Puerto Rico school feedback?

calijenn · Aug 30, 2011

Thank you you guys are so much help! I don't have a BA but have credit to transfer over so I'm crossing my fingers to get into the accelerated program but if not the regular is fine with me :) it still beats my schools waitin list and program so either way I am grateful and happy. Any word on when the next English term starts? I'm from bay area too! We should FB each other I can't send messages on here

Abril510 · Aug 30, 2011

Thank you you guys are so much help! I don't have a BA but have credit to transfer over so I'm crossing my fingers to get into the accelerated program but if not the regular is fine with me :) it still beats my schools waitin list and program so either way I am grateful and happy. Any word on when the next English term starts? I'm from bay area too! We should FB each other I can't send messages on here

Goodluck :)

The next trimester starts November 2nd I believe.

Omg this is a small world! Jaja

Ok my email is: [email protected]

calijenn · Aug 31, 2011

worldtravelingyogi! i have a few questions for you if u have time :) my email is [email protected]

Jeb-in-Minneapolis · Aug 31, 2011

It seems like everyone's in a rush to get into the program. Let me just remind you guys you get what you pay for. The school is rather crappy, so you're pasically paying roughly 20k total for a piece of paper (BSN) that lets you sit for the test. You definitely have to be motivated enough to do your own studying because the school won't prepare you at all! Your clinical skills are going to be non-existent as well. I'm doing peds right now and I think I've drawn blood maybe 5 times total, and never done an IV (I did put in one catheter, yay), which is pretty typical. Talking to other nursing friends who went to real schools in the states, this is pretty pathetic. Sorry, I just want folks to come here with their eyes open.... Beautiful island, cheap, easy to get into, quick program, terrible school....

calijenn · Sep 1, 2011

It seems like everyone's in a rush to get into the program. Let me just remind you guys you get what you pay for. The school is rather crappy, so you're pasically paying roughly 20k total for a piece of paper (BSN) that lets you sit for the test. You definitely have to be motivated enough to do your own studying because the school won't prepare you at all! Your clinical skills are going to be non-existent as well. I'm doing peds right now and I think I've drawn blood maybe 5 times total, and never done an IV (I did put in one catheter, yay), which is pretty typical. Talking to other nursing friends who went to real schools in the states, this is pretty pathetic. Sorry, I just want folks to come here with their eyes open.... Beautiful island, cheap, easy to get into, quick program, terrible school....

jeb!

can you email me i have lots of questions if u dont mind lol!! also, do you know anyone at UPR school of nursing?? i just sent my application packet to inter metro but im thinking about applying to UPR also. and is it really that bad???

designer-mommy, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2011

It seems like everyone's in a rush to get into the program. Let me just remind you guys you get what you pay for. The school is rather crappy, so you're pasically paying roughly 20k total for a piece of paper (BSN) that lets you sit for the test. You definitely have to be motivated enough to do your own studying because the school won't prepare you at all! Your clinical skills are going to be non-existent as well. I'm doing peds right now and I think I've drawn blood maybe 5 times total, and never done an IV (I did put in one catheter, yay), which is pretty typical. Talking to other nursing friends who went to real schools in the states, this is pretty pathetic. Sorry, I just want folks to come here with their eyes open.... Beautiful island, cheap, easy to get into, quick program, terrible school....

I :redbeathe my school, so I'm going to defend it a bit here :)

OK, while what you say may be true, there are quite a few things that you have to look at. Number one, if the school was so "crappy" it wouldn't have gotten a reaccreditation for the BSN and initial accreditation for the associates, would it? I have seen the criteria for accreditation, and it's not a simple process. I highly doubt that they would just give us the stamp of approval for the heck of it. If we didn't meet the criteria, they would have yanked accreditation for the BSN and never gave it to us for the associates.

Also, you stated that you spoke to your friends in "real schools" in the states and they are in a nursing student wonderland where they get to do everything under the sun. Think about it...they're from the STATES, you are studying on an ISLAND with a totally different culture. It's not the school, it's the Puerto Rican culture. They are much more relaxed, laid back, etc. When an outsider looks at that from the typical "rush rush" American mindset, of course it's going to be frustrating. I see you're from Minneapolis, so maybe you haven't dealt with many Puerto Ricans. I'm from Orlando, which is probably 50% Hispanic (mainly people from PR), so I have seen it there as well. It's their culture. If you're here on their island, you have to accept their culture. A few years ago, Puerto Ricans were named the "happiest people on earth" by some study. Maybe we can learn something from them???? Like slow down and don't sweat the small stuff.

As far as not learning clinical skills, if you didn't learn then you must not have been paying attention. My professors have all completed their part of the deal in terms of teaching me the necessary skills to be a nurse. The fact that I haven't been able to get tons of practice in the hospital like your friends in "real nursing school" has nothing to do with our school. It's not as though the nurses in the hospital have asked our professor "Hey, can your student put this IV in" and our professor said no. The nurses at the hospital usually don't even offer and one told my friend that she wasn't allowed to put an insulin injection in. That was the nurse--not the professor. When my friend told the professor that, she was LIVID that her student was denied the opportunity. She confronted the nurse who was obviously either too lazy to watch over the student or misinformed about the hospital's policies. Again, it's the HOSPITAL'S fault that we haven't gotten the opportunity. It has nothing to do with the school. And maybe things here are much different than the all mighty schools in the states. The hospitals probably give your friends over there the opportunity--maybe that's their policy. Again, this is Puerto Rico and things are run differently here like it or not.

