CaliRN

Hey Museic, Thanks for the info on clinical sites. Do you know where Grossmont students rotate to? Are any of these hospitals quaternary or tiertiery? Trauma Centers? I know Tri City is well known for wound care.

I'm planning to apply to following ADN programs: Grossmont, Palomar, SD City, Southwestern and Mira Costa. Can anyone tell me where any of these programs send their students for clinical rotations? Which hospitals in San Diego will we practice at?

Hi Nurses, I am a senior BSN student and just received my preceptorship placement for my final semester of nursing school. I will be at Children's Hospital Oakland in their Surgical Center, Walnut Creek California. Anyone out there have experience here? I have a lot of questions and can't find much information on line. 1) What surgeries/specialities are offered at Walnut Creek Campus? 2) Any advice for preceptorship? 3) Any advice for working with kiddos - preoperative? Thanks! Beth Anne

Hi Friends, My friend and I are 3rd year Nursing Students at Sonoma State University in California. It is very apparent we must learn Spanish to serve the community here in California. I have 3 years of Spanish classroom courses, but little conversational experience. I know I will pick it up if I can just live with it for a month and be forced to speak it. We are looking for a program next summer where we can be immersed in the Spanish language and volunteer at a medical clinic. Has anyone done this? Any suggestions? We found Floating Doctors online, but I would really like to hear from people who have done this. Any tips, suggestions? Beth

Runbabyrun you are an amazing resource, coach, peer, etc. thank you! Will check the links and get busy! I would really appreciate being able to message you personally with an additional questions since I am new to SSU. But my membership here doesn't allow me this option yet what is a focused assessment?

Summer before I begin Somoma State RN program, fall 2014. Any suggestions on how I can prepare? Brush up on medical terminology? Spanish? Any great podcasts out there that would help?

Wow, your posts are HUGE HELP with this crossroads decision. I wish I could talk to some bridge program students from COM to SSU- as that is super appealing to me. How many do they accept each year. I didn't realize it was mostly online. Wow. I took a course at COM, mandatory for applicants to nursing program, NA90 (I think). One lecture was set up with students from program that were graduating or graduates. They painted a pretty bleak picture of job opportunities at graduation. I think only about 20 were employed and they were finding it hard to get jobs. So I am concerned about not having job opportunities after all this work and feeling like SSU BSN might give me more choices. Yes I want to specialize in something- not sure what. Yes, pretty sure I want to go on and get my MSN, or possibly PA. But the cost is a big factor too, and proximity to family and support. Hard to believe that a BSN RN would be paid the same as a ADN RN, but if that's the truth maybe I should save my pennies and attend COM? I agree debt sucks and I want to try and fund my schooling with my savings, and of course not work, which will mean a lot of tuna sandwiches and rice and beans for dinner in the next two years. If my life were strictly for the work, the goal, I would choose SSU. But I am almost 50 and I have family and friends that are vital to my emotional well being. Love that both he cohorts are small and if I do attend SSU I sure hope I find good peeps in our band of 22. And I promise I will be offering up either spot that I do not take very soon. I want those on the wait lists to be as happy as I am for the opportunity. We have all worked very hard to get here. Thanks wishing&praying & meib92.

Fall 2014 RN Programs- Results are in and I am blessed. I was accepted in to my 2 top choices: College of Marin ADN program and Sonoma State's BSN. Now comes the moment of truth- I have to choose one and decline the other. Worked so hard to get here, that I gave myself until the end of May to choose. Of course I want to let the program I decline know ASAP in order to open up my spot for the next candidate wait listed. So, help me out friends. I have a history with COM, many classes taken there. I have no history with SSU. Which would you choose and why? I live in Novato with family in Marin, commute is about the same to each, but I don't know anyone in Sonoma. And of course there is the difference in degrees (hopefully translating into job opportunities) of BSN v ADN. Any advice would be most appreciated.

mswtruth- wooohoooo! So happy for you. Your commute is fabulous. Congrats.

What does it take to become a nurse midwife? Your NP? If so, where will you continue to study?

Thanks RunbabyRun. Not sure where I want to work yet. Probably private practice eventually, but maybe hospital. Labor and Delivery looks great now, but might feel different once I get there. That's actually a great topic for boards, what "work in healthcare do you love and why?" I don't know what the residency program is, but sure I will find out. Its going to be a long drive to clinicals from Novato, might be moving North.

Go Cats! Love Chico. Congrats on your acceptance. That is a great program. If something changes let us know.

Caligirl, my son is a freshman at Chico State. A good friend of mine who is now a Ped ICU nurse at UCSF went there too. And my brother got his masters as Chico and still lives there. Love that town and that school. Congrats to Meib92, caligirl7 and Tall4 for SSU RN Fall 2014 program. I will be there with you. We should have lunch together before school starts! I have a good friend who also got in as a transfer student. How bit will our cohort be? Where do we do clinicals. I didn't get to orientation and I have so many questions. Tall4 I am a bit terrified too, are we really stepping forward in to this? Also super excited. Caligirl I loved my hospice rotations for HHA. Petaluma hospice. Would love to hear more about your experience as a volunteer. I want to do that someday soon, time permitting. State exam for CNA tomorrow and then I am free for summer to start preparing. Anyone have any tips or plans for getting ready for Fall coursework....?

@mswtruth Pretty sure I will be at SSU. Trying to gather information now about the differences between programs, besides obvious BSN vs ADN. I know COM has a great new building and all the labs are new. Can anyone shine some light? And thanks to Runbabyrun for her comment! Would love to know more about COM and SSU RN programs. Where were your clinicals for each school? SSU has a mentorship program which looks great. How big are cohorts?

Hey Boleo, I was accepted at SSU for Fall 2014, transfer student with BA from SDSU about 25 years ago. I just finished CNA program at SRJC. Do you know anything about Skills Lab at SSU? Any information about the program? I haven't taken any classes there and I heard from SRJC that SSU students were using SRJC Skills Lab in Race Building. Hope the lab at SSU is nice and has great teaching tools for us.