Rasmussen University - Fort Myers

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Specializes in Neonatal Nursing.

Hello everyone!

I was looking into Rasmussen College in Fort Myers, Florida. I was wondering if there was anyone who has attended or currently attending Rasmussen at the Fort Myers campus? What were/are your thoughts on the program? Since I already have a B.S. in Exercise Science, I was looking at doing the A-BSN, Second Degree option. I have already attended a Nursing Information Session with the school and it seems like a great opportunity. Just looking to get more insight about the program from people who have gone through it.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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Specializes in Neonatal Nursing.

An update: I have enrolled in the A-BSN Second Degree option at Rasmussen College - Fort Myers. I have completed all of the immunizations, background check and fingerprinting. My classes for the quarter are going to be Critical Analysis and Nursing Science, Health Assessment, Health Wellness and Self Care and Nutritional Principles in Nursing. It's 16 credit hours, which doesn't seem too bad but the quarters are only 11 weeks, I believe. So, it will be pretty intense! Let me know if you are currently attending or plan on attending.

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How’s it going so far?

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Specializes in Neonatal Nursing.

So far, so good! Just started my 4th week of the quarter. Took my first exam last Friday (for nutrition) and got 49/50. I have 2 more exams coming up in health assessment and "critical analysis and nursing science". Lots of reading, writing and ATI stuff, but overall not bad. My only real complaint is I wish we had more lab time for health assessment. Hope you had a great Christmas and New Year's! You excited to start at Keiser!? May will be here before you know it.

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That's great.. glad you are enjoying it! I'm 1/2 way thru my last prereq (Chemistry) that I am taking thru Portage Learning. It's really tough but I am maintaining an A average. Can't wait to be finished and for May to get here! Are you working at all while going thru school?

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Specializes in Neonatal Nursing.

That’s exciting! And awesome that you’re still maintaining that A average.

I am working part time as a substitute teacher. Nothing crazy. I’ve only worked once so far because I’ve just been so busy. I might look for a different part time gig that will allow me to work at night or something.

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Specializes in Neonatal Nursing.

Update: I am officially halfway through my first quarter of the ABSN - Second Degree program at Rasmussen College in Fort Myers, Florida. I have three A's and one B right now. My cohort is 13 students. We had started with 14, but one decided to push back her start date to April.

I can tell you we will probably be losing at least 1 more after this quarter. It is a very fast paced program and if you do not stay on top of your assignments and readings, it will definitely come back to bite you in the butt.

Overall, I am pretty happy with the program so far. Two of my classes are online and two are on campus. Since we do not have a lot of face-to-face contact with the instructors (even with our on-campus courses), a lot of the responsibility to learn and ask questions about material falls on the student. I think this is what makes the program challenging for most people.

Rasmussen also uses proctored ATI assessments to help prepare students for the NCLEX. I have my first proctored assessment at the end of the quarter: nutrition. As with most nursing programs I have seen, I will need to score a Level 2 on the assessment to graduate. I am going to do what I can to pass it on the first try, but it will definitely be difficult since the practice exams covered information from other areas such as pharm, mother and baby, child care and fundamentals.

I will let everyone know how things go at the end of the quarter! TTFN!

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Wow, very small class! When do you begin clinicals?

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Specializes in Neonatal Nursing.

I have 3 short clinical days this quarter. Every Thursday for the next 3 weeks. Next quarter we have a lot more clinical hours.

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Specializes in Neonatal Nursing.

Update:

I am now halfway through Week 9 of my first 11-week quarter at Rasmussen College in Fort Myers. I currently am maintaining (3) A's and (1) B, but I do have my final exam for Nutrition tomorrow, as well as the proctored ATI Nutrition exam coming up next week, both of which can have significant impact on my grade in that class. And then my final exams for two other classes will be at the beginning of Week 11. I am hoping I do well on both of those, but as long as I hit the books I don't see why I wouldn't.

My thoughts on the program thus far? Since it is an accelerated program and we meet for lecture once per week, it is a lot of self-teaching. However, I expected this since there is just so much information that needs to be covered in such a short period of time, there really isn't any way for it to all be covered in a lecture. To be honest, it is not as intense as I had anticipated. That B grade is largely due to me not prioritizing studying for that class. And I can admit I had more than enough time to get more studying in, but chose to relax instead. But what's done is done and now I just need to crush the final in order to bring that grade back up to an A.

I already have my schedule for next quarter, which will also be 16 credits but only 3 classes since two of the classes have a lecture, lab and clinical component: Applied Pathophysiology, Pharmacology and Essentials of Professional Nursing (aka Fundamentals). I am definitely looking forward to learning more and being able to do more hands-on skills. Hope all of the other nursing students out there are doing well!

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do you study with your classmates at all? just wondering since you mentioned that a lot isn't covered in class, do you find it helpful to have study groups or similar strategies? I'm interested in same program here in Wisconsin. Honestly my biggest concern is reputation of graduates when looking for a job because it is a for-profit school.

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Specializes in Neonatal Nursing.

I personally have never done well studying in groups. I tend to get distracted and I talk A LOT! Haha So, I typically stay away from group studying. I do a lot of the assigned reading and all of the homework. This strategy has been working for me so far. That being said, the students in my cohort (started with 14, now already down to 12) all exchanged phone numbers and we text each other often for help with concepts and assignments.

I’ve heard that some schools don’t have a good reputation of producing solid graduates, but I feel like that can be overcome by working hard and networking while at clinical sites or on your own. I plan on reaching out to the nurse manager at a couple of level 3 NICUs nearby to see if I can try to get a foot in the door before I graduate.

I can say that my instructors so far have been very knowledgeable and I am happy I chose Rasmussen.

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