Now, when you say that you are spending $20,000 for a piece of paper to take the NCLEX--isn't that the ultimate point of nursing school??!! Nursing is a job where you are constantly learning. The majority of the skills you will master while you're working. Why do you think that they have orientations (sometimes up to a YEAR) for new graduate nurses? Why do you think no one wants to hire new grads? Because we don't know JACK when we graduate and they have to spend a ton of money to train us during orientation. That's not just for students from La Inter in PR, that's for those wonder students you mentioned in the states, too. Also, I think that if you talk to anyone in the states, they will say that they had to do loads of self study to pass the NCLEX. Why? Because there is just TOO MUCH for any nursing school to cover, no matter how prestigious and great they are. If the schools in the states prepared everyone so wonderfully, why do they make NCLEX review books or have those courses that people pay $500+ for? Because there is just too much material, period.

Yes, things are different here. However, I think that instead of dragging the school's name through the mud, you should be thanking your lucky stars that you found this school. I would be willing to bet that you will have that "piece of paper" in your hand here in PR quicker than you would even get off the waiting list in one of those real schools in the states. Some people wait 2-3 years to even get IN school. You will be done with your BSN in that time. To me that is a blessing. I will take my piece of paper and enjoy my job 2-3 years before your friends in the states do--and probably even longer than that, because our program is done in trimesters and theirs are done in semesters, so it's much longer. So, you can feel free to join them in the never ending wait list hell over there for a "real school" if you hate IAUPR so much. No one is holding a gun to your head to keep you here.

I have expressed my frustrations with this school, yes. However, I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. In my opinion, the professors here are MUCH more involved than the professors I had in Orlando. Thanks to all of you who read my long, long rant LOL

calijenn · Sep 1, 2011

i enjoyed reading the rant! i guess its good to read everything tho lol!

designer-mommy, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2011

jeb!
can you email me i have lots of questions if u dont mind lol!! also, do you know anyone at UPR school of nursing?? i just sent my application packet to inter metro but im thinking about applying to UPR also. and is it really that bad???

Don't apply to UPR!!! You will never finish. They are on strike 90% of the time.

calijenn · Sep 1, 2011

Don't apply to UPR!!! You will never finish. They are on strike 90% of the time.

okay thank you! i trust you! youve been living there some time. im hearing theyre on strike alot but why lol

also, do you kno any dates on when they are taking new students in the program?? i emailed the address you have on your profile

Jeb-in-Minneapolis · Sep 1, 2011

Haha, I didn't know I was going to create such a reaction! For the record I've heard the school enjoys a very good reputation on the island, and naturally the culture is quite different. I'm simply directing my comments more towards the bulk of the people asking questions, who tend to be from the states and may be under the impression this school is similar to the one in their hometown. I simply don't want people rushing to come down here without being fully informed about the school, the bad points, plus the very good points. In fact, I forgot to mention how if you speak spanish, you can obtain a temporary license after you finish Peds (good for two years) and try to get a job as a nurse. That working experience will look gangbusters on your resume when you apply for your next job!!!

designer-mommy, BSN, RN · Sep 1, 2011

Haha, I didn't know I was going to create such a reaction! For the record I've heard the school enjoys a very good reputation on the island, and naturally the culture is quite different. I'm simply directing my comments more towards the bulk of the people asking questions, who tend to be from the states and may be under the impression this school is similar to the one in their hometown. I simply don't want people rushing to come down here without being fully informed about the school, the bad points, plus the very good points. In fact, I forgot to mention how if you speak spanish, you can obtain a temporary license after you finish Peds (good for two years) and try to get a job as a nurse. That working experience will look gangbusters on your resume when you apply for your next job!!!

No, I know you probably didn't mean to cast the school in such a negative light, which is why I said what you said was pretty much correct but I just wanted to make sure that I chimed in and let people know why the school is the way it is. It's not crappy, it's just a whole different world down here. I hope I didn't come off as *****, but I probably did because it was like 1:30 in the morning and I was tired/cranky. I know it was a long rant, but I tend to write a lot because I write for a living (at least until I finish nursing school).

Anyway, I just didn't want anyone thinking that we were a bunch of slackers who didn't know squat about nursing :up:

Oh, and calijenn, I didn't get any emails from you. Can you try again? :)

calijenn · Sep 3, 2011

No, I know you probably didn't mean to cast the school in such a negative light, which is why I said what you said was pretty much correct but I just wanted to make sure that I chimed in and let people know why the school is the way it is. It's not crappy, it's just a whole different world down here. I hope I didn't come off as *****, but I probably did because it was like 1:30 in the morning and I was tired/cranky. I know it was a long rant, but I tend to write a lot because I write for a living (at least until I finish nursing school).
Anyway, I just didn't want anyone thinking that we were a bunch of slackers who didn't know squat about nursing
Oh, and calijenn, I didn't get any emails from you. Can you try again? :)

DM ive emailed u again but maybe u didnt get it??? my email is [email protected] :)