KSCottomRN

You shouldnt have named yourself the.truth.ferret. The name that suits you properly is the.decepting.fox! Seriously what is your problem with bad mouthing the school? What did they do to you??

For ANY nursing program to be able to open their doors they HAVE to be accredited by the state board of nursing. As long as they are accredited by the State BON then the graduates of that nursing program CAN and WILL be eligible to take the NCLEX boards. They cant "hold" your degree if you cant pass the boards because you HAVE to have your degree before your eligible for the boards. They do, however, have the HESI Exit exam that you MUST pass to be eligible for passing your last class, Nursing Roles II. It is PART of your class and if you fail the exam then you dont PASS the class and therefore you are not eligible for the boards. Its like any class, if you dont pass the class you cant move forward. The Exit HESI is suppose to be harder than the NCLEX, so if you cant pass the HESI then you probably wont pass the boards bringing the school's pass rate down and jeopardizing their standing with NLNAC. If the student FAILs the exit Hesi then the student must remediate and retake Med Surg II, Pharm, and NSG Fundamentals at no extra cost to the student. This is done to further strengthen the student's ability of basic knowledge and give them the best chance at passing the boards when they do satisfy their requirements to sit for the NCLEX. Also you are wrong about employers not hiring ITT grads. There have been 4 graduating classes at the school I attend, and 2 of the classes all have positions that have been offered to them from the area hospitals, one is working at one of universities in Chicago, and another has a position where the company is sending the nurse back to school so she can get her wound/ostomy care accreditation. There is NO lack of training, we get the same amount of clinical experience as every other nursing program.

Good luck on your entrance exam!! I am graduating from the Breckinridge School of Nursing, Merrillville IN this June!! I have loved my school, my instructors, and the Nursing Chair. They are great and have a wealth of experience! The hesi will have English and Math. You should try to get the Hesi A2 entrance exam booklet to study from. Know how to change unit's in math from grams, to milligrams, to micrograms, and kilograms to pounds and back again, also F to C.

You are probably not getting the full story here. If they are at another school and starting over it is PROBABLY because they failed out of the Breckinridge School of Nursing. Once you fail out of any nursing program you have to restart it all over again if your accepted into a new program. Nursing courses ANYWHERE do not transfer over. If you fail the program you are still responsible for the student loans your took out, just because you failed doesnt mean you get a pass. People who come to the ITT Nursing program need to put in a lot of work and dedication. Just because your paying $$ for your education doesnt mean they are just going to give you your degree. You have to work for it, just like anywhere else! Nursing is NOT easy and if people think you can just skate through it, then they are setting their self up for failure.

