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Would anyone be willing to share pointers for someone looking to get hired in a future cohort? I am specifically interested in peds hem/onoc. Thanks so much!

Hi everyone, I have not graduated yet, but this is my dream hospital. I am trying to plan throughout the next year as I approach graduation. I am going to be a senior in January and wanted to know if anyone else had more than one senior preceptorship? At this point, it looks like I will have three because I have been selected to have preceptorships for my pediatric and critical care clinicals, in addition to the capstone clinical at the end of the year. How do I approach putting that on my resume? Also, there are about three top areas I am interested in. How did you all go about addressing this in your cover letter?

Thank you for taking the time to respond. That is good advice! It helps to take the pressure off a little and remind me to just learn all I can for now. Congrats and enjoy your new job in the NICU.

Hi BeksRN14, I am a BSN student currently in TN and am going to be applying to Vandy most likely when I complete my education. My husband and I just moved here this year from CA. I am probably going to apply to some RN residencies in CA as well. Do you have any tips as far standing out and what the job market is like there?

Hi Cellogirl- Congrats! I am very interested in working in the NICU at Vandy after graduation. What do you think set you apart to get accepted? I still have a few more semesters in my BSN program, so I am trying to get a jump on doing things to build my resume that would make me a good candidate for that track. Any insight you have would be so appreciated!

To address some of your concerns, I think working as an RN in CA is an incredible job for a mother: low patient ratios, among the highest pay in the country (RN's in the town I am from average $108,000 a year) and an extremely flexible schedule. You can work per diem, make a lot per hour and turn down shifts you don't want, or as you stated, work from home as a Case Manager. All of these reasons are why I decided to become an RN. I am currently in my first semester of a BSN program (also recently married and am 26). I think BSN is the only way to go because in 2.5 years I will have my RN and BSN. You would spend almost that same amount of time in an ADN program and then still need to go back for your Bachelor's. Personally, I didn't want to get caught waiting around in CA to get into an RN school. My GPA and test scores were very competitive, but it seemed like each school was so different in what they required, I would have had to wait until all my pre-reqs were completely finished before applying to a lot of the BSN programs that were close to me and it would have set me back about a year probably. I am nearly done with my first semester and my friends from pre-reqs are only now applying to RN programs. My husband and I moved to Nashville for me to complete my education and it has been the best choice we ever made. Don't get me wrong, we will likely move back after I graduate and get a year or two of experience (or finish grad school), but my program is incredible and I live near countless major hospitals. It is so much easier to get your first RN job here. Part of my consideration for this decision was wanting to get school out of the way as quickly as possible so that we could start a family sooner. I would also possibly like to go to Grad school, which would mean starting a family around 30-32. Now, I know this path may not work for everyone, so as far as your dilemma goes with having children goes, you will hear things across the board. For me, RN school has been easier than pre-reqs because I now have this base of background knowledge (I'm not working full-time in a demanding career like I was before - I was a news reporter through my pre-reqs), and you are surrounded by professors and peers who all have the same goal: to get through and become the best RN you can. I would never have a baby during RN school, but a lot of my peers have young children and they are doing fine. With a lot of advanced planning and a good support system you could totally do it. Personally, I would not wait until 35 or 36 to try for my first (not saying you shouldn't because this is a very personal decision). I would be devastated if for some reason I couldn't conceive. If you are in a spot financially to start trying for your first now, I would go for it. You have some time before you start RN school and maybe you can get in a good rhythm with your family and then start. I also had a friend that had a baby during her RN program and she truly seemed miserable about the whole thing. Her husband was supportive, but it was just lousy timing and I don't think she was able to enjoy RN school or her baby for that last semester (when she had hers). That being said, her program was supportive and she made it through on time with her class, passed the NCLEX and is now working as an RN in CA. Her and her husband did not plan this, but they made it work. The one thing I would say for sure is BE SURE. When I decided to become an RN it was something I took a few months to really research, talk to people about and talk with my now husband about. He has had to make a lot of sacrifices for my RN education and honestly it has been a factor that has made a difference. I literally would not be in my program right now without that support. Whatever you decide, you need to make sure your husband is 100% on board and supportive. Even with that support, it's challenging. You will be busy studying constantly, meeting with people on campus and just generally a stress case most of the time. My husband is on board because he knows this is my passion and it's going to allow me to have the career I dream of making a difference, while still having time for our family and earning a good living. At the same time, even with my grad school ambitions, I won't put off having kids too long because I know he has dreams, too, and having kids while he is in his early to mid thirties is part of that dream. You could wait and you may end up having a tough time getting pregnant, or it may be just fine. You have to decide which one you will be best able to live with without regrets. Maybe when you are an RN, have your career and life set, you will be a better mom. These are the tough decisions!

For me it took four semesters and two summer terms, but I have been going to school part-time and working full-time. I also had to take some extra classes because I live in CA and the general education requirements are slightly different. Once I realized that I wanted to move to TN for nursing school, I had to add World Lit., a second history class and Philosophy to my course plan. This was a major bummer because TN recognizes a lot less of a variety of classes than CA does. For example, here the Intro. to Political Science class I took and History 17A fulfill the history requirement. Also, I took a 4 unit photography class that was a ton of work and that counts for a humanities course in CA (but not in TN). If you know exactly what you need to take and are a full-time student, I think three to four semesters with no summers is extremely doable. Also, when I wasn't sure where I wanted to go to nursing school, I decided to only take 1 science class at a time so that I could keep my GPA high. In CA, getting into BSN programs is way more competitive (think at least 3.8 GPA or higher AND all of your classes have to be totally finished before you can even apply. Most schools also require slightly different classes, so it gets very confusing) and students often wait years to get into associate's degree programs because they are composed of a lottery. So happy to be leaving this state lol!

I found out I was accepted on Monday, too. It was a great day. Looking forward to meeting you both next year.

I am not sure what my interview score was. I have a 3.6 GPA and got a 93.43% on HESI. Based on my calculations of the average admitted score being 10.7 and above, my interview score had to be at least a 3.3 for me to get in. Not sure where this year's class fell, though. If I ever find out I will post it for you. Best of luck to you. I'll see you next year Kaitlyn58!

Just got my acceptance email and paperwork!!! Can't hardly believe it. Looking forward to meeting my classmates.

She did end up calling and I flew out the next day. It was quite the whirlwind. Thank you for the well wishes! I am just trying to stay positive. I have noticed that a lot of nursing majors are perfectionists and love to be in a control (myself included and great quality to have as a nurse), but it is out of our hands now. We have done the work and now we just have to (try) to relax and wait it out. Best of luck to everyone.

I feel that the interview went really well. The women that interviewed me were both very down-to-earth and approachable. It was actually fairly informal. I'd love to have them as professors. I guess I will know how it went when I find out if I got in! I didn't feel it would be appropriate to ask my score, but we all got along really well, so I am hopeful it was the score I need.

Thanks for the reply!! Best of luck to you. Hope to meet you next year. From what I was able to find out the average total score of those admitted is 10.7 and above. You can add up your HESI point conversion score and GPA to figure out what you needed to get on your interview to be competitive. I guess each year it depends on what the pool of applicants is like, but at least it kind of gives us some idea. Also, with only 165 applicants this time that will probably help us all out.

Awesome! I forgot to ask how we will find out. Do you know if it is via mail or email?

My interview is today! I'm nervous/excited.