BreakRebuild

Hey, I went to Howard for nursing and I LOVED the school. It was an amazing experience. I met great people, great teachers, learned a lot, and really grew as a person. That being said, I transferred to another school after the summer program because of all the problems. There's a lot of internal issues in the nursing school. There's labs that you will pay for but will never happen, material you're supposed to learn (per national requirements) that's skipped, poor communication between faculty and administration, poor relationships between students and teachers, the list goes on. But I ******* loved that school and was determined to stay until a weird series of events led my mother to call the state board about something I had said to her ( I don't remember exactly what), and what the woman responded with led me to doing some research. Most schools make it very easy to access their national accreditation, state approval, and NCLEX score. I really had to dig to find the state approval and NCLEX information. The state approval had been "conditional" for years and the NCLEX scores were not only low, but the number of students that sat for the exam each year was about 1/3 of the people who were my year! When you add all of the students who add a year or so to retake courses that meant only about 1 in 4 of students who made it to the upper division were graduating on time. The woman my mom called at the state board had tried to question her about what was happening in my classes. Apparently they received reports that what was happening in the courses wasn't what was required per state and national requirements but the board couldn't prove it. I attended Howard from 2012 through the summer of 2014. When we began the summer we had about sixty students, I'm told less than half made it to fall, and by spring semester there were only seventeen left (not including people retaking classes or who had been delayed). The National Board should have come in for review in late spring (happens every ten years) and we will find out at the end of this year if Howard will keep its accreditation. So if you decide to go there, or if you already are, keep an eye on the accreditation (if they lose it I don't think you can sit for the NCLEX), and I wish you the best!

If I may ask, Why did you choose to apply to Chamberlain straight out of high school?

1) Do Not Lie. Not only could you be booted out but they can ask you to repay any assistance you received and its a permanent red mark on your record. 2) Maybe you should explore doing something that will boost your application and give you time to recuperate before you dive back into the nursing school craziness. You could do some volunteer work, get a job in a health care setting, CNA? etc. It will give you time to recollect and re-attack in a more organized fashion. A lot of schools will not be happy to hear about you failing in the past but if you can demonstrate growth and give good references they'll be more likely to consider you than if they think you're making excuses. I had to leave a nursing school for different reasons than you but schools seem to be rather weary of students who have previously been in another program. Many will require a letter from the Dean of your former school so try to stay in good standing with the school too.

Think about it like this: How would you feel about a nurse taking care of you that didn't take those classes? Chem1- building block for alot of science courses A+P- Understanding the body Micro- microorganisms.... bacteria, viruses, etc. They can be rough classes but I think its worth it. Stick it through. I don't think any nursing programs will allow to get out of those (possibly micro) but would you want them to? And find people to study with! Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. Try to find some people who are good at what you struggle with and vice versa. It'll help keep you on track, motivated, and there's something oddly gratifying about having someone to complain about a hard test, or celebrate a good score with!

This might be a weird one, but I personally find there's only so many times I can review something before I'm no longer giving it my full attention. Personally I find drawing and labeling forces me to really learn material. Anatomy and physiology are two sides of a coin. If you take the time to break the pieces down the function makes sense or if you break down the function the structure makes sense. ((Though I will admit I can't find a way to apply that to the nervous system haha)) Putting the extra effort of drawing it helps you remember and you can structure the material in a way that works for you. This also works with charts, and tables. The more you interconnect information and how it relates to each other the easier it is to remember!

At this point you're looking at three years of prereqs, and a two year program. Five years for an Associates is long time. Personally I've been to a community college and a university and to my experience if 3 classes add up to 12 or so credits the school is on a quarter system, and in schools that do semesters about 5 classes add up to a full load. So is this school running on a semester or a quarter system? If its semesters your credit values are way too low, and if its quarters why are you not taking classes in the winter quarter? Either way at most schools at a full credit load you should be completing about 9-10 classes a year not including summer classes or the added credits for lab sciences.

I'm not sure where you're going to school but based on what the professors I've had in the past drive I'd say they make out very well. The school I attended was 50,000 a year before the added tuition for the upper division. I don't have the slightest idea how my classmates without loans or scholarships managed to pull that off, let alone those who had to add a fifth year. You have a right to what you have paid for. With that said, you're not paying for a degree, a grade, or whatnot. You're paying for the courses, the lectures, the professors time. It is their right to remove you from a course, ask you to leave, or fail you, but being petty and locking people out is inappropriate. Address those who are a disturbance, or are habitually late. Don't punish dutiful students who may have had something come up.

The definition of these terms seem to grow and evolve as our society does, but personally I believe spirituality is part of being religious but you don't need religion to be spiritual. Spirituality is the faith, the connection, the feeling, and its embodied and experienced in many ways. Religion is the structure or organization. For some its door to opening up spiritually, for others its a cage trying to limit the limitless. Being religious is the combination of the two.

Well, maybe you should be evaluating your own career choices instead of trying to analyze the choices of others. If you feel intelligent people shouldn't be nurses, why are you here?

Accreditation or Approval? If its their accreditation you should be fine this late into the program but I'm not entirely sure how it works with approval. One allows students to sit for state boards (whether or not you can practice), and the other validates your nursing degree (whether or not another institution will recognize your degree). But if you're worried talk to your school. See what they intend to do if the program fails, and how that would affect you. I believe most are required to assist students in transferring to an equivalent program.

Be proud of yourself. The accelerated programs are in many ways a test of your personal drive and fortitude in addition to the actual material. To what I've heard most students who leave barely make it out of the first semester. You did it. You passed the steepest part of the hill and now its time to trudge on. I was in a program that taught patho over the summer in a four week semester along side Health Assessment and it was a nightmare. Hardest two weeks of my life, but if anything it makes you push yourself to find out what you can handle, what you can't, how you learn, how to spend time well, and when to just BREATHE. You can do this, and it sounds like you have the tools to do so. You're aware of yourself, aware of the fact you're struggling, and you're doing what I believe to be one of the hardest things about school in general, knowing when to ask for help, guidance, or support. Confidence is important but it often comes with time. I'm sure most of your classmates are struggling too so they throw up a front of confidence. For some this helps, for others it comes with repercussions later. Don't compare yourself to them. Surround yourself with people who support you and make you feel good and trudge on!

I understand it can be disruptive to come in late but you should be allowed to attend classes you've paid for. Rather than locking doors at the beginning of class I've had professors who mark you absent if you aren't there at the beginning of lecture which I think is more appropriate. It allows for mistakes or unusual circumstances by allowing everyone to attend the lecture and punishes those who are ritually late (my school allowed professors to fail students if they had a certain number of "absences"). And in all honesty most the professors I've had with locked door policies seemed to be more childish about it (smiling or acting annoyed when they saw students discovering they were locked out) than professional.

Keep busy! haha I'm in the same boat and I think if i dwell on it too much I'll go mad!

I've gotten a lot of the same comments. Don't allow it to sway you. Find what you love and hold on to it. But keep in mind people will probably have the same commentary for you your entire career. I guess you just need to weigh your need for approval against your desire to be a nurse.

Personally, I'd get get a CNA first and see if nursing is a good fit for you before going through all that. It'll give you a taste of the environment and if you'll be comfortable with what the job requires.