof that you can get B's in non-nursing pre-req classes and still get accepted. Depending on your volunteer/work experience and the information that you provide in your essays, getting a couple B's in your pre-reqs might be okay. Again, this is based solely on stories that I've heard from other folks. If you're concerned about any of your grades but don't feel that you need to re-take the classes, you might want to incorporate some sort of explanation (without sounding like an excuse) in your application essay. For example, I made sure to point out that I was working full-time (and was on-call) when I went to school for my first degree. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions! Emory orientation is tomorrow and Wednesday, and our classes start on Friday. I can't wait!

O2BRN, I had a non-healthcare degree and career before I returned to school last summer to complete NS prerequisites. A&P I was my first class back and it had been almost 20 years since my last biology class. The good news: I got an A in A&P I and A&P II. The bad news: I studied a lot for that first A&P class. I struggled with finding an effective way to study, being out of school for so long. And it was a lot of material that I either never knew or only very vaguely remembered. If you have the motivation and time to put in the studying hours you can certainly do it. My professor recommended 1 - 2 hours of study time every day outside of class, which I think I spent. I read the chapters before class then reviewed them after the lecture. I also did all of the review questions that I could find both in my text and on my text's web site and went to every open lab for the lab portion of the class. More good news, once I got my study routine down and figured out the professor's teaching/testing patterns, the class got easier. And, when I took organic chemistry and microbiology, the foundation that I got from A&P helped a lot with certain topics like respiration, Kreb's cycle, urea cycle, and the immune system. So, if you have the time and drive, you can definitely go straight into the A&P class. Good luck!!

I just wanted to thank all of you who shared advice and good wishes with me. This is my third week volunteerting on the dementia floor of a nursing home (2 days per week, 3 hours a day), and it has been an incredible experience. Occasionally I still feel a little in the way or that I should be doing more, but many times I feel down right useful. I had some HIPAA training, so I can help out with the filing while I am covering the phones and I get to distribute juice and trays during lunch. I also get to open up the milk and juice cartons and sometimes even help cut up the food for the folks who can feed themselves but have fine dexterity problems. As a pre-nursing student this is an invaluable experience in that I get to see how a nursing station is run and how the healthcare team interacts. And, I love working with the residents. I have so many wonderful stories in only 3 weeks! With some folks I can have great conversations, with others I just do as you all advised and go along with whatever it is that they're doing (as long as it is safe!). Well thank you again for your encouragement and advice. And kudos to all of you who work in LTC and Geriatrics. You guys and gals are incredible!! Darlene

A fellow who lives in my neighborhood, who was also a second degree student, just graduated in May from Emory. He loved going there. He spoke very highly of the faculty and of his clinical experience. In fact, I saw him doing his peds clinical in the video they show at the open house. He was a NEAT recipient and had his choice of jobs in the Emory healthcare after graduation. He has an 11 year old son and worked one or two part time jobs so I didn't get to chat with him too much about school. But if you have specific questions, I can always send him an e-mail. In fact, I want to try to catch up with him soon to see how he did on the NCLEX, which he took 2 weeks ago. You know how everyone says how difficult the first semester is, my friend said that it wasn't too bad. He thought the toughest semester was the one in which he took the genetics course. I don't know which one that is off the top of my head. Well, I certainly hope that you get into Emory. Keep in touch about your progress or if you have other questions. Take care! Darlene

That's very true. I applied to both GA State and Emory last year. The nursing programs are so competitive with the excess of applicants for a limited number of spots that there are really no guarantees. So it is very sound advice to apply to multiple schools if your goal is to be in nursing school next fall. Heather (HRM672) and I knew one girl from our classes who got good grades, sort of worked in a healthcare field, and was a great person but didn't get into the first school to which she applied. We were all surprised. Hopefully she made it into her second choice school.

