wbwalker88

Sorry for the wall of text- Clinical Placements: You do not get a say in clinical placements, up to senior practicum. For your practicum you get to rank your top disciplines (Med/Surg, Critical Care, Community Health, etc.) and make requests but none of it is garaunteed and there inevitably are people who get Med/Surg who wanted OB for example. They are a bit more flexible if you request rural placement (what I did) and less requested placements (Correctional Facility, also what I did). Ultimately, expect to be disappointed somewhere along the way. You all will get some experience in a Nursing Home hopefully, which will be a new placement for the university. We complained that there was not a SNF/ALF placement for Health Assessment/Geriatric Nursing, and the university seemed very receptive of it. As for Urgent Care/Clinics, not unless you get your senior practicum there. This is mostly due to the nature of RN school. School is meant to get you ready for the NCLEX and you will not get the patient care experience in an outpatient setting, getting to see everything you want to see is hard enough in an inpatient setting… like there are no Surgical Rotations, nor ICU until senior practicum (Regis is the same way from what I have heard). Also, per the hospitals in the area, you will not be rotating sites around as much. I had a talk with the CNO of a hospital system on our last day of a rotation and she said that all the hospitals are wanting to move to a system where students do all their placements at one facility. This cuts down a TON on their paperwork and improves hospital security (research what happened at Denver Health in April for an example). This also cuts down on your requirements too, because every hospital you work out you'll have to onboard at (which for some was ~5 hours worth of paperwork, classes, and modules)... a lot of the Regis people I talked to did not appreciate that fact. I spent all my rotations at Denver Health, and LOVED it. I have also talked to enough friends at other placements to get a decent idea of what the work environment is at each facility, so I am not worried about making a choice of hospitals later. Lastly, I urge you to not view this program as a way to find what hospital/facility you wish to work at. Denver is in no shortage of new grads and, as the previous class mentioned to me, ultimately your first job will be what you can find. I didn't believe them, and now that I'm looking at graduating in a few months, I see what they are talking about. Furthermore, in talking with a few managers from different hospital systems (both here in Denver and Seattle, where I moved from) no one really cares what your senior practicum was in. They want to see good attitude, a passing NCLEX score, and work ethic. Text books: Not sure who'll be your instructor next year, but we used Capriotti,T., & Frizzell, J. P. (2016). Pathophysiology: Introductory Concepts and Clinical Perspectives. Philadelphia, PA.: F. A. Davis Publisher ISBN#978-0-323-8036-1571-X I bought the bundle the university offered (its was ~$1300) and regret it. I used the Pharmacology book, Nursing Diagnosis Handbook, and quite frankly….that was it. Save your money and use the copies on hand at the library or rent. Also, not sure if I mentioned it before. I'm a Veteran and using the GI Bill, so if there are any Veterans or other GI BIll users message me. I have A LOT of VA specific information that the university did not share with me.

Most helpful thing I can tell anyone is this: Enjoy your free time now... and try and band together as a cohort. Our cohort has been amazing, everyone helps one another, everyone enjoys hanging out together, and we all want each other to succeed. Apparently that hasn't always been the case with cohorts, but it has made the world of difference for us. There are more than a handful of people that I will call lifelong friends from this program and you'll be spending A LOT of time together the first few months, so try and make as many friends as you can!

Sorry for the delay, been a crazy few weeks. The UCAN program is structured very well for what it is, and some of the faculty are AMAZING. That being said, it does have a long way to go. You need to be super flexible in this program and understand that there will be no concessions made for anyone. For example, there are people in our program who have had to commute an hour to their clinical site, even though other people live across the street and the program will not let them switch sites. The classes are typically good. I've had generally positive experiences with all but maybe 2 instructors and that is just because we didn't see eye to eye. The program has an awesome track record for getting hired. I have been told numerous times that being a UCAN student gives you a huge leg up on getting hired here in Denver. The biggest weakness is just poor flexibility on faculty's part to accommodate students slightly better. That and some expectations of total workload can be a bit ridiculous at times. The sims were hit or miss. Having about 10 years of medical experience in some way, and 3 years of EMS/ED experience they were often lack luster for me. I wanted interaction, and I just can not in my head make a mannequin anything other than a doll. That being said, it cuts down on clinical time by A LOT and trying to add more clinical to our already crazy schedule would have been difficult. The best SIM/CEC stuff is the Mental Health SIMS...they by far were the best patient care enhancing experiences I have had outside of a hospital. Hope that helps!

Hi, 2018 UCAN class, or well prospective students. I am currently in the UCAN program and figured I would swing over here to answer any questions you may or may not have. I know you all had the opportunity to ask some questions to the student panel at interview day, but I remember how crazy that day was and how many more questions I had over the next few months. So yea, feel free to either PM me questions or I'll try and check this thread periodically to answer anything that may come up.

Hi, my name is Brian, I received my email yesterday for what I assume is the morning round of interviews. I am currently a Lead Emergency Room Tech in Seattle, WA. I have about 2 years of experience working as an EMT and ER Tech and before that I spent 5 years post college as a Sergeant in the US Army Infantry. I have a B.S. in Psychology from CSU and I'm very excited about the potential of moving back to Colorado in order to become a RN! Looking forward to meeting everyone and hopefully getting into the cohort!