Hello the.truth.ferret, Where did you get your info?? They do not accept "everyone", especially in the Nursing program! Prior to ALL nursing programs you MUST take an entrance exam, the TEAs or the HESI are the most common. You HAVE to get a certain score on these exams to even be considered into the program. Yes, the program IS expensive, but you have to look at it in the LONG run. @ IVY Tech, Purdue, IU, and Valpo university there is at least a 2 year waiting list!! Included in that is you HAVE to get ALL your pre-requisites completed before you can even think of being put on the 2 year waiting list. So now you are looking at 4 years before you can even be considered accepted to one of their nursing programs and then another 2 to 4 years in school before you can sit for your boards!! Now that is 6 to 8 years of not being in a profession that is your passion AND not making the RN salary. So while someone started the same time as I did waiting to get into the nursing program that has a waiting list, I will be starting a career and will have made $160,000 gross pay (4 years of nursing experience) before this finally been accepted into the nursing program and then add another $80,000 by the time this student graduates and waits to take his/her boards. The difference between a Associates and a Bachelor's in the hospital setting is only a .25 cent to .50 cent pay increase. Associates also get A LOT more clinical experience than a BSN nursing student because the BSN students are not only learning about Nursing, they are learning the business and theory behind the nursing program. So BSN can graduate and besides applying for bedside nursing they can also become case managers and nursing managers. These profession's places the nurse in a business office and not caring for patients, this is not why I am going to school for nursing. Now dont get me wrong, I fully plan on going for my bachelors, (it will be made mandatory soon enough) and further my education to MSN so I can be a nursing instructor but for now I am content with learning the art of being a bedside nurse because this is where I will get all my experience that I can use when I do become a nursing instructor. I also would love to be a nursing instructor for ITT's Breckinridge School of Nursing because they are amazing and truly care about their student's. My friend across the street from me went to IVY Tech at the same time as I was going through ITT's program. We both had so many personal things that happened that may have jeopardized our placing in the nursing program of our respective schools. Her school's attitude was you need to work it out or you will be dropped from school and my nursing program chair, dean of nursing, dean of the school, and my nursing instructors not only helped me iron out the personal obstacles they even visited me in the Hospital when I got so sick that I ended up paralyzed from the neck down. They ALL worked with me and bending over backwards to ensure my placement in the nursing program once I was physically able. I am graduating in June of this year. It may have taken me an extra year of school but they still accepted me unlike my friend who would have been completely dropped out of her program because all she is to them is a number. Not once did her teacher's offer 1-1 tutoring on things that they were unsure of. Another added benefit for most who do choose to take the path through ITT that helped me is the fact that the prerequisites can be taken along side of the core nursing classes!! I didnt have to wait 2 years to get through my general ed classes and was able to jump right into the nursing program which in itself was awesome! I get bored easily and if it wasnt for the nursing classes along side of my general ed courses I probably wouldnt have done as well as I did in all my courses. The nursing courses kept me focused on my dream with the light at the end of the tunnel. Now with credit's not transferring, this is inaccurate as well. Besides that once you are a registered nurse it DOESNT matter what school you went to you can apply to any program/school that has RN to BSN road or RN to MSN road. All you need is your registered nurse licence to prove that you are what you say you are!! You do need your college transcripts to show how well you did overall through your primary nursing courses. If you are transferring into the nursing program your gen ed courses DO transfer as long as they are not over either 7 to 10 years (i dont remember the exact cap off). Now for the BIGGEST misconception in your post "employers generally do not hire ITT grads because the degrees are so substandard". WOW, do you have it WRONG!! I was accepted into the first class that graduated in June 2012 from the Merrillville ITT Nursing program, I had to take a step back a couple of quarters due personal matters. All of my classmates that graduated from Jun 2012 and Sept 2012 have ALL been accepted to the area hospitals in many different specialties and one even was hired into one of the university hospitals in Chicago!! The Dec 2012 and March 2013 graduating classes are all still in the process of getting ready to take the boards. Those that have passed the boards so far have also all received or have been offered positions in hospitals/home health/and hospice. Another very good friend of mine has been accepted to train/send her back to school to get wound/ostomomy care accreditation!! ITT grads are NOT substandard and in fact I have heard many positive things from hospital administrations before they even know that I am an ITT nursing student. Perhaps YOU should redo your research and stop bashing the ITT school or students that go there!! Katrina

Hi there Sarnol007! Congrats on your awesome Hesi Score. I am graduating this June from the Merrillville, IN location! I cant wait!! I have two friends that also started in the March quarter with you. There are a lot of people on this forum that likes to talk $hit about the Nursing program @ ITT. The problem is that the school program is still relatively new and people think just because your pay a lot of $$ then the school is "giving" away the degree's which are absolutely not true!! I worked hard for my degree, and yes I paid a lot for my degree but I got a damn good education. The instructor's there are great and the Nursing Chair loves all of her students and wants you to succeed but she and all the instructors there will not put a patient's life in danger why graduating non-competent nurses! Good Luck on your new Journey!! If you want to be inspired go to the graduation and/or the pinning ceremony in June. It is an amazing thing too see! Katrina