When I submitted my application, I had completed A&P I and was taking A&P II and Chem I. I submitted my application around Thanksgiving then submitted my A&P II and Chem I grades a couple weeks later in mid-December. I received my acceptance letter in January and still had to complete Micro, Organic Chem, and Human Lifespan and Development in the Spring. I forgot how the letter was worded but my acceptance into the program was dependent on my receiving acceptable grades in those last 3 classes. BTW... I am a second degree student; my first degree was computer science. I am not sure how that factors in on my acceptance, if at all. The program that you mentioned, is that the CHANCES program with Children's Hospital of Atlanta? I don't know a lot about it firsthand but I believe that it is similar to the NEAT program where there are a limited number of awards per year. Again, I would apply as early as you can for it. Hope this info helps! Let me know if you have any more questions. Darlene

Hi! I will be starting nursing school at Emory this September. I don't know that I have any tips that are specific to Emory, but definitely apply early. I applied in late November last year and heard back with my acceptance early in January. I've heard people say that they applied closer to the January deadline and didn't hear back (acceptance or otherwise) until April. I went to an open-house at Emory last October and folks on a student panel advised me that the essay (statement of purpose) was the most critical part of the application. I spent a lot of time thinking about why I wanted to become a nurse and crafting an essay that expressed my goals and my personality. I highly recommend applying for the NEAT scholarship (if you're interested in working for the Emory Healthcare system post-graduation) where Emory Healthcare pays half of your tuition for 2 years then you work at one of the Emory hospitals for 2 years after graduation. There is a limited number of these scholarships available each year (I have heard numbers from 12 to 20) so once again, apply early. Also, apply for the named scholarships -- there's one application form for quite a few nursing school scholarships. I applied to Emory but was worried that I would never be able to afford it, however, I was very pleasantly surprised at the amount of financial aid that was awarded to me. Good luck to you! I hope to see you around campus in September, 2006! I know there are a few others in this forum who are also starting at Emory this September. Feel free to send me a personal message if you have specific questions. Darlene

I just started volunteering at a nursing home and have been assigned to an Alzheimer's floor. I will be starting Nursing School this September. I have not had any training or certification in any type of patient care so I realize that I am limited in what I can do for the nurses or patients. I helped nursing assistants distribute meals in the dining room then I staffed the phones at the nursing station while the nurses helped feed patients and took their breaks. Other than that the nurses told me to mingle with the patients. I am a little bit nervous about what I should say or do with the patients. Many patients lapse into and out of lucid conversations. What can I do for these folks other than try to talk with them? When they go off on less than lucid tangents, should I just "go along with" their tangents. For example, one woman would have a seemingly reasonable conversation with me then randomly start talking about her son picking her up that night and taking her home (which I knew was not the case). Should I try to ask her about her son, his name, age, whatever? Or am I risking taking her to a sad place and would do her a better service by trying to get her on a different topic. I sincerely want to help the patients and nurses, but in retrospect I am a little afraid that I might say something that would upset the patients. Any advice would be appreciated. Also, I regret that I am not the best mingler/small talker. I was thinking of taking magazines with a lot of photographs with me the next time I work and trying to strike up conversations about the pictures with the patients (who have good enough vision). Any advice would be appreciated! I am so afraid of doing more harm than good. Thank you!

Click on the gram negative link at this site and you will see a flow chart for the tests that confirm E. coli. Are you sure that your unknown is E. coli? If so, this chart should help you create your document. For my micro class, we had to follow a flow chart to identify our unknowns. Good luck. http://www.kcom.edu/faculty/chamberlain/Website/lab/idlab/gram.htm

Does anyone have any firsthand experience with Georgia Service Cancellable Loans? I originally thought that once awarded the loan, the new nurse was only required to work at a healthcare facility in Georgia for whatever amount of time was agreed upon to forgive the loan. But several of my classmates at GSU said that there were more restrictions such as you could only work at specific healthcare facilities and locations. I would appreciate any light that folks could shed on the subject. Thanks!

Thank you for your responses. I have heard only praises about the program and faculty at Emory from past students. And, so far, I have had only positive experience with the admissions staff. My only real reservation is the cost. I am taking the prerequisite science classes at Georgia State and many of my GSU friends think I am crazy for thinking about investing so much $$ for a BSN. Their logic is as long as you pass the NCLEX, it doesn't matter from where you get your degree. I am trying to get a read on how much it matters where you go to school especially since I am not sure how much financial aid I will be getting. Thanks for the input!